Tom Wilson had the hockey world talking yet again after laying the boom on Montreal Canadiens defenseman Alexandre Carrier in Game 4 on Sunday night.
The massive, momentum-shifting body check fueled a third-period comeback that delivered the Capitals a 5-2 win and moved them one win away from the second round. In part because of the brutal nature of the hit and how it turned the game on its head, the Canadiens were clearly unhappy with the officiating of the play postgame.
Rookie goaltender Jakub Dobeš, who took the loss in Montreal’s net, was particularly vocal about his unhappiness with multiple plays he deemed poorly officiated. He called out Wilson’s freight training of Carrier, which led directly to Brandon Duhaime’s game-tying tally, as a particularly notable example.
“I felt like it’s going to be a whistle because they were in their defensive zone and far away, but I guess I don’t really know the rules,” Dobeš said. “I feel like it should have been a whistle. It was kind of a scary hit, but I guess the rules don’t apply for everyone in this league. I have no idea.”
Carrier almost immediately got up after collecting himself on the ice for a split second, making Dobeš’s complaint about no whistle confusing. Despite Carrier slowly making his way off the ice and temporarily giving the Caps a numerical advantage, Duhaime still needed to go one-on-one with defenseman Mike Matheson and see his shot bounce off Habs forward Cole Caufield to score the goal.
Carrier initially stayed on Montreal’s bench, icing his neck, but eventually made his way back to the team’s locker room and did not finish the game. Habs head coach Martin St. Louis had no update on the 28-year-old defenseman after the game and didn’t provide anything further on Monday either.
“He’s a warrior,” St. Louis said Sunday night. “He’s consistent. You know exactly what you are going to get. It’s hard to see him go out on a play like that.”
Dobeš was also upset about a play from earlier in the game involving Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin and Canadiens center Jake Evans. Ovechkin was assessed a two-minute minor penalty for interference on Evans with 1:58 remaining in the second period.
After Evans made a clear against the Capitals’ power play, Ovechkin laid him out in open ice, much to the chagrin of the home crowd and the Canadiens’ bench. Evans was not hurt on the play and was never pulled from the game by a concussion spotter.
“I seriously don’t understand why it happened,” Dobeš said. “I feel like the game was pretty much over when Ovi took a hit on Jake. I think it was at least a suspension for a game, but I guess not.”
“I don’t want to point fingers,” the rookie added. “I never, ever do that. As a hockey player, I’ve never ever done it. I don’t want to be specific about who could be better. I just hope we don’t get these referees in Washington, that’s it. I’m not going to point fingers.”
St. Louis backed up his goalie’s overall discontent with the night’s officiating, insinuating his belief that the Capitals bought calls from the officials by diving or embellishing contact.
“I’ll be careful with my words, but it’s hard to watch some of these calls,” St. Louis said. “Tonight, the mandate was about embellishing. [General manager Kent Hughes] talks with the supervisor each game day. We are told the things they want to clean up. Embellishment was one of them.”
Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery said neither the officiating nor Montreal’s response had much impact on the Capitals’ overall strategy, though he acknowledged that he could get plenty emotional about calls in the moment.
“It doesn’t affect anything I do or we do. The refs are the refs, and officiating I don’t even bother. If you get wrapped up in that stuff, for me, it’s counterproductive. You’re going to get some calls. You’re not going to get some calls. You’re going to like some calls. Now, in the moment, I’m as fiery, passionate as anybody is. It’s OK to be frustrated, and then you’ve got to reset, move on.
“I just always look at it as it usually evens out in the wash, and you’re going to get some calls you like, and you’re going to get some calls that you don’t like. Let’s worry about killing the penalty or scoring on the power play and move on, and that’s sort of what I try to do after that moment of maybe frustration, and I try to echo it to our guys. We’ll go out and do everything we can to earn power plays and make sure we’re not taking penalties. And however the officials call the game, we’ll adapt and move on and make sure that we’re focused on what we’re doing on the ice.”
Despite the public complaining about several plays in the game, the only issue from the matchup addressed by the NHL’s Department of Player Safety was a warmups interaction between Dylan McIlrath and Arber Xhekaj. The two enforcers were fined $2,018.23 and $3,385.42, respectively, for “unsportsmanlike conduct,” while the Capitals and Canadiens were also fined $25,000 each.
Sunday night’s Game 4 was the first game of the series where the Capitals had more power plays (5) than the Canadiens (4). Overall in the series, the Canadiens have received 13 power plays, the fifth-most in the NHL, compared to the Capitals receiving 10, which is tied for second-to-last in the playoffs.
Game 5 will see the series return to DC and give the Capitals their first chance to eliminate the Canadiens and move on to the second round. Puck drop for the game is set for 7:00 pm inside Capital One Arena.
