The Washington Capitals defeated the New York Rangers on a New Years Eve matinee that has us feeling refreshed and energized for the year to come.
Ryan Leonard handed Anthony Beauvillier a perfect pass to give the Caps an early lead. Vincent Trochek neutralized that lead with a tip-in in the final minute of the first period.
Canadian patriot Tom Wilson finished a monster shift with his 20th goal, followed by Justin Sourdif (!) scoring on the power play (!!) assisted by Ovechkin (!!!). Adam Fox fired an outside shot that deflected off Nic Dowd to make it 3-2 Caps after two periods.
(Leading 3-2 after two? What could go wrong!)
Final frame. Aliaksei Protas tipped Rasmus Sandin’s pass to extend Washington’s lead. Tom Wilson made it certain with his second of the day. Braden Schneider beat Lindgren in the final minutes to save some face, but Justin Sourdif got the empty netter.
Caps beat Rangers 6-3!
- Tom Wilson was named to Team Canada today. He threw a monster hit on Laba, scored a great goal on Quick, taunted Gavrikov, fought Carrick, drew an instigator, scored again, and set up an empty-netter. He got a Gordie Howe Hat Trick. He’s got 21 goals already and 200 in his career. We published our Patreon-exclusive newsletter this morning, but I’ll share one bit from it. Here is Tom Wilson’s career vs Brad Marchand’s, according to GAR:
- Noah Laba did not return after this hit from Wilson. Wilson’s goal came ten seconds later. The officials probably should have blown the whistle when it was clear Laba wasn’t getting up on his own.
- Brilliant outing by Ryan Leonard. His assist on that opening goal by Anthony Beauvillier was flawless. He nearly did the same in the second period. And he’s still drawing penalties pretty much every game. I’m always late to this kind of conclusion, but it seems like his skillset is complete.
- Justin Sourdif is a good player with a poor scoring touch. He got the second part when he went to the net at the tail end of a second period power play. Ovechkin sent a puck in his direction, and he was ready for it. It’s the first power-play goal of his career, but from his Mic’d Up segment on Monumental, you would think he’d already had hundreds of them. The power-play goal complements a nearly flawless five-on-five effort.
- Sourdif’s goal is a plus for the Caps power play, but it came one shift after a good shorthanded chance by Vladislav Gavrikov. The PP is still in a dire state, I think. The more I think about it, the more I think it’s mostly about getting into the offensive zone – the team ranks 31st in PP zone time. I’d tell you who is in 32nd place but the NHL makes it hard. I think it’s the Lightning, who are ranked 23rd in conversion. The Caps are 30th.
- From the Klarna out-of-town scoreboard, I think this means Jason Robertson won’t be on Team USA. Team USA needs to be purged and scoured. John Vanbiesbrouck should be put on a glacier and handed a saw.
- Connor McMichael has not scored in nine games, but he had two grade-A chances in the third period, both glove saves by Jonathan Quick.
- At the other end of the ice, an okay effort from Charlie Lindgren. The Fox goal irked me, but once I saw the angle it took off Nic Dowd’s block I backed away from the criticism. The Schneider goal – I feel like that’s the kind of goal that differentiates a starting goalie from a Charlie goalie.
- Hendrix Lapierre ice-time check: 06:53. He had 8 shifts. The top six got more than 20. Whatever the root cause of this is, it’s bleeding over into impacting other players. They can’t let this linger into 2026. Well, I mean, they can. They can, and it’s the most likely outcome. But they oughtn’t.
Joe B's tie and shirt combo raises an interesting thought for your new year's eve celebration: sparkling rosé?! #joebsuitofthenight
That is Washington’s first regulation win in 13 days and six games, and it’s owed mostly to Tom Wilson, who had a very, very good day. He flirted with both kinds of hat tricks – the real one, which he missed, and the second one, which is the fun one, which is the one he got. He scored the winning difference. He can have an extra quarter-filled flute of sparkling rosé tonight, as a treat.
Congrats to Logan Thompson and Tom Wilson for making the Olympic team for Canada. Well deserved on both accounts, and delicious troll bait on the second one. The announcement makes me confront my hypocrisy. I pretend I support players over teams, but now I’m worried “my” players will hurt playing for “not-my” team. I was secretly amped when the Caps had no players at the Four Nations Face-Off earlier this year/last year (depending on when you read this).
