The Washington Capitals continued their hot streak Saturday night, downing the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 and improving to 7-2-1 in their last 10 games. All seven of those wins saw the Caps score four or more goals — particularly impressive for a team that struggled to score for the first half of the season.
One big contributor to that recent firepower has been Sonny Milano. After missing more than two months with an upper-body injury, Milano is on a point-per game pace since his mid-February return with eight points (6g, 2a) in the eight games.
With a goal Saturday night against the Blackhawks, Milano now has a five-game goal streak. Per NHL PR, he is the first Capitals player other than Alex Ovechkin to do so since Tom Wilson did so in 2018-19. Wilson scored six goals in five games from Nov 21, 2018 through December 2, 2018.
Sonny Milano extended his goal streak to five games and became the first @Capitals player not named Alex Ovechkin to achieve the feat since Tom Wilson (6 GP in 2018-19).#NHLStats: https://t.co/gZOyhQc1B2 pic.twitter.com/kCBVyjgclj
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) March 10, 2024
Milano became the fourth player to score Saturday night when he struck early in the second period. A board battle in the neutral zone went the Capitals’ way, sending Milano and Aliaksei Protas on a two-on-one, and Chicago goaltender Petr Mrazek’s positioning gave Milano a wide open net.
While his goal on Saturday came on an odd-man rush, several of Milano’s recent tallies have come at the netfront, relying on effort more than offensive flash.
Goal 1 against Florida Panthers 2/24
Goal 2 against Philadelphia Flyers 3/1
Goal 3 against Arizona Coyotes 3/3
Goal 4 against Pittsburgh Penguins 3/7
Like the team as a whole, Milano’s recent performance stands out when compared to his inconsistent play earlier in the campaign. Milano had just eight points (4g, 4a) in his first 23 games of the season, leading head coach Spencer Carbery to healthy scratch him less than a week before injury knocked him out of the lineup longer-term.
“Sonny has to know he’s in a spot in his career where yeah, he’s shown he absolutely can be a quality NHL player, but this isn’t a situation where Sonny’s a 500-game veteran and done XYZ,” Carbery said then. “He still has to earn it on a consistent basis.”
Now, Milano has doubled his season point total in less than a month. And his performance has been strong even beyond the scoresheet: with Milano at the ice at five-on-five since his return, the Capitals have out-scored their opponents 8-1, out-chanced them 41-29, and recorded 59% of expected goals for, per Natural Stat Trick.
The Capitals will hit the road this week, facing five teams in eight days for one of their toughest road trips of the year. They currently sit just three points back of a wild-card spot with two games in hand over the Detroit Red Wings. If Washington has any hope of making it to the postseason, depth scoring from players like Milano will prove crucial as they enter the final stretch.
