Tom Wilson's ejection clouds a Capitals win that Washington badly needed
Washington beat Florida 4-3 Saturday, but Tom Wilson's boarding hit on Panthers rookie Sandis Vilmanis sent him to the locker room and put Wilson back in the NHL's crosshairs. A Department of Player Safety review is expected.
In brief
Tom Wilson's ejection clouds a Capitals win that Washington badly needed
The win went up on the board. The champagne, figuratively speaking, stayed corked. When the Washington Capitals walked off the ice at Capital One Arena on Saturday after a 4-3 victory over the Florida Panthers, the loudest conversation in the building was not about the comeback. It was about Tom Wilson.
Wilson was tossed from Washington's win after delivering a hit on Panthers defenseman Sandis Vilmanis that resulted in a five-minute boarding major and game misconduct. The hit came early. The incident happened a little before the halfway mark of the opening period, as Vilmanis was trying to move the puck out of the Florida zone and Wilson came from his side, drilling the Latvian blueliner into the sideboards from behind. Vilmanis appeared to go into the boards head-first on the contact.
Florida medical staff attended to Vilmanis on the ice before he got up and was helped off. Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said the team would "probably have to wait until we get him back to see our guys" in Florida before having a real sense of the severity. Vilmanis was coming off the best game of his young NHL career, having scored two goals with two assists in Wednesday's 5-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. The 22-year-old rookie had three goals and seven points in 15 games entering Saturday.
Now he may miss time. And so might Wilson.
The incident puts Wilson in the hands of the NHL's Department of Player Safety, which will have to answer how much responsibility falls on Wilson given that Vilmanis turned toward the boards just before contact. Capitals coach Spencer Carbery believes that split-second movement was significant, arguing Wilson had already committed to delivering the hit when Vilmanis turned, leaving little opportunity to change course. Maurice did not share that read. "I'll leave that to the Department of Player Safety," Maurice said.
Wilson has been suspended six times by the NHL Department of Player Safety, including three times during the 2017-18 season, and fined on five other occasions. He has tried to keep his nose clean lately, as he hadn't been fined or suspended since April 2025. That prior record matters. The NHL weighs it when determining whether supplemental discipline is warranted, and there are factors working against Wilson here, including that it was a hit on a vulnerable player in a tough spot and that Vilmanis was injured on the play.
For Washington, the uncertainty around Wilson creates a real personnel concern. He is far more than a middle-six forward, averaging 17:24 per game this season, second among Capitals forwards. In 14 games with Washington this season, Wilson had scored two goals and three assists for five points. His 45 penalty minutes put him second in the NHL behind Boston Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov.
As for the game itself: Washington needed it. This was just one of 84 games. But for the Capitals, who had dropped two in a row at Capital One Arena, it was as close to a must-win as they could get this early in the season.
Jack St. Ivany scored his first NHL goal at 2:21 of the first period to give Washington a 1-0 lead. The 27-year-old defenseman intercepted Schmid's clearing attempt along the left wall, and his shot bounced in over the goalie's left shoulder. Florida then got the man-advantage from Wilson's ejection and Brady Tkachuk made them pay. Brady Tkachuk scored twice in the first period, while Matthew Tkachuk finished with three assists for the Panthers.
Alex Tuch and Aliaksei Protas scored in the second period to lift the Capitals back in front. Pierre-Luc Dubois added a goal in the third. Washington held on despite playing most of the game a man short in personnel terms, with Wilson watching from the locker room. The win moved Washington to 9-6 on the season.
Washington does not play again until Tuesday against the Ottawa Senators, giving the league time to review the footage before the Capitals return to the ice. That window matters. If Player Safety schedules a hearing, it typically signals a suspension is coming. Wilson has the right to an in-person hearing if any ban exceeds five games, which would add more time to the process.
Defenseman Cole Hutson, who logged 14 games with Washington at the tail end of last season for 10 points, now has four goals and five assists in 14 games this year while skating an average of 19:21 per night. The team has real pieces. It is also already thin up front after a string of injuries earlier this season, and losing Wilson for any stretch would test depth that is already being pushed.
Whatever Player Safety decides, it will shape what Washington looks like by the end of November.
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CAN I KICK IT? screens New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument, on Aug. 22. (Courtesy SHAOLIN JAZZ)
The live-cinema series CAN I KICK IT? returns to the National Mall this month with what its producers are calling the "Gangsters on the Mall" chapter of their free outdoor summer run. On Saturday, August 22, the SHAOLIN JAZZ production brings the 1991 crime classic New Jack City to the Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument for a night of film, music, and community under the DC summer sky.
What sets the event apart is the sound. As the film plays, DJ 2-Tone Jones builds an original score in real time, reimagining one of the most iconic crime movies of the ’90s through hip-hop, soul, funk, and more. It is less a movie screening than a live performance built around the film.
The details:
Film: New Jack City (1991), with a live soundtrack by DJ 2-Tone Jones
When: Saturday, August 22 — seating opens at 7:30 p.m. (bring lawn chairs and blankets); film begins at 8:30 p.m.
Where: Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument, Independence Ave SW & 15th St NW
A parking note from the organizers: expect road closures and restricted parking east of 14th Street NW due to a separate race event in the District. Roads west of 14th Street NW will be accessible and available for parking.
New Jack City is the second of three screenings in this year’s free CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series, which opened with Black Panther at Skyland Town Center and concludes with Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial on September 5. Produced by the Washington, DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, the series has presented more than 150 live cinematic experiences at venues across the country, from Lincoln Center to SXSW.
