Barry Trotz to Islanders' Boulton: Capitals' Wilson 'not scared of anybody'

Washington Capitals head coach Barry Trotz says forward Tom Wilson wasn't afraid of fighting New York Islanders agitator Eric Boulton, Wilson was just obeying Trotz's orders Monday night.

“I told (Wilson) before the game there's only one reason (Boulton) is in the lineup and I don't want him to fight him," Trotz told CSN Washington's Chuck Gormley.

"I said, 'I need for you to play,'" Trotz added. "I also told him if (Boulton) is on the ice with you, you've got to be involved. You don't want to get jumped. If he's coming at you and you can't get out of it you've got to go at it.

"But I told him to back off and play. He's not scared of anybody or anything. I just need him to play."

Boulton repeatedly tried to get Wilson to fight Monday during a 3-1 preseason win by the Capitals over the Islanders, but Wilson declined. After the game, Boulton said Wilson was "scared to death" of fighting him.

Wilson remains a focal point for the Islanders, five months after he ended former New York defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky's season in Game 4 of their first-round playoff series.

"There's probably a little target there," Trotz said. "He's a hard guy to play against and I'm not going to take that out of him. I just need him to play a little more. He might play 20 minutes and that's two games (of ice time) for him last year."

Wilson drew a charging call on Boulton in the third period Monday that led to Andre Burakovsky's game-winning goal.

"We're trying to grow his game, but trust me, I want him to be hard and nasty," Trotz said. "I don't think that's going to change. But we're going to help him become a better player, too."