January 7, 2019 8:50 PM EST
WASHINGTON (AP) For better or for worse
Youth Christian Djoos Jersey , Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson is an expert when it comes to knowing what the NHL looks for when punishing someone for a dangerous hit, and he thinks Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman could be in trouble.Wilson, who served a three-game suspension earlier this postseason, spoke out about the way Stralman slammed him into the glass in the first period of what turned into a 4-2 victory for Tampa Bay over Washington in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference final on Tuesday night.Stralman was sent to the penalty box for boarding on the play.”It’s a vulnerable position. There’s no doubt there’s contact with my head. If I’m wearing a helmet from five years ago, I think I’m probably unconscious. So we’ll see what they say,” Wilson said, referring to the possibility of the league’s department of player safety reviewing the matter.On the play, Wilson was facing the glass not too far from the Capitals’ bench when Stralman hit him from behind. Wilson dropped to the ice and put his right glove to his helmet.After the game, which allowed the Lightning to cut their series deficit to 2-1, Wilson talked about the ”goose egg on the side of my head” and acknowledged, ”It took me a little bit to collect myself.”He said the hit included ”everything I’ve heard all year: He sees (jersey) numbers for a good amount of time, and he elevates through the back of my shoulder and head.”Capitals coach Barry Trotz referred to those as ”red flags
http://www.officialcapitals.com/authentic-adidas-andre-burakovsky-jersey ,” and added, ”I understand where Tom’s coming from, no question.””That’s a lot of `don’ts’ for me. From what they’ve been telling me, that’s a lot of `don’ts.’ If I make that hit, 100 percent I’m probably sitting out. So we’ll see. It’s playoffs. It’s an intense time of year,” Wilson said. ”I don’t think he’s a malicious player, at all. But it’s a pretty dangerous hit. I think a lot of people will say that.”The game was scoreless at the time of that hit, but Tampa Bay would go on to take a 3-0 lead en route to the victory. Wilson thought that Stralman’s play might have set a tone that affected the way play went.”(When) someone gets run from behind, for the next couple shifts, you might be a little more tentative coming back for pucks,” Wilson said. ”We’ve got to play through it. There’s going to be emotion.”Senior vice president of player safety George Parros was at Tuesday’s game. During the season, Parros and Wilson met for about an hour to go over video clips of various hits so the player could understand what the league is watching for.During Washington’s elimination of two-time reigning Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh in the second round of the playoffs http://www.officialcapitals.com/authentic-adidas-evgeny-kuznetsov-jersey , Wilson missed three games after breaking Penguins rookie Zach Aston-Reese’s jaw in a violent collision.Wilson also was forced to sit out two preseason games following a late hit on an opponent, then was suspended for the first four games of the regular season for boarding a player shortly after his return.— VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Can the Vancouver Canucks surprise again?That’s the question heading into Monday’s contest between the hometown Canucks (5-3-0) and the visiting Washington Capitals (3-2-2).The Canucks were expected to struggle from the get-go of this National Hockey League season, but they have managed to beat tough opponents in Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay, among others. Vancouver’s latest feat was an overtime victory at home over Boston, which always sparks emotions due to its triumph in seven games over the Canucks in the 2011 Stanley Cup finals.Article continues below ...Now, the Canucks will try to better the defending champions.To do that, they will likely have to get more offense from center Bo Horvat and second-year winger Brock Boeser, who teamed up for the winning goal Saturday. The Canucks need them to keep producing as star rookie Elias Pettersson remains out with a concussion.“Brock and I have some good chemistry out there and, thankfully, the pucks are going in right now,” Horvat told reporters.Horvat has five goals and one assist in the club’s first eight games. He sits second in club scoring behind Pettersson Jakub Vrana Jersey , 19, who accrued eight points before he was sidelined by a hit from Florida defenseman Mike Matheson. The Panthers rearguard received a two-game suspension for his actions.Boeser is tied for third in team scoring with Sven Baertschi. They both have five points.Vancouver will have to shine again with Pettersson. He has resumed skating on his own, but his return date remains uncertain.Vancouver goaltender Jacob Markstrom is confident that the youth-laden Canucks can turn in another solid effort when the Capitals visit.“When we play organized and when we play for each other and everybody’s giving 100 per cent, we can beat any team,” he told reporters.Meanwhile, the Capitals are looking to regain top form after last season’s first ever title and a summer of celebration.“We’re still trying to find our game,” forward Brett Connolly told The Washington Post. “Would we have liked to have picked up where we left off? Yes. But it’s not easy. We played a lot of hockey last year and (had) a short summer, and you come in here and there are a lot of distractions, a lot of that kind of stuff. We’ve done some good things, and we’ve done some not- so-good things. I think if you look at last season, we weren’t very good either at the start. We weren’t at our best. Just take the positives and know that we can overcome that.It hasn’t been disastrous. We’re still getting points, we’re still above .500 right now with a tough couple back-to-backs to start the year. So (it’s) not the worst start Derek Ryan Jersey Womens , but obviously we have another level.”The Capitals will visit picturesque Victoria, B.C., after Monday’s contest as they have a two-day break between games. But according to forward Nicklas Backstrom, the Capitals are not guilty of being too relaxed by thinking they are stable club too soon.“I don’t feel that we have that attitude in the locker room,” Backstrom told The Washington Post. “It’s a process. We want to get better as a team, we want to play the same way as we did last year, so we’ve just got to keep working.”
