Tom Wilson‘s two goals in the third period changed the look of Saturday night’s game for the Washington Capitals, and it came after a puck changed the look of his face.
Wilson was hit in the left cheek by the deflected shot of teammate Jakob Chychrun during the first period, but to the surprise of his own teammates, Wilson returned to the ice later in the period.
“If that was me, I don’t know if I’d be back in the game,” goalie Logan Thompson said of Wilson.
“Honestly when it hits you, I feel like my like side of my face is falling off a little,” Wilson said. “I’m like, ‘Am I bleeding? Am I cut? What’s going on?’ Then you just get into the room and you kinda settle down. … Did a couple tests and was good enough to get back out there. It was a fun win.”
Wilson was more than good enough in the third period, scoring the game-tying and game-winning goals as the Caps rallied for a 4-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens.
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“Yeah, if it was anybody else, I would have thought they’d be gone for the night,” said Pierre-Luc Dubois, who assisted on Wilson’s second goal. “… I didn’t think he’d be back that quick. I don’t even think he was bleeding. He was bleeding on the inside, but not on the outside because he didn’t want to show anybody. But yeah, that’s crazy. And then to come back and have an impact like that, I mean, that’s what he does. Even if he didn’t score, still has an impact every night. And he’s an extremely important player for us.”
Despite icing his face in between shifts, the postgame swelling was considerable, something that surprised even Wilson.
“It doesn’t look so hot,” Wilson said after getting his first look at his swollen face. “My dad always told me, ‘If you’re good to play, you play.'”
Washington has won nine straight road games and is 6-0-1 overall in its last seven games.
