NHL: Retaliation by Islanders Will Give Capitals Upper Hand

During the second period of Game 4, Washington Capitals right winger Tom Wilson delivered a vicious check on New York Islanders defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky. New York players and fans took exception to the hit made by Wilson, which knocked Visnovsky out of the remainder of the Game. Visnovsky will also not play in Game 5 due to an “upper body” injury. This likely means a concussion. Since the Capitals’ 2-1 overtime victory late Tuesday night, there has been a war of words between both the Islanders and Capitals about the play.

Immediately following the game, Islanders right winger Kyle Okposo called Wilson an idiot. Wilson responded yesterday to this telling Newsday’s Mark Hermann, “I think everyone in the room felt it was fairly clean.”

“We could have easily hit a lot of guys like that too,” Islanders center John Tavres said about the incident, “But we stay within the rules and play the game the right way… it was just a complete target of a defenseless player.”

During the Capitals Game 5 morning skate at Kettlers Capitals Iceplex, Tom Wilson again defended himself and the play.

“I thought the hit was pretty clean,” he said. “Every time I’m making a body check, I want to make it as clean as possible.”

Wilson was not disciplined by the NHL for the hit. However, he may not be out of the woods just yet as fans and media have brought up the possibility of retribution.

“If they want to seek retribution, so be it,” Wilson said regarding some kind of payback by New York. “We’re just going to continue to focus on the win.”

Teammate and fellow right winger Troy Brouwer went on to complement what Wilson said about being retaliated against.

“We can’t be worried about that,” Brouwer said. “We have just got to be prepared for another hard fought game.”

If the New York Islanders know what’s best for them, they’re better off sticking to their game plan in Game 5. Getting off their game and actively seeking retaliation is exactly what the Capitals and Tom Wilson want.

One of Wilson’s best attributes as a player is being an agitator. If the Islanders seek retribution, it plays right into the Capitals hands, especially on home ice.

“It’s almost a complement,” he said, “[that] they are so worried about me.”