Capitals vs. Ducks: How the Game Was Won

"The Washington Capitals were looking for revenge against the Anaheim Ducks last night after their meeting last month, and boy did they get it. Despite the Ducks getting on the board first, the Capitals went on to score five unanswered goals to make it 5-1. They let Anaheim back in it for a bit to bring the score to 5-4, but the Caps finished them off with two empty netters."

"The Capitals' new second line of Connor McMichael-Justin Sourdif-Ryan Leonard was clicking the entire game, but they saved some of their best for their fourth and final goal of the night-Sourdif's third to complete the hatty. The Caps caught Anaheim in a bad change and ended up with a four-on-two with the second line plus Trevor van Riemsdyk. Sourdif was the one to carry the puck from Washington's own zone across the blue line into the Ducks' end of the ice,"

"and then he dropped the puck to a waiting TvR so he could continue driving towards the net. TvR kickstarted a beautiful tic-tac-toe passing play by quickly passing the puck to McMichael, who then passed it to Leonard who fed it to a waiting Sourdif. The play was set up perfectly, and Sourdif bookended it with his zone entry to start it and a tap-in from the crease to end it. Fun fact: it took Sourdif just 11:34 of game time to score his hat trick."

Washington scored five unanswered goals after Anaheim opened the scoring, building a 5-1 lead before allowing the Ducks to cut it to 5-4. The Capitals sealed the win with two empty-net goals for a 7-4 final. Rookie Justin Sourdif recorded his first career hat trick, including a third goal that completed a four-on-two tic-tac-toe sequence involving Trevor van Riemsdyk, Connor McMichael and Ryan Leonard. Alex Ovechkin's first goal of the game stood as the eventual game winner. Sourdif became the ninth Capitals rookie to record a hat trick and the first since Alex Ovechkin in 2006.

Read at Japers' Rink