WASHINGTON -- Matthew Phillips wasn’t thinking about revenge against the Calgary Flames on Monday.
The rookie forward couldn’t hide, though, that it meant a little more to score his first NHL goal against the Flames, his hometown team who selected him in the sixth round (No. 166) of the 2016 NHL Draft, to help the Washington Capitals rally for a 3-2 shootout victory at Capital One Arena.
“It feels pretty good,” said Phillips, who also had his first assist in the win. “I'll leave it at that.”
It also felt good for the Capitals, who were reeling after falling behind 2-0 in the first period, when they were outshot 18-3. Those 20 minutes came on the heels of a 4-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins in their season opener on Friday.
Washington needed some kind of spark, and it got it from Phillips, who started the comeback with his goal 6:50 into the second period before setting up Connor McMichael’s tying goal at 9:54.
“He’s been great the last month and a half since he’s been here,” said Capitals coach Spencer Carbery, who earned his first NHL win. “Played his way onto this team. Was great in the preseason, was great in practice, and even though probably you could argue the deck was stacked against him, he fought his way onto this team and just continued practice after practice after preseason game that he wasn’t going to be denied.”