The Washington Capitals defeated the Anaheim Ducks by a final score of 3-0 as Logan Thompson pitched a shutout behind 19 saves Tuesday night at Capital One Arena. The Caps got two goals in the first period and one in the second to help out LT.
Brandon Duhaime got it started with his fifth goal of the season at 7:34 on a deflected shot. Jakob Chychrun had the assist for his 18th of the year while Nic Dowd tacked on his sixth. Then a blast from John Carlson for his fourth of the season made it 2-0 at 14:30. Washington led in shots 12-9 after one.
In the second period Ethen Frank picked up his third point in three games with his second goal on the season at 19:01 to give Caps fans all over the DMV free six piece McNuggets in the form of the legendary McNugget Minute goal. Pierre-Luc Dubois had his 27th of the season. Brandon Duahime added his seventh.
The three stars of the game were none other than Carlson, Duhaime and Thompson, of course, at number one. With the win Washington improves their record to 29-10-5 and 63 points. That's good for a .716 point percentage and tops in the Metropolitan Division, the Eastern Conference. The 63 points are tied with the Winnipeg Jets for first in the NHL.
After the game, Capitals coach Spencer Carbery spoke on the play of Ethen Frank. Via Tarik El-Bashir of Monumental Sports Network, Carbery would say this:
"It's awesome. He's worked so hard to prepare for this moment and for it to now have arrived and for him to be thriving in that situation, it's great to see because you pull for people like that, that have persevered, been knocked down and continue to get back up. "Spencer Carbery
Carbery on Frank: “It’s awesome. He’s worked so hard to prepare for this moment and for it to now have arrived and for him to be thriving in the situation, it’s great to see because you pull for people like that, that have persevered, been knocked down and continue to get back…
— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) January 15, 2025
This was also the fifth game this season where the Capials allowed fewer than 20 shutouts. For Thompson, it ws his first shutout as a member of the Caps and the fifth of his career. Over his last two games he has stopped 50 of 51 shots against which is good for a .980 save percentage.
Next up for the Caps is an away matchup against the Ottawa Senators on Thursday Jan. 16 with a 7 p.m. puck drop on Monumental Sports Network. Following that the Caps will play two nights later on home ice against the Pittsburgh Penguins.