The first game of the second round saw the Pittsburgh Penguins get manhandled by the Capitals. While both sides made some questionable moves, the Caps just played dirty.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are all of one game into the second round of playoffs and the Washington Capitals have already attempted murder on several of them. Lots of penalties were handed out during the game, but not for the worst plays; only one Cap was slapped with a fine for his dangerous play later.
What a wonderful precedent to set.
The Caps were on the receiving end of some bad hits in round one, as Brooks Orpik was concussed and Dmitry Orlov was dangerously boarded in the same game against the Philadelphia Flyers. Now they’re throwing them at the Penguins.
It would be naive and also a lie if I said I didn’t expect the Penguins to get a bit banged up in this round. The Pens are not overly physical whereas the Caps are. But the thing I actually didn’t expect was the number of dirty hits Washington would get away with.
Miss any? Luckily, gif-er extraordinaire @myregularface on Twitter has all the action. First, Justin Williams cross-checked/kind of stabbed Kris Letang, who gingerly made his way off the ice:
Then, Daniel Winnik did his best lumberjack impression as he tried to chop Sidney Crosby in half:
Then, Tom Wilson most definitely left his feet to throw a hit on Eric Fehr:
(After seeing this hit, my dad said “If I was Fehr and saw Wilson coming at me like that, I’d have positioned my stick so he would impale himself on it and lacerate his spleen.” Tell us how you really feel.)
Then there was this weird little incident – which, admittedly, both Wilson and Evgeni Malkin eventually got penalized for, but still:
And last but not least, here’s Wilson (again!) intentionally kneeing Conor Sheary:
Okay, are you still with me? That was a lot to take in. Also, Chris Kunitz took a puck to the face and left the bench bleeding profusely, but that wasn’t really anybody’s fault. It was just another bad thing that happened.
The Pens weren’t exempt from dealing big hits and a few dirty plays last night – Sheary obliterated Matt Niskanen (on a clean hit) and Letang cross-checked TJ Oshie (and was penalized). Still, it’s ridiculous that we’re in the second round of the playoffs and the refs are either not seeing most of this or are intentionally ignoring it.
It’s not a stretch to say that the Caps are targeting some of our star players. Heck, when Tom Wilson is on the ice, he’ll target anything with a pulse.
Though today the NHL’s Department of Player Safety slapped Wilson with a with a $2403.67 fine – the maximum allowed under the current collective bargaining agreement – that’s not going to stop him. I’m not good at math, but luckily this guy is:
The fine Wilson received is equivalent to a person making $50K a year being fined $134
— Andrew Berkshire (@AndrewBerkshire) April 29, 2016
Wilson knows that’s what his role on the team is, and he’s going to continue doing it. Obviously, his teammates will too.
I see two options for the Penguins. First – and this is probably the better move – don’t sink to the Caps’ level. Maybe throw the body around a little more, but there’s no need to disrupt the Pens’ usual style of play for the sake of retribution. We can’t continue letting the Caps do things like this, sure, but when some of the Pens get fired up enough they’re more than capable of holding their own.
Game one went to overtime and was incredibly evenly matched. The Pens’ game is successful as it is and changing that to focus more on brute force than technical skill won’t help anyone.
Option two: put Tom Sestito into the lineup, if only for one game. Sestito’s not a great hockey player by any stretch of the imagination and ordinarily I would like to keep him far, far away from our playoff lineup, but just one game might serve its purpose.
He and Wilson are fairly evenly matched as far as size and fighting credentials go. Put him in, let him give Wilson a bit of a beating, and then scratch him for the rest of the series.
Granted, this move could easily backfire. My confidence in Sestito’s fighting skills has significantly dropped since he went down in a “pillow fight” in his first appearance for the Pens. Wilson could easily get the better of him, which means the Pens would have scratched an actual producing forward on one of the best fourth lines in the league to allow the wrong Tom to get the upper hand.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, and I don’t think we’re there yet. Luckily.
Next: Penguins Drop Game One in Overtime
Regardless, the Capitals cannot continue to get away with these dangerous plays and hits. Whether the refs actually do their job and put an end to it or the Penguins take matters into their own hands, someone’s got to hold them accountable.