The Washington Capitals and the Carolina Hurricanes will have nearly a week of rest before their Round 2 series gets underway at Capital One Arena on Tuesday, May 6. While head coach Spencer Carybery’s crew has fully turned their attention towards the Hurricanes, the added time in the playoff schedule provides a unique opportunity to take a quick look back at the action of Round 1.
While generational scorer Alex Ovechkin tends to get most of the attention for Washington’s offense, the true X-factor in the Round 1 series with the Montreal Canadiens was a long-time teammate of the Capitals captain, Tom Wilson. The Toronto-born first-round pick has been a controversial player since entering the league in 2013-14. Over more than a decade, Wilson has amassed 1,532 penalty minutes and nine suspensions in 835 regular-season games. The 31-year-old is not exempt from causing chaos in the postseason, including a $5,000 fine for a fight with Josh Anderson during Game 3. Wilson was a significant asset for Washington when his skates connected to the frozen floor during the series against Montreal.
Game 1
In Washington’s 4-1 win in Game 1, Wilson assisted on Ovechkin’s power-play goal, opening up the scoring in the series. On the play, Wilson received a pass from Dylan Strome as he entered the blueline with speed before dishing a cross-ice pass to Ovechkin with the most dangerous thing that man can find on a sheet of ice, time and space. The NHL’s all-time regular-season scorer settled the puck and rifled a puck past Sam Montembeault for the 1-0 lead. Later, Ovechkin brought Capital One Arena to their feet with his first overtime game-winner in the playoffs in Game 1.
While he finished minus-1 in the contest, Wilson was noticeable in his 22:05 of time on ice. He was credited with two shots, a blocked shot, and a hit on 26 shifts to open the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Game 2
Wilson’s assist in Game 2 was a bonus, as he recorded the secondary assist on Connor McMichael’s empty-net goal with two seconds remaining in a 3-1 victory. He ramped up his game even more as he dotted the box score with crooked numbers in 18:11 of time on ice. With Ovechkin cosplaying a wrecking ball in Game 2 with eight hits, Wilson followed suit with five body checks as the Capitals smashed their way to a 3-1 victory.
Things got feisty between Wilson and Montreal’s Josh Anderson in the first period after the Montreal forward hit Wilson in the “43” digits on his back and was whistled for a boarding penalty. A kerfuffle ensued, landing both players in the box, while Ivan Demidov served the initial penalty call for the Canadiens. Anderson picked up matching slashing penalties with Brandon Duhaime at the end of Game 2 to finish with six penalty minutes. That number was tiny compared to his (and Wilson’s) total penalty minutes in Game 3.
Game 3
The simmering situation escalated and boiled over in Game 3 as Wilson and Anderson got into a shoving match at the end of the first period. As the two heavyweights grappled, they drifted towards the open door at the Capitals’ bench, causing the scuffle to flow into the empty players’ seating area in a unique scene in NHL playoff history.
That fight with Anderson after the opening frame in Game 3 stopped Anderson’s antics… well, for the most part. Anderson took one more roughing penalty against Wilson in Game 4. Wilson’s stat line was non-existent in the game for the only time in the series. He was credited with one shot and racked up 12 penalty minutes in Washington’s 6-3 loss.
Game 4
The 31-year-old forward stopped focusing on Anderson and returned his focus to playing between the whistles in Game 4. The final line in his box score followed suit with a goal, three shots, six hits, and a plus-2 rating in 21:16 of ice time. More importantly, he did not get baited into any melees with Anderson. He avoided sitting in the penalty box as Washington stormed to a 5-2 win in Montreal to take a commanding 3-1 series lead.
According to his captain, one of Wilson’s six hits represented a critical moment in the series for Washington. “You know my answer,” Ovechkin replied when asked about the turning point in Round 1. “Game 4, third period, Tom Wilson.”
With under 14 minutes to play in the third period, Wilson crunched Alexandre Carrier along the boards. While there could’ve been a whistle on the play, the officials let things continue. Duhaime scored a game-tying goal for the Capitals shortly after Wilson’s bone-crunching collision. Ten minutes later, Andrew Mangipane netted the game-winner, and the Capitals tacked on a pair of empty-net goals, including one from Wilson, to seal the victory.
After the game, Wilson spoke to TNT’s studio crew and provided an excellent post-game quote when asked about his hit on Carrier. “Obviously, playoffs is extremely physical,” Wilson said. “They’re hitting, we’re hitting, you get hit, you give hits. The last couple of games, I’ve spent a lot of time in the box. Coming into this one, I just wanted to play between the whistles, (and) play hard.”
Game 5
As he did in Game 4, the 12-year NHL veteran enjoyed a trip as the first man through the fist bump line at the bench in Game 5 as part of a one-goal, two-point performance for the Capitals. Wilson’s power-play goal at 16:59 of the second period gave Washington a 3-0 lead and helped doom the Canadiens to an early offseason. Once again, the 6-foot-4 winger stayed out of the penalty box in Game 5. Wilson finished the game with a goal, an assist, three hits, and a plus-1 rating in nearly 24 minutes of ice time.
Wrap Up
The Capitals entered their first-round series against the Canadiens as the favorites to advance to Round 2, given their status as the best team in the Eastern Conference during the 2024-25 regular season. The Hurricanes pose a more difficult challenge for Carbery to contend with in early May. Carolina won 47 games and finished as the third-best team in the East with 99 standings points.
Wilson showcased his impactful potential in Round 1 against the Canadiens. In his next playoff test, he must remain focused and play between the whistles against the Hurricanes like he did in Games 4 and 5 against Montreal. If Wilson can do that against Carolina in the next round, Washington could be skating towards its first appearance in the Eastern Conference Final since 2018.
