Pierre-Luc Dubois scored the most exciting goal of the Washington Capitals’ preseason in the team’s 3-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets, Monday.
With the Capitals up two men, Dubois beat the buzzer at the end of the second period. While the puck clearly crossed the goal line in time on the telecast, there was some confusion on the ice if the power-play tally would count.
“Yeah, I thought [I scored],” Dubois said. “Nobody reacted, so I didn’t react either. I had no idea what was going on, but yeah, I had a feeling.”
The play started when Hendrix Lapierre missed the net with a shot from the middle of the ice. Ivan Miroshnichenko grabbed the loose puck and left it for Tom Wilson in the corner. The Capitals’ big alternate captain then took the puck hard to the net on his backhand, flipped the biscuit to his forehand, and sent a cross-crease pass to Dubois at the right post. The left-handed Dubois immediately fired a one-timer past Daniil Tarasov’s out-stretched glove. The goal made it 3-1 Washington with six-tenths of a second left on the clock.
“Lappy was calling for it, really wanted it, and I think it might have baited the guy a little bit, and I just kinda slid it over to Dubey,” Wilson said. “It was a take advantage of an odd-man situation in front and he did a good job burying it.”
The goal wound up being the game-winner after Columbus’s Luca Del Bel Belluz scored late in the third period, drawing the ire of Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery.
Dubois, who played his first four seasons in the NHL with the Blue Jackets, was asked if he felt any special feelings after putting the dagger into his former team — an organization from which he had a tumultuous exit.
“Uh, I mean, a goal is a goal,” Dubois said. “It’s fun. It’s preseason, but a goal is a goal. It’s a long day. These games are never easy on the road in preseason. You wake up at 6:30, you practice, fly. It is what it is, but I thought we did some good things out there tonight.”
Primarily skating with Wilson and Connor McMichael, Dubois has notched three points (1g, 2a) in the two preseason games he’s suited up in and is tied with Andrew Cristall for the team lead in points. Wilson believes the line can be even more successful with more time to gel.
“As the game went on, we built our game a little bit,” Wilson said. “We’re all good skaters, Dubey is really good up the middle. I think it’s just one of those things [where] it’ll just get better and better as we get more comfortable, as we get our legs and our timing and everything.”
