Things were tight in Los Angeles on Tuesday night, and time and space were at a premium at both ends of the ice. The Caps and Kings hooked up in a doozy of a low-scoring hockey game, and Washington emerged victorious at night’s end, earning a 3-1 victory, its season high fifth in a row.
Anthony Beauvillier’s goal in the second minute of the final frame was the difference maker; it snapped a 1-1 deadlock and restored a one-goal Washington lead. Logan Thompson (23 saves) again refused to surrender a goal that would put the Capitals behind on the scoreboard, and he yielded two or fewer goals against for the 15th time in 19 starts this season to pick up his 12th win.
A strong first period put the Caps on a path to victory, and tonight’s two points in the front end of a set of back-to-backs ensures them of no worse than a split on the four-game road trip.
“I thought that set the table,” says Caps coach Spencer Carbery of his team’s first period. “We knew that the start was going to be important just based on being on the road, the opponent, the way the game went in our building. You knew that they were going to be ready tonight, so I thought it was important.”
The game was never boring, it was physical and surly and high-paced, but time and space were available only on the perimeter and in the neutral zone.
The Caps had a big advantage – 12 to 3 – in first-period shots on net, but the shot attempts were much closer to even; Washington blocked eight Los Angeles shots in the first and finished with 21, paced by Rasmus Sandin’s four.
Washington’s Matt Roy drew an offensive zone tripping call on Kings’ forward Andrei Kuzmenko a few minutes after the midpoint of the first. The extra-man opportunity was a good one for the Capitals in terms of entries, puck movement, puck recoveries and zone time. And more importantly, results.
Ryan Leonard recovered a loose puck near the top of the paint, and he quickly put it to Tom Wilson at the opposite post for an easy tap-in and a1-0 Washington lead at 14:50 of the first.
“It's found some chemistry now,” says Carbery of the power play. “And I think with [Leonard] playing on there, and [Jakob Chychrun], we found a combination that seems to be finding some chemistry, and so that's all that is. So, hopefully they can continue with that. And we've got – like I’ve said before – those two units that we're going to continue to roll with. But tonight, it was really sharp.”
The Kings found and displayed their legs in the second, tying the game in transition at 5:28 of the middle period. Anze Kopitar took a headman feed from Trevor Moore and carried into Washington ice, then patiently waited for the perfect moment to feed Adrian Kempe, who beat Thompson to make it a 1-1 game.
Washington started the third period shorthanded; the Kings were on a carryover power play and gunning for the go-ahead goal. Just as the penalty expired and Alex Ovechkin exited the penalty box, Connor McMichael blocked a Brandt Clarke point drive and suddenly found himself on a 2-on-1 with Ovechkin, who returned the puck to McMichael on the right side as the pair drew closer to the net.
McMichael feigned a one-timer before issuing a short little dish to the late-arriving Beauvillier, who tapped it home at 1:18 of the third, putting the Caps back on top.
“Great awareness by these two,” says Beauvillier. “First of all, Mikey blocking a shot there at the end the PK and just going down the ice, and [Ovechkin] made a great play. And Mikey, such a good heads-up play. I just had to put it in.”
And he did. Beauvillier has a four-game point streak (two goals, two assists), and his sixth goal of the season proved to be the game-winner, his third game-winning goal of the season.
For the second time in as many games, Aliaksei Protas netted a key empty-net goal late to alleviate some pressure on his buddy Thompson; the Kings kept the heat on right up to the game’s final horn.
At the end of the game, the Caps lined up to congratulate 21-year NHL veteran Anze Kopitar on a great career; the big Kings center has announced that the 2025-26 season will be his final one in the NHL. His next stop will be the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.
“That’s [Ovechkin],” says Beauvillier of the postgame tribute to Kopitar. “Obviously, the game respects the game, and he’s had such a tremendous career and is such a fun player to watch, and it’s such an honor to play against him.”
