Capitals’ Tom Wilson in hot water once again after punching Pavel Buchnevich in head

Is Tom Wilson headed for another suspension?

Tom Wilson may very well be facing yet another lengthy suspension from the NHL less than two months after his last. On Monday, during the Washington Capitals game against the New York Rangers, Wilson drew the ire of his opponents — and hockey fans — after unnecessary extracurriculars against Pavel Buchnevich and Artemi Panarin.

In the second period, with the Rangers up 3-2 over the Capitals, Wilson clocked Buchnevich in the back of the head with a punch while the forward was laying face down on the ice after the whistle. The punch, and Wilson’s subsequent shove, ignited a scrum wherein the Capitals forward body slammed Panarin to the ice, before giving the Ranger a few punches to the head as well.

In total, another dirty incident with Wilson at the forefront.

Wilson, upon entering the penalty box, was seen flexing his muscles and smiling while chirping at the Rangers.

The fallout of Wilson’s extracurriculars was a 10-minute misconduct — and 14 total penalty minutes — but no ejection from the game. Meanwhile, Panarin did not return for the third period of the game due to a lower-body injury.

After the game, the Capitals engaged in a bit of trolling with this meme of Wilson.

https://twitter.com/Capitals/status/1389396106648244226

In postgame interviews, Rangers forward Mika Zibanejad called Wilson’s antics “horrible.”

The incident is yet another in a very long list of illegal plays from Wilson. Just two months ago on March 7, Wilson was suspended seven games for a reckless hit that sent Boston Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo to the hospital. Previously, Wilson had kept his record clean for a few years, with his last suspension happening in October 2018.

At this point, the onus is on the NHL for curbing Wilson’s incredibly stupid and dirty habits by throwing the book at him. Wilson’s biggest suspension — 20 games — came in that 2018 incident that saw him blindside Oskar Sundqvist with a hit to the head. After that suspension, Wilson played 151 clean — by the NHL’s standards — games over the course of two and a half seasons, a possible sign that the league’s messaging got through to him.

And yet, in the 2020-21 season, it clearly hasn’t. Between the seven-game suspension in March and possibly another hefty one on the way with the playoffs looming, the NHL has to contain Wilson’s on-ice play before he seriously injures someone.

There’s no questioning that this incident is yet another dirty and unnecessary one from Wilson. There’s no point in defending it or making excuses, or saying that the reaction to it is overblown. It’s clear that Wilson has not learned a lesson from his previous suspensions, despite appearances to the contrary, and the NHL must once again step up to the plate here.

I still think there’s room in the NHL for Wilson’s legal brand of tough offensive hockey — after all, the forward has been a pretty consistent 35 to 40 point scorer since 2017 — but he has to clean up his game if he wants to have a future in this league. We’ll see if the lesson, if the NHL even gives one out, sticks this time around.

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