The Capitals express the importance of the 33-year-old center as the playoff push continues.

The Washington Capitals were holding their breath on trade deadline day, waiting to see if one of the biggest pieces of the puzzle would be on the move: Nic Dowd. But 3 p.m. came and went on that Friday as Dowd remained in D.C. — and his teammates are even more grateful now as they've fought their way back into playoff territory.

Dylan Strome felt it especially on Tuesday, as he watched Dowd orchestrate a brilliant 200-foot shift and get the puck in the offensive zone before he called for Strome for a perfectly-timed changed, resulting in Strome's team-leading 23rd goal of the season.

"Just really, really unselfish, good hockey by Nic Dowd," Strome told reporters in Calgary. "He does a lot of things for this team that go unmentioned... he's a guy that changes in the O-zone a lot, and he told me to be ready."

Dowd’s two-way play was key in a 5-2 win to keep the postseason race alive, but it's not what he does on the scoresheet that captures his teammates' attention; as Strome pointed out, it's his play and the little details that speak for itself.

"He’s a huge part of our team, whether it’s face-offs, penalty kill, creating o-zone shifts... I don’t think enough gets said about how big Nic Dowd is for this team," Strome added.

The 33-year-old leads one of the most efficient fourth lines in the NHL and is one of the league's top defensive centers.

Despite over 500 defensive zone starts, most of his shifts end in the offensive zone. Beyond that, he's the first over the boards on the penalty kill, wins battles in the neutral zone, takes a lot of face-offs, gets to the right areas and takes extremely good care of the puck.

"He's incredibly important. He's just such a reliable player... as a goalie, you just got 100 percent trust, and you know he's gonna make the right play pretty much every single time," Charlie Lindgren told The Hockey News. "That's the one thing that's always stuck out with him; you just watch him make these little plays, and it's just like, every time it seems to be the right play to make."

"He's a great player. He does all the little things right, he plays really hard, he makes the other team's top lines work for every inch that you get," Trevor van Riemsdyk noted.

Linemate Beck Malenstyn agreed, adding that his impact is also felt off the ice. Since signing in D.C. in 2018, Dowd has become a big leader in the room and a mentor for younger players, especially Malenstyn, who has embraced his role as a top fourth-liner and utility player at the highest level.

"He's somebody that I can lean on during games, in between periods, after games, he really likes to break down shifts and things like that," Malenstyn said. "Like you were saying, he has a really clear idea of how he needs to play and wants to play. For me, it's just continuing to learn... there's open communication throughout all of it, little things we want to change and improve on."

Even Lindgren understood why Dowd's name was coming up in trade rumors; not only could he do the little things right, but his production isn't too shabby, either; he has 17 points this season, and he's showcased his wicked shot and impressive stickhandling that lead to some quality chances.

For Dowd, it's all business as usual.

"I strive to go and do the exact same thing every single night and get better," Dowd said. "The foundation of my game, it's pretty simple... every single night, I think that you know, some nights, you're going to have really, really good games and you're not going to show up on the scoresheet and some nights, you're going to have really, really good games and you're going to show up on the scoresheet," Dowd said.

Washington had given up some big pieces going into the deadline, parting ways with the likes of Evgeny Kuznetsov, Anthony Mantha and Joel Edmundson while choosing not to add for what seemed like an unlikely playoff push. However, the team elected to hold onto Dowd, and it's paid off.

The Capitals have gone 6-3 through the month of March to claw back into the second Wild Card spot, and though the standings are everchanging and though the road is still winding with 15 games left on the circuit, D.C. is grateful that No. 26 is along for the ride.

"He’s a huge part of our team, and obviously, the rumors that were around the deadline, I'm really happy we kept him, and it’s showing that we made the right decision,” Strome said.