Trevor van Riemsdyk’s first goal since last Oct. 25 was a big one for the Capitals; it snapped a 1-1 deadlock late in the third period and lifted Washington to an important 3-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night at Capital One Arena.
After Aliaksei Protas and Declan Chisholm played catch on the left side of the ice upon entering the Philly zone, Chisholm – stationed just off the paint on the left side – spotted his blueline partner lurking on the weak side with a step on the Flyers’ defender. Chisholm issued a perfect feed, and van Riemsdyk tucked it under the bar with 5:52 remaining.
“It looked like they were changing,” says van Riemsdyk, which may help account for the time and space – rare on this night – he was able to find on the scoring play. “We were kind of changing too, so I knew even if it didn't work out, we'd have forwards behind me coming in late, and they had done a great job all night of kind of being responsible, letting us be aggressive down those walls. And then Chis made a great play with the entry through the middle, drop it, and then to slide it through that guy, and just kind of give me an empty netter.”
van Riemsdyk’s goal was significantly more important than his first one this season, which was the lone goal in a 7-1 setback at the hands of the Ottawa Senators here back in the season’s first month. Tonight’s goal was his first game-winner since Nov. 27, 2018, at Montreal as a member of the Carolina Hurricanes.
Playing on his 29th birthday, Logan Thompson was terrific in goal for the Capitals. He made 23 saves to reach the 20-win plateau for the fourth straight season in his first start since helping Team Canada to a silver medal in the Olympics.
Both teams were playing their first game after the NHL’s pause of nearly three weeks to accommodate League participation in the 2026 Winter Olympic Games. The game was played in the trenches, below the dots, with neither side permitting much in the way of time and space and quality scoring chances.
And though it was a hard-nosed, gritty affair, it was also a low event contest between a pair of Metro Division rivals. Only three penalties were whistled all night, a hook, a hold and a puck over the glass.
Playing without John Carlson (lower body injury), the Caps got a sturdy performance from their six defensemen, who also loomed large in the scoring. Rasmus Sandin scored the game’s first goal, and only Aliaksei Protas’ unassisted, shorthanded empty-net goal – his 20th goal of the season – in the game’s final minute did not feature a pair of points from Washington blueliners.
“I thought our [defense] corps did a good job,” says Caps coach Spencer Carbery. “There was a little bit of rust; we put them in some tough spots with some puck play that ends up turning over. And those are quick transition pucks that put the [defense] in a tough spot, but I thought overall, our [defense] did a real good job of not only handling the rush, but down low. There was a significant amount of play down there and so closes, being able to cut the back of the net, box-outs, winning battles down in those corners; there are a lot of those tonight. And I thought our guys did a good job of that.”
Philadelphia dominated the front half of what was a scoreless first period, and the Caps came to life in the second half of the opening frame.
When the game reached the midpoint, it was still scoreless. But Sandin gave Washington a 1-0 lead at 13:52 of the second, scoring his first goal since Nov. 13.
From center point, Jakob Chychrun pushed the puck down low to Hendrix Lapierre, who was near the goal line, just off the right post. Lapierre patiently surveyed, spotted Sandin sneaking past his check, and fed him perfectly. While Brandon Duhaime created some chaos at the net front, Sandin swept a shot past Philly netminder Dan Vladar to finally break the seal on the scoresheet.
“Honestly, I think their forward was kind of low on the play and he wanted to get back to his spot, and got caught a little bit puck-watching,” recounts Sandin. “I just jumped by him and Chychy dragged three guys with him and makes a great play to Lappy. Lappy puts it to me, so I just had to put the puck in the net, basically.”
Although he hasn’t played more than 10 minutes in any of his last 15 games, Lapierre has been playing some noticeably good hockey when he is out there of late. Tonight’s assist gives him two goals and four points in his last nine games.
“Honestly, I had a lot of pucks before that that I rushed a little bit and missed the net, and made a couple of bad plays,” says Lapierre. “So, on this one, when I received it, I was like, ‘Okay, I’ll take my time now; I’ll make sure I make a smart play.
“Dewey did a great job of taking that [defenseman] in front of the net and giving me a lane, and Sandy did a great job of beating his winger as well. That’s all them. Honestly, I just had to lay it in, and we scored a big goal.”
Philadelphia’s Noah Cates spoiled Thompson’s shutout bid in the first minute of the third period, tying the score at 1-1. While Vladar made strong stops on both Ethen Frank and Lapierre in the third to keep the game even, Thompson did the same for Washington midway through the third with his most brilliant stop of the game. Thompson moved laterally to his left and denied Matvei Michkov’s one-timer from in tight, at the back door on the weak side to keep the game even and set the table for van Riemsdyk.
The Caps got big plays from Lapierre and Chisholm, and big goals from Sandin and van Riemsdyk, guys whose names aren’t typically dotting the scoresheets. Those plays and those goals led them to what they needed more than anything, two points.
“I think those are just big plays,” says Carbery. “We talked about it as a group. It's not going to be about who's getting points and who's scoring goals, or ‘I need this,’ or ‘my minutes.’ All that is out the window at this point of the season. Everything is about how we can find a way to win a hockey game and get two points.
“And so Riemer steps up and Chis, they make a heck of a play there. Lappy makes a great play to Sandy on the first goal. So, we just have to find ways to win games. And tonight, I don't think it was our best. But coming off the break, shaking some of the rust off and finding a way to win, and get us some momentum, and start this final push off on the right foot was important.”
