WASHINGTON — All eyes were on Cole Hutson as he took the ice for his first taste of NHL action with the Washington Capitals, and it was easy to see why.

The hype has been growing around the 19-year-old since being taken in the second round in the 2024 NHL Draft, and on Wednesday, he showed that the wait was well worth it as he shined and scored in his debut, while Alex Ovechkin, Tom Wilson and Logan Thompson stepped up to help D.C. pull off a needed 4-1 win over the Ottawa Senators.

Here are the takeaways from the victory.

The Capitals had been waiting for "Magic" for some time, and Cole Hutson didn't disappoint as he made his NHL debut against the Senators.

Hutson was thrown right into NHL action, in the starting lineup with Matt Roy and first over the boards for the power play. At first, he eased into things while getting acclimated, and as time went on, he started to come out of his shell more and more.

The 19-year-old showcased his smooth skating ability and took good care of the puck, making some impressive plays, finding his teammates on the tape, threading the needle and using his finesse and speed to elude his opponents.

Then, on a late power play with the goalie pulled, Hutson scored his first NHL goal.

He finished his debut with a goal and three shots through 16:22 minutes. 

After a slower first period where they were outshot 16-7, the Capitals needed more in the second, and Alex Ovechkin and Tom Wilson would pull D.C. into the that.

It's been a season of ups for 40-year-old Ovechkin, and the last six games have been difficult as he's struggled to find twine. Finally on Wednesday, he broke through.

Ovechkin went hard to the net and redirected a feed from Rasmus Sandin past Linus Ullmark to open the scoring for Washington.

The goal marked Ovechkin's 25th of the season, tying him with Gordie Howe for the most 25-goal seasons in NHL history. He's also now one goal away from 1,000 combined regular-season and playoff goals.

It was one of Ovechkin's best games as he made several plays and generated quite a bit on offense, and from there, Washington was able to continue to get more on the attack and tilt the ice after a slower start against the Senators. It paid off.

Minutes later, after being reunited with Pierre-Luc Dubois in the middle frame, Tom Wilson got the puck at the bottom of the circle, and from a sharp angle, fired a deceptive shot past Ullmark to extend D.C.'s lead to 2-0.

Wilson himself was all over the ice, throwing his weight around, getting under Nick Cousins' skin and being aggressive on the forecheck to pull his team into the fight.

It was a busy night for Logan Thompson, who's felt of late, he needed to come up with one more save when the occasion called for it. He did just that, and then some, against Ottawa.

Thompson came up with a handful of acrobatic stops over the course of the night, totaling 32 saves on 33 shots. He was aggressive and confident, and it paid off as he helped shut down Brady Tkachuk and the Senators' top threats. His glove hand was also working well for him.

Washington and also got help from some posts and crossbars — even when it looked like the puck would surely go in,  —as well as sticks breaking at inopportune time for the Senators.

The defense also stepped up and bailed Thompson out when it could, with Matt Roy and Martin Fehervary stepping up to shut the door and keep the puck out of harm's way. Fehervary led the team with six blocks out of the 21 total that D.C. put up over the course of the night.

Ottawa did break through in the final minutes of regulation with Tim Stutzle cutting things to 2-1 with the goalie pulled, but Aliaksei Protas iced the game with a late empty netter, followed by Hutson.