It's not time to worry about Wilson's goal drought originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
The good news for Tom Wilson is that he is part of one of the top lines in hockey through the early season. He, Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov have combined for 14 goals and 21 assists in just nine games. The bad news is that, of those 14 goals, Wilson has contributed none of them and is still searching for his first goal.
But while that may be frustrating for a player who has surpassed 20 goals in two of the past three seasons, there is no reason to worry about his play.
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"Sometimes pucks are going in, sometimes they don't," Wilson said. "Obviously right now, trying to find my first one, but line's been playing really well, Kuzy and Ovi have been finding the back of the net a ton. I'm not complaining. We're playing well as a line and getting them the puck. Happy Ovi, happy Tom I guess."
Coming into the year, Wilson was determined to contribute to the team's success in more ways than just physical play.
"We have a lot of goals," Wilson said before the opener. "I want to score goals, I want to be a leader, I want to take on more responsibility and get our team to the playoffs and hopefully more."
Wilson has certainly been a leader and Peter Laviolette agrees. That's why Wilson is wearing the A in T.J. Oshie's absence.
"He's been a great leader inside of our room," Laviolette said of Wilson.
His on-ice play has also been impressive, even if he can't sneak one past the goalie just yet.
Wilson has managed seven assists thus far, putting him in a tie for 18th in the NHL. He was one of the team's top offensive players on Monday against the Tampa Bay Lightning and would have had his first goal if not for an absolute robbery by the glove of Andrei Vasilevskiy.
But the fact that he is still generating chances is a good sign. The puck is not going to stay out forever. If he keeps up his play, he is going to score and score a lot.
"Obviously, you want to score goals, but, that being said, it's a long year and there's going to be ups and downs," Wilson said. "I think the tough part about this league is kind of staying even-keeled and trying to stay consistent and I've got to find the back of the net a little bit, get some goals going."
He added, "Trying to keep the frustration out. I think the chances have been coming the last couple of games, shooting the puck more and we'll go from there."
