Caps Edge Sens, 3-2

Next man up. That's been the Caps' mantra throughout their current hot spell of about six weeks. Washington earned a 3-2 victory over the Senators in Ottawa on Saturday night, doing so despite playing without half of the regular blueline corps it iced in the playoffs last spring when it claimed its first Stanley Cup championship.

Three Washington-drafted defensemen - Madison Bowey, Tyler Lewington and Jonas Siegenthaler, none of whom played in the playoffs last spring - stepped up and were prominent in Saturday's win over the Sens. The Caps played without Christian Djoos, Matt Niskanen and Brooks Orpik, all of whom are sidelined with injuries.
Skating in his second career NHL game, Lewington had a goal and an assist, his first points in the NHL. He tacked on his first fighting major, too, becoming the first Washington defenseman in nearly 28 years to record a Gordie Howe hat trick (goal, assist and fight in same game).
Bowey also scored his first NHL goal and it turned out to be the game-winner, and it's also the first time in Washington history - and just the 19th time in league history - that two defensemen from the same team each scored their first NHL goals in the same game.
Siegenthaler picked up an assist on Lewington's goal, and all three blueliners acquitted themselves well where it mattered most, in their own end of the ice.
"That's a lot of fun to watch play itself out there," says Caps coach Todd Reirden. "Two guys both scoring their first NHL goals as defensemen, that's fun to be a part of and a huge moment for our team, and for those two young players."
Saturday's victory was the Caps' fourth in a row, and their fifth straight on the road. Washington has won 16 of its last 19 games, dating back to Nov. 16.
The Caps broke the seal on the scoresheet at 7:12 of the first, taking a 1-0 lead on a Tom Wilson rush goal. After taking a pass from Lewington in neutral ice, Evgeny Kuznetsov carried into the Ottawa zone down the left side of the sheet, and put a perfectly timed pass at the back door for Wilson. The Washington winger chipped it over Marcus Hogberg for the first goal against of the rookie goaltender's career.

With four minutes remaining in the first, Lewington scored his first NHL goal to double the Caps' lead. At the Washington line, Siegenthaler gained possession and fed Nicklas Backstrom near the red line. Backstrom gained the zone, cut to the middle and surveyed, then left the puck for Lewington, who was the last white-sweatered skater into the zone. Lewington found some room in the middle and used it to creep closer before beating Hogberg from the high slot.
"It's pretty cool that [Backstrom] was the one that passed it to me," says Lewington. "I just tried jumping up in the rush and then Backy did a good job of drawing some guys to him and I just went in there and went top glove."

Ottawa pushed back hard in the second, but the Caps were able to maintain their two-goal cushion thanks to goalie Pheonix Copley. Copley stopped Brady Tkachuk from point blank range in the first minute of the period, and seconds later the Caps extended their lead.
Wilson regrouped in neutral ice, then issued a well-placed dump-in to the left wing corner, going in after it and collecting it himself. He took a look and backhanded a pass right up the middle to Bowey, fresh off the Washington bench and, like Lewington, also the last Cap into the zone. Bowey wound up, but seemed to take a little something off the fastball, putting a shot in the top left corner from between the tops of the circles. Bowey's goal gave the Caps a 3-0 lead at 1:01 of the second.

Wilson, it turns out, was actually trying to pass to linemate Jakub Vrana.
"I'm not going to lie to you; I was trying to pass it to V, going to the net for a quick play there," says Wilson. "But Bows did a great job. He was in position and had lots of time coming down the middle. He made the most of it."
"I think I was waiting to find an opening," recounts Bowey, "and once I thought I'd just pull back and shoot it. I'm happy it went in, obviously. It's a long time, but it definitely felt great and it turned out to be a big goal for us. I'm just happy about the two points in the end."
Bowey's goal came in his 78th career NHL game, and it stands as the game-winner.
But despite playing for the second time in as many nights and playing without No. 1 netminder Craig Anderson and top defenseman Thomas Chabot, the Sens weren't going away.
Colin White scored the Sens first goal against Washington this season, stuffing the puck behind Copley from the right post, ending a shutout streak of 122:01 for the Washington goaltender. The Caps issued a video challenge, alleging goaltender interference, but the call on the ice was upheld and White's goal made it a 3-1 game at 4:22 of the second period.
Seconds after the White goal, Bowey got into a tussle with Tkachuk, giving himself, Lewington and Wilson two of the three legs of the Gordie Howe hat trick. With an assist on White's goal, Tkachuk was also two-thirds of the way to a Gordie Howe hat trick at that point.
Copley made a key stop on Mark Stone just past the midpoint of the second period after some puck mismanagement on the part of his teammates. Shortly thereafter, Copley made another strong stop on White to preserve Washington's two-goal cushion.
When Lewington dropped the mitts with Ottawa's Zack Smith at 15:36 of the second, he became the first Caps defenseman to record a regular season Gordie Howe hat trick since Kevin Hatcher turned the trick against the Philadelphia Flyers on Feb. 10, 1991.
You can bet that Lewington has spent some time thinking about what his first goal, assist and fight in the NHL would be like, but did he ever think they'd all happen on the same night?
"No," says Lewington. "I think I was just looking forward to that first NHL game. I'm not really thinking about scoring goals or any of that stuff."

Washington was able to nurse that two-goal lead into the third, but again needed Copley to make some important saves because of sloppy puck work, most notably on Matt Duchene a couple of minutes ahead of the midpoint of the period.
The Caps generated some scoring chances of their own in the third, but overpassed their way out of a couple of them, and Hogberg also made some good stops to keep the Sens within striking distance.
And strike they did with 3:30 left. Tkachuk and White did the heavy lifting in the corner to win a puck battle and get the puck to Stone in the right circle, and the Sens' sharpshooter fired it home from there to make it a 3-2 game.
Ottawa pulled Hogberg for the extra attacker, but Copley and the Caps kept them at bay the rest of the way, sealing Washington's fourth straight win and their fifth straight on the road. Copley and the three young defensemen all started last season at AHL Hershey, and both Lewington and Siegenthaler started this season there as well. But on Saturday night in Ottawa, the quartet was critical in helping the Caps pick up a pair of points.
"It goes into the development process and just drafting the right type of players," says Reirden, "and developing them in Hershey and then continuing to develop them here. It's really an organizational job and a great job by our entire group."