WASHINGTON — Tom Wilson relished the role of villain again Thursday night.
The controversial Washington Capitals winger, already one of the most hated humans in the Pittsburgh area, left an imprint on the Penguins in their 5-2 loss to the Capitals at Capital One Arena. He sent one of them to the locker room early on with a reckless play then scored the game-winning goal with 7:20 left.
Wilson delivered his latest dangerous hit with about five minutes left in the first period. Mark Jankowski batted a puck out of the air at Washington’s blue line and was watching the play when Wilson approached him from his blind side.
Jankowski noticed Wilson late but either didn’t have time to react or expected him to let up. He did not. He barreled into the defenseless Penguins center and threw his left shoulder into his chest. Jankowski’s head snapped back as he tumbled to the ice. Jankowski immediately reached for his head as he laid there.
When Jankowski remained down in front of the penalty boxes, head athletic trainer Chris Stewart scurried across the ice to check him out. While Stewart did that, Wilson was barking from the box, loudly declaring, “Great [expletive] hit.”
The controversial Capitals winger added to whoever was listening that he thought his hit was only “two [expletive] milliseconds” late. However, it came about one full second after Jankowski batted the puck back into the Washington zone.
Jankowski went to the dressing room, where he stayed for the rest of the period. He was back for the second, hopefully after getting checked for a concussion.
Wilson was only assessed a minor penalty for interference but could be subject to further discipline from the Department of Player Safety, especially considering his track record. He has been suspended four times in his career and two seasons ago was given a 14-game ban and a hefty fine for an illegal hit to the head.
One of those suspensions came during the 2018 playoffs after Wilson broke Zach Aston-Reese’s jaw and gave the winger a concussion with a high, illegal hit.
The Penguins, who have had other run-ins with Wilson in the past, took umbrage. While Wilson was still in the box, Evgeni Malkin had words for him, one of them profane, during a stoppage in play. Moments later, Sam Lafferty and Wilson yapped at each other as they were returning to their respective benches.
Before the first period ended, Sidney Crosby went down in a heap after Lars Eller neither politely nor subtly used his stick to see if the captain’s cup worked.
Tempers cooled in the second. Then the Penguins mounted another comeback in the third, rallying from two goals down. But the Capitals clawed out a win.
Nicklas Backstrom got the first goal of the night midway through the first, coolly redirecting a beauty of a backdoor pass from Nick Jensen past Tristan Jarry.
T.J. Oshie made it 2-0 early in the third period with an impressive individual effort. Skating in 1-on-1 against Mike Matheson, the burly Capitals forward pulled the puck through the Penguins blue-liner then while falling poked it past Jarry.
Brandon Tanev scored his first short-handed goal of the season 64 seconds later to pull the Penguins back within a goal. He burst down the right wing, cut across the offensive zone then whipped a shot between the legs of Vitek Vanecek.
Three minutes later, Jake Guentzel powered out of the right corner to tie it up.
But an untimely penalty taken by Drew O’Connor would tip the game back into Washington’s favor. With the Capitals on their heels, the rookie hooked Evgeny Kuznetsov, giving another opportunity to one of the NHL’s top power plays.
With the Penguins already down a man, Kris Letang’s stick snapped. He did not bolt to the bench to get a new one nor did a forward hand Letang his stick. With Letang scrambling around without a stick, Wilson whacked home the winner.
The Capitals added two empty-netters, one after Letang broke another stick.
Jarry made 30 saves but allowed two goals on seven shots in the third period.
Thursday was Jarry’s sixth straight start. In his previous three, all of them wins for the Penguins, the 25-year-old goalie allowed two goals or fewer in each.
Pittsburgh entered Thursday with a 4-1-0 record against Washington in 2021. The Penguins defeated the Capitals, 3-2, in overtime here Tuesday. Kasperi Kapanen netted the winner, blasting a one-timer from the left circle past Vanecek.
The Penguins were playing their first game without Jason Zucker, who appeared to suffer a significant injury to his left leg during Tuesday’s win in Washington. Replacing him on the second line was Aston-Reese. Sam Lafferty got bumped up to the third line with Aston-Reese skating alongside Malkin and Bryan Rust.
The Penguins will continue their four-game road trip with back-to-back games against the New York Islanders at Nassau Coliseum on Saturday and Sunday.
