The Capitals center leads the team with 60 points in 71 games, including nine points in his last five games alone.
WASHINGTON — For Dylan Strome, the chance to play for the Stanley Cup has been a lifelong dream, one that he doubted at times over the course of his whirlwind of a still-young career. But with 11 games to go for the Washington Capitals, it's starting to look like a reality, and he's a big reason why.
Strome struck twice and had the overtime winner in Washington's 4-3 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday, which marked the most statistically important game of the season for both sides and many other teams in the Eastern Conference.
With the win, the Capitals established a two-point cushion over the second Wild Card spot and moved within one point of the Philadelphia Flyers for third in the Metropolitan Division, with games in hand. All the while, the Capitals' playoff odds have skyrocketed since the team turned things around at this critical juncture, and now sit at 65.5 percent, per MoneyPuck.
"That's probably as close as I've played to playoff hockey," Strome said with a grin.
Growing up in Toronto and playing with Connor McDavid's Erie Otters in juniors, Strome was fortunate to make a handful of memorable runs. However, he hasn't exactly been able to replicate that success at the NHL level — yet.
The 27-year-old got the slightest taste of the playoffs back in 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when the Chicago Blackhawks made it through the qualifying round and faced the Vegas Golden Knights in the NHL's modified postseason. Chicago fell in five games, though, cutting that run relatively short.
"I've never played in playoff hockey besides the bubble, but you know the bubble," Strome said matter-of-factly.
The 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, though, would be the real deal, one that Strome's doing everything he can to reach. He has been instrumental in Washington's surge back up the standings, leading the team with 60 points through 71 games. In the month of March alone, he ranks first in scoring with 10 points, and he is also enjoying a five-game point streak, with nine points over that span.
"He's been one of our best players, so I think that says it all," Nic Dowd said of Strome's performance. "If you're going to come in and play and be consistent nightly and be relied upon and you're producing and you're doing a good job at it, I think that speaks for how much he cares about the situation that we're in."
"He wants to win so badly. You can feel it when you talk to him," head coach Spencer Carbery added.
His 25 goals this season are also a new career high, surpassing the 23-goal total he set in 81 games in his first year with D.C. For him, though, it's all part of the job.
"It feels good... happy to chip in and contribute," Strome said.
While the playoffs are an attainable goal for the rag-tag group of underdogs, there's still ways to go. D.C. has a tough schedule remaining, with the Toronto Maple Leafs up next before a home meeting with the Boston Bruins on Saturday.
Still, there's something special brewing within the locker room, and Strome sees it; he's called it "belief" time and time again, but since the All-Star Break, where D.C. was seven points out of a playoff spot, he's witnessed resiliency that's led Washington back to the playoffs with a 12-5-1 record and the fifth-most points since Feb. 18 (25).
"We just stuck with it. It's kind of what we've been doing since, I don't know, I guess the All-Star break: just hanging in there, battling and find a way to get it done, whether it's late or in overtime or whatever it may be, but everyone's contributing" Strome said.
Right now, though, Strome's just trying to savor the moment and stay focused on the run ahead with the standings ever-changing and a lot of work still left to do.
"It's special for sure... Obviously, it hasn't worked out in the NHL so far for getting to the playoffs, but it feels like, hopefully this is the year. We're right there," Strome said. "We control our destiny, for sure, and we just got to keep going. It's a lot of fun to play. Everyone wants to thrive in the big games and play games that really matter. It feels like that right now, and we're trying our best."