After Cole Hutson beat Kings goalie and former Capital Darcy Kuemper last night to make the score 2-0 with 95 seconds until the first intermission, I thought the Caps were going to dominate the Kings. I was way wrong. The Caps gave up two goals in the last 33 seconds of the first period to allow Los Angeles to tie the game. They lost 5-2 to the Kings, who were the last winless team in the league before last night’s game.
The Good
Ryan Leonard CONTINUES his hot hand showing off some elite patience 🚨👀 pic.twitter.com/flDU2Wd5y3
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) October 20, 2026
Leonard scored another highlight-reel goal, although not as good as the one Saturday against the Devils **. Leonard entered the zone and pulled up at the point before he skated toward the middle of the ice above the faceoff circles and wristed a shot past Kuemper for a 1-0 lead. “Guys just went to the net, and I had a really good screen,” Leonard said after the game. It was Leonard’s second goal in as many games and his fourth of the year. After signing an 8-year contract extension with the Caps almost a month ago, Leonard has taken his game to the next level. He leads Washington in points (8) and is second in goals (4) after nine games.
Silky mitts from the @Capitals rookie! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/bxZ3kV9UYA
— NHL (@NHL) October 20, 2026
Hutson scored his goal on the power play, his first PPG of the season** . Hutson showed off his slick skating and stickhandling as he took the pass at center ice from Jordan Kyrou and skated up the middle, deking past multiple Kings defensemen before snapping a shot past Kuemper. Hutson’s skill makes it hard for other teams to defend him. He now has 5 points on the season and so far has justified the chatter about being a rookie of the year candidate.
The Not So Good
The Caps power play went 1-4 for the second game in a row. Any power play goal is good, but the last two the Capitals have scored have been on great individual efforts by two of the youngest players. While Hutson and Leonard have been productive with the extra man this season, the power play is still faltering. The power play units aren’t opening up shooting lanes and getting shots through to the goalie. The Caps had two chances on the man-advantage in the third period last night to get back in the game, but Kuemper was on his game. The Caps power play still has work to do.
The Rest
Giving up two goals in the last 33 seconds of the first period after going up 2-0 was awful. Bad bounces happen and other teams execute their game plan sometimes, but allowing the Kings to tie the game before intermission knocked the Caps backwards a bit and the Kings suddenly had all of the momentum. Former Capital Erik Gustafsson scored the game winner on the power play, unassisted, on an end-to-end rush where he slipped past Caps d-man Timothy Liljegren**
ERIK GUSTAFSSON GOES END-TO-END!!! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/JS1YaNGI85
— NHL (@NHL) October 21, 2026
Nice goal for Gus. Too bad it came against the team that traded him and a first-round pick to Toronto for Rasmus Sandin in 2023.
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