Not even the absence of Tom Wilson could keep the Capitals from acting up.
No, neither of the two incidents in the Penguins' 3-1 victory in Game 4 Thursday night at PPG Paints Arena are likely to get a reaction from the NHL's Department of Player Safety — hey, Wilson getting suspended was surprise enough — but both were still well beyond the norm, even in the context of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
At 9:21 of the second period, immediately after scoring the game's icebreaking goal, Jake Guentzel was forcefully crosschecked from behind by Washington defenseman Dmitry Orlov and, thus, into the right goalpost:
Not much to say there, except that hitting an opponent after a goal — never mind doing so with two hands on a stick from behind — is considered one of the ugliest offenses at all levels of hockey. Because the player who scored naturally lets up once the play is over and, obviously, is at peak vulnerability.
Such an incident in 1993 led to the longest suspension in NHL history at the time, when the Capitals' Dale Hunter received 21 games for plowing into the Islanders' Pierre Turgeon and separating his shoulder while the latter was celebrating a goal:
Now, Hunter's came way later, so the comparison doesn't extend far. But that, too, was a playoff, Game 6 of the Patrick Division final. And it was Gary Bettman, only three months into his term as NHL Commissioner, who meted out the punishment. This was before the old dinosaur guard got to Bettman and convinced him that players policing themselves is for the best.
Orlov's crosscheck, in full view of all four on-ice officials — given that, you know, Guentzel had just scored — didn't draw a penalty.
Definitely not 21 games. Probably not even one. But a minor?
The matter sure to be discussed more came in the final minute, just before Guentzel scored again into an empty net, when T.J. Oshie went Superman-flying into Kris Letang, leaping off his skates in a flagrant charge, to hit him high:
Letang, who had neck surgery a year ago and has had several concussions, didn't appear to appreciate it much. He chased down Oshie and, in a rarity, dropped his gloves to fight:
Neither really connected much, according to both, and neither was all that snarly about it afterward, either.
"Yeah, I mean, obviously, they're desperate," Letang said. "He was trying to forecheck on me. I thought it was a ... yeah, it was a high hit. But I don't think he went with his elbow to knock me out. It was just an emotional game. It was tight from the beginning to the end. So it was just good emotion."
“Just a forecheck," Oshie would say in the other room. "Saw a chance to hit him. He wasn’t happy with it. So he stuck up for himself, which I can respect.”
Earlier in the day, Oshie had strongly criticized the NHL's three-game suspension of Wilson for his head shot on Zach Aston-Reese that gave the latter a broken jaw and a concussion, saying, “It seems little by little we’re taking physicality out of the game. I agree with the dirty hits, the unnecessary hits, but this is playoff time. It’s man vs. man and one guy falls down. That’s just the way it goes.”
Bet everything that Oshie won't hear from the league, either. They largely think like that, too.
The four on-ice officials who ignored both fouls were referees Brad Watson and Francis Charron, as well as linesmen David Brisebois and Brad Kovachick.
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Penguins vs. Capitals, PPG Paints Arena, May 3, 2018. - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS