Zach Aston-Reese
Zach Aston-Reese suffered a broken jaw and a concussion as a result of Tom Wilson's hit during Game 3. Pictured: Zach Aston-Reese #46 of the Pittsburgh Penguins skates off of the ice after getting hit by Tom Wilson #43 of the Washington Capitals during the second period in Game Three of the Eastern Conference Second Round during the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at PPG PAINTS Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, May 1, 2018. Kirk Irwin/Getty Images

Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson was involved yet again in an injury to an opposition player as a shoulder-to-head collision with Pittsburgh Penguins forward Zach Aston-Reese left the latter with a broken jaw and concussion during Game 3 of their Eastern Conference series Tuesday night.

The incident occurred in the second period of the game with Aston-Reese bleeding on the ice before being taken out of the game while Wilson was not given a penalty for his actions.

The Penguins, who ended up losing 4-3, announced after the game that the 23-year-old will require surgery on his jaw in what will likely keep him out for the remainder of the NHL playoffs.

"When we have a big hit like that, and there’s a lot of stuff going on on the ice, our guys come together — because obviously both referees didn’t put their arm up, so obviously they didn’t think there was a penalty," NHL on-site supervisor Paul Devorski told pool reporters. "So now they bring in the linesmen, who if they think it’s a major penalty, they’ll tell the referees. So they all got together and they said, 'You know what, we’ve got a good, clean check here.'"

The incident follows right after Wilson's collision with Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin in Game 2 on Sunday, where he hit the 26-year-old in the head that resulted in him being out of the rest of the game.

The Canadian was not given a penalty for that incident either as Dumoulin was turning his head as Wilson initiated the hit. Wilson, who was previously suspended twice for illegal hits during the preseason, insisted the incident with Dumoulin was something he could not avoid.

"I’m at no point trying to target the head at all," Wilson said after the game. "Unfortunately there’s a collision there. You know what, I’ve watched it briefly, and I don’t realize what I can really do any different."

"At the last second, I see Ovi coming in and you can see me bracing, as well, and I end up getting kind of taken out as well," he said.

However, it is just one of many incidents as he also injured Columbus Blue Jackets’ Alexander Wennberg during their first round series last month as NBC Sports writer Adam Gretz reflected on Wilson avoiding discipline from the NHL Department of Player Safety before Game 3.

"He always seems to find himself in these positions. He always seems to find himself at the center of the controversial play where 'there is nothing else he could have done,' or 'the contact could not be avoided,' or 'there was not a clear view of what happened,'" Gretz wrote.

"No matter the situation, no matter the hit, no matter the result, there is an always an excuse for why it was okay or why it shouldn't have been elevated to the level of supplemental discipline. The story of his career to this point can probably be summed up as: Hey, that was probably a bad hit with an unfortunate result for the guy on the receiving end of it but there just wasn’t enough evidence to suspend him … this time," he added.

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