Tom Wilson looked like a true hockey warrior after the Washington Capitals’ victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday afternoon.
The 29-year-old winger took an inadvertent stick and full punch to the face from Kings forward Alex Laferriere in the third period and had to depart to the team’s locker room for some quick repairs. Wilson, who did return to action before the final horn, was sporting a very swollen, still-bleeding schnoz during the postgame celebrations.
The big burly winger looked like he had about a year’s worth of cotton stuck up both nostrils. Not a pretty sight.
The play in question happened at the 6:45 mark of the final frame. Lafferiere had just released a shot towards the Capitals goal and was preparing to get his hands back in position after his follow-through when his mitts instead met Wilson’s grill.
Tom Wilson au vestiaire après avoir raté sa mise en échec et reçu le poing de Lafferiere dans le visage.
On parle de nez cassé. #caps pic.twitter.com/JsfYLLrKCU— Jeudepuissance (@jeudepuissance) January 7, 2024
Wilson missed almost nine and half minutes of the period while back in the room. He ultimately returned in the final five minutes of the night, playing two more shifts in the 4-3 victory.
During his postgame speech, head coach Spencer Carbery gave nods to the entire fourth line, John Carlson, Max Pacioretty, and Darcy Kuemper before turning his attention to Wilson.
“And right there, one pic of that warrior right there,” Carbery yelled. “Coming back into the game!”
Gonna be thinking about this Patches speech for a long time#ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/yUIJy4XiN8
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 7, 2024
Wilson, who is no stranger to bleeding during postgame celebrations, skated 15:13 of ice time in the win and fired four shots on goal. He may have used his recently announced, new dad strength to get through regulation.
Carbery was asked in his postgame press conference if he knew whether or not Wilson’s nose was broken. “I don’t now exactly,” Carbery said. “But, it is swollen. I can confirm that from seeing him in the locker room.”
The Capitals will have three days off before their next game so Wilson will have plenty of time to recover and hopefully see some of that swelling go down.
Not the nose, Tom! You need that for all of the up-close shots at All-Star Weekend in a month.
Screenshot via @Capitals/X
