More than anything, the Caps needed two points when they hosted the Nashville Predators on Feb. 5 in their final game ahead of the NHL’s Olympic pause this month. Thanks to a 27-save performance from Logan Thompson and a three-point night (two goals, one assist) from Jakob Chychrun, the Caps prevailed over the Preds, going into the break with a 4-2 win.
Those two standings points also came with two points – his first two of the season – from center P-L Dubois, who suited up for the first time in just over three months in the win. On his second shift of the game, Dubois picked up a primary assist on Tom Wilson’s game-opening goal. Two shifts later, he scored a power-play goal to give the Caps a two-goal advantage.
Dubois won’t quibble with a no-point night if the Caps win, but aside from the two standings points, he wasn’t thrilled with his return after a 47-game absence from the lineup following surgery in early November to repair an abdominal injury.
“I didn't think I played that great,” he says. “The biggest thing I didn't want was I didn't want to go out there and give myself an excuse of, ‘You missed three months, you're going to be rusty, you're going to be out of shape, you're going to be out of position.’ I wanted to go out there and have an impact – or try to have an impact – and not play it safe, and play it to not to give myself that excuse.
“And there's some ups and downs in that game. Obviously, when you get points, it hides some mistakes you make and some details that you miss. But as long as I improve from that game, I'll be happy.”
Dubois finished the night with 17:35 in ice time, and he won nine of 14 face-offs. He was able to enter the Olympic break with a game under his belt, then continue his rehab regimen into the break.
Last season, the addition of a slew of players from other organizations – including Dubois, Chychrun, Thompson, Brandon Duhaime and Matt Roy – energized the team on and off the ice. Duboi, Chychrun and Thompson all had seasons worthy of team-MVP consideration, and the Caps won the regular season Eastern Conference crown with 51 wins and 111 points.
Dubois’ long-term absence proved difficult for the Caps to navigate. Washington was 22-18-7 during his consecutive 47-game absence, and its .543 was tied – with Seattle and Anaheim – for 20th in the circuit over that span.
The Caps are excited to have Dubois back in the middle of their lineup, and they were likely as eager to see how he looked against Nashville than to wait another three weeks, once he was medically cleared to return.
“That was the objective, was to play that game, in part because of that,” says Dubois. “But also, I was getting tired of watching from upstairs. I'm a hockey player, so once I got the green light, I want to play hockey. And we didn't know if I was going to get the green light, but once I did, then there was no doubt in my mind that that was the game I wanted to play. And now that I've played it, there wasn't going to be any doubt in my mind even after the break. But it's nice to play that game and know that I’m still rusty, but I can work on it here and improve.”
Now in his ninth NHL season, the 27-year-old Dubois surpassed the 600-game plateau last October. Entering this season, he had played in 97 percent of his team’s regular season games and had perfect attendance in five of his first eight seasons in the League. The durable Dubois had never been sidelined for so long; he hadn’t suited up since Halloween before hopping back in against the Predators.
He admitted to missing some of the road hijinks and time with the fellas, but the silver lining of it all was being home in the days immediately following the birth of he and his wife’s first child, a son.
“I’m not the most patient person, but I think I became a lot more patient watching every game,” he reflects. “I wasn’t able to do really anything, being away from the guys, missing road trips where there's bonding, and then the guys come back and there are stories and all that, and you miss everything. There are guys in the group chat saying something you're not a part of, and it's tough at times.
“But on the flip side, I got to spend more time with my family. I got to see some milestones for my son that I probably would have never seen, and especially being our first child, that's pretty special. I'll remember that for the rest of my life, and I'm sure at the end of my career, I'll be thankful about that.
“In the moment, at times it was tough to have to go through that. But the training staff, I owe it all to them. They did a fantastic job of setting goals and keeping me optimistic and keeping me goal-aligned, of not seeing the last game before the break as the milestone, but seeing the end of the week and the week after, and walking and then skating and all these little things that kept it positive throughout the whole process.”
