Tom Wilson is thinking about things he can punch, probably. (Caps Ousider)
It doesn’t seem that long ago when rookie Tom Wilson was getting a face-full of shaving cream from Alex Ovechkin after scoring his first career goal, but that was more than 12 years ago. That was Wilson’s 15th career regular season game, and tonight at Capital One Arena, he played his 900th.
That is good for seventh place in Caps history, and with Wilson signed through 2031, he’ll likely pass John Carlson for second all-time (1,143), behind Ovechkin (1,566 and counting).
Wilson has been all sorts of things for the Caps, including a pugilist, a goal scorer, a wrecking ball, an all-star, the team’s suspension king, an Olympian, a bully, and a team leader. He would’ve gotten to 900 games sooner, but he had to sit 36 times to serve his suspensions.
Sure enough, Wilson scored his 26th goal of the season against the Flyers a few minutes after the tribute, and that was after aggressively checking Philadelphia’s Trevor Zegras, which is like Biff from Back to the Future checking Spicoli from Fast Times at Ridgemont High (The actor who played Biff is also named Tom Wilson, but the two have more in common than their name). Late in the game, he added an empty-netter.
After the game, Wilson answered questions, but most of them were about his teammate, Alex Ovechkin, who sometimes steals the spotlight from folks.
At 32, Wilson is sure to be around for years, adding to his legacy as one of the toughest players to ever suit up for the Caps.
