TORONTO—Tom Wilson says he understands why he was benched in Game 5 and added that he intends to avoid putting himself (and his team) in that position again.
Wilson did not see the ice after being assessed a fourth minor penalty in the Capitals' 2-1 overtime victory on Friday night.
"It's unacceptable to take two penalties in a playoff game and, obviously, two coincidentals to add onto that," Wilson said after Sunday's morning skate. "I don't want to be in the box. I can't be in the box."
Wilson, who was the Caps' hero in Games 1 and 4, is tied for the playoff lead in minor penalties with six. (The Rangers' Mats Zuccarello has also been assessed six minors).
"I'm part of the penalty kill unit and I need to be on the ice," Wilson said. "At the end of the day, I'm not trying to take penalties, I'm trying to battle. …Barry [Trotz] doesn't want to leave it up to chance. There's no room for that. So you don't play."
Wilson's third penalty Friday night came after Matt Niskanen slashed Nazem Kadri, who earlier in the game had laid a controversial hit on Alex Ovechkin. Wilson said he didn't like Kadri's low hit on the Caps' captain or the way Kadri reacted to slash.
"I don't think anyone around the league would say that they like the hit as a player," Wilson said. "You have a chance to go straight up on someone and you bend down and go for the leg, you learn from a pretty young age not to do that."
Wilson added: "It's just one of those things, and then he kinda jumps in the air [after the slash]. I was just giving him a hard time and ended up getting a matching minor with him. But that's part of hockey—it's emotional. I wouldn't say I was too charged up. It's just part of my game and I ended up going to the box a little too much."
Wilson also said he'd love to eliminate his hometown team in their own rink. The Caps lead the series 3-games-to-2 and can do exactly that with a win Sunday.
"It would be awesome," he said. "I'm not going to sugarcoat it; it would be fun to win it here."
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