Pierre-Luc Dubois was acquired by the Washington Capitals in a one-for-one trade with the Los Angeles Kings for Darcy Kuemper last June. Dubois was just one season into an eight-year contract commitment the Kings had made to him when he was dealt to DC.
Given the circumstances of that deal, the 26-year-old center’s first meeting with his former team would always mean more than any other regular season matchup. Dubois got the chance to stick it to the Kings on Sunday evening and recorded two assists in Washington’s 3-1 victory. The normally stoic pivot was jovial with the media postgame.
“Before the game, you just wanna win,” Dubois said. “Yeah, you just wanna win. You remember a little bit of the things that happened last year, and all you wanna do is win. This group is extremely resilient. And it wasn’t easy, but we got it done.”
Dubois first got on the scoresheet 10:20 into the action after delivering a pass to a wide-open Aliaksei Protas in front of LA’s net. The assist extended his point streak to three games.
Dubois earned his second assist on a Jakub Vrana power-play goal 14:18 into the second period. The helper gave Dubois 11 points (3g, 8a) in his last 10 games. He leads the Capitals in points in December (9).
He also dug the puck out of the Capitals’ zone before Protas sealed the game with an empty netter late in regulation.
The two-point effort in the win was enough to earn Dubois and another former King, Matt Roy, a shoutout in Spencer Carbery’s customary postgame speech.
“That’s big for two guys to play their former team,” Carbery said. “That’s a big two points.”
Dubois and Roy were then serenaded by their teammates’ rendition of Frankie Valli’s “I Love You Baby” before Jakub Vrana awarded Dubois with the Player of the Game big gold chain.
“I think this guy’s been solid all game against his former team,” Vrana said. “I have to go with Dubie.”
In-dubie-tably#ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/h1YBVxd3eC
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) December 23, 2024
Dubois has played against former teams before, meeting the Columbus Blue Jackets while with the Winnipeg Jets and then meeting the Jets while with the Kings. However, the Quebec native asked out of Columbus and Winnipeg, while the Kings alone decided to deal him to the Capitals.
The former first-round draft pick has previously cited a lack of clear expectations from LA’s coaching staff as the reason for his trouble out west. Dubois had a fairly distant relationship with former Kings coach Todd McLellan until the coach was canned last February.
Dubois has formed immediate chemistry with his new teammates, likely fueled by the warm welcome the Capitals’ veteran leadership group gave him.
“First of all, red looks better on them, I think,” Aliaksei Protas said postgame.
Washington has been dominant during Dubois’s five-on-five minutes, seeing 52.5 percent of the shot attempts, 59.3 percent of the expected goals, 58.5 percent of the scoring chances, and 61.0 percent of the high-danger chances. With Dubois on the ice, Washington has also outscored their opponents 29-17 at five-on-five (63.0 GF%).
“I think it’s all the guys in here and the coaching staff,” Dubois said. “The confidence that they put in me to just come in and be myself and just go play. And I’m put in situations with good players, and I’m just having fun out there with everybody.”
The Capitals and Dubois had to put the big win behind them quickly, though. They jumped on a flight to Boston after the game to play the Bruins in the back half of a back-to-back on Monday night.
“It feels good. It feels a little extra special,” Dubois said. “So, yeah, but we have a midnight rule, we have a big game tomorrow before the break. So it feels good, but onto the next tomorrow.”
