WASHINGTON — Tom Wilson last created a significant impact against the Rangers in the final week of the 2020-21 season, when John Davidson was team president, Jeff Gorton was the general manager and David Quinn the head coach.
The Blueshirts dismissed them all within a matter of a week. They hired a new head coach in Gerard Gallant, a players’ champion who had been one of the league’s most imposing power wingers during his heyday in Detroit in the ’80s. The club bulked up under incoming GM Chris Drury, adding Ryan Reaves, Sammy Blais, Dryden Hunt and Barclay Goodrow over the summer.
And they opened the 2021-22 season in Washington, against the Caps, and against Wilson, who had set off a maelstrom when he flexed in the press box after throwing Artemi Panarin to the mat. The game was so highly anticipated it was broadcast on national TV.
It was going to be a grudge match.
