recap kings

Caps center P-L Dubois has been traded thrice in his NHL career, so he is familiar with the feeling of going up against a former team and teammates at this level. That said, Dubois admitted that Sunday’s game against Los Angeles – his first against the Kings since they dealt him to the Capitals last June – was different.

“A little bit,” admits Dubois. “You know, it ended in a different way, so it felt a little bit different. But yeah, this one feels good.”

Dubois was named the game’s first star in the wake of Washington’s impressive 3-1 victory over the Kings on Sunday afternoon. He had the primary helpers on each of the Caps’ first two goals of the game, as the Caps swept a two-game homestand against high quality opposition by identical scores.

Aliaksei Protas notched his second two-goal game of the month, sandwiching the game’s only 5-on-5 goal in the first period and an empty-net goal in the contest’s final minute around Jakub Vrana’s game-winner on the power play in the second period.

In the summer of 2023, the Kings obtained Dubois from Winnipeg in a multi-player swap, then signed him to an eight-year contract extension. Then, when the season started, they gave him a lesser role with significantly less ice time than he had in Winnipeg. The Kings then seemed to scratch their heads and wonder why his production dipped; he played in all 82 games and recorded 16 goals and 40 points.

After just one season with the Kings, they moved on from Dubois, dealing him to the Caps for goalie Darcy Kuemper in a swap that has benefitted both players and both teams.

With Washington this season, Dubois has been a go-to, top six player who has played a subtle and sturdy 200-foot game. In 33 games, he has totaled five goals and 25 points while helping the Capitals to the League’s best record.

“I thought he was one of our better players tonight,” says Caps coach Spencer Carbery of Dubois. “And the guys too, could feel that it meant a little bit more to Matt Roy and Dubie, playing against their former team, so it was nice to get the win. It wasn’t our cleanest game, it wasn’t the best, but to dig in and get two points for those guys and find a way to win that game was great to see.”

For the second time in as many games, Protas staked the Caps to a 1-0 first-period lead. As the Caps were forechecking behind the LA net, the Kings grabbed hold of the puck and worked it up to the right half wall as they attempted to exit their zone cleanly. Connor McMichael blunted Alex Turcotte’s exit bid, moving it to Dubois, who quickly put it back down low where Protas was lurking beneath the Los Angeles defense. From the slot, he scored his 13th goal of the season at 10:20 of the first frame.

Protas notched goal No. 13 in game No. 33, a remarkable achievement for a guy who had 13 goals in 169 career NHL games coming into this season. With his late empty-net goal, Protas has surpassed his combined goal output from his first three seasons in the League, doing so in roughly one-fifth as many games.

After a penalty free first period, both teams committed a puck over glass/delay of game infraction in the second, and both teams bagged a goal on the ensuing power play.

First, the Kings squared the score at 1-1 with a faceoff win and some sharp puck movement on their first power play. Los Angeles needed just one shot and 17 seconds with which to get Kevin Fiala’s tying tally on a one-timer from the top of the right circle at 4:10 of the middle period.

About 10 minutes later, the Caps restored that one-goal advantage on their power play, scoring with 19 seconds remaining in the man advantage. Dubois made an excellent play to keep the puck in the Kings’ zone at the left point, then found and fed Vrana in the high slot. From there, Vrana ripped a wrist shot past Los Angeles netminder David Rittich on the blocker side at 14:18.

Sunday’s game marked Vrana’s third straight game with a point, and his second straight contest with the game-winning goal.

The first 40 minutes of Sunday’s game were played tightly at 5-on-5; the two sides entered the third all even with just 27 shot attempts each at evens, and the Kings put on a third-period push, as they did an afternoon earlier in Nashville. But as he has done so often this season, Thompson closed the door and kept it locked in the third.

Washington generated some good looks it couldn’t quite finish in the early minutes of the final stanza, and it needed Thompson to come up with a couple of big stops on Akil Thomas and Brandt Clarke, just ahead of the first television timeout.

Thompson’s best stop came midway through the frame when he shrugged off a high shot from Alex Laferriere with a left shoulder stop. The Caps goaltender was also aided by an excellent defensive play by Roy, another former King who was facing his former club for the first time. Playing without a stick, Roy laid out in the slot to break up a dangerous seam pass down low, helping to preserve what was still a one-goal lead.

“It was a fun game; it was a playoff style game,” says Thompson of his 13th victory of the season. “I’ve played against LA for a couple of years now, so I know their style, and they really don’t give up a lot. So it was a tight game back and forth, and credit to the guys. We stuck with it, and that was a huge two points.”

And two more huge goals from Protas, whose father was in attendance from Belarus for the second consecutive game, seeing his son play at the NHL level for the first times in person, along with Protas’ mother and younger brother Ilya, the Caps’ third-round choice in the 2024 NHL Draft.

While Dubois’ nine points (two goals, seven assists) are tops among all Capitals in the team’s nine December games, Protas has scored a team-leading six goals this month.

“It’s awesome,” exudes Protas. “It’s been a while since he got the visa, which we really appreciate. Basically, we are both here – me and my brother – because of them both. They did everything they could, and we always appreciate it, that’s for sure. That’s special, and that’s for them.”