Carolina Dreams – After splitting a pair of games in Washington to start their second round Stanley Cup playoff series, the Caps and Canes have moved south to Raleigh for the next two contests, beginning with tonight’s Game 3 at Raleigh’s Lenovo Center.
Carolina took the series opener in overtime by a 2-1 count on Tuesday, and Washington evened the series with a 3-1 win on Thursday. The Caps were happier with both their overall performance and the result of Game 2, but as coach Spencer Carbery has noted on a couple of occasions, he believes his group has another level to which it can ascend collectively.
“A lot of the stuff that we talk about,” says Carbery, of how the Caps get to that next level. “Of being able to find those exits [from the defensive zone], being able to get in the offensive zone, stay there for longer, create a few more turnovers on the forecheck. If we can control let's say there's – I'm just going to use this as example – 20 shifts in the game, can we control 12 of them? And they control eight of them. So now all of a sudden, we've had 12 productive shifts from all four of our lines, all three of our sets of [defensemen], and they controlled eight. Well, that's going to give us a good chance to win the hockey game.
“We just need to control play a little bit more. And I think we can do that. And obviously, coming on the road, it becomes more challenging, but I think we have another level, and we're going to need it, especially coming on the road.”
Washington was able to reach a higher level as its first-round series with Montreal wore on, and it’s seeking a similar mid-series this weekend in Raleigh.
“I think just being a little quicker to pucks, a little firmer on pucks, and when we have chances to get pucks out, to do exactly that,” says Caps defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk. “They thrive on those long, extended shifts, breaking you down, shooting pucks, getting them back, shooting them again, and they try to wear you down to a point where you're tired. And then that's when the mental errors happen, and that's when they capitalize.
“So when we get those chances – whether it's after the first or second shot – to win those 50/50 pucks that end up in the corner or out in front of your net, to have a strong stick and get them out of our zone, whether it's with a nice play or just pushing it out, that's going to be key.”
And while no arena can match Montreal’s Bell Centre for playoff aura and noise volume, the local crowd here in Raleigh is formidable in its own right.
“It's a very vocal, loud crowd,” says van Riemsdyk, who spent three seasons toiling for the Canes before coming to Washington. “They do a great job of creating energy in the building, and the team thrives off it; they mirror each other. They play a very fast paced in your face game, and that's how the crowd is, and it's a fun environment to play in.
“And whether you're the home team or the road team, this is what you live for and why you love doing it. So it'll be a fun building tonight, and we're looking forward to it.”
The Wonder Years – Today marks the 12th anniversary of Tom Wilson’s NHL debut; he stepped into the NHL in the middle of a Stanley Cup playoff series with the New York Rangers as a 19-year-old on May 10, 2013. A unicorn of a player even then, he hadn’t played as much as a preseason game in a Washington sweater before pulling one on for Game 5 of that first-round set with the Rangers.
In his debut that night, Wilson skated eight shifts totaling 6:24 in ice time, but he made the most of it with four hits.
“It was everything I imagined,” said Wilson after that game a dozen years ago. “It was just unbelievable. The fans, you could hear them, everyone could hear them. It was just the best support we could have. And to have a finish like that; it was just a dream come true and everything I imagined.”
“We saw him in [training] camp prior to that, and you could see the specimen that he is,” remembers longtime teammate John Carlson. “And from that day forward, you could see the work and the effort that he put into finding his way in this League and becoming a top tier stud.”
Over the last dozen years, Wilson has gradually evolved into a rare breed of NHL player, one who can have an impact on a game in any number of ways. During the 2024-25 regular season, Wilson amassed 33 goals and 32 assists for 65 points. He also racked up 100 PIM, scored a career high 11 power-play goals, and delivered a pair of shorthanded goals.
It’s quite rare for an NHL player to score 30 or more goals and assists in a season, while also accruing at least 100 penalty minutes, and scoring double-digit power-play goals and multiple shorthanded goals in the same season, as Wilson did for Washington in 2024-25. In doing so, he becomes just the 34th different player in NHL history to hit all those marks in the same season.
Wilson is just the second Caps player ever to hit them all in the same season, joining Dennis Maruk (1981-82). Wilson is just the third player to turn the trick in the salary cap era and the first to do so in almost a decade and a half. Brenden Morrow did it with Dallas in 2006-07 and Corey Perry did it with Anaheim in 2010-11.
Among those who came before Wilson, Bobby Orr was the first ever to do it, in Boston’s Cup-winning season of 1969-70, and Orr remains the only defenseman to do it. By the time Orr achieved the feat for the third time in his career in 1974-75, he finally had some company; Philly’s Bobby Clarke became the second player to achieve the feat in ’73-74.
Wilson is not the only player on Washington’s team plane to pull off the feat, however. Caps assistant coach Kirk Muller managed it with the New Jersey Devils in 1987-88.
As rare and astounding as his regular season performance was, Wilson continues to be force for the Capitals in the 2024-25 Stanley Cup playoffs. He helped swing the first-round series against Montreal with a bone-crunching hit on Habs blueliner Alexandre Carrier in the third period of Game 4 of that series. Starting about 15 seconds after that hit, the Caps scored the next seven goals of the series to oust the Canadiens in five games.
