Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson had his 20-game suspension reduced to 14 games by a neutral arbitrator on Tuesday and became eligible to play immediately Joakim Nordstrom Jersey Womens , scoring a goal and taking two penalties in 16:47 of ice time at Minnesota in a 5-2 win over the Wild .Wilson already served 16 games of his suspension for an illegal check to the head of St. Louis forward Oskar Sundqvist in each team’s preseason finale. The ruling by Shyam Das allowed Wilson to will recoup $378,049 of the $1.26 million he initially forfeited as part of the suspension.The 20-game ban handed down by the NHL’s department of player safety came after the 24-year-old Wilson was suspended three previous times in 13 months.“Some hits, he’s going to have to avoid. They’re too risky,” general manager Brian MacLellan said. “He’s going to have to avoid some hits and he’s going to have to let up on some hits also. You can’t have the same force because he hits hard and it looks bad, and sometimes he’s going to be evaluated on the force.”Commissioner Gary Bettman upheld Wilson’s suspension on appeal before it went to Das, the same arbitrator who earlier this season reduced Nashville forward Austin Watson’s domestic violence suspension from 27 games to 18.Since September 2017, Wilson had been suspended two preseason games for interference against the Blues’ Robert Thomas, four games for boarding the Blues’ Sammy Blais and three playoff games for an illegal check to the head of the Penguins’ Zach Aston-Reese.“I’ve had lots of time to think about it and dissect parts of my game,” Wilson told reporters in Minnesota after the team’s morning skate. “At full speed, the rink’s not getting any bigger and guys are getting stronger and faster. Some of those hits at full speed Christopher Tanev Jersey , whether I can or can’t make those anymore and just putting myself in a good position not to have the ball in their court and make sure I’m controlling my end of it and make sure I’m controlling what I can do.”Wilson took a goaltender interference penalty as he scored late in the first period and later dropped the gloves with the Wild’s Marcus Foligno for a five-minute fighting major. The Capitals left for Winnipeg and a game on Wednesday night against the Jets, a back-to-back test for Wilson’s conditioning.“It was a good day and good to get back in there,” Wilson said afterward. “It’s tough watching the guys play, but once you get back and get in there, get in the room, get in the game day routine there’s no better feeling.”Das wrote in his 42-page opinion that he agreed with the league that Wilson violated Rule 48 with an illegal check to the head and was not persuaded by the Players’ Association’s arguments that included a suggested eight-game suspension. Das also wrote: “The length of the 20-game suspension imposed was not supported by substantial evidence” and decided on 14 by treating the three-game playoff suspension as six, doubling it given Wilson’s recent history and adding two games for Sundqvist’s concussion and shoulder injury.“The league did what they thought was appropriate,” Aston-Reese said recently when asked about Wilson’s latest suspension. “When the league comes down like that, you’ve always got to re-think your game. I’m sure he’s just doing what he thinks is best for him.”Das is the same neutral arbitrator fired by Major League Baseball in 2012 after he overturned Ryan Braun’s drug suspension. The NHL fired arbitrator James Oldham in 2016 after his decision to reduce Dennis Wideman’s 20-game suspension to 10 for striking and injuring an official.Wilson’s appeals process took almost a month and a half between Bettman and Das hearing the case. That caused Wilson to sit out extra games even after his suspension was reduced.“We talked about it going in trying to get a decision earlier, but it seems to be the process the arbitrator needed Authentic Daniel Sedin Jersey ,” MacLellan said. “The (Players’ Association) asked to have it done earlier, but he needed the two weeks to get it done.” WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) The Winnipeg Jets were in rhythm and the Vegas Golden Knights looked rusty.Or, maybe the Jets are just that good.Dustin Byfuglien scored about a minute after the puck dropped and Winnipeg built a three-goal lead early in the first period and went on to beat Vegas 4-2 on Saturday night in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals.While the Jets played at home less than 48 hours after advancing past top-seeded Nashville on the road, the Golden Knights were off for nearly a week after eliminating San Jose in the second round.”We didn’t have much of a rest,” Byfuglien said. ”We’re still in game mode.”Patrik Laine and Joel Armia had goals 46 seconds apart to put the Jets up 3-0. Mark Scheifele gave Winnipeg a 4-1 lead midway on a power play through the second period with his 12th goal this postseason.Brayden McNabb scored midway through the first and William Karlsson had a power-play goal late in the second period to pull Vegas within two, but the expansion team couldn’t get closer.”We were chasing the game all night,” Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant said.Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck made 18 saves.Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 22 shots for the Golden Knights, whose Stanley Cup-winning goalie has given up at least three goals for the fifth time in six games.”He’s the best goalie in the playoffs as far as I’m concerned,” Gallant said.Fleury and the Golden Knights will have to be at Womens Derek Dorsett Jersey , or near, their best when the Jets host Game 2 on Monday night before the series shifts to Las Vegas.”Next game, no excuses,” Golden Knights center Jonathan Marchessault said. ”Everybody needs to come and be ready to play our best game of the playoffs.”We’re going to show what kind of team we are.”Winnipeg, which is making its deepest playoff run in franchise history, started strong and fast. Vegas, meanwhile, didn’t appear anything like the team that took the league by storm in its record-breaking inaugural season.The Jets’ fast, deep and talented team had 114 points this season and trailed only the Predators’ league-high total by three points. Their success has carried over into the postseason, winning all three Game 1s and avoiding trailing a series.The hard-charging Auston Matthews Jersey , smooth-passing Jets put the Pacific Division champions on their heels right from the start and didn’t relent.”We did take advantage of being game ready,” Winnipeg coach Paul Maurice said.White-clad, towel-twirling raucous fans in the arena – and packed on surrounding streets – were fired up before the game started. And, they were given plenty of opportunities to celebrate in the opening minutes.Byfuglien’s slap shot 1:05 into the game off a drop pass from Scheifele put Winnipeg up 1-0. That ignited the party-like atmosphere in a relatively cozy arena with just 16,345 seats and a low ceiling.”That was huge for us,” Jets center Paul Stastny said. ”Early in the game, too. And then all of the sudden it gave life to everyone, everyone on the bench, the crowd.”Fleury had no shot to stop Laine’s one-timer from the left circle off Wheeler’s cross-ice pass on a power play at the 6:49 mark of the first. Armia had a goal waved off less than a minute later only to have it restored by a challenge, which overturned the goaltender interference call on the ice.”Sometimes getting your legs a little bit under you takes a few minutes here and they took advantage of it Connor Brown Jersey ,” Fleury said.After the flurry of goals early, the Jets were able to play conservatively to cut down on Vegas’ comeback chances.”We were getting the puck deep,” Scheifele said. ”We weren’t fooling around with it in the neutral zone.”The Golden Knights pulled Fleury to add an extra skater late in the game, but had to put him back on the ice because there was a faceoff near him. They sent him to the bench again and had some chances to pull within one, but the shot-blocking Jets didn’t let the puck get to Hellebuyck much.NOTES: The last time two teams were in the NHL conference finals for the first time was 2003 when Anaheim swept Minnesota. … Scheifele has four more goals than any player still in the postseason. … Fleury, a former Pittsburgh Penguin, has four shutouts this postseason and has allowed four goals in three games.—Follow Larry Lage at www.twitter.com/larrylage—