Washington Capitals winger Tom Wilson has been fined $5,000 — the maximum allowable amount under the CBA — for his role in a line brawl during Monday’s game against the New York Rangers, the league’s Department of Player Safety announced Tuesday.
Per the league, Wilson’s fine is for roughing Rangers forward Pavel Buchnevich.
The discipline comes after Wilson was suspended for seven games for a hit on Boston’s Brandon Carlo in March.
The incident under the microscope this time occurred during the second period of Washington’s 6-3 win. After Capitals goaltender Vitek Vanecek made a save and froze the puck, Buchnevich fell to the ice while searching for a rebound. While Buchnevich was laying face down, Wilson punched him in the back of the head, igniting a brawl between the two teams.
Rangers star Artemi Panarin tried to pull Wilson off Buchnevich, to which Wilson responded by slamming Panarin to the ice. Panarin left the game with a lower-body injury and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports he will miss the Rangers’ final three games as a result.
Wilson was given four minutes for roughing and a 10-minute misconduct for his action and later returned to the game and scored a goal. Buchnevich and Panarin each received two minutes for roughing.
The incident sparked a wide range of discussions about player safety and Wilson’s repeated offences on social media and after the game, both teams had lots to say about those topics as well.
“I figured you should have some more respect for the game and for the players,” Rangers forward Mika Zibanejad said after the game. “I don’t honestly know where to start. It’s just there’s zero respect. I don’t know why I’m surprised, just horrible.”
“I thought it was just a scrum, like a physical play,” Capitals coach Peter Laviolette countered. “There was something going on originally with the goalie and they’re jamming at the goalie and a bunch of players jump in there. It happens a lot.”
According to Tarik El-Bashir, who covers the Capitals for The Athletic, Wilson has been suspended for 30 games and forfeited nearly $1.3 million in salary for various on-ice incidents over his eight-year career.
The Capitals, who have already clinched a playoff spot in the East Division, have four games remaining including a rematch with the Rangers on Wednesday.
