- Tom Wilson drew a 10-minute misconduct in the Capitals’ 5-1 loss to the Wild
- Spencer Carbery said Zach Bogosian embellished the high-sticking call that started the collapse
- Read below for the replay and what Carbery and Justin Sourdif said
Tom Wilson finished Sunday’s loss to the Minnesota Wild in the locker room, and the Capitals think a dive started it.
Wilson took a 10-minute misconduct after tackling Zach Bogosian late in a 5-1 Wild win. He had been sent off earlier in the third on a high-sticking call that Washington head coach Spencer Carbery said Bogosian sold.
The Wild led 2-1 with 3:50 left when Wilson pressured Bogosian along the boards. The sticks clanged together, Wilson’s flew up near Bogosian’s helmet, and the Wild defenseman snapped his head back. Referee Riley Brace called it.
The officials then sorted out who actually went to the box. Justin Sourdif was announced as the penalized player, and he had to be pulled out of the sin bin for Wilson. Here’s the replay and the mix-up:
Carbery was asked about the call after the game and didn’t hide his opinion.
Carbery said he counted three high-sticking calls against his team and didn’t like the last one. “I didn’t love that call, just based on the replay when I saw,” he said. “A young ref, he’s just making his way in the league, so it’s a tough call.”
Carbery was then asked whether he got an explanation. He said no, and he went right at Bogosian.
“These are veteran guys. It’s a veteran team, so Bogosian embellishes it,” Carbery said, gesturing a stick passing by a face. “His stick doesn’t even touch his face. Yeah, that’s all. Leave it at that.”
Sourdif talked about sitting out a penalty he didn’t take. He was just as frustrated with how the sequence played out.
“It’s super incidental,” Sourdif said. “I don’t know, obviously, with the rules, even if it grazes a guy’s helmet, maybe you’ve got to call it. But it’s obviously tough because we’re just out there playing super hard, trying to tie the game up.”
The Wild cashed in quickly. Maxim Shabanov scored 1:27 into the power play to make it 3-1 with 2:23 left. Watch the goal:
Kirill Kaprizov added an empty-netter, and Wilson lost it from there. He cross-checked Joel Eriksson Ek, tackled Bogosian to the ice, and threw his helmet down the ice before heading to the Wild bench and then down the tunnel. He ended with a cross-checking minor and the misconduct, good for 14 penalty minutes, his high for a single game this season.
Bogosian said he was just trying to help a teammate. “I really respect the way Tom plays and just how competitive he is,” he said.
Neither team was called for a penalty in the first two periods, which made the late whistle stand out even more. Washington had won three straight coming in. Wilson’s earlier hit that Jack Hughes bailed out on against the Devils was a very different kind of Wilson headline.
