PITTSBURGH — If this series were being played a generation ago, Tom Wilson has a firm idea of how he would have greeted Kris Letang.
“I’d love to be able to go out there and drop the gloves and grab Letang,” Wilson said, “but it’s a new age. It’s not old-school hockey anymore.”
Semantics prevent Wilson from doing that on Wednesday, with Letang suspended one game for an open-ice hit on Marcus Johansson. Self-control, he believes, should dissuade him from doing it in the future.
A second-round playoff series that has been marked by a number of high-profile hits will resume with Game 4 on Wednesday, with players on both the Washington Capitals and the Pittsburgh Penguins, the series leader, understanding that a fine line separates physicality and aggression.
It’s one thing to try to hit an opponent in an attempt to separate him from the puck. It’s another to do so with retaliation in mind, especially considering the effect the next big collision could have on a series.
“Anybody can go out there and run around and just look for hits all game,” Capitals defenseman Karl Alzner said. “You have to be able to do it within the rules. … That’s how everybody needs to tailor their game, and we’re working on it.”
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Letang’s hit in Game 3 on Monday followed that of Brooks Orpik, who received a three-game suspension for one on Olli Maatta in Game 2, and that of Wilson, who was fined after a knee-to-knee hit on Conor Sheary in the opener.
What was envisioned as a hard-fought, high-profile meeting between two top teams in the Eastern Conference has instead degenerated into a persistent discussion about player safety. The challenge, then, is to restore some sense of discipline in time for subsequent games to unfold.
“Guys are trying to make those hits and to play hard, but there’s obviously a line there and we’ve seen a couple of unfortunate circumstances,” Wilson said. “That’s happened all year — and that’s what player safety is for.”
The Capitals entered the series knowing that their rugged play would be an asset against the fleet-footed Penguins. Over time, they believed, they would be able to wear down their opponents with their imposing forecheck and by maintaining an overall heavier presence on the boards.
Consider the way they handled Letang, the perennial Norris Trophy candidate and fleet-footed skater who is tasked with, and enjoys, carrying the puck out of his own zone. Though a fairly subjective stat, the Capitals were credited with 58 hits on Monday, including 10 on Letang, who noticed the increased attention.
Washington could have found ways to retaliate after Letang’s hit on Johansson — right wing T.J. Oshie fought the Philadelphia Flyers’ Brayden Schenn seconds after an opening faceoff in the first round because of a cheap shot on Evgeny Kuznetsov — but mostly resisted the temptation.
SEE ALSO: Penguins’ Kris Letang suspended one game for hit on Capitals’ Marcus Johansson
After being slashed by Daniel Winnik late in the first period, Letang was knocked twice by Johansson within 20 seconds in the second and then later collided with Alex Ovechkin — which led to another collision as Nicklas Backstrom ended up tipping over him and kneeing him in the head.
“I mean, it’s playoff hockey right now,” Letang said after the game. “Nobody don’t want to give any inches. You’ll take a punch, you’ll take slashes, you’re going to take [hits] all over the ice. That stuff happens. Emotions are pretty high right now.”
That, for Letang, is the upside of the one-game ban. Already dogged by heavy minutes over the first week of the series — including a career-high 35:22 in Game 2 — the defenseman will go four full days between games, alleviating the punishment that has followed him.
Still, he said, the playoffs are much tougher than the regular season, calling the physical aspect of the postseason part of the game.
“In the playoffs, everybody’s playing with an edge,” Capitals coach Barry Trotz said. “I don’t think you can watch any series and say that no one is. You’ve got to play between the whistles and you’ve got to stay in the moment so that you don’t go over that edge. Sometimes it’s a fine line. You have to make decisions. It’s an emotional game and your reactions — sometimes they have consequences and sometimes they don’t.”
In referring to the surrender of the series lead on Monday night, Trotz made reference to the first-round matchup between the Capitals and the New York Islanders last season, when Washington trailed after three games before claiming the victory in seven.
But, he said Tuesday, that series was also notable for the way the Capitals handled the comeback. Through the later games, Washington had worn down and exhausted its quicker opponent — feeding its belief that such a pattern may hold true again.
“When the Capitals are playing that way, that’s our best hockey,” Wilson said. “When you’re hitting guys, it means that you’re in on the forecheck and you’re playing hard. We’re not looking to change. We’re looking to play Game 4 exactly the way we played Game 3 — hard and intense.”
• Zac Boyer can be reached at zboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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