Tom Wilson sat out the first 16 games of the season, and now that he’s back, he’s making his presence felt in a big way. The 6’4” winger had five points in four games going into tonight’s tilt against the Blackhawks. He scored his second goal of the season on his first shift of the game.
Wilson was reunited with Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom to start the game, and a smart passing play from the top line trio (and not-so-smart defensive play from the ‘Hawks) resulted in a goal less than a minute in.
This was Wilson’s first game back playing in Capital One Arena. “It’s home here,” Wilson said during an intermission interview. “It felt really good to go out there in front of our home fans. They’re the best.”
Video
Wilson carried the puck into the Hawk’s zone and passed it to Backstrom, who was by the boards. Then it was tic-tac-toe time! Backstrom passed to Ovechkin who then found Wilson crashing the net.
Here’s another look.
For a split second, Ovechkin fakes as if he’s going to shoot, which draws a Blackhawks defender to him and leaves Wilson wide open for the redirect.
During intermission, Wilson had plenty of positive things to say about his captain and linemate. “[Ovechkin]’s a world-class player. He can do it all. I just try to go to the net in case he shoots it. His read at the last second, he throws it over to me. It’s a heck of a pass.”
Backstrom’s secondary assist, his 17th of the season, moves him closer to breaking Peter Bondra’s record.
Nicklas Backstrom recorded an assist on Wilson's goal. He now sits at 823 career points (215g, 608a), three shy of passing Peter Bondra (825) for second place on the Capitals' franchise scoring list.
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) November 22, 2018
