It wasn’t always pretty, and it was sometimes painful, but the Caps managed to eke out a 5-4 shootout win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. After building a 3-0 lead before the middle of the second period, the Caps watched it slip away when Vegas scored four goals – including a pair of shorthanded goals against on the same Washington power play – in less than 10 minutes of playing time.
But Washington’s special teams rallied back in the third when its penalty killing outfit handled a four-minute minor to Dylan Strome for hi-sticking, and then the power play unit manufactured the tying tally off Strome’s stick in the third period. Strome scored the only goal of the shootout, and Logan Thompson stopped all three Vegas shootout bids to earn his fourth victory in as many starts against his former team.
“That was not the way that we drew it up,” says Caps coach Spencer Carbery. “But with what went on in the second period, and coming in and being able to get a mental reset and a bit of a breather to just have a quick conversation about what we needed to do; we just started to really make some mental mistakes in that game to mismanage a lot of different scenarios, not just the goals.
“So, it was just about getting our mental game back, of making good decisions, helping each other out, all the habits and stuff that we talk about all year long, just getting back and really emphasizing those. And even when we came out, here's what I appreciated the most, is we give up that early power play goal [in the third]. But there wasn't a panic; we stayed calm through that.”
For the second time in as many games, Washington’s fourth line staked it to an early 1-0 lead. Brandon Duhaime and Ivan Miroshnichenko combined to win a puck near the Vegas line, and the latter pushed it to linemate Hendrix Lapierre, who put on a burst of speed and split the defense to create a short ice breakaway. Lapierre then beat Adin Hill with a wrist shot for a 1-0 Washington lead at 6:06 of the first.
Facing his former team for the second time in just over a month, Thompson made a pair of strong stops to protect that slim 1-0 lead. First, he denied Ivan Barbashev from in tight after a fine feed from Jack Eichel. That save came less than a minute after the Lapierre goal, and he thwarted Reilly Smith’s point blank one-timer from the slot in the back half of the first.
There was a scary moment late in the first when Washington’s Aliaksei Protas and former teammate and Vegas center collided head-to-head in the corner of the Washington zone. Dowd was bloodied and Protas needed help getting off the ice. Dowd returned for the second period; Protas did not.
“It's tough to see them go down,” says Caps winger Anthony Beauvillier. “You watch the replay and see what happened. Obviously, knowing Dowder on the other side, too, it was scary for obviously both teams, and knowing the two guys that collided was even scarier.
“We say no friends out there, but when you see someone go down, it's always a little scary. But it was good to see [Dowd] back on the ice and looked like Pro was doing good too.”
The early minutes of the middle period were fruitful for the Capitals. On an early power play, Cole Hutson and Connor McMichael combined to set up Justin Sourdif for his 15th goal of the season from the slot at 1:55. Sourdif joins Ryan Leonard as the second Washington rookie to reach the 15-goal level this season. They’re the first pair of Caps rookies to reach 15 goals in the same season since 1981-82.
Just under five minutes later, the Caps advanced their advantage to 3-0 on an excellent individual effort from Leonard. After gaining possession in neutral ice, Leonard skated down the left wing into Vegas ice and pulled up, surveying for options. From the left half wall, he fired a shot that Anthony Beauvillier was able to redirect into the far corner of the cage for a 3-0 Caps lead at 6:49.
When Washington went on its second power play of the game midway through the middle frame, things took a sharp turn in a southerly direction for the Capitals.
First, Dowd executed the swipe and snipe, forcing a turnover deep in Washington ice and whipping a shot past Thompson for his first goal as a Golden Knight, and at the expense of the team that traded him here just over three weeks ago. Dowd’s goal at 10:38 of the second made it a 3-1 game.
Twenty-five seconds later, another midseason Vegas acquisition – defenseman Rasmus Andersson – broke in alone on Thompson and scored another shorthanded goal to make it a 3-2 game at 11:03.
Eichel scored the tying goal at 13:18, the Golden Knights’ third goal on as many shots in a span of 2 minutes and 40 seconds.
The Caps started the third period on the penalty kill, and Mitch Marner’s shot from center point eluded Thompson just 31 seconds into the third, giving Vegas its first lead of the game.
When Strome was boxed for the double-minor just ahead of the five-minute mark of the third, the Caps’ penalty killing unit – with Protas unavailable for duty – stepped up and snuffed out most of the front end of that kill before drawing a couple of calls on Vegas in short succession, leading to some Washington power play time.
Less than 30 seconds after exiting the penalty box, Strome scored the tying goal on a sublime play and feed from Hutson, who has factored on all five Washington power-play goals the team has scored in his half dozen games since joining the team on March 18.
With less than 10 seconds remaining on the power play, Hutson collected the puck and carried over toward the left point. He hesitated then flipped a pass back to the weak side for Strome, who ripped a shot into a yawning cage behind Hill at 8:54 to tie the game at 4-4.
“Obviously, they're cheating on [Alex Ovechkin’s] one-timer,” recounts Hutson. “So I walked to his side. I was looking for the shot the whole time, and I realized they were overplaying my shot. I just slid it across, and he had an open net.”
Hutson is the first teenaged NHL defenseman to factor on five consecutive power-play goals by his team since Mikhail Sergachev – then with Tampa Bay – turned the trick from Nov. 25-Dec. 5, 2018.
Washington had the better of the possession and the chances in overtime, forcing Hill to make four saves to get the game to the shootout.
With a helpful hint from Thompson, who gave him a quick scouting report on ex-teammate Hill, Strome deked and beat the Vegas netminder on Washington’s first attempt, tucking a nifty backhander under the bar for the only goal of the shootout from either side. Thompson made a trio of tricky saves to swing the extra point into the Caps’ column, sending Washington back east with a 2-1-0 record to show for its three-game journey out west.
“The little bit of a benefit playing on the West Coast is you get to see all the other results of the day,” says Strome. “So, we knew we could make up some ground tonight. And obviously it started great, and then kind of went sideways on us. But credit to us. I think we had a great kill when I got that four-minute penalty and drew a couple power plays and luckily cashed in there. I thought [Thompson] was outstanding all night, and we just found a way to get it done.”
The Caps have now earned points in seven of their last eight games (5-1-2).
“We stayed with the game after that power play and started to grab a little bit of momentum,” says Carbery. “And then we are in the power play, and Stromer steps up, scores a huge goal. It's a great play by Cole as well, a great deception in the blue line to set that thing up.
“So, I'd say it's a huge win for us. We're staying in this fight. We're not going to roll over big two points now. Now we'll go back home and get ready at home.”
The Capitals are now 5-24-1 all-time in games in which they surrender two or more shorthanded goals against, and two of those five victories have come this month, less than three weeks apart. On March 9 against Calgary, a 3-0 Washington lead evaporated in the middle period, with a pair of those Flames goals coming shorthanded on the same penalty. But the Caps rallied to win 7-3 on the strength of a four-goal third period.
