Playing in his 700th career NHL game on Thursday night in Anaheim, Tom Wilson notched his first career hat trick to help the Caps claim a 5-4 victory over the Ducks. Two of Wilson’s goals – including the game-winner late in the third – came on the power play as the Caps shook off a 0-for-34 drought with the extra man, dating back to Oct. 27.
In a 2-1 loss in San Jose on Monday in Washington’s trip opener, Wilson was denied on the doorstep on a couple of power play opportunities, and he took responsibility after the game.
“Those are two big moments; if those go in, it’s a different game,” he said that night. “I take responsibility for that. You’ve got to find a way to capitalize.”
On Thursday in Anaheim, Wilson did exactly that. He scored on a breakaway in the first period, and he ended the Caps’ extra-man drought with a power-play goal late in the frame to restore the lead for Washington. Late in the third, he scored what would prove to be the game-winner on a play that was similar to both situations in San Jose; he was at the net front with the puck after an Alex Ovechkin shot from the left dot on the power play, and he was stopped on a follow-up try by the opposing netminder, Anaheim’s John Gibson in this case.
But this time, Wilson was able to keep whacking at it until he got it over the goal line.
“[Alex Ovechkin] is such a shooting threat,” says Wilson. “So if you get to the net, you’re going to get looks and odds are you’re going to find a way to bang it in. It went our way tonight; the special teams was awesome – both sides. We needed to get it done, and it’s a good start to the trip. We’ve got to keep it rolling.”
Playing for the second time in as many nights after a 2-1 victory over Los Angeles on Wednesday, the Caps were a perfect 5-for-5 on the penalty kill against Anaheim, the most shorthanded situations they faced in a single game since Oct. 27. Three of those penalty killing missions were in the second period, and those kills enabled the Caps to keep hold of a two-goal lead throughout the middle frame.
“Massive, especially in the second period, where I felt like the momentum of the game changed in that second period,” says Caps’ coach Spencer Carbery. “We started to get real sloppy – uncharacteristic reads and decisions, structure started to get loose, and they all of a sudden grabbed momentum. Now we’re having to take penalties, and to chase.
“And the penalty kill, we needed that there because that was a moment there where that game could have easily gotten tied up right there going into the third, where it’s a whole different ballgame. It’s a coin flip from there, or you’re probably in a worse position, because now we’ve really got to fight on a back-to-back to win that third period, where they’re full of energy, and momentum, and hope, and belief. And the penalty kill snuffed that out; they’re doing a tremendous job.”
Two of the League’s three lowest scoring teams combined for a six-pack of lamplighters in the first period of Thursday’s game in Anaheim, with the Caps accounting for four of those opening period tallies. Neither side wasted any time in getting started.
The Caps fired the opening salvo for the first time in half a dozen games, taking a 1-0 lead just 87 seconds after the opening face-off. From the left wing corner, Anthony Mantha made a power move to the net and actually drove by the cage, waiting out goaltender John Gibson. The big winger then tucked a backhander in from a tight angle to put Washington on top.
The lead lasted less than half a minute. Just 22 seconds later, rookie Anaheim defenseman tied the game with his first NHL goal. Tristan Luneau’s initial shot was blocked by Caps defenseman Nick Jensen, but the puck bounded right back to Luneau, who deposited it behind Washington netminder Darcy Kuemper, squaring the score at 1-1 before the two-minute mark.
Old friend Brett Leason bit the hand that once fed him to give Anaheim a brief lead; the ex-Caps winger was the beneficiary of a brilliant by 18-year-old rookie Leo Carlsson, the second player chosen in last summer’s 2023 NHL Draft. Carlsson carried into Washington ice, split a pair of defenders and carried to the cooker. Kuemper stopped him from point blank range, but Leason followed up and scored on the rebound at 7:51.
Washington wrangled the lead back from the Ducks with a trio of tallies in a span of 185 seconds late in the frame. Seconds after serving his second minor penalty of the period, Wilson picked Mason McTavish’s pocket high in Washington ice and tore off on a breakaway. Wilson got Gibson to open up, then tucked a backhander through the five-hole to make it 2-2 at 15:54.
“I was a little pissed off with myself after the couple of penalties,” recounts Wilson. “And when you get a breakaway, I had guys all over my back. So I was just trying to get up ice and make a good, strong move, and it went in. So I’ll take it.”
The Caps’ first power play of the evening morphed into a 4-on-4 situation after Washington was whistled for a penalty of its own. But with their second man advantage of the evening, the Caps made good.
John Carlson put the puck in Ovechkin’s wheelhouse, and the Caps’ captain blasted a one-timer that clanked off the leg of ex-Caps defenseman Radko Gudas and bounded to the crease, where Wilson backhanded it home to make it a 3-2 game at 18:39.
Twenty seconds later, the Caps created some breathing room. Rasmus Sandin walked the line expertly, moving to the middle, then shimmying just a bit to open up a shooting lane. He put the puck toward the net, and Nic Dowd tipped it home from the top of the paint to make it a 4-2 game at 18:59.
Dowd’s goal gave the Caps their first four-goal period of the 2023-24 season, and their first since they opened up a six-pack in the opening frame of a 10-2 thumping of the Boston Bruins on March 3, 2008 in the District.
After all the scoring in the first, the two sides played a scoreless second, and the Caps were able to hold their 4-2 lead into the back half of the third. That’s when Anaheim’s Brock McGinn scored to cut the cushion to a single goal with 8:15 remaining.
The plucky and rested Ducks have already engineered six comeback wins in the third period this season, and they were buzzing for more when Carlson drew a hooking call to put Washington back on the power play. That’s when Wilson completed the hat trick, making it a 5-3 game with 5:38 left.
With Gibson pulled for an extra attacker, Ducks winger Frank Vatrano notched his 14th of the season on a goalmouth scramble with 27.3 seconds left, accounting for the 5-4 final.
The Caps called their timeout, then killed off the rest of the clock to move to 11-3-1 in their last 15 games.
Wilson becomes just the second player in NHL history to celebrate his 700th game with a hat trick; Phil Goyette of the New York Rangers turned the trick on Oct. 20, 1968 at Madison Square Garden. Wilson had a two-goal game here in Washington’s previous visit in March, so he has five goals in two games at Honda Center in calendar 2023. He netted the game-winner in both contests, too.
“It’s obviously a pretty special night,” says Wilson. “A lot of pretty special 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 to get a team win, a big win, and a good night, it’s awesome.”
