Oct. 20 vs. New Jersey Devils at Capital One Arena
Time: 7:00 p.m.
TV: MNMT
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, Capitals Radio Network
Los Angeles Kings (0-4-2)
Washington Capitals (5-3-0)
Following an off day on Sunday and a Monday practice session, the Caps are set to continue their season-long five-game homestand on Tuesday night when they host the Los Angeles Kings. The Caps won each of the first two games of the homestand, and they’re facing the Kings in the middle match on Tuesday.
Saturday afternoon at Capital One Arena, a depleted Caps lineup – missing centers Pierre-Luc Dubois and Justin Sourdif and defensemen Matt Roy and Rasmus Sandin – spotted the Devils the game’s first goal in the first period, a mere second after the expiration of a New Jersey power play. The Devils scored the last goal of the game in the final minute of regulation, and this was an actual power play goal for the visitors. But between those two bookend New Jersey goals, the Caps scored four straight markers to skate off with a 4-2 victory.
Following Ryan Leonard’s dazzling highlight reel goal in the first – the game-tying tally – the Caps struck for a trio of goals in the middle period, with each of the Caps’ three healthy centers – Ilya Protas, Dylan Strome and Boone Jenner – lighting the lamp to give Washington the lead and some breathing room. Logan Thompson shut down the Devils in the third, stopping each of the first 16 shots they sent his way before Timo Meier finally scored on a power play in the final half minute of regulation.
The Protas goal came early in the second period, giving the Caps a lead they would hold and protect the rest of the afternoon. Ilya Protas also won nine of 13 face-offs in Saturday’s game; his 69 percent rate on the dot was tops among all Caps centers on Saturday.
Protas’ second NHL goal came on a sublime feed from linemate Alex Ovechkin as the Caps cashed in on an odd-man rush.
“It was a great pass,” said a smiling Protas after Saturday’s win. “As soon as I saw him looking at me, I was like, ‘Yeah, he’s going to try to make a play. And it was a great pass, right on my tape, and luckily, I scored.”
“Hopefully, this gives him a little bit of confidence,” says Caps coach Spencer Carbery of the rookie pivot. “I thought he was excellent in his shifts. And they get pinned a couple of times in the defensive zone, but I thought he did some good things.
“I just thought with the puck, he was attacking all night. He made a few really good plays down low in the offensive zone. Defensively, he was really strong. Face-offs, all these different scenarios. I really liked his game, and I’m glad he gets rewarded.”
Much more under the radar, the younger Protas earned 4:01 in third period ice time at even strength, and that’s his highest figure of the young season in the five games in which Washington was protecting a lead in the final frame. He had averaged 2:25 in the third period of the first four games of the season meeting that description.
Ilya Protas has five points (one goal, four assists) on the season, and he is tied for sixth – with Toronto’s Gavin McKenna, the first player chosen in the 2026 NHL Draft – in scoring among NHL rookies. Protas has managed those totals while averaging a modest 11:53 per night in ice time in all situations. His ice time per game is lower than each of the six players ahead of – or even – with him on that list, and he is tied with the fewest (eight) games played of the group as well.
“I’ve said it a bunch, but it’s going to be a long year,” says Carbery. “His development in the NHL on our team is going to be a long process. And I think just him having little wins along the way, and him building his confidence as we go. And anytime early in the season you can get rewarded with a goal on the board I think helps that.”
With Dubois missing a fourth straight game and Sourdif sitting out his first game of the season on Saturday, the Caps summoned Jonny Brodzinski from AHL Hershey, and he made his Washington debut in the middle of the fourth line.
Although Dubois returned to practice on Monday, he was sporting a light blue non-contact sweater. Sourdif was not on the ice and Carbery says he will miss Tuesday’s game with Los Angeles. The Caps coach was non-committal as far as a Roy return goes, but the Caps did loan defenseman Justin Holl back to AHL Hershey on Sunday morning, a good indication that Roy will play against the team that chose him in the seventh round (194th overall) of the 2015 NHL Draft.
“No Sourdif; he continues to be day-to-day with illness,” says Carbery. “Roy back practicing, so we’ll see where he’s at for [Tuesday]. Dubie [takes his] first step back, practiced with the group today.”
Carbery says he is assuming Dubois won’t play against Los Angeles on Tuesday, but he also added that he will speak with director of sports medicine and head athletic trainer Jason Serbus before definitively making that decision.
Regardless of who is in the lineup Tuesday, the Caps’ concern is stacking wins while their schedule is home heavy, and not overlooking Los Angeles, a Western Conference club off to a slow start.
“You just know their desperation going into the game,” says Carbery. “You’re going to have a team that is going to pt absolutely everything possible that they can put into a game to try to get two points, they’re going to put in.
“Does that scenario make a difference? They’re going to be hungry. If they had won a game, would they still be hungry? Yeah. So, I don’t really put too much into it, but they’re a team searching for two points. They’re going to be desperate for sure.”
The 2025-26 NHL season was the first one in which ex-Caps and current Kings coach Peter Laviolette did not coach since 1999-00 when he was running the AHL Providence Bruins bench. One of the hallmarks of Laviolette-coached teams is a significant first-year bump, which has yet to manifest itself in Los Angeles. As the Kings hit town on Tuesday, they’re still seeking their first win of the season, though they have forged a pair of standings points by virtue of a pair of overtime road losses, at San Jose and Vegas, respectively.
“I think they’re going to have a desperation level,” says Caps right wing Tom Wilson of the Kings. “It’s a tough League, and whenever teams aren’t winning, they want to stop that. And they’re going to be hungry, so we’ve got to match their urgency and keep building our game the right way. And if we take care of our business, we’ll be all right.”
The Kings’ early season woes stem from a lack of scoring and a leaky penalty killing outfit. Heading into Monday night’s NHL activity, Los Angeles is next-to-last in the NHL in goals per game (2.00) and in penalty killing success rate (61.9 percent). The Kings have allowed the sixth-fewest goals at 5-on-5 (13) this season, but they’ve also played just six games; they’re the only team to play as few as six games to this point.
Los Angeles last played Saturday night at home against Boston, dropping a 4-1 decision. After Alex Laferriere scored in the first minute of the game, the B’s pulled even in the second on a David Pastrnak goal.
With 6:24 remaining in regulation, Boston’s Marat Khustnutdinov scored the go-ahead goal, and the B’s added a pair of late empty-netters to put a different paint job on what was actually a close and tight contest.
Tuesday’s game is the opener of a five-game road trip for Los Angeles.
