ANAHEIM, Calif. — All Tom Wilson’s 700th game was missing was a fight.
Ten years, one month and 29 days after the Washington Capitals winger played in his first regular season NHL game, he took the ice at Honda Center on Thursday night for the 700th game of his career. Wilson technically debuted during the playoffs in May 2013, but the NHL only considers regular season contests for career game totals, and Wilson was ready to make a statement in his official milestone game.
Wilson scored his fifth, sixth and seventh goals of the season — tallying the first hat trick of his career — in the Capitals’ 5-4 win over the Anaheim Ducks to sweep their Southern California back-to-back.
“It’s a pretty special night,” Wilson said. “A lot of great memories on this journey. A lot of great people, great teammates, family, friends, the city of D.C. and everyone supporting me for a long time. It’s an honor to play 700. You can’t take it for granted in this league, and then to get a team win, a big win, and a good night, it’s awesome.”
Before Wilson could get on the scoresheet with a goal, he first had to spend four minutes in the penalty box. There was no other way, really, that Washington’s leader in penalty minutes could begin his night. Wilson took his first penalty of the game at the 5:05 mark of the first period, after sending Cam Fowler into the boards with a hit at the blue line.
Less than 10 minutes later, Wilson was back in the box, this time for slashing. The penalty came 30 seconds into Washington’s first power play of the game; Wilson slashed Jackson LaCombe’s stick out of his hands as the Ducks were moving into a shorthanded rush.
At that point, the Capitals trailed 2-1. Anthony Mantha opened the scoring just 87 seconds into the game, but the Ducks responded 22 seconds later and pulled ahead at the 7:51 mark of the period.
As Wilson sat in the box, he stewed on the night he’d had so far. Penalties are a part of Wilson’s game as a physical, in-your-face forward, but two penalties in the first 15 minutes is a lot, even for him. Shortly after he emerged from the penalty box, he chased down the puck on a breakaway, made a play to his backhand and elevated a shot over Ducks goalie John Gibson for the game-tying goal.
“I was a little [ticked] off with myself after the couple penalties,” Wilson said. “I had guys all over my back, so I was just trying to get up the ice and make a good, strong move. Went in, so I’ll take it.”
The sequence summed up who Wilson is as a player, going from the penalty box to a high-skill, highlight-reel goal in mere seconds.
“I always knew he was a gamer, and he’s proven that to me every day,” Capitals Coach Spencer Carbery said. “ … He’s always had that blend of skill and power, but seeing that firsthand in practice and in games, the hands and his ability to finish, scoring from the bumper, making little small-area plays, that’s the unique skill of Tom Wilson that separates him from essentially everyone in the world. That size and power and physicality, but then also that finesse and touch that he has.”
Wilson’s second goal came just over three minutes later — and ended the Capitals’ power-play drought after more than a month without a goal on the man advantage. Against San Jose on Monday, Wilson narrowly missed scoring on a tap-in from the crease, and he wasn’t going to flub the opportunity again.
Capital Alex Ovechkin’s one-timer from the left circle was blocked, and the puck came to Wilson on the doorstep in front of Gibson, needing just a backhand sweep of Wilson’s stick to cross the goal line. The Capitals had been trying not to get frustrated as the power play’s slump went on and on, but their sheer relief when the puck crossed the line made clear just how taxing the drought had been.
“I don’t know if you guys saw all the smiles on the ice when it happened, but it was kind of, finally, you know? That’s the feeling,” Mantha said.
Just as Wilson’s first goal displayed the standout skill the forward possesses, his hat trick goal showed off the other side of his game. On the power play with under six minutes left, Ovechkin fired a pass toward Wilson once again on the doorstep. Wilson didn’t have such a straightforward finish this time around, but he didn’t give up on the play, continuing to whack at the puck until it finally went in.
The scramble around the net was so tight that Wilson was the first player on the ice to realize he’d scored, but his teammates caught on quickly and swarmed him in the corner to celebrate his accomplishment as more than a handful of hats rained down from the fans.
The goal stood as the game-winner after Anaheim added a fourth in the final seconds, and the Capitals celebrated all over again when the final buzzer sounded on the victory.
“It’s a great way [to celebrate 700 games],” Mantha said. “You could write it up and it would never happen.”
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