Now, Dubois hopes he is as good as new, and he fervently believes the Caps are better than they were before he went down on Halloween night. When Dubois was in the Washington lineup during the season’s first month, Justin Sourdif was skating the right side of a line with Brandon Duhaime and Nic Dowd.
Less than two weeks later, the Caps opted to move Sourdif to the center position, where he had played earlier in his pro career in the AHL. Sourdif grabbed the role Dubois had filled so capably last season and he has since displayed the ability to produce as a middle six pivot across a half a season of work.
Since he entered Washington’s top six in a Nov. 13 game at Florida, Sourdif has totaled 11 goals and 14 assists for 25 points in 39 games, ranking fourth among all NHL rookies in scoring across that span. His plus-14 rating ranks second.
Over a span of 17 games since Dec. 31, Sourdif has put up a point a game – nine goals and eight assists – to lead all NHL rookies in scoring over that stretch.
With Dubois returning, the Caps can use either Connor McMichael or Aliaksei Protas on the left side of a line with Tom Wilson on the right. And now they’ll have Sourdif, Dylan Strome and Nic Dowd centering their other three lines.
“When guys get injured, there's opportunities for different players,” says Dubois. “Look at Sourdy; he started the year on the wing. I get injured and we shuffle a little bit. He gets a shot, and now he's playing some unbelievable hockey for us. And that's exactly the player that we've needed.
“I think if you take out anybody out of a lineup something will change. There's going to be a shift, there's going to be a change of lines, there's going to be some tough conversations of where guys fit in and what not. But I think it's allowed some guys to play a bigger role and show what they’ve got, and they took full advantage of it.
“Him and [Ryan Leonard] have had great seasons. Lenny is not a center, but maybe it's allowed him in some way to have more. And at the end of the day, we all just want to win, and we all just want to do what we can for the team.”
Sourdif (12) and Leonard (10) are the first two Caps rookies to record double-digit goal totals in the same season since Dmitri Khristich (13) and Peter Bondra (12) in 1990-91. The emergence of that youthful duo as well as that of Ethen Frank has helped the Caps’ attack in Dubois’ absence.
And because Sourdif has shown himself capable of handling 200-foot center ice responsibilities during Dubois’ absence – and because Leonard and Frank have emerged as scoring threats – the Caps are better now that Dubois slots back in for the final quarter of the campaign.
“Coming out of this break, I might play less because Sourdy is playing so good,” says Dubois. “But if that helps the team win, then it’s perfect and everybody's on board with that. Like I said, whenever a guy goes out of lineup, there's a shift, and there's a change. But I think it really allowed some guys to really showcase what they have, and now I think we're a better team because of that.
“It’s funny to say, but maybe we’re a better team now because I got injured the first half. Everything happens for a reason, that’s what I think.”
Watching Sourdif from on high at Capital One Arena – or at home on Monumental – as he was navigating his rehab – Dubois saw a bit of himself in Sourdif as the Caps rookie was trying to find his way not only as a rookie, but as a player in a new organization and a new city.
“I was kind of the same early in my career, essentially,” says Dubois. “I think early in the year he's out there thinking, ‘I can't make a mistake. I don’t want to make a mistake. I’ve got to be in a good position defensively.’ And he’s thinking a lot. And then all of a sudden he gets a chance to play more, and instead of thinking, ‘I can't make a mistake now,’ again – and he might not really say this, because maybe he didn't know – but it looked like, instead of thinking ‘I can't make a mistake,’ it looks like he just went out there and said, ‘I have a shot; I might as well take it.’
“And he's a good, talented player. He’s strong on the puck, a smart player, skates well. So, he's taken that opportunity and really hit it out of the park. He's got that carefree mindset when he goes out there, just trying to make something happen every shift. And I think that's what has impressed me this whole season.
“In training camp, we saw the skill, and we saw the skating and all that. But really, when I got injured – and he got a shot in the middle, too – that's when you could really see him not going out there and being hesitant, but going out there and saying and thinking, ‘I’ve got a pitch coming at me, and I'm going to swing and if I hit it, I hit it. I don't, I don't, but at least I'll try.’
“So that's what's been fun to see, is him grow in that confidence phase game because of it.”
