Washington Capitals: Garnet Hathaway easily earns MVP against Kings

The Washington Capitals got a big win over the Los Angeles Kings on the road in dramatic fashion. It came with two goals from Garnet Hathaway late in the third period and it would prove to be the difference as the Caps won 2-0. The rest was up to Ilya Samsonov and he got the shutout stopping all 34 shots he faced.

Hathaway’s clutch goal came with 3:30 left in the third period. It was a backdoor goal where he tipped in his own rebound. It began when Evgeny Kuznetsov delivered a pass to John Carlson. Carlson found Hathaway down low. Hathaway then slammed the door with an empty net goal with 1:18 left.

Hathaway has had a fire start to November has he’s scored five goals in his past four games. He talked about his goal to the media:

"“The puck has been going in the net, eh? I’ve been on the end of a lot of great plays right now. … I just had to stand there and put my stick on the ice.”"

Hathaway has recorded a total of six points in his last four games with five goals and one assist. It was his fourth career multi goal game and his second multi goal game in his last four games.

In addition to scoring twice, Hathaway laid out six hits against the Kings which led all Caps skaters. Hathaway has recorded at least six hits in five of his last 17 games played. His 61 hits this season lead the Capitals and rank third in the NHL.

Coach Peter Laviolette heaped praise on Hathaway, who’s been a vital bottom six player:

"“Hath was playing well but you always get judged by goals, it seems. Especially in the role that he plays, sometimes that’s not necessarily the factor that determines it for me. But with the amount of offense that’s out of the lineup right now, to have him contributing the way he is, is really important. He skates well, he handles the puck well, he shoots it hard, he goes to the hard areas. There’s no reason he shouldn’t score goals.”"

Hathaway stepping up while the rest of the team is banged up sets a good example for the rookies. It also takes the pressure off the top six including Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov. His physicality, in turn, takes the pressure off Tom Wilson. We’ll have more from last night’s game shortly.