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Tom Wilson credited with brilliant defensive play on Quinn Hughes that sprung Lars Eller on OT game-winner

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Vancouver Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes is one of the most elusive and electrifying young players in the NHL. But Friday against the Capitals, Hughes turned the puck over to Tom Wilson after the Capitals’ forward played sensational defense on the young defensive star along the boards. Wilson then passed the puck ahead and sprung Lars Eller and John Carlson on a two-on-one break.

Eller finished the play by going five-hole on Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko to give the Caps a 4-3 OT win.

After the game, The Athletic’s Thomas Drance described Wilson’s play as “one of the best individual defensive performances I’ve ever seen in a 3-on-3 game state.”

Hughes is an outstanding defensive player who is averaging 0.79 points per game during his first four seasons in the NHL. During his first full season in the NHL, Quinn had 53 points in 68 games, which included 45 assists.

“He did a really good job,” Hughes said of Wilson. “He’s a really good player. I think you’ve heard my brother say it before.

“He stayed with me,” Hughes continued. “He’s got that long reach too that helps him. For me, I probably should have took it out of the zone there just knowing that he had a really good foot on me. I didn’t want to do that. I don’t want to say I rushed it, but just didn’t want to do that and restart. He did a really good job defending me there and he’s a good player.”

While Wilson is known around the league for his physicality, he also is a valuable offensive player at even strength who plays tremendous defense. On the Capitals, Tom has the third-most blocked shots among forwards (36) and the second-most hits overall (170) while also chipping in 18 goals — third-most on the team. Wilson is also one of the Capitals’ top penalty killers.

“More often than not, [Quinn] will escape that but Wilson was pretty good right on top of him,” Canucks head coach Bruce Boudreau said. “Once he got close enough to pin him and Eller was right on where Hughes gave the puck. They played it really tight and pressured at the right time. They got the two-on-one and the break they needed to win the game.”

The win was the Capitals’ fourth in overtime this season. The team is 4-8 in the five-minute 3v3 session this season seeing four other games decided in the shootout (2-2). Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette opted to go defense-first and iced Eller-Wilson-Carlson to start OT. It paid off.

“These overtimes, I feel like it’s better to force a turnover (defensively) than having possession sometimes,” Eller said. “When you have that possession it’s like three guys staying on the inside. It slows down. Whoever forces that turnover, they are going to get a three on two or a two on one or a breakaway. That’s usually where the best quality chances comes. Today we were on the right side of it and some games we’re not. It was a big character win for us.”

With the victory, the Capitals got five out of a possible six points during their west coast Canadian road trip. And they have Wilson to thank for standings point no. 5.

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