Update: There will be no supplementary discipline for Ryan Reaves.
Golden Knights Reaves was ejected for his hit on Capitals Wilson
Jesse Granger: Ryan Reaves after the game on his hit on Tom Wilson: “I thought he was just looking at his pass, and ran into a lion in the jungle.”
SinBin.vegas: Reaves was told by the ref that he was given a game misconduct for the hit because Wilson was injured. Rule:
“When a player has been assessed a major penalty for any of the infractions listed in the Reference Tables – Table 7 – Summary of Major Penalties that Result in an Automatic Game Misconduct When There is an Injury to the Face or Head (page 137) and his opponent has suffered an injury to the face or head, a game misconduct must also be assessed.”
Adam Hill: Washington Capitals coach Todd Reirden on Reaves hit: “It’s a rivalry. There’s a good battle there, but (Reaves) targeted (Wilson) the entire game. You could hear it on every faceoff, you could hear the things that were being said.”
Adam Hill: Reirden continued: “It’s a blindside hit where an unsuspecting player hits his head on the ice. That’s disappointing. You can put two and two together, but he targeted him the entire game so you can figure that out from there.”
Tom Wilson hurt after blindside hit from Ryan Reaves pic.twitter.com/xsrs7LSMLd
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) December 5, 2018
Another look at Reaves on Wilson pic.twitter.com/Do2KnJ3EKr
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) December 5, 2018
Isabelle Khurshudyan: Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson has an “upper-body” injury according to the team.
It looked like Wilson suffered a concussion. The Capitals classify concussions under “upper-body” injuries.
Isabelle Khrshudyan: “Wilson might have hit his head on the ice after his helmet popped off. Doesn’t seem like the head contact came from Reaves. But I’m a bad judge of this stuff sometimes. That being said, DoPS doesn’t suspend for interference without head contact often. Not sure how they’ll view this one.”
Mark Spector: “Good angle on the Reaves hit. Waay late, so interference is warranted. Even a major. Wilson hits head on ice – Reaves shoulder gets all body. Nothing for @NHLPlayerSafety to see here.”
Ted Starkey: “Clearly looks like the damage done after he hit the ice, not so much in the hit itself other than losing his helmet.”
David Schoen: “It will be interesting to see how DoPS views this play. Normally, they don’t suspend players when the head is not the primary point of contact.”
Chris Kuc: “Dept. of Player Safety will look at Ryan Reaves’ hit on Tom Wilson. The fact it wasn’t a hit to the head works in Reaves’ favor. DoPS rarely suspends a player for late hits without head contact–but it has happened.”
