Washington Capitals: Nic Dowd, the Newest Face You’ll See this Postseason

Nic Dowd wasn’t a member of the Washington Capitals when they won a Stanley Cup last June. In their quest to repeat, Dowd has scored the decisive goals in both the playoff and Metropolitan Division clinchers.

Nic Dowd never got a taste of Stanley Cup playoff action but if you were employed by the Washington Capitals for the last 11 years, you’d know playoff hockey is practically one of the perks. The Capitals are Dowd’s third team. He spent his first two and a half seasons with the Los Angeles Kings where he was drafted in the 7th round back in 2009.

Dowd was traded last season to the Vancouver Canucks before signing with the Capitals as a free agent just weeks after the Cup hoopla. He had big shoes to fill. The center was brought on to take Jay Beagle‘s spot on the fourth line after Beagle himself signed a contract with the Canucks as an unrestricted free agent. Beagle was not only an effective center on the face-offs, penalty kill, and a leader on the bottom six but a fan favorite as well.

Give the Capitals credit. They know where to find a diamond in the rough at times and some players who weren’t known by fans prior to their arrivals have enjoyed career resurgences and a new home in Washington. Last season’s example would be the team’s acquisition of Michal Kempny prior to the trade deadline. Dowd might be an example of that type of story this season.

Dowd is enjoying a career-high eight goals and a tying career-high 22 points to go along with 14 assists. He has also been effective on the face-off dot with a 51.6 percent success-rate. That is the second-best on the team behind Tom Wilson.

Dowd may not have played in a playoff game but did he give us a taste of a clutch goal or play he could provide this spring in Washington’s chase to another Stanley Cup? It may look like it. Dowd scored the game-winning goal last Thursday in a 3-2 win at Carolina to punch the Capitals’ ticket to the playoffs. The Capitals could play the Hurricanes in the first round of the playoffs.

Dowd did it again one week later in the second period. This one gave the Capitals a 2-1 lead in a great steal and pass from Andre Burakovsky. The Capitals hung on to defeat the Montreal Canadiens by that count at Capital One Arena to clinch the Metropolitan Division.

If those big goals are any indications in Washington’s clinchers thus far, imagine Dowd scoring in a Game 7. While none of us know what will happen, we do know that Dowd is going to soak in his first taste of NHL playoff action.