On Tuesday, Oct. 15, the Washington Capitals (1-1-0) got a home-ice victory over the Vegas Golden Knights (3-1-0). The 2018 Stanley Cup Final rematch went to the team that was victorious back then. Washington got their first win of the 2024-25 season, while Vegas was handed their first loss.
Jakub Vrana opened up the scoring for the Capitals off a feed from Andrew Mangiapane. This was the first point of the season for both offseason additions. The former won the Stanley Cup in 2018 with the Capitals, serving in the nation’s capital for five seasons before being traded in 2021. He was reacquired on a professional tryout (PTO), but it appears the 28-year-old still has some juice. The latter was added via trade in the 2024 offseason for a 2025 second-round pick.
Victor Olofsson, essentially on a prove-it deal ($1.075 million cap hit for one season), notched his third goal of the season. The shorthanded tally knotted up the game for Vegas, with assists courtesy of Tomas Hertl and Mark Stone.
The second period was a bit of a goal fest with four being put on the board. It started with Tom Wilson on the power play with assists from Dylan Strome and Alex Ovechkin. That was a huge milestone, as it was Ovechkin’s 700th career assist. He may be chasing Wayne Gretzky’s iconic 894-goal record (42 away from surpassing the total), but he can still dish a puck.
The Capitals extended their lead to 3-1 with an Aliaksei Protas goal. Ovechkin hit 701 assists on this one, just over two minutes after hitting 700.
Jakob Chychrun gave the Capitals a comfortable 4-1 lead with assists from Nic Dowd and John Carlson. This was Washington’s third goal in 3:07. Per CapitalsPR on X (formerly Twitter), this is the fastest time they’ve put that many tallies on the board since Nov. 30, 2023.
The Capitals scored three consecutive goals in a span of 3:07 in the second period. It marked the fastest three goals scored by Washington since Nov. 30, 2023 at Anaheim (3 GF in 3:05 in P1).
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) October 16, 2024
The Golden Knights found an answer just over a minute later, but it’d be the last goal for any team on the night. Jack Eichel got one past his former teammate, Logan Thompson, to make it 4-2. Getting the assists were Stone and Ivan Barbashev, but Stone’s is more notable. With six apples on the season, he is tied with Eichel and Evgeni Malkin for the most in the NHL.
Overall, Thompson stopped 24 of 26 shots for the Capitals while Adin Hill didn’t have his best night for the Golden Knights, saving 18 of the 22 shots he faced. The two were a tandem in Vegas from 2022-23 to 2023-24, but Hill’s old partner got the best of him.
Both clubs will be in action next on Oct. 17. The Golden Knights face the Tampa Bay Lightning on the road, while the Capitals continue their home stand with a formidable Dallas Stars team visiting their barn.
