Tom Wilson makes feelings known about crushing hit on Alexandre Carrier

Tom Wilson played a big role in the Washington Capitals’ 5-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday. The Capitals now lead the series 3-1 after their strong Game 4 performance at Bell Centre. The game started with Canadiens' Arber Xhekaj and Alexander Carrier chasing Wilson. But, he avoided distractions and kept his focus.

In one particular instance, Tom Wilson delivered a strong hit on Canadiens defenseman Alexandre Carrier. The incident took place in the third period with 13:36 minutes remaining on the clock and the Caps were down 2-1.The hit helped set up the Capitals’ game-tying goal and gave Washington important momentum.

After the game, Wilson spoke to the NHL on TNT panel about the hit and his approach.

"Playoffs is extremely physical," Wilson said. "They're hitting. We're hitting. You get hit. You give hits. Last couple of games, I spent a lot of time in the box. Coming into this one, I just wanted to play between the whistles, play hard.

"There's a lot of hockey to be played, so you just want to keep imposing, keep investing on their guys, and just play hard every shift you're out there."

Wilson focused on staying out of the penalty box after recent games where he took too many penalties. Capitals coach Spencer Carbery wanted Wilson to stay on the ice, and he delivered that in Game 4 with physical play and good discipline.

Carbery was full of praise for Wilson and called him unique.

"Completely changed the momentum in the game," Carbery said, via burnabynow.com. "Everybody in here knows how impactful he is, how unique he is."

Besides the big hit, Wilson scored an empty-net goal, had three shots, six hits and finished +2. It was his first goal since April 10 against the Hurricanes. In the playoffs so far, Wilson has recorded three points, 16 hits, 14 penalty minutes and eight shots in four games. His physical style continues to play a major role for Washington.

Paul Bissonnette and Ryan Whitney react to Tom Wilson's hit

Tom Wilson’s hit on Carrier caught the attention of NHL analyst Paul Bissonette . The Spittin' Chiclets podcast host reacted to the hit with an X (formerly Twitter) post on Sunday.

“Tom Wilson just killed a man.” Biz said.

Bissonnette's co-host Ryan Whitney also posted about the hit.

“Oh my god Tom Wilson just murdered Carrier and the Capitals go down and score. Insane sequence of events.” Whitney wrote.

Carrier stayed in the game after the hit but looked a little shaken. Washington will have a chance to finish the series in Game 5.