Dylan Strome got his first hat trick with the Capitals on Tuesday night, serving as Washington’s only scorer in a 3-1 victory over the New York Islanders.
After his three-point night on Long Island, Strome now has a career-high 81 points (29g, 52a) in 81 games, placing his year among the highest-scoring Caps seasons in recent memory.
Strome is just the fifth player in the Alex Ovechkin era to record an 80-point season in a Capitals uniform, joining Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and Alex Semin. He became the first non-Ovechkin player to hit the 80-point threshold since Evgeny Kuznetsov’s 83-point (27g, 56a) campaign in 2017-18.
Ovechkin’s high-scoring performances dominate the list — he’s reached the 80-point mark in 10 of his 20 NHL seasons — but the next-place Backstrom has still hit the threshold three times, while Strome joins Kuznetsov and Semin with a single 80-point season under his belt.
Capitals with 80-point seasons since 2005-06
| Player | Season | Goals | Assists | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dylan Strome | 2024-25 | 29 | 52 | 81 |
| Alex Ovechkin | 2021-22 | 50 | 40 | 90 |
| Alex Ovechkin | 2018-19 | 51 | 38 | 89 |
| Evgeny Kuznetsov | 2017-18 | 27 | 56 | 83 |
| Alex Ovechkin | 2017-18 | 49 | 38 | 87 |
| Nicklas Backstrom | 2016-17 | 23 | 63 | 86 |
| Alex Ovechkin | 2014-15 | 53 | 28 | 81 |
| Alex Ovechkin | 2010-11 | 32 | 53 | 85 |
| Nicklas Backstrom | 2009-10 | 33 | 68 | 101 |
| Alex Ovechkin | 2009-10 | 50 | 59 | 109 |
| Alexander Semin | 2009-10 | 40 | 44 | 84 |
| Nicklas Backstrom | 2008-09 | 22 | 66 | 88 |
| Alex Ovechkin | 2008-09 | 56 | 54 | 110 |
| Alex Ovechkin | 2007-08 | 65 | 47 | 112 |
| Alex Ovechkin | 2006-07 | 46 | 46 | 92 |
| Alex Ovechkin | 2005-06 | 52 | 54 | 106 |
With a healthy nine-point lead over Ovechkin, Strome will be the Capitals’ top scorer for the second year in a row. He beat Ovechkin 65-point (31g, 34a) showing last season with 67 total points (27g, 40a), becoming the first non-Ovechkin player to lead the team since the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season.
Strome’s hat trick against the Islanders came on the three-year anniversary of the death of his dog Wrigley, giving the moment even more impact.
“When you become a family and you get a dog and he passes really young, it’s tough,” he said. “It was tough for our family, and today happened to be the day he passed away three years ago. They say dogs are man’s best friend, and I really felt that…I know he was watching me tonight.”
With a career-high 29 goals and one game to go in the regular season, Strome is now within striking distance of his first 30-goal season. He would join Ovechkin, Tom Wilson, and Aliaksei Protas as the fourth Caps player to reach 30 goals in 2024-25.
No Capitals roster has had four 30-goal scorers since 1985-86, when Dave Christian (41), Mike Gartner (35), Alan Haworth (34), and Craig Laughlin (30) all hit the mark.
Strome will have one final chance to run up his point total when the Capitals close out their regular-season schedule against the Pittsburgh Penguins Thursday night.