"I wanted to be able to tell good stories with substance and remove the ‘ego’ out of the art," said Andrew Huang during a recent interview. Now, he’s building his career at the intersection of discipline, creativity and innovation.
Andrew Huang, founder of New Place Studios. (Courtesy photo)
As a Chinese American, Huang was reared with a deep respect for hard work, consistency and excellence. He describes his childhood as "not so affluent" and later attended college to hone his passion for videography. "In college I tried to do something I loved, which was video, but along the way I knew that I had to find a job. And so I thought, ‘what was the low hanging fruit to get to that stable 9 to 5 job?,’" he stated.
Later in life, Huang found himself working for corporations where his creativity was often limited, eventually leading to burnout. "I worked in a corporation for a long time and there were a lot of missing pieces. I wanted to fill in gaps missing in corporate video production," said Huang.
He later described how his upbringing and a mindset of "survival" led him toward a corporate career. However, his desire for balance and authentic storytelling ultimately pushed him to take the entrepreneurial leap.
"I founded a new place where you can create video and film with ‘substance and style,’" said Huang. His desire for work-life balance and passion for storytelling naturally evolved into a small business based in Virginia. With the launch of New Place Studios, the entrepreneur quickly found himself reconnecting with the values that would become the foundation of everything he creates behind the camera.
Huang said being a business owner has allowed him to first embrace himself. While others may see video as simply capturing moments, he sees it as a way to preserve stories that inspire, connect and leave a lasting imprint.
By combining cinematic visuals with cutting-edge production techniques and a keen understanding of branding, Huang helps organizations and individuals communicate their vision with purpose. He said understanding a client’s "why" serves as the compass for delivering the services they need.
One benefit of working with a small business, he said, is that clients get to see the production process unfold through a micro lens while working with the same faces throughout the entire project. "The work feels personal," said Huang.
Huang does not regret leaving behind the flash-over-substance mentality and corporate hustle culture. That does not mean the Asian American entrepreneur has been without challenges in the industry. "It’s relatively hard to find other Asian American creatives or people who would want to work with me in the DMV," said Huang.
He identifies the industry culture in which everyone is trying to blend in, creatives may fear displaying their Asian identity and some feel pressure to adopt an American corporate persona. He also points to what he describes as a level of gatekeeping within the industry. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2024 statistics, Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs own more than 3 million businesses and employ 5.2 million people in the United States.
After tapping into organizations such as SCORE, which offers free small business mentorship, New Place Studios has become a trusted creative partner throughout the DMV (Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia). The company produces a range of creative services, including commercials, corporate branding, documentaries, film, 2D animation, motion graphics and photography.
For Huang, entrepreneurship has become more than a departure from corporate life. It has given him the freedom to create with intention, build meaningful connections and tell stories that go beyond the surface.
The 2026 CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
For three Saturdays this summer, some of Washington’s most familiar public spaces will do something they rarely do after dark: fill up with blankets, lawn chairs, and the sound of a movie being scored live, in real time. CAN I KICK IT?, the traveling “live cinema” series produced by the DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, is bringing a free outdoor run to the city — pairing three era-defining films with an original soundtrack performed on the spot by DJ 2-Tone Jones.
The premise is what sets it apart from a normal screening in the park. Rather than simply pressing play, 2-Tone Jones builds a score as the film unfolds, pulling from hip-hop, soul, funk, jazz, rock, electronic music, and sounds from around the world. The result, the organizers say, is less a movie night than a one-time performance — the same film you know, wired to a soundtrack you have never heard and will not hear again. Guest DJs warm up the crowd starting at 7:30 PM before each 8:30 PM screening.
The 2026 outdoor schedule
All three events are free and open to the public.
Saturday, August 8 — Black Panther at Skyland Town Center. A pop-up marketplace and community activities kick off the evening; guest DJs at 7:30 PM, film at 8:30 PM. Marvel’s superhero epic gets a one-night-only live score in Southeast DC.
Saturday, August 22 — New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument. Seating begins at 7:30 PM; the film starts at 8:30 PM. The 1991 crime drama plays out at the foot of one of the country’s most recognizable landmarks.
Saturday, September 5 — Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial. Seating at 7:30 PM; film at 8:30 PM. The series closes with Brian De Palma’s crime saga against the backdrop of the Memorial, scored live from start to finish.
First up: Black Panther at Skyland Town Center on August 8. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
A DC company with a national footprint
SHAOLIN JAZZ describes itself as a Washington-based arts company working at the intersection of music, film, art, and culture, and CAN I KICK IT? is its signature production. According to the organizers, the series has staged more than 150 live cinematic experiences around the country — at performing arts centers, museums, festivals, and cultural institutions including Lincoln Center in New York, SXSW, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Republic Square in Austin, the Tacoma Armory, and The Cary Theater.
“CAN I KICK IT? has always been about creating a shared experience,” said Gerald Watson, co-founder of SHAOLIN JAZZ. “When you combine iconic films with live music in public spaces, something special happens. People aren’t just watching a movie — they’re experiencing it together. That’s what makes these nights so memorable.”
Cinema as a community event
The DC run lands as cities across the country look for new ways to activate public space through arts and culture — and this series is a straightforward pitch for how to do it: take a landmark everyone already knows, add a film everyone has an opinion about, and let a live soundtrack turn the evening into something neighbors experience shoulder to shoulder. Families, film buffs, and music fans are all invited, and admission won’t cost a thing.
The CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series runs August 8, August 22, and September 5. All events are free; check SHAOLIN JAZZ (shaolinjazz.com) for the latest details and any weather updates before heading out.
