The Washington Capitals are in the driving seat again. Four games into the 2025 playoffs, and the Caps lead the seven-game series against the Montreal Canadiens 3-1. What’s more, today’s major victory came Washington’s way even though star forward Alex Ovechkin didn’t get on the scoresheet. Instead, it was Tom Wilson who played a major role in breaking the Habs’ momentum.

Wilson was at the center of things in Game 3 between the Eastern Conference Goliaths last Friday when a fight broke out at the Capitals’ bench. At tonight’s match, too, the 31-year-old Canadian was instrumental in getting the squad back on level terms and subsequently running away with the game. But not everyone was on board with his tactics or how the NHL officials turned a blind eye to the same.

Well into the third period, the visitors trailed 2-1. However, at 13:20, Brandon Duhaime‘s poaching skill sent the puck past the Canadiens’ goalie, Jakub Dobes, to tie the score. Seconds before that, however, the Habs were on the attack until a huge hit on Alexander Carrier by Tom Wilson forced a turnover in play that ultimately led to the Capitals’ third goal of the night. In a YouTube upload by the official Canadiens account, Dobes talked about Wilson laying out Carrier should have resulted in a Caps penalty, and how the match officials shouldn’t have let the incident slide.

“I guess, I felt like it’s going to be a whistle. Because they were in their defensive zone and far away. But I guess, as I said, I don’t really know the rules,” Dobes said how he thought Tom Wilson’s hit was going to get flagged, but was surprised that it wasn’t. With that, he also took a sly potshot at the NHL for letting the Caps carry on with their game despite Carrier reeling from Tom’s hit. “I mean it was kind of a scary hit. But I guess the rules don’t apply for everyone in this league,” Jakub could hardly keep his disappointment hidden.

And yet, despite what went down today, the Canadiens’ netminder also noted that he’s excited to go back to Washington for the next bout of the seven-game series. But seeing how Dobes noted his displeasure on how Tom Wilson’s misconduct was handled by the officials, maybe the Montreal squad would want to even the score by themselves the next time these two sides meet.

Jakub’s skepticism about the NHL letting crimes slide at times may not be unsubstantiated, either. In the second playoff game between the Florida Panthers and the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Bolts’ Brandon Hagel floored the Cats’ Aleksander Barkov. Barkov was nowhere near the puck, and his attacker received a penalty, which was later turned into a one-match suspension by the NHL’s Department of Player Safety. However, in the very next game, Matthew Tkachuk of the Miami team pulled a similar stunt against Jake Guentzel, which only resulted in a five-minute major.

The NHL cited that Guentzel was in possession of the puck just seconds before Tkachuk got to him, and despite some experts positing that Chucky should be held accountable, did not take the matter further. And now, it looks like Tom Wilson also managed to get off easy. However, it’s not like he has always managed to come out of his troubles unscathed.

Tom Wilson’s hot-headedness can still be made up for

In Game 3 between the Caps and the Habs, Wilson also got into a physical altercation with Josh Anderson. The two got into a serious fistfight and tumbled over Washington’s bench before the match officials could separate them. Subsequently, Tom even went on to mock the hosts, as Anderson extracted himself out of the Caps’ bench and went through the tunnel. The NHL didn’t take the matter kindly, and fined Wilson $5,000 for his “unsportsmanlike conduct“.

Granted, it wasn’t the same punishment as being suspended for one match. But the Caps contingent won’t be the one to complain. Squad captain Alex Ovechkin became the league’s all-time highest goalscorer in the regular season, and would definitely want to make things even better by leading Washington to its second Stanley Cup triumph. Fate, too, seems to be on his side.

The Caps’ netminder, Logan Thompson, had a serious injury scare in Game 3, which he left in the third period. But the veteran goalie was back again today, and even the Canadiens fans at the Centre Bell cheered for him in a heartwarming act of camaraderie. So Wilson and the Washington Capitals will be going into Game 5 without any major problems. And the fact that the game that could potentially send them to Round 2 will be played at the Capital One Arena makes Capitals’ prospects look even brighter.