Two of the NHL’s best and hottest teams tangled for the first time in 2024-25 on Tuesday night in Edmonton. Opening a five-game road trip against the Oilers, who were seeking a seventh straight win at Rogers Place as they opened a five-game homestand, the Caps earned a 3-2 victory. Washington’s fifth consecutive win came on the strength of a 30-save night in the nets from Logan Thompson, a great night from the Caps’ penalty kill, and another strong game from the P-L Dubois line.
Dubois’ ninth goal of the season came early in the third period and stood up as the game-winner; Thompson picked up his first point of the season with a secondary assist on the goal.
“There were some parts and periods of it that weren’t as clean as we’d like,” says Caps coach Spencer Carbery, “but once again this team – in the way we’ve done all year long – is find a way to grind through and kill off a [late] penalty.
“And to me, the second period was what I was most impressed with. The second period has been an issue for us; Edmonton is one of the best second-period teams in the NHL. And we get out of that period 1-0, so now you’ve set yourself up to protect that lead in the third period. So I was really proud of that, that in the second period I challenged the guys, and they delivered big time.”
Playing without captain Connor McDavid, who was handed a three-game NHL suspension for cross-checking Vancouver’s Conor Garland on Saturday, the Oilers jumped out to an early 1-0 lead. Edmonton won an offensive zone draw and pushed the puck back to Darnell Nurse at the left point. Nurse fed Leon Draisaitl in the slot, and the Oilers’ other superstar scoring threat cashed in with an excellent shot, a backhander against the grain that beat Logan Thompson on the glove side at 3:02.
Washington had difficulty generating much in the way of offensive zone time in the first period; it was limited to just three shots on net in the opening frame, but the Caps made the third of those shots count, tying the game on a 2-on-1 rush.
John Carlson started the play for the Caps in transition, breaking up an Edmonton rush and nudging the puck forward for Aliaksei Protas, who barreled down the left side with Tom Wilson riding shotgun. From the left dot, Protas issued an expertly sauced feed to Wilson, who buried his 20th goal of the season to square the score at 1-1 at 9:01 of the first.
“Pro makes a phenomenal pass there on the 2-on-1,” says Wilson. “I didn’t have to do much, just put it in the back of the net. And we were kind of rolling from there.”
Seconds after failing to score on its first extra-man opportunity of the game, Washington jumped out in front when Dubois pushed the puck to center point for Matt Roy. The two former Kings combined on a go-ahead tally when Roy’s drive from distance eluded Edmonton netminder Stuart Skinner at 8:14, with help from Protas providing a formidable screen in front.
Washington’s penalty was again solid on Tuesday, killing of a pair of Edmonton power plays in the middle frame; the second of those was a carryover that bled into the third. Soon after killing that minor, the Caps went on their second power play of the contest. Again, they didn’t score. But again, they struck seconds later. This time, they came 200 feet.
Thompson left the puck for Dubois behind the Washington net, and the silky center skated straight up ice, head-manning a feed for Lars Eller soon after gaining the zone. Eller had to pull the puck to a shooting position, and his shot rang the far pipe and bounded right to the slot, where Dubois pounced on it and put it in for a 3-1 Washington lead at 3:49.
The Oilers got that one back in rapid and somewhat cheesy fashion; Draisaitl set up Corey Perry for a one-timer from the left circle off the rush, and Perry hammered it home on the short side. Immediately though, Thompson began pointing at some debris on the ice. Turned out it was a tray of nachos that some fan had tossed over the glass. Perry’s goal came just 61 seconds after Dubois scored, making it a 3-2 contest with plenty of time remaining.
“I’ve never seen that before, and obviously I’ve got to play to the whistle,” says Thompson of the fan going all in with his chips – and his cheese. “That one’s on me. I don’t know what the official ruling on that is, but yeah, just play to the whistle, regardless if there is stuff on the ice.”
The Perry goal is just the eighth surrendered by the Caps in their last seven games.
A third power play opportunity afforded the Caps a chance to restore their two-goal cushion, but it wasn’t to be. And when Carlson was boxed for tripping with 2:01 left, the Caps were left facing a 4-on-6 situation with their top blueliner in the box and Skinner pulled for an extra attacker.
Not to worry, kid. Thompson made a pair of long-distance stops, and Nic Dowd, Roy and Wilson each laid out to block a shot, ushering the Caps’ fifth consecutive victory into the books.
“I've learned that the more points you can get early on in the road trip, when you're still fresh, the better,” says Dubois. “We’ve still got four games left, but it's fun to start with a win.”