With the Caps in dire need of a bounce back in Game 2 of their current series against Carolina, Wilson again helped deliver with a pair of critical shot blocks, the primary assist on Carlson’s game-winning power-play goal, and a late empty net tally of his own to square the series at a game apiece.
Wilson has registered at least a point in each of the Caps’ five wins in the playoffs to date.
Since his debut a dozen years ago, Wilson has undergone a gradual and remarkable evolution into a premier power forward who also delivers leadership and other intangibles.
“He’s always been a vocal guy, even when he was young,” says Carlson. “He was always asking good questions and he always wanted to be aware of certain things and to follow things a certain way. I think that was all part of his evolution in terms of expectations and getting stuff from different people and learning different ways of teaching and leading. And now he has segued into being a leader for the younger guys, too, and that’s an integral part of our team success in my opinion.”
In the aftermath of Thursday’s Game 2 victory, Carbery spoke eloquently on Wilson’s leadership and his ability bring his teammates into the fight.
“It’s up there with probably the best quality of our group and our leadership group, and he’s right at the forefront of that with John and [Alex Ovechkin], is when we don’t perform up to our standard, it – for lack of a better term – pisses them off, and it doesn’t sit well with them,” says Carbery. “It doesn’t mean that it’s not going to happen, but it doesn’t sit well with them, and then they take concrete action to fix it and to make sure it doesn’t look like that again. And so that’s exactly what you saw for the last 48 hours from Willie, of problem solving – What can we do?
“He’s the first guy that comes to me about, ‘What can we do?’ off of this certain situation, ‘Should we make an adjustment?’ Okay, let’s look at it, let’s dive into it. So it bothers them the way they played and then they want to do something about it. And he leads the charge. It’s easy for some people to get comfortable with losing and they turn the page the next day. It’s a whole another thing to do something about it in your preparation and then go out and lead the charge. And he was right there tonight and was dragging guys into the fight.”
A dozen years ago tonight, Wilson skated on a line with Matt Hendricks and Jay Beagle, a wagon train if there ever was one.
“Obviously it was a long time ago, so I can't remember exactly, but I think it was probably a lot of nerves,” says Wilson, asked to compare his feelings on that day a dozen years ago to his feelings on this game day, more than 900 games – regular season and playoffs – down the road. “I do remember it being such a great group of guys that they made sure that I had fun and enjoyed the day and enjoyed the moment.
“That being said, at this time of year, it's really all business. I just remember thinking, ‘I’ve got to play my game as best as I can with whatever minutes I get.’ And I guess you could say it's still the exact same mentality today. You just go out and do whatever you can and leave it all out there and depend on your fundamentals and what got you here. I still kind of have the same mentality going into games at this time of year.”
Tonight in Raleigh, Wilson suits up for career playoff game No. 95, tying him for sixth on Washington’s all-time list with Calle Johansson and Michal Pivonka. And like most players, each new playoff opportunity is savored and relished even more as the years and the games fly by.
“You can never take for granted A) making the playoffs and B) advancing in the playoffs, into the second round and beyond,” says Wilson. “I think for me personally, it's just the best time of year. It's why you play the game, for the opportunity to just give it everything you have. And I think the expectation is that every single guy on the ice – for both teams – are going to be playing with that mindset, so it becomes a fight for every inch and every foot.
“And you know what? It's just a lot of fun. And as you mature in your career, you realize how important these times are, and you feel obviously lucky to be playing at this time of year, and you want to take advantage of it.”
In The Nets – Washington’s Logan Thompson (.931) and Carolina’s Frederik Andersen (.930) are the top two goaltenders in playoff save percentage to this point of the postseason, among goalies with at least four appearances. And Andersen (1.55) and Thompson (2.01) also lead that group of goaltenders in GAA to this juncture of the playoffs.
And finally, the Thompson (10.5) and Andersen (6.6) tandem also leads the NHL in goals saved above expected in the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs.
All Lined Up – Here’s how the Capitals and the Hurricanes might look for Saturday night’s Game 3 of the second-round playoff series between the two teams:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 17-Strome, 21-Protas
24-McMichael, 80-Dubois, 43-Wilson
88-Mangiapane, 20-Eller, 16-Raddysh
22-Duhaime, 26-Dowd, 72-Beauvillier
Defensemen
6-Chychrun, 74-Carlson
3-Roy, 38-Sandin
27-Alexeyev, 57-van Riemsdyk
Goaltenders
48-Thompson
79-Lindgren
Extras
9-Leonard
25-Bear
52-McIlrath
53-Frank
78-Gibson
Out/Injured
15-Milano (upper body)
19-Backstrom (hip)
42-Fehervary (lower body)
77-Oshie (back)
CAROLINA
Forwards
37-Svechnikov, 20-Aho, 53-Blake
71-Hall, 82-Kotkaniemi, 22-Stankoven
48-Martinook, 11-Staal, 24-Jarvis
50-Robinson, 96-Roslovic, 28-Carrier
Defensemen
74-Slavin, 8-Burns
7-Orlov, 5-Chatfield
4-Gostisbehere, 26-Walker
Goaltenders
31-Andersen
52-Kochetkov
Extras
21-Nikishin
27-Jost
41-Martin
42-Smith
54-Jaaska
56-Morrow
61-Stillman
80-Khazheyev
Out/Injured
71-Fast (upper body)
77-Jankowski (undisclosed)
