Game 18: 19-8-6-3 (PTS-W-L-OT)
Wednesday November 14, 2018 Washington Capitals @ Winnipeg Jets
Place: Bell MTS Place
Time: 8:00 p.m. ET
TV: NBCSWA+, SN, TVAS
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, Capitals Radio 24/7
NHL.COM for Live Box Score
Last Game: Tue November 13 Capitals Won 5-2 against Wild
Next Game: Fri November 16, 9:00pm ET Capitals @ Avalanche
8-Ovechkin 92-Kuznetsov 43-Wilson
13-Vrana 19-Bäckström 77-Oshie
65-Burakovsky 20-Eller 10-Connolly
18-Stephenson 72-Boyd 25-Smith-Pelly
9-Orlov 74-Carlson
22-Bowey 2-Niskanen
34-Siegenthaler 29-Djoos
1-Copley (starter)
41-Gavin McHale (6'7" Emergency Backup)
-- SCRATCH --
23-Jaskin
26-Dowd
6-Kempny (illness)
70-Holtby (upper body injury)
-- INJURED RESERVE --
44-Orpik [lower-body injury]
-- SUSPENDED --
-- 1st Powerplay Unit --
77-Oshie 19-Bäckström 92-Kuznetsov
8-Ovechkin 74-Carlson
-- 2nd Powerplay Unit --
13-Vrana 10-Connolly 20-Eller
2-Niskanen 9-Orlov
Referees: Francis Charron (#6), Kyle Rehman (#10)
Linesmen: Bevan Mills (#53), Kiel Murchison (#79)
1st Period13:00 GOAL 13-Vrana, assists 22-Bowey & 9-Orlov 1-0 WSH
2nd Period05:05 Jets PP GOAL Scheifele, assists Connor & Wheeler 1-1 TIE
3rd Period12:51 Jets GOAL Chiarot, assist Tanev 2-1 WPG
19:00 Jets EN GOAL Connor, unassisted 3-1 WPG
FINAL: 3-1 WPG
By Isabelle Khurshudyan November 14 at 10:43 AM
Tom Wilson returned and the Capitals played a complete game. This may be no coincidence.
Wilson scored a goal in his first game back after his suspension was reduced. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson felt “gassed” by the time the day was over. While he was hopeful his appeal would get him in the lineup sooner, he’d been expecting to make his season debut on Nov. 21, the first game after his original suspension of 20 games for an illegal check to the head. But then he got a text at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday that his sentence had been reduced to 14 games, making him eligible to play immediately. Despite his six weeks away from game action, the Capitals didn’t plan to ease him in; they instead tossed him right back onto the top line where he was always meant to play this season.
Coach Todd Reirden tried to temper expectations before the game against the Minnesota Wild, cautioning that Wilson might not be as sharp as some of his teammates who had already played 16 games. “We have to have realistic expectations that he’s going to have a little bit of a learning curve here in terms of getting back up to speed and getting comfortable with the pace of play, which is something that is at an all-time high this year,” Reirden said. Still, he expected Wilson’s return to at least inject an “energy boost” into a lineup that has often looked flat to start the season. Washington was on a two-game losing streak entering its game against Minnesota. After defensive issues had hurt the team in the first month of the season, it was an inability to score at even strength that had been more concerning of late.
Perhaps it’s not a coincidence that the Capitals had one of their most complete efforts of the season in Wilson’s first game back from his suspension. Along with scoring a goal in the 5-2 win over the Wild on Tuesday night, Wilson’s return to the top line allowed Reirden to slot forwards back in their rightful place, organizing his lines to be almost identical to what the Capitals deployed during the Stanley Cup finals five months ago. Wilson also flashed some of the scoring touch that was at its peak in the postseason, when he scored five goals with 10 assists in 21 playoff games as the team won its first Stanley Cup. As Wilson might have to pull back some of his physicality after a fourth suspension, Washington is hopeful his offensive ability continues to come around.
[Tom Wilson sparks Capitals against Wild in his early return from suspension]
“He’s unfortunately going to have to change his game a little bit because of his size and strength and speed,” forward T.J. Oshie said on Tuesday morning. “It’s probably going to be a little uncomfortable. If someone came up to me and told me I have to change the way I play, now you’re thinking about that instead of thinking about whatever plays you have to make. He’s a mature kid, he’s a smart kid, and I think he’ll find other ways to be successful."
Wilson’s next test is maintaining the energy he showed Tuesday night in a second game in as many nights — the Capitals play in Winnipeg on Wednesday night — as he tries to recover a season that’s been derailed from the start.
“The first period was a bit of a struggle,” Wilson admitted after the game. “I’m probably going to worry about getting my legs back. As a pro, that’s your job. You’ve got to get ready for the next game.”
Wilson’s absence has been most noticeable on the Capitals' penalty kill, which entered Tuesday’s game as one of the worst units in the league, and on the top line, which had been unimpressive at even strength. Washington rewarded him with a six-year, $31 million deal before the season because of how well his physical play complements Alex Ovechkin and center Evgeny Kuznetsov, but the contract also factored in what the Capitals expect out of Wilson for years to come. He’s coming off a career year with 14 goals and 21 assists, and just as the team believed there was more offensive upside when it drafted him six years ago, it still does now.
In the first period, he drove the net, catching a pass from Dmitry Orlov there and placing it past goaltender Devan Dubnyk as he and Wild defenseman Ryan Suter collided with Dubnyk. It was that sort of net-front traffic the Capitals had been missing as they’d managed just two five-on-five goals in the three games prior. The Capitals had five Tuesday night, including Orlov’s first two goals of the season. The small silver lining of Wilson’s suspension was the time he spent working with skills coach Dwayne Blais, so that when he did get back in the lineup, perhaps it would be his production making headlines as opposed to his big hits.
[Playing with Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov should be easy, right? It’s not. Here’s why.]
“We have to have him in our lineup, and we can’t go through times where we have him in the stands,” Reirden said. “I think there are maybe some hits that he can avoid. . . . He plays the game at such a high speed and he’s such a big [guy] that he sometimes puts himself at risk for that. Some of those decisions are going to be a bit different now. But I still expect him to be intense and getting in on the forecheck and adding that puck-protection element that he has and going to the net front, especially with the players he’s playing with in Ovechkin and Kuznetsov.
"The offensive area of the game that he showed us in the playoffs, that’s something we really worked on by having our skills coach in and spending extra time with him to be able to add those dynamics as well. We forget about those. Unfortunately now, there’s a lot of attention on the physical play, but he adds a lot of different things to our team. Maybe if he’s not quite as physical in times of risk, I don’t think it’s going to hurt his overall product and definitely not hurt our overall team because he can do a number of things to help our club.”
Read more on the Capitals:As Capitals search for consistency, latest experiment is shuffling defensive pairingsAs the NHL gets younger, vets note Fortnite, other video games encroaching on team bondingPlaying with Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov should be easy, right? It’s not. Here’s why.‘No room for hate’: Caps’ raffle winner donates $19,000 jackpot to Pittsburgh Jewish community
