The Washington Capitals and Detroit Red Wings had played to a draw after 40 minutes on Tuesday before the Caps used a three-goal third period to secure another win. With the 4-1 win, the Capitals took the season series from Detroit, 2-1.
Another good start, meh middle, and great end.
NHL GameScore Impact Card for Washington Capitals on 2025-03-18: pic.twitter.com/UQEZOojgTR
— HockeyStatCards (@hockeystatcards) March 19, 2025
- The Capitals shut the game down in the third period. They allowed the Red Wings zero high-danger chances in the final frame and created four of their own. Two of their three goals came via some great transition offense, turning defensive stops in their own end into points at the other end…or goals…sorry it’s March Madness season. Go Terps.
- Tom Wilson is a 30-goal scorer for the first time in his career. Per Capitals PR, Wilson (821) is the fourth player in NHL history to play 750-plus games prior to recording their first 30-goal season, joining Mike Sillinger (829), Johnny Bucyk (755) and Alex Delvecchio (951). Two of those three earlier names were eventually enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
- Logan Thompson also recorded his 30th win of the season, improving his record to 30-4-5 with a 2.32 goals-against average, a .917 save percentage, and two shutouts. He stopped 23 of 24 shots faced and, per MoneyPuck, saved 1.89 more goals than expected.
The Capitals scored three or more goals in the third period of a game for the 12th time this season. Washington has scored the most third-period goals in the NHL this season (95) and have allowed the fewest (48) for a League-best +47 third period goal differential.
— Capitals PR (@CapitalsPR) March 19, 2025
- None of them got on the scoresheet, but I thought the bottom-six forward group was excellent in the win. They were executing the Capitals offensive-zone system to perfection, especially wearing down Detroit’s top defensemen so that the top six could later capitalize in the third period. The team was at their best with Nic Dowd on the ice, seeing positive differentials in shot attempts (+9), scoring chances (+4), and high-danger chances (+2).
- Zero penalty minutes for either team, only the second Capitals game in the modern stat-tracked era (2007-present) where that has occurred. The previous game came on March 6, 2014, against the Boston Bruins, and all you need to know is that Dustin Penner was in the Capitals’ lineup.
- Aliaksei Protas and Dylan Strome combined for another four points (1g, 3a). Ho-hum, another fantastic game for the guy who’s apparently not in the top 19 of under-25 players in the NHL and the guy the Capitals got for free from the Chicago Blackhawks.
Numbers thanks to Hockey-Reference, NaturalStatTrick, and HockeyStatCards.
