Capitals need Wilson to avoid penalties
As much as Tom Wilson disliked the feeling of skating into the penalty box, he’s felt even worse each time he’s left it.
Wilson was called for two minor penalties in the first two games of the Washington Capitals’ series against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Both times, he was in the box when the Blue Jackets scored a power-play goal to tie the game after the Capitals once held a twogoal lead.
Wilson’s lack of discipline highlights a team-wide issue for the Capitals. Columbus was short-handed more often than Washington in the first two games, yielding five power-play goals, but it was the timing of the Washington penalties that most hurt the Capitals. The Blue Jackets scored four powerplay goals on their eight opportunities.
“We haven’t taken as many, but at the same time, the timing of our penalties have been very unnecessary and untimely and put us in a position to give them momentum back,” coach Barry Trotz said before Monday night’s Game 3.
Wilson agreed with his coach.
“I mean, I’m not stupid, he’s not stupid, you guys aren’t stupid,” Wilson said before the game.
“First of all, I’m on the penalty kill, so if I’m in the box, I can’t penalty kill. Second of all, it’s huge when you give that team an opportunity to be a man up in a playoff game ... I’ve got to be a lot smarter. I’ve got to walk that line, play aggressive and be effective for this team, and it can’t be from the box.”
Wilson was a playoff hero for the Capitals in the first round last season, when he scored three goals against the Toronto Maple Leafs. That set the stage for him to take an elevated role this year, playing mostly on a top line with captain Alex Ovechkin. The trio with centre Evgeny Kuznetsov was stunted at even-strength in the first two games, and Wilson said the line was relying on too many chances from the perimeter.
Wilson did not record a single shot on goal through the first two games. While Wilson flashed more skill this year with a career-high 14 goals, he has also continued to be penalty-prone, finishing with a career-high 187 penalty minutes in the regular season.
Included in that total are 13 fighting majors, which wouldn’t cause the team to be short-handed, but balancing the physicality that makes Wilson effective with not putting his teammates in a tough situation is an ongoing battle.