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Capitals-Penguins: How the Game Was Won

The Caps pounced on the Pens for another two points last night…here’s how they did it.

Jan 18, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Capitals left wing Pierre-Luc Dubois (80) celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the third period at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

The last time these two teams clashed back in November, the Penguins caught the Caps napping, jumping out to a 2-0 lead before the game was seven minutes old and going on to win 4-2.

Based on last night’s game, the Caps seem to have learned a lesson from that loss, as they came out of the gates ready to go, took an early lead, built on it, and closed out the game in workmanlike fashion.

While the win was really a team win from the net on out, the trio of Connor McMichael, Aliaksei Protas, and Pierre-Luc Dubois really generated the bulk of the offense with two points apiece. So let’s take a closer look at the second goal, which took what had been a close 1-0 game and made it feel slightly more out of reach (especially with Logan Thompson in net) – and stood as the eventual game-winner.

The play starts, as so many of the team’s good plays have this season, with Dubois, who carries the puck into the offensive zone in a disjointed two-on-one with Protas. While he does lose the first puck battle along the wall, Dubois immediately targets Marcus Pettersson, the Pens’ defender who collects the loose puck behind his net.

Dubois’s impending approach forces Pettersson to make a quick move with the puck – and it’s the wrong one, as McMichael reads the situation perfectly and intercepts it:

Then it’s a quick (and gorgeous) pass back out to Dubois, who bumps it to Protas, who puts it home to give the Caps a 2-0 lead:

Dubois would add a goal of his own on the power play later in the game – set up by McMichael – to wrap up a really nice night for that trio. Just an all-around entertaining win for the good guys over a Pens team that, while flailing, always seems to give them fits – and a nice way to kick off a pretty decent sports day for the District!

The Caps now hit the road for a five-game swing through Canada (with one stop in Seattle) to try and extend their win and point streaks.

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