Capitals Douse Flames 3-1; Dubois, Strome, and Protas Score

Photo: @Capitals

The Washington Capitals defeated the Calgary Flames, 3-1, Tuesday night at Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary. The win moved the Capitals’ record to 34-11-5 (72 points) on the season.

The Capitals took an early first period lead thanks to a goal from Pierre-Luc Dubois on their first shot of the game. Blake Coleman tied the game early into the Flames’ second power play opportunity, a knotted contest that would be broken by Dylan Strome’s 13th goal of the season on the Caps’ 5-on-3 advantage. The Caps’ staved off two more late period power plays by Calgary to clinch the victory over the Flames adding a goal by Aliaksei Protas to seal the victory. Logan Thompson continued his strong play, stopping 32 of 33 Calgary shots.


LINEUP

Logan Thompson (22-2-3, 2.09 GAA, .925 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the visiting Capitals. Dustin Wolf (18-7-2, 2.54 GAA, .916 sv%) got the start in goal for the Flames. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Capitals:

Alex Ovechkin — Pierre-Luc Dubois — Aliaksei Protas
Connor McMichael — Dylan Strome — Tom Wilson
Taylor Raddysh – Lars Eller — Ethen Frank
Brandon Duhaime — Nic Dowd — Andrew Mangiapane

Rasmus Sandin — John Carlson
Martin Fehervary — Matt Roy
Jakob Chychrun — Trevor Van Riemsdyk

Logan Thompson
Charlie Lindgren

Scratched: Jakub Vrana, Dylan McIlrath, Alexander Alexeyev.

Injured: Sonny Milano (upper-body), Nicklas Backstrom (hip), T.J. Oshie (back).

Ethen Frank was recalled from, and Ivan Miroshnichenko re-assigned to Hershey on Friday, 01/10/2025.


1ST PERIOD

The Capitals got on the board first, with Pierre-Luc Dubois notching his 11th goal of the season unassisted to give the visitors a 1-0 lead. The goal marked his fourth goal in the past five games.

The Caps would stave off a late first period power play from Calgary and take their lead into the dressing room and the first intermission. The Flames led 13-5 in Shots on Goal and in the faceoff dot 55%-45%.


2ND PERIOD

With Pierre-Luc Dubois in the penalty box for unsportsmanlike conduct, the Capitals’ streak of 15 consecutive man-advantages killed was broken on a strike from Flames forward Blake Coleman, who scored his 11th goal of the season 12 seconds in to tie the game at 1-1; Tyson Barrie and Andrei Kuzmenko recorded assists on the goal.

The Capitals’ Dylan Strome would strike early into a 5-on-3 power play, giving the Caps a lead once more eighteen seconds into the man-advantage; John Carlson and Jakob Chychrun recorded the assists on the goal.

The middle frame ended with the Caps on top on the scoreboard and still trailing, 22-17, in the shots department.


3RD PERIOD

The Capitals added a third goal as a late Flames power play expired, with Aliaksei Protas beating Dylan Wolf on a breakaway for his 21st goal of the season assisted by Lars Eller and Trevor van Riemsdyk.

The Caps staved off another power play to clinch their 34th victory of the season, despite being outshot 33-23 and scoring on just one of their four power play opportunities.


SHAVINGS

About Jon Sorensen

Jon has been a Caps fan since day one, attending his first game at the Capital Centre in 1974. His interest in the Caps has grown over the decades and included time as a season ticket holder. He has been a journalist covering the team for 10+ years, primarily focusing on analysis, analytics and prospect development.

Leave a Comment