WASHINGTON, DC — Justin Sourdif isn’t sure when he last scored five points in a game.
“Oh gosh, I can’t even remember,” he said Monday. “I don’t even know if I had a five-point night in junior. So it might have been a while ago. I think midget, maybe? When I was 15.”
He never hit five points in the WHL, and he spent the next three years toiling away in the AHL. When the Capitals acquired him this summer, he had four NHL games to his name, and Washington slotted him in as a fourth-line winger.
But three months into the season, Sourdif’s role on the team has only grown, starting with an injury to Pierre-Luc Dubois in October and culminating in Sourdif’s first NHL hat trick and a five-point showing against the Anaheim Ducks on Monday night.
What went through his head when that third puck crossed the goal line?
“Pure excitement,” he said.
Sourdif, a 2020 third-round pick of the Florida Panthers, is reaching milestones alongside rarefied company. He became the first rookie to get a hat trick for the Capitals since Alex Ovechkin did so in 2006, also against the Ducks. Only one other Caps rookie has ever recorded a five-point night (Greg Theberge scored 2g, 3a against the Flyers in 1981.) And Sourdif is the first Black Caps player of any age to earn a hat trick since Joel Ward got one against Philadelphia in 2013.
With both Tom Wilson and Aliaksei Protas out injured on Monday, Sourdif centered a new-look second line between Connor McMichael and Ryan Leonard that proved wildly successful. The trio scored four even-strength goals—including all but one of Washington’s non-empty-net goals—and both McMichael (4a) and Leonard (1g, 1a) joined Sourdif with multi-point nights.
“He was a one-man breakout most times,” McMichael said of Sourdif, “just carrying the puck up the ice, and he made it real easy on me and Lenny. Luckily we were able to capitalize on a few chances.”
Sourdif grew up a Capitals fan, but his first season in Washington began with little spectacle. He didn’t get on the scoresheet until the his eighth game for DC, and he had just three points (2g, 1a) through his first 20 contests of the fall.
Even at the time, the Capitals had plenty of praise for Sourdif, who’d taken over at center after Dubois’ injury and proven a capable defensive forward.
“Sometimes circumstances provide opportunity for young players, and then that opportunity is on them to take advantage of that,” Carbery said Monday night. “That’s exactly what he’s done with the Dubois injury. The way that he sort of came in and was able to play with Pro and Willy. And he wasn’t scoring. There was zero production, which was fine because the film and his underlying numbers looked so good….I was completely fine with the lack of production.”
Sourdif explained Monday that he was more mad when he couldn’t help the team in losses then when he couldn’t score in a win.
“When I had chances a few months ago, and maybe we ended up losing a game and I had two or three opportunities, I’m kind of beating myself up,” he said. “I’m like, ‘I want to put them in the back of the net to help the team win.’ But if the team’s winning and I’m not necessarily scoring, I’m still happy. I’m doing anything I can to help the team win. So in a game like tonight, I was pretty happy, obviously. It was a tight game towards the end, and I was happy I was able to kind of capitalize on those opportunities.”
Since that 20-game mark, however, Sourdif has come to life. He’s scored 14 points (6g, 8a) in his last 22 games, including eight points in the past week.
“The last 20 games, I feel like he’s really, really come on,” said goaltender Charlie Lindgren. “Night after night, he’s making impressive plays. Such a good skater. He’s shifty, finds ways to dodge checks. He’s got a good shot, too. So tonight we saw that, and nice to see him pot three. Good for him.”
Postgame, Sourdif noted that he’d recently switched to a 70-flex stick, which he felt had made a difference in his offensive play.
“I went down, lighter flex,” he said. “It’s pretty whippy and it just helps me get my shot off a little quicker…I used it in the American League last year, so I kind of just went back to it, and it’s working so far.”
McMichael, meanwhile, credits the breakout to Sourdif gaining more NHL experience.
“I think at the start of the season, he was getting his feet wet, getting used to the league,” he said. “And I think Sourdy, day in and day out, he’s getting better and better as each day passes. He’s done a lot of great things for this team that maybe hadn’t shown up on the score sheet at the start of the year, but I’m happy to see him get rewarded now.”
Beyond his on-ice success, Sourdif has slotted right into the Capitals’ locker room. Both he and McMichael noted how much fun their new line was having together on Monday, joking and cheering each other along between plays. He’s gotten a warm welcome from childhood idol Alex Ovechkin, and took a powerade to the face from Tom Wilson after his hat trick. And that, too, has paid off on the ice.
“You guys make it so fun to come to the rink,” Sourdif told his teammates during Carbery’s postgame locker room speech on Monday. “And when we’re all having fun, I think we’re the best team in the league.”
