Strome thriving as clutch scorer for surprising Capitals

WASHINGTON -- Dylan Strome was already in the Washington Capitals locker room when officials in the NHL Situation Room were reviewing his power-play goal 1:41 into overtime that would eventually stand as the winner in a 3-2 victory against the New York Islanders on Wednesday.

But that doesn’t mean Strome was fully confident that the goal was going to count before the official ruling was announced that Capitals forward Tom Wilson had not knocked the puck down with a high stick before the goal was scored.

“We came back off here and our coaches said it was a good goal,” Strome said. “You never know when you take that long, and you're kind of thinking about it a little bit -- a lot, actually. The rule is the shoulder [height] when it’s not on net, so I don't know if that was on net or not, but we'll take it. A goal’s a goal.”

It was the forward’s second overtime goal of the season, third game-winner and the center’s team-leading 13th goal overall. With the Capitals ranked 30th in the NHL in scoring at 2.41 goals per game, Strome’s scoring has been an essential to their success.

Alex Ovechkin had the primary assist on Strome’s overtime goal and had five shots on goal but went without scoring a goal for the 14th consecutive game, extending the longest drought of his 19-season NHL career.

Despite Ovechkin being stuck on five goals for the season -- his lowest output through 29 games of his career -- Washington is 16-9-4 and holds the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. The Capitals are also only three points behind the Philadelphia Flyers and Islanders, who are tied for second in the Metropolitan Division, with two games in hand on the Flyers and three on the Islanders.

But who knows where they would be without Strome?

“He’s been huge and filling the net,” Capitals defenseman John Carlson said. “But also a lot of clutch goals, a lot of big moments and that’s what you want out of him. Obviously, he’s capable of it but, yeah, he’s having a great year.”

Strome is far from satisfied, though. He was happy to score the overtime goal and get the victory but dwelled postgame on being on the ice for both of the Islanders’ goals, including Anders Lee’s goal that knotted the score at 2-2 at 12:02 of the third period that forced overtime.

“I didn't have a great game today,” Strome said. “Thought I didn't have too many good looks. Obviously, minus-2 is not great, but I found way to get it done.”

Capitals coach Spencer Carbery agreed with Strome’s assessment of his play and that of his line with Ovechkin and Tom Wilson, saying, “I thought their line was just OK. They’re on for two goals. There’s a little bit of unlucky situations, puck bounces, that go into that. But driving offense is where I thought they came up short.”

But Carbery also valued Strome’s honesty and desire to improve.

“That’s one of the things I appreciate about ‘Stromer,’” Carbery said. “And you might not get this from being around him and talking to him, [but] he is so internally motivated and so almost to a fault wants to be the best, like THE best. And anytime he doesn’t make a play or things don’t work out, which is going to inevitably, he expects this from himself.”

Strome was selected by the Arizona Coyotes with the No. 3 pick in the 2015 NHL Draft but was unable to establish himself as top-line player in three seasons with the Coyotes and four with the Chicago Blackhawks. He became an unrestricted free agent when the Blackhawks decided not to make him qualifying offer following the 2021-22 season and Washington signed him to a one-year, $3.5 million contract.

Strome made the most of the opportunity, setting an NHL career high with 65 points (23 goals, 42 assists) in 81 games last season and signing a five-year, $25 million contract to remain with the Capitals. The 26-year-old has continued to thrive this season, leading Washington in goals and points with 19 in 29 games.

“There’s lot of players that you’ve got to push that out of them and say, ‘You should expect this,” Carbery said. “He’s like, ‘Oh, I know. That’s what I expect of myself, to be a world-class player, to be a first-line centerman, to be able to play with anyone in this league, to be able to win shifts against (Islanders forwards) Bo Horvat and Mat Barzal.’ So, I think it’s a great quality of him pushing the envelope in his expectations.”

Now in his eighth NHL season, Strome has yet to play in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Capitals still have a lot of work to do to get there this season, but they’ve had a knack for making the most of their limited offense, improving to 9-1-4 in one-goal games with their victory against the Islanders.

Strome views that as a promising sign for the remainder of the season.

“We may not score the most goals right now, or this season so far, but we're finding ways to win tight games,” he said. “I think it's a good look on us when we can win these 2-1, 3-2, 1-0, 2-1 type games. I know we have a pretty good record if we score over two goals in regulation (10-0-3), so we should probably try to do that a lot more.”