Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy revealed during his postgame press conference that defenseman Brandon Carlo was taken to the hospital in an ambulance after getting hit in the head by Capitals forward Tom Wilson during the first period of Friday night’s 5-1 Bruins win at TD Garden.
The play came late in the first period when Wilson lined up Carlo while he was tied up in a battle in the corner and finished with a high, hard hit into the side of a defenseless Carlo’s head, smashing Carlo’s head into the glass in the process.
Carlo had to be helped up but was able to glide to the bench on his own. Wilson was somehow not penalized on the play.
Cassidy said he felt the hit was “completely unnecessary, dirty.” As of his postgame press conference, he did not know if Carlo would be in the hospital overnight.
“He hit him clearly in the head,” Cassidy said. “Brandon’s in an ambulance, goes to the hospital, obviously from that hit. Clearly looked like to me he got him right in the head. Defenseless player. Predatory hit from a player that’s done that before. I don’t understand why there wasn’t a penalty called on the ice. They huddled up, but I did not get an explanation why. It’s out of our hands after that.
“We just have to play hockey and try to stick together as a team, play the right way. Sometimes when that stuff happens and there’s no call, the players kind of settle it on the ice in their own way. We felt that we pushed back and did what we could do and won the hockey game, and tried to let that particular player know that that was unnecessary. That’s how we handled it. That’s what I thought of the whole situation. I assume it’ll get looked at by the National Hockey League and they’ll make their decision.”
Jarred Tinordi, playing just his second game as a Bruin, dropped the gloves with Wilson in the second period, and the Bruins went on to score three times while Wilson was watching from the box. Trent Frederic also fought Wilson in the third period, marking their second bout this season.
During a first intermission interview on NESN, Brad Marchand called Wilson’s hit a “bull**** hit” and a “cheap shot.” Patrice Bergeron, who confronted Wilson before the start of the second period, said players have to pull up when someone’s in a vulnerable position like Carlo was.
“When a guy's in that position, stuck to the boards with his head down, I think you have to pull up,” Bergeron said. “That's definitely something that as players we've talked about getting rid of.”
Wilson has been suspended four times for bad hits in his career, most recently for 20 games in Oct. 2018 for a hit to the head of St. Louis' Oskar Sundqvist. The suspension ultimately ended after 16 games upon appeal.