After a rocky start to the series, the Capitals and their coach vowed that they would be better in Game 2. As a group, they definitely were, earning themselves a huge victory to even the series – but from an individual standpoint, perhaps no player stood out (in a good way) more than Tom Wilson, who absolutely had himself A Game.
There were plenty of smaller moments that made up Wilson’s night, from timely hits to huge shot blocks, but for our purposes, let’s focus on the biggest one: his play on the goal that put the Caps up 2-0.
A Brent Burns penalty early in the third period gave the Caps an early power-play chance – something they’d had, and whiffed on, twice already in the game, and something they’d yet to capitalize on in the series as a whole. When they’d been able to win the first draw and set up in the zone, however, they’d at least been able to generate some chances – so it was a crucially important faceoff that Dylan Strome skated in to take at the onset of the penalty.
…and he lost it. But thanks to some good work by Jakob Chychrun, Tom Wilson, and Strome himself, the Caps were able to reestablish possession pretty quickly and get to work. As the Caps cycle the puck around, Wilson moves across the ice from Frederik Andersen’s right to his left and collects a pass from Strome as the Caps continue to work the cycle and move the Carolina defenders around…
…and no one was watching John Carlson.
They probably should have been watching John Carlson. Because while they were running around after everyone else, John Carlson was sneaking in from the point, getting himself set to collect an incredible pass from Wilson and do this:
Sick setup. Excellent finish. No notes.
Not only was it the eventual game-winning goal – a big deal in and of itself, obviously – but it was also the team’s first power-play goal of the series, and the first goal given up by the Carolina penalty-killers this postseason, which is just nice from a mental standpoint.
Wilson would go on to add an empty-net dagger to his excellent night, and the Caps head on to Raleigh with the series locked up at one. Now to steal at least one in North Carolina…they get their first attempt to do just that tomorrow night.