Tom Wilson did not join the rest of his Washington Capitals teammates for practice at MedStar Capitals Iceplex on Monday morning.
The 30-year-old winger took a Jakob Chychrun shot to the left side of his face during the team’s 4-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night, producing massive swelling in his cheek.
Per RMNB’s Katie Adler, head coach Spencer Carbery confirmed that Wilson was getting his face injury checked out. The 30-year-old winger finished the game in Montreal, scoring two huge goals in the win, but his status for Thursday’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets is currently unknown.
“I would say that the concern level [of Wilson missing Thursday’s game] is not high, but there is a chance,” Carbery said. “I mean, we just have to make sure that everything, there’s nothing structurally wrong. So that’s what they’re in the process of finding out right now.”
Wilson has not missed a game yet this season. He has recently been skating on the club’s top line with Dylan Strome and Aliaksei Protas.
The big forward missed just 4:35 of game time against the Canadiens, getting what repairs he could in Washington’s locker room. He ended up skating 16:15 of total ice time and scored the game-tying and game-winning goals, all while icing the baseball-sized swelling on his face every time he returned to the team’s bench.
The two goals gave Wilson 22 points (11g, 11a) in 27 games this season. His 11 goals are third on the team, trailing Alex Ovechkin (15) and Connor McMichael (15). He has picked up his goal-scoring pace lately, tallying five times in his last six games.
Wilson was named player of the game by Capitals players in their postgame locker room celebrations, earning the team’s gaudy gold chain. Chychrun also apologized to Wilson via Instagram story for delivering the shot that hit him in the face.
Washington will take Tuesday off, so Carbery won’t have another update on Wilson’s status until Wednesday, when the Caps are on the ice again for practice.
