What seemed like an easy game for the Washington Capitals (29-10-5), they defeated the Anaheim Ducks (18-20-5P) 3-0. Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson recorded his first shutout of the season and with his new team, stopping all 18 shots. The Ducks were the more physical team in this game, outhitting their opponent 28-6, but at the end of the day it doesn’t matter if you hit more, it matters who scores more.
Brandon Duhaime had a goal and an assist in the game marking his second multi-point effort of the season. Pierre Luc Dubois recorded his 27th assist of the season. Ducks goaltender John Gibson stopped 22 of 25 shots. The Capitals’ fourth line combined for three points in the game.
Game Recap
The Capitals controlled play to start the game and tallied the opening goal. At 12:26 in the first period, Duhaime moved in tight and ripped a shot on net. The rebound fell onto his stick and he shot it into the back of the net, his fifth of the season, and put the Capitals up 1-0.
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With 5:30 left in the opening frame, what started out as a broken play would turn into a goal for the Capitals. Aliaksei Protas sent a pass to Alex Ovechkin as he was cutting to the top of the slot, but was blocked by Ducks defenseman Brian Dumoulin. John Carlson collected the loose puck and rifled a perfect shot over the shoulder of Gibson to make it 2-0. This marks Carlson’s fourth goal of the season and his first since Nov. 27 against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Ducks came out flying to start the second period as they created chances early on, but were all snuffed out by Thompson, his best coming on an odd-man rush that he aggressively stopped by challenging the shooter and making the save. After this, the Capitals regained control and maintained pressure for the remainder of the period.
With under one minute to play in the period, the Capitals had a chance of their own. Capitals’ rookie Ethen Frank scored his second of the season with 0:59 remaining in the period off of an odd-man rush with Dubois to make it 3-0. Frank scored his first goal at home in Capital One Arena. Gibson was noticeably slower to get over after the pass which allowed Frank to settle the puck and pick his shot.
After two periods the Capitals led the Ducks in the shot department 18-11. However, the Ducks were the more physical team as they led in hits 21-5. The Capitals are 17-1-1 when leading after two.
The third period saw back-and-forth action with both goaltenders making clutch stops. Gibson had a heavier workload as the Capitals continued peppering him with shots. He made an insane diving save on a wide-open net with his glove to keep the Capitals up by three. At the other end, Thompson stood tall making routine stops within the final 10 minutes of the game and secured the win. He is now 19-2-3 on the season.
Thompson has stopped 50 of 51 shots against (.980 save percentage) over his last two games. https://t.co/rPobe1M3If
— Capitals PR (@CapitalsPR) January 15, 2025
The Capitals will travel north of the border and face the Ottawa Senators (21-18-3) on Thursday, this being the first meeting of the season between the two. The Ducks have lost three of the first four games on their six-game road trip and will travel south to face the Tampa Bay Lightning (23-15-30) on Thursday.
