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Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson has had his 20-game suspension reduced to 14 by a neutral arbitrator and is eligible to play immediately.
Wilson served 16 games of his suspension for an illegal check to the head of St. Louis forward Oskar Sundqvist in each team’s preseason finale.
The ruling by the arbitrator, Shyam Das, allowed Wilson, 24, to return to the lineup Tuesday night at Minnesota, and he will recoup $378,049 of the $1.26 million he forfeited as part of the suspension. Wilson, playing on the first line with Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov, scored in the first period, and was called for goaltender interference on the play. He got in a fight with Marcus Foligno in the second. The Capitals beat the Wild, 5-2.
The 20-game ban handed down by the N.H.L.’s department of player safety came after Wilson was suspended three previous times in 13 months.
“Some hits, he’s going to have to avoid; they’re too risky,” Capitals General Manager Brian MacLellan said. “He’s going to have to avoid some hits and he’s going to have to let up on some hits also.”
Commissioner Gary Bettman upheld Wilson’s suspension on appeal before it went to Das, who earlier this season reduced Nashville forward Austin Watson’s domestic-violence suspension to 18 games from 27.
Since September 2017, Wilson had been suspended two preseason games for interference against the Blues’ Robert Thomas, four games for boarding the Blues’ Sammy Blais and three playoff games for an illegal check to the head of Pittsburgh’s Zach Aston-Reese.
“I’ve had lots of time to think about it and dissect parts of my game,” Wilson told reporters in St. Paul after the Capitals’ morning skate. “At full speed, the rink’s not getting any bigger and guys are getting stronger and faster. Some of those hits at full speed, whether I can or can’t make those anymore and just putting myself in a good position not to have the ball in their court and make sure I’m controlling my end of it and make sure I’m controlling what I can do.”
Das, while agreeing that Wilson did violate the rules, also wrote that “the length of the 20-game suspension imposed was not supported by substantial evidence” and decided on 14 by treating the three-game playoff suspension as six, doubling it given Wilson’s history and adding two games for Sundqvist’s concussion and shoulder injury.
“The league did what they thought was appropriate,” Aston-Reese said recently when asked about Wilson’s latest suspension. “When the league comes down like that, you’ve always got to rethink your game.”
Das was fired by Major League Baseball in 2012 after he overturned Ryan Braun’s drug suspension.
ISLANDERS 5, CANUCKS 2 Tom Kuhnhackl scored two unusual goals to help the host Islanders end a three-game skid.
Kuhnhackl tied the score, 1-1, as he swiped a backhander from his knees while falling down below the left circle, and the puck sneaked in between Jacob Markstrom’s right pad and the post at 5 minutes 11 seconds of the first period.
Kuhnhackl also scored at 3:26 of the third as Jordan Eberle’s pass from the right corner deflected off Kuhnhackl’s stick, a Vancouver defenseman’s stick, and then Kuhnhackl’s skate and in to give the Islanders a 4-2 lead. The goal stood after a video review, giving Kuhnhackl his first career multigoal game.
Eberle, Josh Bailey and Kyle Clutterbuck also scored for the Islanders, and Thomas Greiss stopped 22 shots.
“Just because it’s not April doesn’t mean it’s not a must-win,” Clutterbuck said. “You don’t want to give a five-game winning streak back. We knew today we had to dig in and win it.”
DEVILS 4, PENGUINS 2 Taylor Hall scored the winning goal on a breakaway at 8:07 of the third period and added an empty-net tally to help the host Devils send Pittsburgh to its sixth loss in seven games.
Hall also had two assists, and Travis Zajac and Damon Severson each had a goal and an assist to help the Devils snap a three-game losing streak and improve to 6-1-1 at home. Keith Kinkaid had 29 saves for the Devils, who were coming off a 1-6 trip.
Phil Kessel and Jake Guentzel scored for the Penguins, and Casey DeSmith had 31 saves in his third straight start.
Hall’s winner came a little less than four minutes after Guentzel scored. It came on a quick counterattack. Kyle Palmieri sent a pass from the defensive end to Zajac at the Penguins’ blue line. Zajac sent a pass to Hall coming down the middle, and Hall made one move and slid a soft shot between DeSmith’s legs.
“Not just a win, but an effort we can be proud of,” said Hall, last season’s Most Valuable Player. “It’s not an effort where we solely relied on our goaltender to steal a game. We did a good job of eliminating chances against a high-powered team.”
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