Tom Wilson practiced for the first time since taking a puck to the face against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night. The big winger donned a full bubble face shield after scoring two clutch goals against the Habs with baseball-sized swelling to his left cheek.
Wilson did not participate in the team’s skate earlier this week as he was getting checked out by doctors to determine the extent of the damage done to his face. He says the checkup revealed that the puck broke one of the bones in his sinus cavity, necessitating his new on-ice accessory.
“It was a small break. Not in my orbital but in one of the sinus bones,” Wilson said Wednesday. “It’s nothing major but something you just want to make sure you don’t get hit again in the same spot.”
“It could always be worse; it could always be better,” he added. “It’s a tough sport. It’s a pretty savage sport. I feel lucky it wasn’t worse.”
The 30-year-old winger was struck by a Jakob Chychrun point shot early in the 4-2 victory over the Canadiens. While he missed just 4:35 of game time back in the team’s locker room, he came back out on the ice sporting some of the worst damage his teammates had ever seen for a player returning to a game after being injured.
“It’s sore,” Wilson said. “The first couple of days, it’s sore. I got to the plane, and the adrenaline wears off, and we got delayed, so I was sitting there. It was sore, but each day, it gets better and better. I look a lot better now, if you can believe it, than a couple days ago.
“After the game, after the flight when I got home, oh, man, it wasn’t good. You know, when you walk in to get a coffee somewhere and everyone – nowadays, people can’t really be like, ‘Oh, what happened to your face,’ but you can tell they’re kinda looking at you, but it’s all good.”
Wilson will be forced to wear the full bubble visor for a second consecutive season. Last January, he took an errant stick and a full punch to the nose against the Los Angeles Kings, needing his broken schnoz reset by a doctor.
“I skated yesterday [with] a cage on for a little,” Wilson said. “I tried it out, which wasn’t good at all – it really bothered my eyesight. The bubble is fine as far as what you can see, but it fogs up, it’s in the way, when you look down there’s a grill there, so you lose some peripherals. It’s different – it’s not great, but can’t really fight with the doctors on it, at least not yet.”
Last season, it took Wilson almost a month to transition from the bubble shield to a less restrictive Oakley aviator visor shield that provided upper-face protection out to his cheeks. He says the team’s doctors want him to wear the bubble for a similar amount of time this go around, too.
“They said four weeks, but it’s one of those things where if I do get hit again, it could get messy where the break is, so they want to be cautious,” Wilson said. “My wife and family were a little bit like, ‘What the heck were you doing going back into the game,’ but I was told I was good to go, and that was the case, and it was a fun win.”
Tom Wilson is back practicing in a bubble this morning. pic.twitter.com/wF0CjE4Glt
— Katie Adler (@katieEadler) December 11, 2024
Head coach Spencer Carbery was previously unsure about Wilson’s status for Thursday night’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, but it appears any worries he may have had have been soothed.
“Yeah, I think [I’m clear for tomorrow],” Wilson said. “I haven’t talked to the trainer, but I feel good. As long as I talk to a trainer and everything is good, we’ll be good to go.”
Carbery echoed Wilson’s opinion in his own post-practice media availability. “Yeah, that’s what I’m assuming unless there’s anything unforeseen that comes up,” he said.
The two goals against Montreal 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 five goals in his last six games.
