Coming into Saturday’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights, the Washington Capitals had won just once all season in games that went to a shootout. The team’s number-one netminder, Logan Thompson, was 0-5 himself in the skills competition.
After three periods and overtime couldn’t produce a winner in Vegas, the Capitals could have been headed for more disappointment before Thompson stepped up in more ways than one. To try to put a stop to both those collective and individual woes, Thompson provided some inside information on his former goaltending partner, Adin Hill, to Caps forward Dylan Strome, before the top-line center was the only player to score in the shootout.
“Yeah, I got a little tip from LT,” Strome said postgame. “He said he might bite on the shot. Just see what I see on the shot, and if he doesn’t bite, shoot it. If he does, you’ve got it backhand. Credit to LT.”
Strome did as Thompson advised, faking a shot on his forehand to freeze Hill before roofing a backhand home. Thompson then did his own work at the other end of the ice, stopping Rasmus Andersson, Jack Eichel, and Pavel Dorofeyev all in succession to earn Washington the win.
Thompson spent parts of four seasons with the Golden Knights before being traded to the Capitals ahead of last season. Hill was his primary backup for the majority of the 2022-23 and 2023-24 regular seasons.
“Obviously, shootouts haven’t gone our way this year, but he stands up huge against his old team and makes three good, great saves,” Strome said. “It’s a lot of fun to win here, and it’s a huge two points.”
Strome leads the Capitals in shootout goals this season with four, which is also tied for the sixth-most in the NHL. Only four other Caps — Nic Dowd, Sonny Milano, Ryan Leonard, and Anthony Beauvillier — have successfully converted in the shootout, and none of them have more than one goal.
“Yeah, I mean, that’s Stromer’s patented move where he’s got a few different options off that, and that’s as good as it’s looked,” head coach Spencer Carbery said. “It was a really nice goal.”
Thompson made 25 saves on 29 shots faced in regulation and overtime before adding the three shootout stops. With the win, he improved to 4-0 in four career starts against Vegas, with a 2.46 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage.
Overall, this season, the 29-year-old backstop is 26-20-6 with a 2.43 goals-against average, a .913 save percentage, and two shutouts. According to MoneyPuck, he has recorded the second-most goals saved above expected (29.1) among all NHL goalies this year, behind only New York Islanders netminder Ilya Sorokin (32.5).
