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Skating in just the second NHL game of his career, Tom Wilson immediately saw his role on the team expanded. Wilson got a lot more ice time and more of the same with: big hits and strong skating.
For the most part, at least. Wilson lost a skate blade after a collision with Ryan McDonagh and had to hobble his hulking frame back to the bench like a goofball.
A few days ago, a funny GIF of Alex Ovechkin was passed around the internet, showing Ovi slumping his shoulders after some defensive breakdowns down low led to a lay-up goal by Stepan. Then Deadspin published an article titled Alexander Ovechkin Would Prefer Not To Play Defense, which Peter and Alan May debunked pretty thoroughly.
While no one is saying he’s Pavel Datsyuk, Ovechkin plays some hard defense when needed. Example: game six, when Ovi blocked a couple of shots in a short burst– laying his body down in the effort.
Photo by one of my old BFF’s back in the day, Jessica Rice
File under things I didn’t expect to write about: during Taylor Swift‘s Red Tour 2013 show last night at Verizon Center (that did not create any Yanni-esque scheduling trouble trouble trouble), the 23-year-old pop singer gave the Washington Capitals a little shout out.
According to @Mic_Nas89, Swift said, “You ask yourself why is there so much red? Well one reason is because the Capitals are in the playoffs.”
And then she sang this.
Photo credit: Chris Gordon
It’s been a crazy weekend for Tom Wilson. Friday night, he made his NHL debut in game 5 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. Sunday afternoon, he’ll take the ice for his second big league game, this time at the famed Madison Square Garden. It’s a lot of pressure for a guy barely out of high school. How does he handle it?
“It’s unbelievable, a dream come,” he said before his inaugural game. “I’m really excited to hopefully get a nap in and just get to it.”
While Mike Ribeiro got all of the accolades after scoring the OTGWG to give the Caps a 3-2 series lead Friday night, a few other Capitals gave valiant performances as well. One of those players was checking-line forward Matt Hendricks, who, in just 9:42 of ice time, blocked seven New York Rangers shots, a game high. He also had four hits.
Last year, after the Caps beat the Bruins in the first round of the playoffs, I spoke to Hendricks about his role as a wagon, a guy who sacrifices his body and does all of the little things to win.
Photo by Tom Turk | tomturk.com | piraticalphotography.com
Third line checker Joel Ward isn’t usually on the power play, but last night in the second period head coach Adam Oates played a hunch on the Capitals first extra-man advantage of the game.
“My name was called and I just went out there,” Ward said after the game. “I was excited to be out there. I just tried to pay attention to the details and get in my spot.”
Photo credit: Greg Fiume
Tom Wilson is barely 19 years old. Most kids his age spend their Friday nights drinking at parties in their precious time off from contributing nothing at all to society. Yeah, you know who you are.
Wilson, though, is bettering our world — he’s a hockey player after all — and he made his NHL debut Friday night. Granted, he skated a team low 6:24, but he threw a few nice hits and pushed some Rangers around after the whistle — typical fourth line stuff. His play wasn’t particularly interesting. The game it came in, though, was. The Caps won game 5 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals in overtime to take a 3-2 series lead.
“It was unbelievable — chills,” Wilson told me of his debut, repeating a version of that line countless times while standing in the far corner of the Capitals locker room at Verizon Center. “It was everything I imagined; it was a dream come true.”
Photo credit: Patrick McDermott
Game five of the Capitals-Rangers series was just as taut as the preceding four, but the Caps seemed to have the upper hand from the second period on. Still, it took until overtime for the game to be decided– and by none other than the Caps’ much-maligned bad boy, Mike Ribeiro.
Often known as a hot-head weak on the faceoff dot and prone to bad penalties, Ribeiro was the opposite of that on Friday night. Ribeiro won 70% of his faceoffs– many of them crucial defensive-zone draws– and drove play better than any other Caps forward. His pestering of Brian Boyle drew the penalty that led to Joel Ward’s tying goal, and his relentless occupation of Lundqvist’s net led to a pivotal game-winner.
You wanted CRASH THE NET? I give you MIKE RIBEIRO.
GIF by welshhockeyfan
Henrik Lundqvist is dreamy and one hell of a goaltender. But tonight, you can’t help but feel sorry for the 31-year-old Swede, after stopping 33 Capitals shots and falling just short in overtime.
Oh wait, who am I kidding? No, I don’t. Enjoy the GIF.
Mathieu Perreault may get all the attention for his post-game #PerryCellys, but don’t sleep on Joel Ward, who couldn’t stop jumping on the bench after Mike Ribeiro’s clutch game-winning goal in overtime of game five.
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