Tom Wilson lived up to his reputation Sunday.
The Capitals’ enforcer earned the scorn of Rangers fans by delivering two dirty hits to Mika Zibanejad during the Rangers’ 4-1 win in Game 1 of their first-round series at Madison Square Garden. bought.
The first hit came in the second period with the Rangers leading 3-1 and Washington on a power play.
Chris Kreider’s wide shot put the puck in the back of Washington’s net, Zibanejad hit it back toward the net, and Capitals defenseman John Carlson regained control.
As Zibanejad was standing near the boards, Wilson came in and dropped him with a hard hit.
TBS’s Sean McDonough said, “Zibanejad is completely on board. The crowd wants to call him, but he won’t respond.”
The second questionable hit came in the second period when the Rangers still led by two runs.
As both teams battled for control of the puck near mid-ice, Wilson checked on Zibanejad and forced him onto the ice after the puck had already been sent the other way.
Zibanejad apparently wasn’t expecting the contact, as he swerved in Wilson’s direction after the impact caused Wilson to fall backwards.
Two other Capitals players in the area had already moved away from Zibanejad’s space before Wilson struck.
Wilson and Rangers defenseman Braden Schneider then incited a scuffle and threw punches at each other with a minute left in the third period, giving the Rangers a 4-1 lead.
Both players were charged with misconduct, along with Washington’s Dylan McIlras.
The Rangers and Wilson have a long history, and the forefront of that bad blood was a 2021 incident in which the Rangers accused Wilson of a “horrific act of violence” for punching Pavel Buchnevich in the back of the head and later injuring Artemi Panarin. became.
The NHL did not suspend Wilson, and the Rangers issued a statement calling for NHL Director of Player Safety George Paris to be removed from his position.
“We view this as a dereliction of duty on the part of NHL Director of Player Safety George Parros, and we believe he is unfit to continue in his current role.” The statement said:.
Game 2 is scheduled for Tuesday night at 7pm at MSG.
