Hear from the Capitals following their 3-2 overtime win over the Islanders.
WASHINGTON — As Dylan Strome waited anxiously for word on his overtime goal that went under review, John Carlson was in the locker room, waiting for the green light as he started to get undressed.
There was full confidence that the goal would stand, and ultimately, it did, as Strome's team-leading 13th of the season capped off a 3-2 overtime win.
"We came back off here and our coaches said it was a good goal," Strome said. "You never know when you take that long, and you're kind of thinking about it a little bit — a lot actually... we'll take it. A goal's a goal."
“I was in here, so I didn’t know, like, how far to get undressed. The coaches are usually a good sign and they didn’t seem to think it was a high stick or whatever they were looking at," Carlson added with a laugh.
But on a more serious note, he's proud to see Strome continue to excel.
“He’s been huge and filling the net but also a lot of clutch goals, a lot of big moments, and that’s what you want out of him," Carlson said. "Obviously, he’s capable of it, but he’s having a great year.”
Hendrix Lapierre and Joel Edmundson scored in regulation, and Lapierre also added an assist for his second multi-point game of the season. And for Washingotn, the team was able to rally around his showing.
"He was awesome; Lappy was great. He was controlling the puck, he made some good plays, he had a lot of chances, looks good," Strome said.
Ivan Miroshnichenko also stole the spotlight with a strong NHL debut that featured two shots, five attempts and two hits through 10:14 minutes. The Capitals also drew motivation from his eventful journey to the NHL, which featured a won battle with Hodgkin's Lymphoma, time in the KHL and a stop in Hershey before finally seeing his NHL dream come true.
“Yeah it was great. You’re rooting for a guy like that. The first NHL game, I always say, is one of the most thrilling, memorable things an NHL player can do. I think it gets overlooked a lot by other accolades: your first goal, whatever, stuff like that," Carlson said. "But it’s a starting point for him for the next start of his career and that’s huge, especially with what he’s been through and done. It’s great to see and great to have him here.”
At the end of the day, seeing both Lapierre and Miroshnichenko have strong showings meant a lot to the group as a whole en route to the win.
"It's tough as a young kid at times to break into the NHL and solidify yourself. For a lot of guys, it takes a while to do. But I like the fact that [Lapierre] came up, and he's a really cheerful kid... he's a very good player and it's only going to help his confidence grow, right? He's going to become a better player. Same with Miro as well, same with all the young guys. Bring on the goals from the young guys, because we need them and it's just gonna make them better players down the stretch."
Here are more thoughts from the team postgame: