Pittsburgh Penguins defenceman Brain Dumoulin was injured during Sunday's Game 2 of his team's second-round series on a hit to the head from Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson.

Wilson was pursuing Dumoulin in the offensive zone and caught Dumoulin's head with his left shoulder a second before Dumoulin was hit by Alex Ovechkin. Wilson said the impending check from Wilson caused him to brace for a hit and led to the unfortunate contact.

"I'm at no point trying to target the head at all," Wilson told the Washington Post. "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, too, as well, and I end up getting kind of taken out as well.

"It wasn't a body check to the head. I think I graze his head as I'm skating by him and as he's getting hit by Ovi. If you watch it from multiple angles, you don't see me like lunge into his head or anything."

Update: Wilson is expected to avoid a suspension for the hit, according to multiple reports.

Some Penguins, however, weren't buying Wilson's excuse for the hit, pointing to Wilson's reputation and lengthy suspension history.

"We all know who he is and what he does on the ice," Penguins defenceman Kris Letang told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "Like, we expect that."

"He made contact with his head. That was the first point of contact," Sidney Crosby added. "Given his history and things like that, I'm sure they'll take a good look at it."

Dumoulin entered Game 2 as the Penguins' second-leading player in ice time and the 26-year-old has one goal and six points in the postseason. Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan did not have an update on his status after Game 2.