Tom Wilson called “game” for the Washington Capitals on Saturday night inside Prudential Center. The big winger sent a blistering wrist shot past goaltender Jacob Markstrom in overtime to earn the Capitals an extra standings point in a 6-5 victory against the New Jersey Devils.
The game-winner was Wilson’s second goal of the night, prolonging his red hot to start the 2024-25 NHL season. The 30-year-old forward has led a new-look Washington Capitals team to an excellently-played 3-1 start by scoring in four straight games to begin the campaign, tallying five goals total.
“I was kinda thinking I was gonna pass it, pass it, pass it,” Wilson told Al Koken postgame. “The D kinda had his stick in the lane, so at the last second, I just tried to rip it and shoot it in a good spot and post and in. We’ll take it.”
Wilson’s first goal on Saturday came 6:01 into the first period, just 1:16 after Erik Haula had given the Devils an early 1-0 lead. After Pierre-Luc Dubois won a battle for a loose puck in the neutral zone, Connor McMichael provided a backhand saucer pass to Wilson, who finished high glove on Markstrom.
Head coach Spencer Carbery has been full of praise for Wilson to start the season and gushed further after his alternate captain salvaged two points from an overtime game the Capitals led by two goals on two different occasions.
“He’s playing at a real high level,” Carbery said. “He’s doing a lot of things well. He’s penalty killing, he’s playing in every situation, he’s with Dubois playing against [Jack] Hughes again. It’s hard every night in this league, but the four games that we’ve played and that line, Dubois’s assignment – you’re Hughes twice, you’re looking at [Mark] Stone, [Jack] Eichel, and then we’re looking at [Roope] Hintz and [Jason] Robertson and that line.
“The assignments and lines they’re playing predominantly against are as hard as you get in this league. He’s playing at a really high level – scoring, and that’s not what we rely on Willy for, but for him to be able to be doing that early in the season is huge for our team.”
Wilson’s line, made up of himself, Dubois, and McMichael, has been Washington’s early offensive driving force. Per Capitals PR, the line has accounted for 12 (6g, 6a) of Washington’s 41 points (29.3 percent) through four games.
The three have formed a very effective trio at five-on-five while playing some of the toughest minutes on the team. Despite their challenging assignments, the Capitals have seen 54.7 percent of the expected goals and outscored teams 4-3 during their minutes, most of that scoring driven by Wilson.
“It’s really impressive,” McMichael said. “I feel like every time I give him the puck, I’m going to get an assist. He’s just gotta keep shooting the puck right now. He’s hot as can be, and it’s fun to watch.”
When asked to comment on his impressive streak, Wilson praised his linemates and the Capitals in general instead. Washington has scored 16 goals in their four games to start the season after needing seven games to hit the 16 mark last year.
“The team is playing really well right now,” Wilson said. “The fun thing about right now is everybody is chipping in, and the group is playing really well together. That’s all that matters.
“[My linemates] are getting me in really good spots to shoot the puck, and we’re working off each other. A lot of little things, playing against other teams’s top guys, doing a good job getting pucks in. At times, it’s gonna be hard, and it’s not gonna be pretty, but with those two guys, I like us playing a bunch of different varieties of games.”
Wilson’s five goals trail just Nikita Kucherov (7) and Artemi Panarin (6) for the league lead. Another Russian winger, quite used to leading the league in goals, also chimed in on Wilson’s early season success on Saturday night. Alex Ovechkin, who opened his goal-scoring account for the season in the win, grinned when asked about Wilson’s hot streak.
“He get rewarded what he’s doing out there,” Ovechkin said. “You can see he’s feeling it right now. Hottest guy in the league, so happy for him.”
The Capitals will next play the Philadelphia Flyers in a home-and-home, back-to-back on Tuesday and Wednesday. Wilson has eight career goals against the Flyers, scoring more against only four other teams.
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) October 20, 2024
