RALEIGH, N.C. — Washington Capitals winger T.J. Oshie “won’t be playing anytime soon,” according to a livid coach Todd Reirden, after Warren Foegele of the Carolina Hurricanes cross-checked Oshie from behind into the boards.
Oshie looked to be in severe pain and left Thursday’s game with an upper-body injury, and Foegele was assessed a two-minute minor penalty.
Reirden and Capitals star Alex Ovechkin were angry that officials did not call a longer penalty.
“We have all those meetings. GMs make meetings with referees and watch the video — and it’s two minutes?” Ovechkin said. “We’re players and we have to go out there and play, but those guys (officials) have to make a decision. They can’t be afraid. If the guy hurt, it’s a dirty play, it has to be not two minutes. It has to be different call.”
Oshie, 32, stayed on the ice for several minutes clutching his right arm area, which appeared to be his first point of contact with the boards. Some reporters saw the team take him to the X-ray room in the arena after the game.
Oshie goes down hard at the boards, skates straight to tunnel. #CapsCanes pic.twitter.com/jkkHQGzZuL
— NBC Sports Capitals (@NBCSCapitals) April 19, 2019
Game 4 pivoted on the two-minute power play Washington received with 5:08 to go. While the Capitals certainly had the entire period to score and tie the game, it could have been a different story had the officials called a five-minute major penalty on the Foegele hit instead. Carolina held on to win 2-1 to tie the series 2-2.
Asked for an injury update on Oshie after the game, Reirden said, “Yeah, I can give you a quick recap of what happened there,” gearing up to criticize a play he qualified as “extremely dangerous.”
“That’s something that’s going to be reviewed by the league,” the coach said. “I just know that a defenseless player that’s a distance from the boards that can’t protect himself is in a vulnerable spot. As a result, we won’t be having a player, one of our key players, for quite some time.”
Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour did admit Oshie “was just not ready for the hit,” but didn’t call Foegele’s hit dirty.
“We have way more injuries than they do, so I don’t worry about their team,” Brind’Amour said.
Oshie has a long injury history that includes five known concussions and a broken ankle. He was also the Capitals’ second-leading goal scorer in the regular season with 25 (54 total points) and had one goal this postseason.
The Capitals plan to announce more information on Oshie’s injury Friday. The Capitals play Game 5 at home Saturday and return to Carolina for Game 6 the following Monday.
“If you think it’s not a dirty play, you have to watch it again,” Ovechkin added.
• Adam Zielonka can be reached at azielonka@washingtontimes.com.
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