The Washington Capitals took down the Anaheim Ducks by a final of 7-4 to complete the sweep of the season series and keep the Caps afloat as they've won five in a row. Anaheim is also the place where Caps hat tricks are born. Aliaksei Protas just joined the club.
Protas gets his first hat trick one year after Tom Wilson gets his AND at the same spot Alex Ovechkin had his first
That was the main story. Last year it was all about Tom Wilson. 19 years ago it was a young Alex Ovechkin. On Tuesday night it was Aliaksei Protas who had a hat trick. More on him in a second.
Dylan Strome got the Caps out to a 1-0 lead with his 20th goal of the season at 2:07. Tom Wilson and Alex Ovechkin had the assists with their 24th and 18th, respectively.
Jacob Trouba tied it at 4:51. Drew Helleson gave the Ducks the lead at 5:20. Then Protas got the first of his three goals on the night at 18:14. Ovechkin set him up for his 19th while Pierre-Luc Dubois had his 39th helper on the year.
PLD would score in the second period to give the Caps the lead at 5:19 as Matt Roy and Jakob Chychrun would have the assists for their 19th and 24th. It was PLD's 17th goal on the season.
The Caps led in shots 19-8 in the first period and 11-7 in the second. The Ducks led in shots 14-13 in the third but the Caps outshot the Ducks 43-29 overall.
At 4:26 it was Pavel Mintyukov that would tie the score in the third but then the Caps responded. Protas got his second of the night at 4:57. PLD had his 40th assist while Connor McMichael notched his 28th.
The Ducks answered at 6:18 with a goal from Frank Vatrano. Nic Dowd gave the Caps the lead for good at 13:25 with his 12th on the season. Wilson and Brandon Duhaime had the assists with their 25th and ninth, respectively.
At 18:24 Anthony Beauvillier got his 14th goal of the season and his first as a member of the Caps. Duhaime had his 10th assist while Rasmus Sandin had his 21st.
At 19:43 Protas would complete the hat trick with an empty net goal for his 28th on the season. Ovechkin had his 20th assist while John Carlson added his 39th.
Logan Thompson picked up the win inside the net with 25 saves on 29 shots to improve his record to 28-4-5. His save percentage on the night clocked out at .862.
While Ovechkin had no goals and remains nine shy of Wayne Gretzky for the all time goals mark, he had a chance at an open net but opted to set up Protas to complete the hat trick.
"I just saw the eye contact with 'Ovi'. With an unreal accomplishment coming up and he makes that play, how happy he is for me, that says everything about him as a teammate. "Aliaksei Protas
The Caps California road trip continues on Thursday night with an even later start time at 10:30 p.m. on the east coast. Next up on the dockett is the Los Angels Kings on Monumental Sports Network 2.