Southern California Line – Washington’s three-game tour of California commences tonight in the southern portion of the Golden State when the Caps put their four-game winning streak on the line against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center.
The Ducks are 1-1-0 on a three-game homestand, and they’re facing the Caps in the rubber match tonight.
“I see a lot of positives inside their game,” says Caps coach Spencer Carbery of the Ducks. “They are scratching and clawing, and you can tell that this team is right there, even listening to [Anaheim coach Greg Cronin]. There is a lot of fight and belief that they’re right there, and they’re playing like that.
“It goes in line with a lot of the teams that we’ve been playing of late, that are right on the fringe of the playoffs – whether they’re just in or just out – like Anaheim is. They’re fighting for every inch and every point right now, and the play is sort of indicative of that.”
Anaheim is 10-5-1 in its last 16 games overall while the Caps – who had a franchise record 10-game road winning streak in the early weeks of the season – are 8-1-3 in their last dozen road games, since the calendar flipped to 2025.
Whip It Up – One of the many reasons for the Capitals’ ongoing success in 2024-25 is the sheer number of players who are in the midst of career seasons, including the team’s entire group of top six forwards, in one aspect or another.
Youngsters Connor McMichael and Aliaksei Protas have set new single-season standards in multiple categories, and both are having their best seasons to date, but so are the veteran forwards whose respective NHL track records go back a few seasons further than the kids.
As he chases down Wayne Gretzky’s all-time career goals mark (894), Caps captain Alex Ovechkin is scoring at a rate of 2.3 goals/60, the highest rate of his 20-year NHL career.
Center P-L Dubois has already established a career best with 38 assists this season, and his primary helper/60 rate of 1.4 is the highest of his career. And center Dylan Strome has also reached a career high with 44 assists, and he is virtually certain to establish a career high in points again this season, which would mark the third time he has done so in as many seasons with Washington.
Then there’s Tom Wilson, now skating in his 12th NHL season. Wilson was named the NHL’s No. 3 star for the week ending March 9, and with 29 goals he has set a new single-season high, doing so just ahead of his 32nd birthday later this month. Wilson has also matched his career high in points (52) while setting new highs in power-play goals (11, more than twice as many as he ever had previously in a single season), average nightly ice time (18:50) and his G/60 rate of 1.5 and his PTS/60 rate of 2.7 are both the highest of his career.
And, with the Caps set to start the trip in Anaheim tonight, Wilson is in a building tonight in which he has delivered some memorable recent exploits. On Nov. 16, 2021, he scored the tying goal in the third period, helping the Caps pick up a point in a game they eventually lost in overtime. Just over two years ago, on March 1, 2023, Wilson scored a pair of goals, including the overtime game-winner in a 3-2 Washington triumph. In last season’s visit here on Nov. 30, 2023, Wilson had his first – and thus far only – career hat trick in his 700th career game, scoring twice in the first and once in the third in a 5-4 Caps victory.
That’s six goals in his last three games here in Anaheim, and he has 11 goals in 20 career games against the Ducks, his highest per game rate against any opponent (excluding Utah).
When Wilson notched that hat trick here early last season, we asked Carbery after the game for his thoughts on No. 43, after having coached him in the NHL for only a couple of months at that time. As always, Carbery was thoughtful and forthcoming.
“I always knew he was a gamer,” says Carbery. “And he's proven that to me every day, of just the way he competes, and the way he plays the game, how badly he wants to win and do the right thing, be in the right spot, and make the right play. He is a total complete gamer, which I knew.
“But I think maybe the one thing that I've been able to witness firsthand – which you've seen – is he's always had that blend of skill and power. But seeing that firsthand and practice and in games, and the hands, and his ability to finish, scoring from the bumper, making little small area plays, that's the unique skill of Tom Wilson that separates him from essentially everyone in the world, is that size and power and physicality. But then also that finesse and touch that he has, and he scores a hat trick in his 700th game, just a great night for him.”
After Monday morning’s practice here in Anaheim, we asked Carbery again for his updated take on Wilson after coaching him for the better part of two full seasons now.
“Few things have changed, but I think not much has changed with his game and who he is and what he brings on a nightly basis,” says Carbery. “He's such a unique player, like I said at that time; there's no one like him in the league. He is such a unicorn when it comes to all the different facets of the game and all the boxes that he checks on what he can bring on a nightly basis.
“He can – quite literally – play in every single situation and play at a high level: penalty kill, power play, down in your lineup, up in your lineup, physical on the forecheck, create a spark with his physical play beyond the ice, trying to score a goal late to tie it at 6-on-5, trying to prevent a goal at 5-on-6, like you saw [Sunday].
“That's the real luxury that we have, and I'm really proud of him, because maybe the one area that's really, really grown inside of his game is his leadership. He came into this organization as a young guy being brought along by the Nick Backstroms of the world. [T.J. Oshie], [John] Carlson, [Ovechkin], obviously. And now he's the guy right there with them, leading the charge of helping young players, and also setting the tone for our team, and being a real quality leader. That has been impressive, to see his maturation as a leader.”
Victim Of Me – Strome played in his 500th career game on Sunday against Seattle, and he celebrated with a second-period goal against the Kraken, his first ever against that relatively new franchise.
With that goal, Strome becomes the 19th player to have scored against each of the NHL’s current 32 clubs, plus Arizona. But Strome carries the additional distinction of having the fewest games played of any of the 19 skaters; Ottawa’s Claude Giroux (1,188 games) is at the opposite end of that list.
Along with Strome, Dubois is also on that list, as are former Capitals Andre Burakovsky and Marcus Johansson.
In The Nets – Logan Thompson gets the net for Washington tonight in the trip opener. He is 15-2-2 in his last 19 starts, and he blanked the Ducks on 19 shots in DC on Jan. 14 in the first meeting of the season between the two teams.
Lifetime, Thompson is 2-2-1 in five appearances (four starts) with a 1.66 GAA add a .932 save pct. against the Ducks.
For Anaheim, Lukas Dostal is the starter tonight, and he is seeking his 20th victory of the season. He is 6-3-1 in his last 10 starts, with a 2.38 GAA and a .924 save pct. over that span.
Dostal is making his first career appearance against Washington tonight.
All Lined Up – Here’s how we believe the Capitals and the Ducks might look on Tuesday night at Honda Center:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin 17-Strome, 43-Wilson
24-McMichael, 80-Dubois, 21-Protas
88-Mangiapane, 20-Eller, 16-Raddysh
22-Duhaime, 26-Dowd, 72-Beauvillier
Defensemen
38-Sandin, 74-Carlson
6-Chychrun, 57-van Riemsdyk
42-Fehervary, 3-Roy
Goaltenders
48-Thompson
79-Lindgren
Extras
27-Alexeyev
52-McIlrath
53-Frank
Out/Injured
15-Milano (upper body)
19-Backstrom (hip)
77-Oshie (back)
ANAHEIM
Forwards
77-Vatrano, 16-R. Strome, 19-Terry
11-Zegras, 91-Carlsson, 17-Killorn
61-Gauthier, 23-McTavish, 64-Colangelo
44-Johnston, 21-Lundestrom, 38-Harkins
Defensemen
2-LaCombe, 7-Gudas
51-Zellweger, 65-Trouba
34-Mintyukov, 43-Helleson
Goaltenders
1-Dostal
36-Gibson
Extras
20-Leason
58-Kylington
Out/Injured
13-Fabbri (upper body)
26-McGinn (lower body)
36-Gibson (lower body)
