Boston Bruins
Wilson KO’s Bruins’ Carlo With Violent, Dirty & Unpenalized Hit
BOSTON – Brandon Carlo was knocked out of Friday night’s Capitals/Bruins game at TD Garden after a vicious, dirty head shot from Tom Wilson in the corner with a couple of minutes to go in the first period. Carlo was battling with Jakub Vrana for the puck behind the Boston net and turned to get it out of the zone when Wilson left his skates to deliver a finishing hit directly to Carlo’s head.
The 6-foot-5 Bruins defenseman immediately went to the ice clutching his head and Vrana inexplicably delivered a pair of cross-checks to Carlo’s neck after Wilson had already targeted his head with the nasty hit. A dazed Carlo was eventually helped off the ice by the Boston Bruins medical staff after gathering himself, but somehow the referees on the ice didn’t make a single penalty call on the violent, clearly dangerous play by, guess who, Wilson.
Tom Wilson hits Brandon Carlo up high.
Carlo needs help getting off the ice. pic.twitter.com/RgACye1H7l
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) March 6, 2021
The lack of a penalty call is confounding given how much of a problem head shots and concussions have become in the NHL, and how often Wilson steps over that line and injures opponents with reckless hits.
The collision came at the end of another physical, hard-hitting period from the Bruins ands Capitals with Charlie McAvoy missing a shift after getting the worst of a massive collision with Garnet Hathaway in front of the benches earlier in the period. The nastiness in Friday night’s game was fairly predictable given the skirmishes between Trent Frederic and Alex Ovechkin in Wednesday night’s shootout loss for the Bruins, but Wilson’s predatory, dangerous hit took it to a different level.
The officials on the ice didn’t do anything about Wilson’s head shot, but one would expect that the NHL’s Department of Player Safety will be getting involved with the Capitals power forward, who is no stranger to suspensions and supplemental discipline.
During the first intermission, Boston Bruins alternate captain Brad Marchand didn’t hold back when discussing what he termed ‘a fucking cheapshot’.
“That was a bullshit hit,” Marchand told Sophia Jurkstowicz. “Brando had his head down in the corner and he took a liberty on a guy that was in a vulnerable spot. So that’s a fucking cheapshot there and we lost a great player.”
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This guy is the dirtiest player in the game he makes Claude Lemieux look like a choir boy. This is going to be a long suspension for Wilson but it doesn’t help Carlo he was having a an amazing year
I mean…
1. Tom Wilson never left his feet. Yes his right skate was up slightly as he was going in for the hit.
2. Vrana cross checked once as Carlo was going down. Then Grezlyck pushed Vrana into Carlo who’s stick slid from his lower back up to his head.. I wouldn’t call it “cross-check to his neck”
Anyway, it’s all in the video. Still a dirty hit by Wilson hopefully the DOPS gives him the suspension he deserves!
Story was written immediately after the hit. After reviewing it many, many times, I agree with you on Wilson not leaving his feet. That is not within the NHL’s criteria for a player launching. But Vrana had no business having his stick in there on a player that just suffered a head shot, so I’d call that exactly as I see it. A cowardly cross-check from a player hitting somebody going down to the ice. I would call it a cross-check to the neck. Agreed on DOPS.
I guess I wouldn’t where he never cross checked him in the neck… It happened so fast Vrana didn’t know what kind of trouble Carlo was in.
If any team can recognize dirty unorganized plays, it’s the Bruins.