The Washington Capitals delivered maybe their most entertaining game of the season in a home-ice win over the Anaheim Ducks. But we’ll remember this game as Justin Sourdif’s big night.
Chris Kreider, nominal Caps-killer, struck first after a great pass from Olen Zellweger. Then came the first Justin Sourdif goal – a great setup from Connor McMichael. Sourdif followed it up with a gorgeous shot to make it 2-1.
Enter an eventful second period, which Ryan Leonard began by tucking a goal made possible by Sourdif winning a board battle. Speaking of – the man of the hour didn’t want to share the spotlight; he completed the hat trick 90 seconds later at the end of a great passing sequence. Alex Ovechkin scored career no. 913, but then the Ducks came clawing back. Alex Killorn got gifted a goal by Dylan McIlrath’s turnover, then – goodness gracious – even Jacob Trouba was able to score.
Beckett Sennecke (good hockey name, even better The Gilded Age character name) brought the Ducks within one with a pretty shot while falling to the ice. John Carlson got a long-range empty-netter, and then Ovi got one too.
Caps win!
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I needed this one. The last couple weeks of Caps hockey have been punishing. This game was a delight. A messy delight, but I’ll take it.
Rookie Justin Sourdif, 23, has arrived. He had two points in two of the last three games, and those were just a modest prologue to this performance. He scored three goals – his first career hat trick – and added two assists.
Actully, I think Sourdif’s assist was even more impressive than his goals. He fended off both Jacob Trouba and Leo Carlsson along the boards long enough to find Leonard waiting by the net.
Like I said in October, Vive la sourdifférence. We all have our faves sometimes, and the thing about the random-number generator that is sports is that eventually we’re all made sages and fools if we say anything at all. I wrote the Orpikalypse Test. Being wrong on that was one of the best things ever to happen to me. Enjoy the ride.
The RMNB Discord – open to everyone who is a $10 subscriber AND who is usually really mean to me – took bets on when Dylan McIlrath would fight Jacob Trouba. He didn’t, but McIlrath did get in a different fight, and thus Dr. Kat wins the betting pool. The prize is she gets to be mean to me even more than usual. (Update: There is controversy on the winner. It might have been Late Stage Capitals. I will keep you posted because I know you want to know.) (Update to the update: I am now in trouble for saying it “might have been” LSC. It was LSC. I am sorry. This is the final update.)
McIlrath’s more notable contribution was that turnover. From behind his own goal line, he just sorta handed it to Ross Johnston. He got three short shifts in the third period.
Alex Ovechkin scored twice. Says something about this game that this is the 75th bullet in the recap. Ovi’s got 17 on the season.
There aren’t a lot of penalty shots in the NHL. There should be more. But there should not be two in one period. John Carlson couldn’t keep up with Ryan Strome – I get it: it’s not 2012 anymore; the legs are gone. Ryan Leonard drew the same call, a hook from behind, from Olen Zellweger. Whiffed.
At some point in the third, Craig Laughlin observed that two Ducks players were “minus-seven combined.” Aaaaaaarghhh
Cash Rules Everything Around Beninati #joebsuitofthenight
— RMNB (@rmnb.bsky.social) 2026-01-06T00:03:23.583Z
Defense: optional. Whatever the team did right, they undid it with careless passing and handling. That’s the only way you can have a goal explosion and still only slightly eke out the win.
But consider this –
Core forwards: unavailable. Without Protas, Wilson, and Dubois, we should have lowered our expectations for goal-scoring. But the hockey gods – or reality-simulation-hockey-rng.py – decided this was the night when Justin Sourdif becomes a legend. He’ll remember this one forever, and so too will Ian.