Ovechkin, Dubois each has 3 points for Washington; Mintyukov, Vatrano each gets goal, assist for Anaheim
NHL Highlights | Capitals vs. Ducks | March 11, 2025
ANAHEIM — Aliaksei Protas had a hat trick for the Washington Capitals in a 7-4 win against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center on Tuesday.
Pierre-Luc Dubois had a goal and two assists, Alex Ovechkin had three assists, and Logan Thompson made 25 saves for the Capitals (43-14-8), who have won five in a row.
“I liked a lot of the things we did tonight,” Washington coach Spencer Carbery said. “I think (Anaheim) is a good team. It’s hard to check them for 60 minutes and limit what they get because they are just so fast, they are so skilled and so shifty that they are going to break you down.”
Pavel Mintyukov and Frank Vatrano each had a goal and an assist, Jacob Trouba and Drew Helleson also scored, and Lukas Dostal made 36 saves for Anaheim (28-29-7), which has lost three of four.
“It’s terrible that we lost the game,” Ducks coach Greg Cronin said. “For me, it’s one of those games you can build on as a coach. We still will, but it adds more confidence to it when you win the game. But, we’ll learn from it and we’ll move forward. We have no time to really lick our wounds, we’ve got to get ready for Utah (on Wednesday).”
The Capitals took their fourth lead of the game at 13:25 of the third period when Nic Dowd buried a rebound off the rush to make it 5-4.
Anthony Beauvillier, who was acquired by the Capitals from the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday, scored on a breakaway with 1:36 left to make it 6-4.
Protas then scored into an empty net with 17 seconds left for the 7-4 final.
Ovechkin, who is nine goals from passing Wayne Gretzky for the most in NHL history (894), had room to shoot the puck, but opted to pass it to the wide open Protas for his first NHL hat trick.
“I just saw the eye contact with ‘Ovi,’ ” Protas said. “With an unreal accomplishment coming up and he makes that play, and how happy he is for me, that says everything about him as a teammate.”
WSH@ANA: Protas records first career hat trick in win over Ducks
Dylan Strome scored with a backhand from in close to give the Capitals a 1-0 lead at 2:07 of the first period.
Trouba scored his first goal since Jan. 4, 2024, a span of 95 games, to tie it 1-1 at 4:51. His initial shot from the slot went wide, but the rebound came back to him off the end boards and he slid the puck between Thompson’s pads.
Helleson scored 29 seconds later with a one-timer from above the right circle to give Anaheim a 2-1 lead at 5:20.
Protas got to a loose puck in the right circle and shot it past Dostal to tie it 2-2 at 18:14.
Washington moved ahead 3-2 at 5:19 of the second period when Dubois redirected a pass from Matt Roy in front of the crease.
WSH@ANA: Dubois directs a shot pass into the cage to gain the lead
The Ducks got their third straight goal from a defenseman when Mintyukov’s shot from just below the blue line went off Thompson’s glove and into the net to tie it 3-3 at 4:26 of the third period. However, the Capitals moved back ahead 31 seconds later when Protas scored from in front of the crease to make it 4-3.
“We get the lead but cough it up right away,” Carbery said. “So now all of a sudden, we lost momentum, building comes alive, and for them to score on that next shift right there, and him to finish in tight, that is not an easy finish in there.”
Vatrano tied it 4-4 when he scored with a wrist shot from the right circle at 6:18.
“If you look at our record against the top teams in the league, we’ve held our own,” Helleson said. “We’ve just got to do it night in and night out, just try to stay consistent as best we can in the last games we have left.”
NOTES: Strome is the fifth 20-goal scorer for Washington this season, joining Ovechkin (33), Tom Wilson (29), Protas (28) and Connor McMichael (23). He also has a five-game point streak (two goals, three assists). … Washington defenseman Jakob Chychrun had an assist on Dubois’ goal to give him an NHL career-high 42 points this season (18 goals, 24 assists). … Wilson had two assists to give him an NHL career-high 54 points (29 goals, 25 assists) this season. Wilson has a five-game point streak (three goals, six assists). … Protas is the only player in the NHL with at least 50 even-strength points and one or fewer power-play points. … Thompson has 28 wins, the second-most by a goaltender in their first season with the Capitals (Jose Theodore, 32 in 2008-09). … Ducks forward Leo Carlsson had an assist on Helleson’s goal to give him 13 points (five goals, eight assists) in his past 13 games.
