Brandon Duhaime scored a highlight-reel, shorthanded goal in the Washington Capitals’ 7-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks, Wednesday.
But he’d be the first person to tell you that it was all because of his favorite hockey player on planet earth, Aliaksei Protas.
As Protas approached the net on a contested breakaway, he curled the puck back to Duhaime, who finished the play on his backhand. The goal was Duhaime’s fourth of the season.
While most players would be excited, Duhaime, clearly impressed by what he just participated in, had a different reaction. As cameras followed him to the boards, Duhaime flashed a wry smile before acting as if he were offended or guilty that he received credit for a goal Protas had entirely created.
“Pro… Pro… Stop that!” Duhaime said (if my lipreading is correct) as Protas skated over to the goal hug. He then pushed him in the chest, “Stop that!”
“genuinely leave it to dewey to be the most unhappy person ever when he scored a goal😭 ‘STOP THAT’” wrote Duhaime superfan Leah on X, a must follow. “if protas wasn’t god to him before, he definitely is now.”
The interaction comes after Dylan Strome and Connor McMichael revealed in an episode of The Line Change Podcast last season that Duhaime was enamored with the 6-foot-6 Belarusian winger.
“Yeah, he’s the biggest Aliaksei Protas fan in, I think, in the history of hockey or the world,” Dylan Strome said. “He just loves the way Pro plays. Like, maybe ten games into the year, Pro is like lighting it up, and then Dewey is on the bench – the puck came around the wall like a rim to Pro, and Pro just made a great play on the wall, and he’s just like yelling as loud as he can, ‘That’s a Hershey product. A Hershey Bears product.’ And everyone’s just dying laughing on the bench mid-game.”
McMichael added, “I don’t know how to describe Dewey. I feel like he’s never had a bad day… He’s always bringing great energy.”
And funny faces, too.