For the week of March 9, the NHL named Washington Capitals winger Tom Wilson their 3rd Star of the Week. Wilson recoreded seven points in four games as the Caps went 4-0-0 with three goals and four assists. In the 7-4 win over the Anaheim Ducks, Wilson had two assists.
Wilson will be a captain one day
Wilson's seven points last week ranked tied for fourth in the NHL, while his two shorthanded points were tied with teammate Aliaksei Protas and the New York Rangers' Mika Zibanejad for the most among all skaters. Wilson scored his 11th career shorthanded goal on March 7 against the Detroit Red Wings and passed Brooks Laich (10) for the seventh most shorthanded goals in franchise history.
Two nights prior on March 5 at the New York Rangers, Wilson scored his fifth career overtime goal to give the Capitals a 4-2 win. Wilson also finished with a Gordie Howe Hat Trick on March 3 against Ottawa with a goal and an assist along with five penalty minutes.
Wilson has 29 goals and 25 assists for 64 points along with a plus/minus of plus 20 with four game winning goals. The 29 goals are a career high and the second most on the Capitals behind only Alex Ovechkin who's got 33. 11 of Wilson's 29 goals have come on the power play, which leads Washington and is tied for eighth in the NHL. In additon, Wilson leads the Caps and is tied for 15th in the NHL in hits with 186.
Wilson is one of two players in the NHL with 25 plus goals and 150 plus hits. The other is Brady Tkachuk of the Ottawa Senators.
Capitals coach Spencer Carbery described Wilson's play pretty good to Mike Vogel of WashCaps.com:
"He is such a fiery competitor, and he wants it so bad, that you can feel it as a coach. And it's my job to help him or get him in situations where he can be effective and can change the momentum in the hockey game. And because he wants to do it so badly, he can sense when the group is really struggling and we need a spark - but some quality shifts - and that's where he feels like he could be the guy to do that and provide that."Spencer Carbery
This was a big recognition by the NHL for Tom Wilson. He has matured and become an incredible offensive weapon. He is beloved around here in the DMV and now the League has started to take notice. Some have feared the Caps more and it's because of the play of Wilson.