WASHINGTON, DC — Offseason acquisition Jordan Kyrou played the hero in his first preseason home game at Capital One Arena on Friday, scoring in overtime for a 3-2 win and preventing a comeback from the Boston Bruins.
Kyrou struck just 11 seconds into extra time, firing a snapshot from the edge of the left faceoff circle to beat Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman.
The Capitals began the overtime period with just 13 seconds remaining on the power play, and head coach Spencer Carbery opted to send a trio of forwards — Kyrou, Dylan Strome, and Alex Tuch — out with Jakob Chychrun for the heavily-abbreviated man advantage.
“We decided to go with three forwards and one D, hoping that you win the draw quick, you get into the zone, and you probably get one attack, and then you need a forward to get off to get another defenseman, so you’ve got two and two,” Carbery said. “So it’s a little bit of a risk, but nothing too crazy.
“So we started those three forwards, and right away, like, we’ve got a ton of jump. That’s probably a 50-50 puck off that faceoff that we get to first, getting in the zone, and a great attack. And talking to the screen, Swayman couldn’t see a thing, and it was a hell of a shot. So power play, definitely a bright spot tonight.”
Kyrou himself offered a simplified version of the team’s strategy.
“Our plan was kind of just get in the zone as quick as possible and just try to attack,” Kyrou said.
Kyrou was one of the Capitals’ biggest acquisitions in a splashy offseason, arriving via trade from the St. Louis Blues for Connor McMichael, prospect Milton Gastrin, and a first-round pick. Though he’s coming off a down year in St. Louis — recording just 46 points (18g, 28a) in 2025-26 — a return to form in Washington would make Kyrou a significant threat. Before last season, he’d recorded 70-plus points in four of the prior five years, including three straight 30-goal campaigns.
With Kyrou’s goal, the Capitals’ power play went a perfect three-for-three against Boston, proving the star of the show in the team’s dress rehearsal for the regular season. Friday was the first time team’s projected power play units played together in a preseason game (minus Alex Ovechkin, who remains out with a lower-body injury), offering a positive sign after recording just a 17.8% power play percentage in 2025-26.
“It helps when you don’t have to do any breakouts,” said Strome, who scored a power-play goal of his own in the first period. “I think obviously that was a point of concern (on the power play) last year and a point of struggle for us. So it helps when we have guys really battling off the faceoffs to get pucks back. And if we can win the draw too, that also helps. But I thought we just did a good job of winning pucks back, keeping it. I thought we played really tight together.”
Kyrou’s work on the power play was what ultimately got him on the scoresheet, but he nearly struck at five-on-five earlier in the night. Late in the first period, his line with Aliaksei Protas and Ilya Protas created an opportunity off the rush, and Kyrou hit the crossbar on the two-on-one.
Carbery highlighted the moment when praising Kyrou’s complete performance against the Bruins.
“Loved [his game],” Carbery postgame. “He’s been dangerous all camp. He looked tonight like he’s looked all camp: in practices, scrimmages, in the games. So that one on the power play, the two two-on-ones, he rings one off the crossbar.
“He’s just looked dangerous all camp long and attacking — his small area game, where I think we, as Caps fans, are going to come to appreciate his ability to make a very, very high-end skilled pass play in a ton of traffic. That was on display. He’s got great chemistry with the Protoss brothers, so that’s a line that’s coming together…I thought their line was solid for the most part, and he’s been a big contributor to that.”
For his part, Kyrou felt more comfortable on his line with two games under his belt, especially after making his home debut at Capital One Arena.
“(I’m feeling) lot better for sure this game. Nice to play a home game in front of the fans and get used to the ice, get used to the arena.”
After a final preseason game on Saturday featuring a veteran-light roster, the Capitals will have five days off before opening up their regular season against the Carolina Hurricanes on October 2.
