Nic Dowd has a nose for the net and a good shot, but he’s not a relied-upon goal-scorer. The fourth-line center is utilized by Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette as a faceoff specialist and a shutdown forward, with a majority of his zone starts coming in the defensive zone. Offense from the Huntsville, Alabama, native is a bonus.
Monday against the Detroit Red Wings, the Capitals hit the Nic Dowd jackpot as the pivot had points in three of the Capitals’ four goals on the night.
Dowd’s most impressive feat was when he scored on the same shift 11 seconds a part in the game.
Dowd’s first tally came on a three-on-three (where both of the team’s defensemen on the ice joined the rush *feels heartburn*). Dowd toe-dragged the puck past Red Wings’ forward Lucas Raymond and then unleashed a quick shot from the slot, beating Ville Husso far side. Dowd’s shot also avoided a leaping Erik Gustafsson.
Dowd was clearly feeling it after that. Dowder scored again on a redirect after Nick Jensen sent a slap pass to him driving to the net.
As the Capitals celebrated, the Red Wings protested that the puck hit the netting on the initial dump-in, which should have resulted in play being whistled dead.
It would stand. Dowd’s goals turned a commanding 2-0 lead for the Red Wings into a tie game in a snap of the fingers.
Dowd’s tallies were the second-fastest back-to-back goals scored by a player in Capitals history. The only player to do it quicker was Stephen Leach, who scored twice in 10 seconds on November 23, 1990, against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Caps-Red Wings game eventually went to overtime tied 3-3.
With 21.2 seconds remaining in the extra session, Dowd dished to Marcus Johansson, who then found Dmitry Orlov wide open for a one-timer. Orlov just beat Husso’s outstretched pad for the winning SCOARLOV.
ORLY PICKED HIS SPOT WITH 21.2 SECONDS LEFT pic.twitter.com/3d6JVB3KuA
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) December 20, 2022
Dowd admitted postgame to NBC Sports Washington’s Al Koken that his celebration was delayed but for good reason.
“Well, I didn’t see anything,” he said laughing. “I was going for the change.”
nothing like making a change only to find out you helped assist on the game-winner 😂 pic.twitter.com/5dnW6580fu
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) December 20, 2022
The secondary assist on the Orlov game-winner gave Dowd three points on the night. It was his third career three-point game and his first multi-point performance of the season.
He did it in front of his biggest fans, too.
Koken asked if he’d ever scored two goals in the same shift before.
“No, they’re spread out over multiple games,” he said. “So that was good!”
After the game, Dowd was named first star of the night.
#CapsWings 3 ⭐️'s of the game
⭐️: Nic Dowd
⭐️⭐️: Dmitry Orlov
⭐️⭐️⭐️: Erik Gustafsson#ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/sezEwbDlQe— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) December 20, 2022
He was also given the team’s yellow rope as the player of the game.
All rise for Judy#ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/V03c5XrvHO
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) December 20, 2022
Dowd, who has 7 goals in 33 games this sesason, is now on pace for 17 goals by year’s end which would be a career-high. His biggest scoring season came in the NHL’s pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season where he scored 11 times in 56 games.
Headline photo: Alan Dobbins/RMNB
