0xbt

WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson was banned 20 games by the NHL on Wednesday for a blindside hit to the head of an opponent during a preseason game Jonathan Bernier Jersey Womens , the latest and most severe punishment in what the league called an “unprecedented” series of suspensions for the physical player.The right winger’s fourth ban in less than 13 months will cost him nearly a quarter of the 82-game regular season — only five NHL players have been suspended longer for on-ice play — and $1.26 million in salary.“I was pretty surprised. I think it’s unfortunate for Tom that the league is making an example out of him,” Washington forward T.J. Oshie said. “They set the standards; they want to get the dirty stuff out of the game.”It was announced just hours before the reigning Stanley Cup champion Capitals opened their title defense by beating the visiting Boston Bruins 7-0. Wilson did not play, but he was introduced along with his teammates during the pregame banner-raising ceremony and skated onto the ice in uniform.Wilson, a member of Washington’s top line with captain Alex Ovechkin, was ejected for the hit on St. Louis Blues center Oskar Sundqvist in the second period of the teams’ exhibition game on Sunday.Wilson had an in-person hearing with the NHL’s Department of Player Safety in New York on Wednesday.“Everybody probably knows how we feel about it in our room. It’s a tough thing, since we don’t agree with it, but it was tough for Tom,” Capitals goalie Braden Holtby said. “I think the biggest thing is we’ve got to support him through this. It’s unfair and tough for a good player like that. He’s obviously a huge part of our team.” The video released to explain the punishment says: “Wilson delivers a high, forceful hit, which makes Sundqvist’s head the main point of contact on a hit where such head contact was avoidable and causes an injury.” It also admonishes him for taking “a poor angle of approach.”Blues coach Mike Yeo called the hit “predatory.”Wilson’s suspension, which Capitals coach Todd Reirden said he expects to be appealed, is the longest handed down by the league since Raffi Torres of the San Jose Sharks was banned a record 41 games in 2015, also for a preseason hit.The league noted that Wilson “is considered a repeat offender” — and, indeed, this is hardly the first time the sixth-year player has been in trouble for the way he has taken out an opponent.He was suspended twice because of preseason hits a year ago, then had to sit out three games during the playoffs for a check to the head that broke Pittsburgh Penguins center Zach Aston-Reese’s jaw and caused a concussion.“In short, including preseason and postseason games played, this is Wilson’s fourth suspension in his last 105 games, an unprecedented frequency of suspensions in the historyof the Department of Player Safety,” the NHL video says.The Capitals see Wilson as a vital part of the franchise Mike Reilly Jersey , and general manager Brian MacLellan signed him to a $31 million, six-year contract this offseason.During a conference call with reporters in July to discuss his new deal, Wilson spoke about how he needed to adjust his playing style.“It would be stubborn on my part not to admit that the game is changing. There is definitely an eye on that part, the physical part of the game, in the NHL right now. I want to be contributing. I want to be a part of the success of the group. If I’m not going to adapt and change with the times, I’m not going to be able to do that. I want to be on the ice and not in the box or not in the stands,” Wilson said at the time.“That physical part of my game is always going to be there. That’s the nature of who I am. That’s how I play the game. I’m not going to let anyone take that away from me,” he added. “But I have to be smart about it. You’ve got to play within the rules.”Wilson doubled his career high with 14 goals and set a new mark with 35 points last season, when he was the only NHL forward with 30-plus points and 90-plus penalty minutes, finishing with 187 and a league-high 41 minors. Then he contributed 15 points in 21 games during Washington’s run to its first championship.“There are certain ways they are calling things. You need to be aware of how they’re making their calls on suspensions. He’s a big, strong guy who skates really well. There is a lot of force behind his contact,” MacLellan said Tuesday, the day before the suspension was issued. “He needs to be aware of how they’re determining what’s legal and what’s illegal from the league’s standpoint.” PITTSBURGH (AP) — Olli Maatta and Matt Cullen scored 11 seconds apart in the first period, Matt Murray stopped 33 shots and the surging Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Winnipeg Jets 4-0 on Friday night for their eighth straight victory.Maatta got his first goal since last March when his shot on the power play beat Connor Hellebuyck with 5:41 left in the first period. Cullen added his fourth when Zach Aston-Reese’s centering pass went airborne and caromed off Cullen’s left shoulder and into the net. Dominik Simon also scored for Pittsburgh, picking up his sixth of the season when what appeared to be a spectacular save by Hellebuyck was overturned on replay.Murray