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Kris Letang’s sticks shatter on Tom Wilson’s game-winning goal and Carl Hagelin’s empty-netter

By Ian Oland

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February 26, 2021 12:56 am

The Washington Capitals were blessed by the Hockey Gods Thursday night against the Penguins.

Kris Letang’s sticks broke during two of his final four shifts of the game. The stick breaks led directly to Capitals goals, including Tom Wilson’s game-winning power-play tally.

Ignore what our dear Capitals posted on Twitter. Kris Letang’s broken sticks were the first star of the game.

Tom Wilson’s game winner

Letang’s fiberglass-shattering adventure began on the Capitals’ third and final power play of the game. After having his stick break, Letang returned to the crease to try and defend two Capitals players with his hands. That did not work. John Carlson fed Wilson for a one-timer in front of the net. A defenseless Letang watched Wilson bury the puck past Tristan Jarry. 3-2 Capitals.

After the goal, a frustrated Letang could be seen yelling at his teammates on the bench.

“Did you know he broke his stick?” Joe Beninati asked Wilson during NBC Sports Washington’s postgame show.

Wilson laughed. “Could you hear me yelling up there?” he asked. “That’s an advantage you always want to take advantage of. It worked out.”

Wilson added to Beninati and Craig Laughlin, “Sometimes when I was in the box I could hear you calling [the game].”

“We just didn’t execute,” Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan said. “Obviously, we’d like to get our defenseman a stick “It’s hard to defend the net-front without a stick. If someone’s going to play without one, it has to be a forward.”

Carl Hagelin’s empty netter

Then, to add insult to injury, Letang’s stick broke again as the Penguins tried to tie the game with 1:31 left in the game. As Letang caught a pass from Evgeni Malkin on his blade, his twig broke on the shaft just above the heel.

Carl Hagelin picked up the loose biscuit, jumped over a diving Letang, and scored on the empty net for his second goal of the season.

Online, Penguins fans were not pleased.

After losing four out of their first five games against the Penguins this season, the Capitals took three out of a possible four standing points in their two back-to-back games against Pittsburgh this week. The points could be pivotal at the end of the season as only four teams from the East Division will make the playoffs.

RMNB Coverage of Caps vs Penguins

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