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Morning After: 187 Seconds

Oct 15, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Capitals center Aliaksei Protas (21) celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal against the Vegas Golden Knights in the second period at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

The Washington Capitals earned their first win of the 2024-25 campaign against the visiting Vegas Golden Knights last night, with a combination of skill and speed and aggressiveness which, frankly, was missing in a lot of their games last season. There were contributions from the new guys and the old guard, solid goaltending and defense, a strong attack…just really nice to see in just the second game of the season.

While the overall effort was a good one, the outcome of the game ultimately hinged on a roughly three-minute stretch in the first half of the second period, when the Caps jumped out to a lead and then built on it with three quick goals:

Let’s break ’em down.

Tom Wilson from Strome and Ovechkin (PPG) – 3:06 of the second period

With Brayden McNabb in the box for hauling down Nic Dowd (nice to see him on the other side of a penalty call for a change), the Capitals’ power play went to work for the third time on the evening and the second time in the opening minutes of the frame.

About 30 seconds into the man advantage, the Caps gain the zone and start cycling the puck; Alex Ovechkin and Pierre-Luc Dubois battle for the puck in the corner, with the Caps’ captain winning the puck and sending it to Dylan Strome, who has set up shop behind the net.

All three Vegas defenders get caught watching Strome and miss Wilson sneaking in behind them…

…but Strome doesn’t, finding Wilson with the quick pass that Wilson finishes beautifully.

Aliaksei Protas from Ovechkin – 5:16 of the second period

This whole sequence starts with a simple play by Jakob Chychrun. The Caps had just gotten a good chance on the Vegas net; the Golden Knights survive it and manage to clear the puck, but Chychrun catches it at his blue line and almost immediately moves it back up ice to Aliaksei Protas, keeping the momentum going. A small thing? Perhaps, but also important.

Protas bumps the puck to Strome, who carries it into the offensive zone. After a little bit of a bouncing puck situation, the puck ends up back on Protas’s stick, who then bounces it over to Ovechkin. Ovechkin makes a move around Zach Whitecloud to make the Vegas defender look silly, swiveling around and sending the puck back to Protas in the slot. Unlike the second goal, the Knights do appear to see Protas there – but it doesn’t matter, because the result is the same.

Talk about a beauty of a pass by the captain for career assist #700:

Jakob Chychrun from Dowd – 6:13 of the second period

Less than a minute after the Caps jumped out to a 3-1 lead, the man who started that whole play got on the board himself as Jakob Chychrun scored his first as a Washington Capital. Like last time, he would get things rolling at his own blueline, this time opting to carry the puck up the ice himself and into the Vegas zone.

He uses his speed to turn the play into a two-on-one with Dowd, getting the puck around Shea Theodore to #26 in red. While not a super clean pass, Dowd is able to corral it long enough to flip it in front of goalie Adin Hill, where Chychrun whacks the puck out of mid-air and into the net.

(Officially the term is a bat shot, but…”whack” sounds more fun.)


All in all, it was a good night for the Capitals, made even better by the fact that they held their ground after giving up a quick-response goal a little over a minute after Chychrun made it 4-1. They didn’t let Vegas climb back into the game, Logan Thompson stood tall the rest of the way, and killed off the (too many) penalties they took after the game was put away. But this three-ish minute stretch defined the game and carried them to victory.

A well-earned two points for the good guys.

Talking Points