WASHINGTON, DC — Less than a week after scoring the Capitals’ lone goal in their home opener, Tom Wilson was the star once again at Capital One Arena on Tuesday. Wilson factored into all three of Washington’s goals in the overtime win against the Tampa Bay Lightning, recording a goal and two assists to reach 400 career points.
Wilson picked a good night to play the hero, with Team Canada head coach Jon Cooper watching from the Tampa bench. But to hear his teammates tell it, Wilson’s performance wasn’t anything they haven’t seen from him before.
“He’s just being Tom,” Jakob Chychrun, who scored the overtime-winner, said of Wilson. “Just being the heart and soul guy, working hard, doing all the little things right, and just going out and leading by example. He does it just about every night for us.”
After earning a secondary assist on a highlight-reel play from Aliaksei Protas and Connor McMichael in the second period, Wilson put the Capitals’ power play drought out of its misery in the third, scoring the team’s first PPG of the season. The goal wasn’t fancy — Wilson beat Bolts goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy with a tip-in on Dylan Strome’s shot from the blue line — but it marked the end of a 0-for-10 power play record to start the campaign.
“We’ve had good looks,” Wilson said of the team’s power play. “We’ve been trying some different stuff, giving teams different looks, always trying to improve. And it was just one of those simple shot, tip goals, and sometimes those are the ones that need to go in. So hopefully we can keep the momentum going.”
Wilson’s goal tied the game at two soon after after Washington’s penalty kill (which has also struggled to start the season) allowed a goal from Brayden Point for Tampa’s second lead of the night. Head coach Spencer Carbery praised the team’s power play for rising to the occasion.
“(This is a) prime example of where you need your special teams,” he said. “They answer with a huge power play goal to go back up 2-1, and then we get a late power play, and we have to find a way to put one in the back of the net…I’m glad they get rewarded because they have been doing some good things, so it’s good for them that one goes in the back of the net.”
Neither the Capitals nor the Lightning could break the tie in regulation, but Wilson helped seal the game in overtime. Just over a minute into three-on-three, he circled around the back of the net before sending the puck past two Lightning defenders and onto the stick of Chychrun, who promptly snapped it past Vasilevskiy to secure the win.
“I think we did a really good job,” Wilson said of the Capitals’ performance in overtime. “It was textbook. We started with the puck, didn’t let them get it. Their best players kind of got stuck on the ice defending. Had a great change, and we came on with fresh legs, which is half the battle. so it’s one of those plays where you see a guy in a good spot and you just try and take advantage of it, and Chychy made a great play to bang it in.”
Wilson’s three-point night, the 12th of his career, pushed him to the 400-point milestone, an achievement Carbery highlighted in the locker room after the win.
“It’s been a privilege,” Wilson said after his teammates urged him to give a speech. “Love you guys. Love it here. Let’s keep it rolling.”
While Wilson made vital contributions to the score sheet against Tampa, the Capitals made sure to emphasize the impact — both metaphorical and literal — that his physicality had to help jolt the team to life after a sleepy first period.
“He was one of those guys that started laying the body, starting scrums, and just trying to find any way to spark our team,” Connor McMichael said. “And then obviously you saw him make a few big plays that helped us out a lot.”
Strome further emphasized Wilson’s off-ice contributions as part of the team’s leadership group.
“Some guys in the dressing room are joking, he’s the bus driver,” Strome told Monumental Sports Network’s Al Koken. “He’s the driver of our team’s bus. When he’s going, we’re all going. I think he, like (Carbery), after the first kind of settled us down and really fired us up at the same time. So he goes out there at least by example. Obviously, has one (goal) and two (assists) tonight, and 400 points is a great accomplishment. I think he’s a tremendous player, a unicorn in hockey, and I’m really glad that he’s on our team.”
Tuesday’s strong showing against the Lightning likely helped Wilson’s case as Team Canada looks to assemble its roster for the 2026 Olympics. Wilson was one of 42 players invited to Canada’s National Teams Orientation Camp this summer, a positive step towards making the squad, and has spoken publicly about how much he wants the chance to play in Milan this February.
“When you’re a kid, it’s the Stanley Cup and an Olympic gold medal, that’s everything — that’s your biggest and wildest dreams,” he said in September.
After a standout season in 2024-25 that saw Wilson score 65 points (33g, 32a) — beating his previous career high by 30 points — Wilson is looking to prove he can maintain that level of play. If his first few games of the fall are any sign, he’s well on his way.
“He is one of the faces of this team for a while now and he’s our leader,” Protas said. “He’s the guy who can do everything — kind of like unicorn in that league. He can hit, he can skate, he can score, and he’s a great player. He proved it again today.”
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