'There's already a biased opinion:' Capitals forward defends Tom Wilson after latest controversy

The Washington Capitals are playing the New York Rangers Wednesday one game after Tom Wilson was handed a $5,000 fine for his role in a scrum between the teams.

They're trying to make up points on the first-place Pittsburgh Penguins, and they'll be short-handed without Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Ilya Samsonov, plus TJ Oshie is returning from a one-game absence for the death of his father.

But the focus is on Wilson and how the Rangers will respond after putting out a statement that the league failed to do its duty by not suspending him.

And the reason, teammate Lars Eller says, is the incident was blown out of proportion because of bias against Wilson.

"I’ve played in the league for a while and I’ve seen a lot worse things happen. I don’t think people see things clearly when it comes to Tom, with things that he’s involved in," Eller told reporters. "I think there’s already a biased opinion. I’m not just talking about random people. I’m talking about TV people, journalists, people that have a voice and are using it."

Wilson was fined for punching Rangers forward Pavel Buchnevich in the head while he was down on the ice. As the scrum progressed, Artemi Panarin tried to pull Wilson off another player and was body slammed by Wilson to the ice, causing him to suffer a season-ending lower body injury.

DISCIPLINARY HISTORY: A look at Tom Wilson's suspensions and fines

The Rangers called it a "horrifying act of violence" and said league disciplinarian George Parros was no longer fit to serve in his job.

But Eller pointed out that Tuesday night, Penguins star Sidney Crosby and Philadelphia Flyers forward Travis Konecny were wrestling behind the net. Konecny had Crosby in a headlock, then Crosby drove Konecny to the ice and punched him.

The difference in the reaction? It wasn't Wilson, Eller said.

"It’s not like this hasn’t happened before in this game," he said. "I don’t want to see players get injured. I think once Panarin decides to jump on Tom’s back, when you decide to enter the scrum like that, you start wrestling with a guy, you have to be ready to wrestle someone. …

"It was a very unfortunate outcome for Panarin in this situation, but it’s not really stuff that we haven’t seen before. I don’t think it was that big of a deal. I think it’s being made a big deal because it was Tom."

The Rangers didn't announce any call-ups before the game and didn't hold a pregame media availability. They then announced the firing of team president John Davidson and general manager Jeff Gorton before the game.

Capitals coach Peter Laviolette said he read the Rangers' statement on Wilson, but the focus at the pregame skate was on preparing for an important game.

“It’s hard to say how a game is going to play out," he said. "We’re going to be ready to play a game. The points are important. We’re battling for first place. We’re trying to keep our guys focused on that.”

Said Eller: "I don’t know what to expect, but I’m prepared for anything. But at the same time, I’m going to try to go out and play the game the way it’s supposed to be played."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tom Wilson incident blown out of proportion, Capitals teammate says