made the lead stand up to extend his personal winning streak to seven, tying a career best. One point out of the Eastern Conference cellar in mid-November, the Penguins have won 10 of 11 overall to close in on defending Stanley Cup champion Washington in the competitive Metropolitan Division.Hellebuyck finished with 29 saves for Winnipeg but the Jets remained winless in Pittsburgh since 2007, when the Jets played in Atlanta.HURRICANES 4, BLUE JACKETS 2RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Greg McKegg had a goal and an assist in his Carolina debut and the Hurricanes beat Columbus.McKegg was recalled from Charlotte of the AHL on an emergency basis earlier in the day after Carolina placed Jordan Staal on injured reserve. Playing in his first NHL game since November 2017 Womens Paul Byron Jersey , the journeyman center had an assist in the first period and scored the decisive goal in the second to lift the Hurricanes to their third straight win.It was the first multi-point game of McKegg’s six-year career.Micheal Ferland, Dougie Hamilton and Sebastian Aho added goals for Carolina. Curtis McElhinney stopped 22 shots in his second straight win after four consecutive losses.Oliver Bjorkstrand and Artemi Panarin scored 25 seconds apart in the second period for the Blue Jackets. Sergei Bobrovsky surrendered three goals on 16 shots before being pulled midway through second period.RED WINGS 4, PREDATORS 3, OTDETROIT (AP) — Dylan Larkin scored with 24.9 seconds left in overtime as Detroit won for the first time in seven games.Andreas Athanasiou, Thomas Vanek and Tyler Bertuzzi also scored for Detroit, which had gone 0-4-2 in its last six games. Jimmy Howard stopped 27 shots.Defenseman P.K. Subban, Craig Smith and Ryan Johansen scored for Nashville. Pekka Rinne made 35 saves.Larkin beat Rinne with a backhander from the slot as he cut in from the left point for the winner. It was Larkin’s 18th goal.Johansen tied it 3-3 with 1:16 left in regulation and Rinne pulled for the extra attacker.STARS 2, CAPITALS 1, OTDALLAS (AP) — Tyler Seguin’s second goal of the game 3:37 into overtime lifted Dallas past Washington.Anton Khudobin made 36 saves, including the stop of a backhand by T.J. Oshie 1 1/2 minutes into overtime, to help Dallas complete a 3-0-1 homestand.Seguin’s winner, his fourth goal in two games, came after Alexander Radulov skated behind the net and passed across to Seguin at the right of the net.Lars Eller scored for Washington, which has lost three straight (0-2-1) and is tied with Pittsburgh in points atop the Metropolitan Division. The Capitals have played one fewer game than Pittsburgh, which beat Winnipeg earlier Friday.Washington rookie goalie Pheonix Copley had 27 saves but saw his seven-game winning streak end.AVALANCHE 6, RANGERS 1DENVER (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen scored power-play goals early in the first period, helping Colorado end a six-game slide.Gabriel Landeskog added a goal off his right skate, Alexander Kerfoot tipped in a shot, Rantanen deflected in yet another and Ryan Graves closed out the scoring with his first career NHL goal as a struggling Avalanche squad won for the first time since Dec. 19.Colorado finished 3 of 10 on the power play, with two of the goals scored following a 5-minute boarding call on former Avalanche player Cody McLeod just 2 1/2 minutes in.Philipp Grubauer made 24 saves Authentic Shea Weber Jersey , including one on a penalty shot by Jimmy Vesey late in the third.Ryan Strome scored the Rangers‘ lone goal midway through third period, and Alexandar Georgiev finished with 41 saves.Tyson Barrie had three assists to give him 278 career points, the most by a defenseman in franchise history. Barrie broke the mark held by John-Michael Liles.GOLDEN KNIGHTS 3, DUCKS 2ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Max Pacioretty scored in his return to the Vegas lineup and the Golden Knights won their fifth straight.Tomas Nosek had a goal and an assist, and Nate Schmidt also scored to help the Golden Knights improve to 6-0-2 in their last eight games. Marc Andre-Fleury made 25 saves.Daniel Sprong and Carter Rowney scored for the Ducks, who dropped to 0-5-2 in their last seven games. John Gibson made 39 saves.Vegas has won the first three games of the teams’ four-game season series.DEVILS 3, COYOTES 2, SOGLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Keith Kinkaid stopped 21 shots and had two saves in a shootout, lifting New Jersey to its fourth win in six games.Kinkaid, who entered after MacKenzie Blackwood left with a lower-body injury in the first period, stopped Alex Galchenyuk and Nick Cousins in the shootout. Kyle Palmeiri and Drew Stafford scored in the tiebreaker for the Devils.In regulation, New Jersey’s Nico Hischier scored his 11th goal on a shot that didn’t go into the net and Blake Coleman had his 12th of the season.Arizona’s Darcy Kuemper made a pair of spectacular saves in overtime, swiping a puck out of the crease after it trickled through on one, snatching another shot from a seated position on another. He allowed goals on the two shots he faced in the shootout and finished with 33 saves.Coner Garland and Christian Fischer scored in regulation for the Coyotes, who have lost 11 of 15.