Wilson answers the call
Winger’s early goal gets Caps started toward win
DALLAS — Washington Capitals winger Tom Wilson sat in his dressing room stall at American Airlines Arena on Saturday morning and talked expectations.
Ahead of the team’s 4-1 win over the Dallas Stars, in which he scored the opening goal, Wilson knew the responsibilities on the ice would be heightened this season.
After he was suspended for the first 16 games of last season, he went on a tear, scoring a career-high 22 goals and totaling 18 assists while playing in 63 regular-season games. This year, he’s expected to do more.
And in the last three games, Wilson has done just that — recording at least point in each, with two goals in his last two games. He had both a goal and an assist Saturday against Dallas.
“When you’re playing on the top six, you are expected to contribute offensively,” Wilson said. “You’re expected to get more chances to score. I think that’s part of the responsibility on skating with those guys and on the top line.”
Behind Wilson’s early goal, goaltender Ilya Samsonov’s second NHL win and defenseman John Carlson’s thirdstraight multi-point game, the Capitals (3-1-2) broke a three-game losing streak as they escaped their two-game road trip to Nashville and Dallas with a 1-1-0 record.
They start a three-game homestand this week.
With an offensive burst and strong net play, for the first time in three games the Capitals finally held a third-period lead, entering the final frame with a 2-0 advantage. Center Evgeny Kuznetsov recorded an insurance goal at the 3-minute, 35-second mark of the third to give the Caps a three-goal lead.
Kuznetsov has now recorded a point (one goal, two assists) in each of the three games he’s played since returning from suspension.
Briefly, it looked as if the Stars could come back and contribute to the Capitals’ third-period woes, with Radek Faksa able to get one past Samsonov with 13 minutes left in the third. But for Dallas, it was too little too late. Captain Alex Ovechkin scored an empty-netter for the Capitals with 56.7 seconds left.
Samsonov was a wall for Washington in the first two periods, recording 17 saves. He finished with 24 on the night.
Samsonov, the anointed goaltender of the future for the Capitals once he was selected in the first round of the 2015 NHL draft, is making a strong case for his future in Washington. With starting goaltender Braden Holtby in a contract year and Samsonov winning the backup goalie job over incumbent Pheonix Copley at the end of training camp, Samsonov’s production through two games has been strong.
With Samsonov taking care of things in net, the offensive play from Washington once again flourished early. The Capitals benefited from a double-minor penalty 52 seconds into the game after Joe Hanley was called for high-sticking Jonas Siegenthaler in the offensive zone.
That’s when Wilson got the puck in the net for the second time in as many games, scoring at the 3:17 mark of the first period off a rebound shot from Jakub Vrana. The Stars proceeded to challenge the call, looking for a hand pass prior to the goal, but the call on the ice stood. Video review confirmed Wilson had played the puck with his stick after legally gloving it from the air before Vrana had made a play on the puck.
Wilson’s goal was the second of the year from the Capitals’ second unit on the power play. After the Capitals went 0-for-11 in their first two games at home, they are now 3-for-10 in the last two games on the power play. The Capitals’ penalty kill was also 6-for-6 on the night.
The second period for Washington went as smoothly as the first, with Carlson scoring off a failed breakout by Dallas to give the Capitals a 2-0 lead at the 7:13 mark of the second period. Carlson now has two goals and eight assists through six games. The leader of the blue line, which is still without Michal Kempny (hamstring), Carlson has elevated his play.
Also assisting on Carlson’s goal were fourth-liners Garnet Hathaway and Nic Dowd, who was inserted into the lineup over Chandler Stephenson. Stephenson was the team’s fourth-line center in the last two contests, but Capitals coach Todd Reirden decided to put Dowd back into the lineup Saturday, giving way for the team’s most cohesive game this season. Hathaway now has one goal and two assists this season. Dowd’s assist was his first point of the season.