Tom Wilson won't be disciplined for Visnovsky hit as Isles still fume
Griffin Reinhart was on the ice for the New York Islanders during Wednesday’s practice. He’s expected to fill the skates of Lubomir Visnovsky, who left Game 4 after taking a big hit for the second straight game.
On Sunday afternoon, Visnovsky was hit and left the game briefly, only to return a short while later. On Tuesday night, Capitals forward Tom Wilson laid a thunderous hit behind the Islanders’ net, knocking the defenseman from the game:
According to ESPN.com's Katie Strang, Wilson, who was given two minutes for charging, will not be disciplined for the hit, a hit that stayed with the Islanders through Wednesday morning.
From the NY Post after Game 4:
“He’s an idiot,” Kyle Okposo said of Wilson, who was hitting hard throughout the game and wound up being penalized twice nearly in succession in the second period. “That guy runs around, he hits reckless. He jumps, leaves his feet. There’s no place for that.”
From NHL.com after Wednesday’s practice:
"The puck wasn't even close to where [Visnovsky] was," captain John Tavares said. "It's just a complete target of a defenseless player."
Islanders head coach Jack Capuano had no opinion of the hit when asked.
Wilson, meanwhile, defended himself Wednesday, via Alex Prewitt of the Washington Post:
“Whenever I make a body check, I’m trying to make sure I’m doing everything as clean as possible, staying on my feet and finishing hard and low through the guy’s body. He’s a littler guy and obviously … he wasn’t feeling great afterwards. It’s tough. I hope he’s feeling alright. You never want to see a guy go down like that, but it’s a hard enough sport and it’s a hard-hitting sport, so that’s going to happen."
Now if this wasn't the postseason, Wilson would be tracked around the ice by Matt Martin during their next meeting until the two fought. But with the series even at two games, and the Capitals owning the best power play unit in the NHL, it'd be wise for the Islanders to get their feelings out about the hit through the media and not allow emotion to sidetrack them in Game 5.
The Capitals are only 1-for-7 in the series on the power play, but with Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green and so on part of the dangerous unit, New York needs to be wise if they want to take a 3-2 series lead back home for Game 6 Saturday night.
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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy
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