Washington Capitals and Logan Thompson continue to roll in 3-1 win over Calgary Flames

The Washington Capitals remain atop the NHL food chain thanks to a 3-1 win over the Calgary Flames. Logan Thompson, who just got his big payday in the form of a six year contract extension the day before the game, made 32 saves and is 15-1-2 in his past 18 games for the Caps. Washington has won seven of their last eight.

Pierre-Luc Dubois potted in his 11th goal of the season on a wrist shot at 1:51 of the opening frame. In the second at 12:17, Blake Coleman tied it for the Flames with a power play goal. Then Dylan Strome added his 13th goal of the season with a power play strike at 15:12 to give the Caps the lead for good. John Carlson added his 26th assist of the season while Jakob Chychrun had his 20th.

In the third period Aliaksei Protas notched his 21st goal of the season at 17:35. Lars Eller added his ninth assist of the season and Trevor van Riemsdyk got his 15th with the secondary.

These teams will meet again on Feb. 25 at Capital One Arena. With the win, Washington improves their record to 34-11-5 with 73 points. Good for a first place tie with the Winnipeg Jets who have played two more games.

Caps conclude their road trip with a road contest on Thursday night at 7 p.m. on Monumental Sports Network 2. Then they'll face the Jets on Saturday night on Monumental Sports Network from Capital One Arena at 7 p.m. Yes that second one we mentioned in the paragraph will be bigger than Thursday.

Shots on goal were 33-23 in favor of the Flames. Face off percentage was even at 50 percent a piece. The Flames went 1 for 5 on the power play while Washington went 1 for 4. The Caps had the edge in hits 22-15. They also had the edge in blocked shots 22-12. The Flames had 14 giveaways while the Caps had 11 while takeaways were even at seven apiece.

While PLD scored the game opening goal, he took a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct in the second period which caused him to be benched for the remaining of said period. Capitals coach Spencer Carbery gave his thoughts on the call:

"Didn't like it at all. Whether it's a penalty or not - which, it's a penalty - he's got to do a better job there for us. I know he will. He's a competitor and a gamer and I appreciate that about him. In that moment, he has to have his emotions under control and not put us down, short, five-on-four. He'll learn from that, be better for it. I'm not worried about that. "

Spencer Carbery