Tom Wilson is known to put quite the fright into anyone who steps onto the ice against him.
Jack Hughes was the latest example on Saturday, when the Capitals hosted the New Jersey Devils at Capital One Arena. While bearing down on Washington’s net on a rush chance, Hughes (5-foot-11, 175 pounds) quickly glanced up and saw Wilson (6-foot-4, 230 pounds) primed to destroy him in front of Logan Thompson‘s crease.
Instead of taking that hit to make a better play, Hughes made what some would call a “business decision.”
Tom Wilson scares Jack Hughes into diving for cover
Hughes quickly shifted the puck to his backhand and flipped a harmless shot at Thompson when he could have cut across the net for a higher-danger opportunity, diving to the ice for cover. Wilson, who has a highlight deterred the chance with his mere presence alone.
“[Hughes] sees him at the last second and says, ‘Uh oh, my life is flashing in front of me,'” Monumental Sports Network’s Craig Laughlin said on the broadcast. “He quickly got that backhand away.”
“Bail out!” play-by-play man Joe Beninati added.
Hughes is well aware of the danger Wilson poses on the ice, saying before his first All-Star Game appearance in 2022 that Wilson was the player he was most excited to play with.
The 25-year-old centerman also saw his brother, defenseman Luke Hughes, get buried by a Wilson hit earlier in the game.
Tom Wilson hits Luke Hughes
Hughes came into Saturday’s game as New Jersey’s leading scorer with nine points (2g, 7a) in seven games. Thanks to plays like Wilson’s, Hughes left with no points, and the Capitals ended the Devils’ two-game winning streak.
Wilson finished the game with a team-high three hits and ranks sixth among active NHL players with 2,702 in his career.
