“He just looks really good”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Washington Capitals defeated the Philadelphia Flyers with an offensive 6-3 victory on Wednesday night, defeating their longtime rivals for the second night in a row. Connor McMichael scored two goals on the night and scored twice on Flyers goaltender Ivan Fedotov in just 3:12 minutes.

McMichael’s consecutive goals gave the Caps a 4-0 lead midway through the second period and earned him First Star of the Game honors; His second goal was the decisive winning goal. He now has seven points (3g, 4a) in his last four games while ranking second on the team in scoring with eight points.

Just minutes after Nic Dowd gave Washington a 2-0 lead, McMichael hit a breakaway and stormed into the Flyers’ zone after a pass from Pierre-Luc Dubois before hitting the puck backhand into the net.

McMichael got on the scoresheet again shortly after that breakaway when he redirected a shot from defender Trevor van Riemsdyk.

Dubois, who scored points on both of McMichael’s goals, explained after the game that he and his teammates had hoped McMichael could complete the hat trick.

“Mikey was good tonight,” he said. “We tried to get the third one for him, but he did a lot of good things out there.”

The Capitals’ second line of McMichael, Dubois and Tom Wilson was arguably the team’s strongest to start the year, scoring six of the club’s 22 even-strength goals. Wilson had a four-game scoring streak to start the year and Dubois now has four points in six games after a three-point night (1g, 2a) against Philadelphia.

When asked about McMichael after the win, Dubois had nothing but praise for his winger.

“He’s a smart player,” he said. “He’s got all the tools, but he’s really smart out there. He makes plays, he can pass from anywhere, he can shoot. He’s such a player that can do everything, so it’s been really fun playing with him and he’s doing really well at the moment, so we’re all happy for him.”

Head coach Spencer Carbery followed McMichael’s development before coming to DC and coached him with the Hershey Bears in 2020-21. After coaching him in both Hershey and Washington, Carbery told reporters Wednesday he was happy to see McMichael’s hard work paying off.

“A lot of positive things [tonight]like the state of his game,” Carbery said. “So far this year he’s playing at a really high level and making plays. Finishing in the breakaway group is huge for our team. He just looks really good. And I’m happy for him because offensively, I’ve talked about it a lot, he plays in every situation. He’s one of our smartest players we have, and he’s now getting into situations where he can showcase his offensive skills by finishing and making plays, and he’s doing both.

“He makes incredible plays against Willy, the one from the last game with the sauce pass on his backhand, like elite, elite plays that lead to goals, if not a chance, and then finishing in some of those situations is for him enormously.” at a really high level.”

Nic Dowd also praised McMichael’s progress over the years and looked back on his early years in the NHL. After playing in 68 games during the 2021–22 season, McMichael spent almost the entire following season back in the AHL, only changing teams six times during the 2022–23 season. In the spring he won a Calder Cup with Hershey before becoming a regular starter for the Caps again in his fourth professional season, scoring 33 points (18g, 15a) in 80 games.

“[I’ve seen] Trust,” Dowd said of McMichael. “It’s hard to get into the NHL. He was a small child. Came in but didn’t have many games under his belt right away. Watched a lot of ice hockey. But I think it’s a testament to his maturity to accept that, deal with it and then come in and he played really good hockey last year and he played incredible hockey this year.

“I think it’s good for him to play with guys like Willy and Dubie, experienced guys… Mikey was really good. The special thing about him is that he quickly goes undercover. He can skate. Intelligent player. And he’s just matured a lot and I think what people don’t understand is that he’s become a really, really reliable player defensively.”

Thanks in part to McMichael’s efforts Wednesday night, the Capitals extended their winning streak to five games. They will look to increase that number even further when they take on the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday at 7 p.m.