It’s only been nine games, but Tom Wilson may be in hot water with the Department of Player Safety again.
Wilson was ejected and given a match penalty 17:39 into the second period for a blindside hit to Devils forward Brett Seney.
After struggling to get up, Seney went down the tunnel and down to the Devils locker room for concussion protocol. He returned for the third period.
Video
Here’s the hit in question. It’s important to note that Wilson clips Seney in the shoulder, not the head.
But the hit is late.
And Wilson did not go out of his way enough to avoid it.
During the second intermission, NBC Sports Washington’s Alan May said that he thought the play wasn’t even a minor penalty.
Alan May on Tom Wilson's hit: "Not even a minor penalty"
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) December 1, 2018
The Capitals defended Wilson after the game while the St. Louis Blues called the hit “senseless.”
Wilson recently returned from a 20-game suspension that he was given after the Capitals’ last preseason game. Wilson illegally checked Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist in the head. While Gary Bettman upheld Wilson’s 20-game ban hoping it’d be a “wake up call” for the player, an independent arbitrator reduced the suspension to 14 games. Wilson missed 16 games overall.
Wilson’s been suspended four times over the last two seasons.
