If you’re a fan of a hockey team that has a dynamic first line, you'd like to see that line succeed, right? In the case of the Washington Capitals, their top line of Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and Tom Wilson has been a great line and were causing problems for the Penguins in their playoff series.
We all know what happened next. Tom Wilson was suspended for his headshot on Zach Aston-Reese, and the Capitals had a decision to make on how to handle their lineup. For Barry Trotz, that decision was to replace Wilson with.