According to a report from the well trusted Elliotte Friedman, it looks like Artemi Panarin might be done for the rest of the season. It was during the second period when the Rangers’ top scorer got involved during a scrum with Caps’ pest Tom Wilson. He drove Panarin face first into the ice. He didn’t return to the game.
Panarin picked up two assists prior to the fracas with Wilson, who delivered cheap shots on Pavel Buchnevich, Ryan Strome and then Panarin. The Rangers were calling it a lower body injury following the game. What that means is anyone’s guess. It could be a leg injury or who knows. If Friedman is correct, don’t expect to see Panarin the remaining three games.
Obviously, with the rematch not until Wednesday night, this allows the NHL enough time to decide what kind of supplementary discipline Wilson should face. Having already been suspended earlier this season, he could be facing a lengthier ban that could extend into the playoffs. A repeat offender who can’t seem to stay out of trouble despite being a key contributor to the Caps, it looks like Wilson could earn the entire first round off.
If he is suspended, then the Rangers won’t be able to get retribution for Wilson’s disrespectful actions. However, the calendar could be circled the next time they meet the Caps in ’21-22.
The NHL allows physical players to thrive with long careers at the expense of talented players. Consider the list of regular seasosn games played by the players below.
Matt Martin 744, Pat Lafontaine 865, Mike Bossy 752, Milan Lucic 1008, Dale Hunter 1407
For some reason they continue to believe fans would prefer to watch Tom Wilson play than Artemi Panarin.
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Matt Martin is mostly clean and doesn’t have much of a history. I wanted him on the Rangers. Bossy retired due to a bad back. LaFontaine obviously had concussion issues. That was a different era. Lucic used to be a dominant power forward. Sure. He’s done stuff. But not to the extent we’ve seen from Cooke, Torres, Wilson, Simon. Wilson isn’t just a goon either. He’s actually a good player which makes it more mystifying. He just lost it. Hunter was a good player who put up over 1,000 points. Albeit cheap with the ridiculous shot on Turgeon in the ’93 playoffs getting him a big suspension.
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