No suspension for Capitals forward Tom Wilson

Brendan Shanahan explained on Thursday why the NHL will not suspend Tom Wilson for his hit on Brayden Schenn.

By Adam Gretz Dec 19, 2013, 7:19pm EST

Tom Wilson had a disciplinary hearing with the NHL on Thursday for his hit on Philadelphia Flyers forward Brayden Schenn earlier this week. It was expected that Wilson would probably receive at least a game or two for his charging penalty that resulted in a game misconduct.

As it turns out, the NHL did not see it that way.

The league announced on Thursday evening that Wilson will not be disciplined for the hit. Here is Brendan Shanahan with the rare explanation for a play that didn't result in a suspension. Shanahan said the league believes Schenn's last-second turn contributed to the violence of the hit, then went into a detailed explanation of how an NHL forecheck works and that it wasn't Wilson's intent to finish the check until he was already inside the offensive zone face-off circle.

Wilson received a five-minute major and a game misconduct for charging. The Flyers scored a pair of goals on the ensuing power play and went on to win the game, 5-2.

Schenn left the game with an "upper body injury" but is not expected to miss any additional time.