Wednesday’s Hot Clicks: Tom Wilson Has Been So Dirty in This Penguins-Capitals Series

This is the second game in a row Tom Wilson has hit a Penguins player in the head.

The NHL has to do something now

Capitals winger Tom Wilson avoided discipline for his hit on Alexander Wennberg in the first round and his hit on Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin in Game 2, but I don’t think he’ll get off as easy in this case.

Wilson leveled Pittsburgh rookie Zach Aston-Reese with a nasty hit to the head in Tuesday night’s game that left Aston-Reese with a broken jaw and concussion. You can even see Wilson laughing at the end of that clip, which didn’t sit well with the Penguins. 

While you can make the case that the Dumoulin hit was accidental—even though it’s tough to give Wilson the benefit of the doubt—the latest hit definitely looks suspension worthy. Wilson left his feet, which is always a point of emphasis when the Department of Player Safety analyzes a hit, and struck Aston-Reese solidly in the head. 

That’s hockey at its worst. This game-winning goal by Alex Ovechkin, though, is hockey at its best.

How cool is this?

I wrote in Clicks a few weeks ago about how moved I was by the outpouring of support for the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team. It has just been amazing to see the entire sport of hockey rally around this small rural community. The Penguins hosted one of the survivors, Brayden Camrud, at their playoff game last night and I was struck by how the benches took a moment to recognize him.

The best thing I read yesterday

GQ has a really great story about a Ukranian man who posed as a high school student in Pennsylvania. You really can’t help but feel a bit bad for the guy. 

It reminds me a bit of this classic New Yorker story—“The Chameleon”—about a serial French imposter, only he was more malevolent. 

Bits & Pieces

Ken Giles gave up a ninth-inning homer to Gary Sanchez and punched himself in the face on the way off the field. ... This is a cool piece of art made entirely of thumb tacks. ... It’s Kentucky Derby season, which means it’s time for celebs to wear funky hats. ... Sweden admitted that Swedish meatballs aren’t actually Swedish. ... Drake decided to trash talk Kendrick Perkins, which is a bad idea. ... This is just an unbelievably bad error by a soccer goalie. 

Aren’t you hyped to tell Facebook your romantic preferences, too?

Facebook is launching its very own dating app, built within the main Facebook, because the lesson we’ve learned in recent weeks is that people need more Facebook in their lives.

“Your friends aren’t going to see your profile, and you’re only going to be suggested to people who are not your friends,” Mark Zuckerberg said when announcing the move, which is too bad. Everyone knows half the fun of those apps is when you match with someone you know. 

old enough to remember when facebook's dating service was called "the poke"

— Caitlin Kelly (@caitlin__kelly) May 1, 2018

You can’t beat local news

The guys who do the breaking news chyron at CNN could learn something from the Greenville News. pic.twitter.com/sxehyMLGbR

— Bryan Curtis (@bryancurtis) May 1, 2018

Sick of all these frivolous inquiries about my dustpan

Definitely not a hostage situation

Excited to announce I’m working with Eagles coach Doug Pederson on his memoir—Fearless, out Aug. 28. pic.twitter.com/i7nYfXbsiz

— Dan Pompei (@danpompei) May 1, 2018

Now that’s a quote

Talked with @treyquinn8 about being Mr. Irrelevant in the 2018 NFL Draft.

This is what he said:

“It’s the most ironic name for me. I went through my career and I set every record that I stepped foot in at every place. I think I might be the most relevant, irrelevant ever.” pic.twitter.com/K7FHbQahbt

— Taylor Gaither (@TaylorVerrico) April 30, 2018

You sure you wanna mess with him?

Fred VanVleet ain't backing down from LeBron James 👀👀👀

(via @clippittv) pic.twitter.com/igtsyADPaT

— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) May 2, 2018

One of the best characters on TV

A good song

Email dan.gartland@simail.com with any feedback or ping me on Twitter. Click here for previous editions of Hot Clicks. Visit our Extra Mustard page throughout each day for more offbeat sports stories.