After a tough weekend that saw them drop both games of a home-and-home with the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Washington Capitals needed a win on Long Island yesterday. They would have to do it without John Carlson and Jakob Chychrun, who were both out of the lineup for maintenance, and Aliaksei Protas and Logan Thompson are still dealing with injury issues. Clearly someone would need to step up. Enter Dylan Strome, who recorded the third hat trick of his career and his first as a Capital to propel Washington to a 3-1 victory against the New York Islanders.
Strome scored all three goals for the Caps, and it was his second goal of the night that would be the game-winner after Jean-Gabriel Pageau got one back for New York in the third period.
The goal came 7:52 into the second period on a wicked snap shot that beat Ilya Sorokin. Alex Ovechkin went in hard on the forecheck and wrestled the puck away from Scott Mayfield behind Sorokin’s net. Ovi then fed Strome a slick no-look backhand pass low in the slot, and Strome immediately shot it into the back of the Islanders’ net.
This goal was Strome’s 28th of the season, which was a short-lived new career high because he scored his 29th of the years on an empty net at 18:49 in the third period to complete his hat trick. Three goals last night also brings him to 81 total points on the season; the closest he had ever gotten to the 80-point milestone was last year when he recorded 67 points (27G, 40A). Dylan Strome has worked incredibly hard this season, so it felt extra special to see him have his moment last night. Clearly, his teammates agreed: