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When Tom Wilson learned he would be playing against his hometown team in the first round of the playoffs, he texted his father a tongue-out emoji in excitement. Born and raised in Toronto, Wilson grew up a Maple Leafs fan. On Thursday night, he added to the franchise’s recent heartbreak.
Two goals from Justin Williams tied the contest, and Washington prevailed in overtime thanks to its unexpected hero. On Monday, Toronto Coach Mike Babcock was asked about Wilson and said, “Nothing against ‘Wils’ because he works hard and all that, but he’s not as big of concern as a lot of people on their team.”
Wilson later saw a tweet of that quote from Babcock.
“I see it obviously because my phone’s not off,” Wilson said. “It comes through. I get people sending it to me and stuff. I’m not going to deny that I saw it. Honestly, it’s a pretty true quote. He’s got a point.”
Wilson then proceeded to list off his talented teammates: Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, T.J. Oshie, Evgeny Kuznetsov. But those players didn’t score Thursday night. Instead, Wilson recorded his first playoff goal in 29 postseason games and just his third point. He’s the first Capitals player to score his first career playoff goal in overtime.
Williams saw Wilson standing around in the hallway after the game and just said, “It feels good, doesn’t it?”
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