The Washington Capitals needed a big night from their 19-year-old defenseman to down the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday night.
Cole Hutson recorded two points, both assists, in the 5-4 shootout victory, his first career multi-point night. Hutson, playing in just his sixth career NHL game, notched both of the helpers with the Capitals on the power play, a sore spot for the team the entire 2025-26 season.
The first of his two points came just 1:55 into the second period after Jakob Chychrun drew a holding call. Hutson made a great keep at the blueline, spinning a backhand feed to Justin Sourdif, who then played give-and-go with Connor McMichael to put the Capitals up 2-0.
“It’s certainly going to be a luxury that we’re going to have for years to come, with him and Jakob Chychrun being able to run two power play units and probably utilize them both on the same units for stretches of games,” head coach Spencer Carbery said postgame. “Sourdif and Mikey obviously play a big part in the first goal, but the original play off the yellow to get that puck to the middle, that’s the play that keeps that power play sequence alive.”
While Hutson was impressive on the goal, which helped the Capitals race out to a 3-0 lead, he also unfortunately contributed to the Golden Knights’ eventual comeback.
After the Caps had already given up a shorthanded goal to Nic Dowd, Hutson got walked by defenseman Rasmus Andersson to give Vegas two shorties on the same power play in just 25 seconds.
Hutson helped make up for his rookie error by making a beautiful play on another power play in the third period. With the Capitals down 4-3, Hutson froze multiple Vegas defenders and goaltender Adin Hill by looking to shoot from the point before sliding a no-look feed to Dylan Strome in the right faceoff circle.
“Yeah, I mean, obviously, they’re cheating on O’s one-timer, so I walked to his side, was looking for the shot the whole time, and realized they were overplaying my shot and just slid it across, and he had an open net,” Hutson said.
Strome tied the game 4-4 with his first goal since January 31. The Capitals would then go on to win the game in a shootout, with Strome the only player to convert on his attempt.
“I mean, it was a great play,” Strome said. “Seen him do that play in college a bunch of times, and just had a good feeling it was coming over. Mikey did a great job at the net, and obviously, the goalie didn’t see the pass come. So great play by him, and he’s been a great help to the power play for sure.”
“The hidden part of that play is that he carried it an extra second and a half to get Adin Hill to commit to that shot,” Carbery added. “So, now it makes that one-timer, you’re shooting it into an empty net essentially because Cole was so deceptive. Hill thinks he’s going to shoot it, slides it back. It’s a high, high-end sort of skill play for a young defenseman.”
With the goal, Hutson has registered a point on five consecutive power-play goals for the Capitals. He is the first teenage defenseman to factor in on five consecutive power-play goals by his team since Mikhail Sergachev (1g, 4a) did so for the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2017.
“This game meant a lot,” Hutson said. “Two points closer to the playoffs, so we’ve got to go on a roll here on these last few. Yeah, this one meant a lot.”
Through six games, Hutson now has five points (1g, 4a), all on the power play. Since his debut, the Capitals have operated at 23.1 percent effectiveness while up a man, a 6.5 percent jump from the 69 games prior to his arrival.
Overall in Saturday’s game, Hutson played 15:10 of ice time and recorded two assists, two shots, three shot attempts, one individual scoring chance, and one hit. With him on the ice at five-on-five, the Capitals held positive differentials in shot attempts (+4), goals (+1), and scoring chances (+2).
