Kyrou Goal and Assist Help Capitals Edge Canadiens 5-4

By Taki Panos

A giveaway, a goal, an assist, and a win. That was Jordan Kyrou's night in Washington. The Greek-Canadian forward scored once and set up another as the Capitals beat the Montreal Canadiens 5-4 at Capital One Arena on Wednesday, ending a two-game skid, as NHL.com reported. The final score is the part that matters. The middle of it still had plenty of drama for anyone who stayed through the third.

If you have been following him here, Kyrou already scored his first goal in a Capitals sweater earlier this week against Seattle. This one was a fuller night: a goal, an assist, 15:15 of ice time and three shots on net, per the ESPN box score. Washington moved to 4-3-0. Montreal fell to 3-3-1 after winning its previous two, including a shootout over Buffalo.

The game started the wrong way for him. Josh Anderson opened the scoring at 4:29 of the first after Kyrou turned the puck over in his own zone, according to the NHL.com recap. Alex Newhook recovered it, worked below the goal line and found Anderson in front for a quick finish past Charlie Lindgren. Fair start for Montreal. Not the highlight Kyrou wanted taped to the fridge.

He answered three minutes later. At 7:56, just after a Capitals power play ended, Kyrou took a drop pass from defenseman Cole Hutson, went around Anderson, stepped into the high slot and beat Jakub Dobes stick side for his second goal of the season, NHL.com wrote. Alex Tuch picked up the secondary assist. From a turnover to a 1-1 game in the space of one period. Hockey does that to people.

Montreal went back in front when Lane Hutson scored at 11:15, beating the Capitals after slipping past Ilya Protas at the blue line. Then, with 26 seconds left in the period, Ivan Miroshnichenko, in his season debut, tied it again on the power play. His cross-crease pass deflected in off Anderson's stick, with assists to Ilya Protas and Kyrou, per NHL.com and the ESPN scoring summary. So Kyrou left the first intermission with a goal and an assist already on the sheet.

The second period kept swinging. Tuch put Washington ahead 3-2 with a short-handed goal at 6:16, finishing a 2-on-1 after a deflection as he entered the zone with Aliaksei Protas. Anderson tied it again at 12:58 off another Newhook feed, his second of the night. Nobody was settling. It felt like a playoff game that wandered onto an October calendar by mistake.

Justin Holl broke the 3-3 tie at 12:29 of the third with a wrist shot through traffic from the right point, his second goal in two games, as NHL.com detailed. Alex Ovechkin recorded his 760th career assist on the play, moving within two of Nicklas Backstrom's Capitals franchise record. Tuch made it 5-3 at 17:05 with a spinning shot from the right circle. Nick Suzuki pulled Montreal within one at 18:21 on a 6-on-4 after Dobes was pulled during a power play. Washington held on for 5-4.

Tuch finished with two goals and an assist and was the headline name on the NHL.com write-up, which is fair when you score the insurance marker. Charlie Lindgren stopped 26 of 30 shots for the win, per ESPN. For Kyrou, the line was quieter next to Tuch's but not empty: one goal, one assist, even plus-minus, one giveaway and a couple of hits in those 15-plus minutes. A multi-point night against a Canadian rival is the kind of tape a new team likes to keep.

Kyrou grew up in Canada with Greek roots, and that is exactly why he belongs on this page alongside the Super League and EuroLeague nights. Greek sports fans in North America stretch from Toronto to some of the biggest Greek communities in America, and a Capitals jersey with a Greek name on the back is an easy one to cheer on a weeknight. He is not a tourist in this league. He is a proven NHL scorer finding his footing after the move to Washington.

Washington had lost two straight coming in, including 4-2 at Carolina on Tuesday, NHL.com noted. A home win over Montreal stops that slide and gives the group a better looking record before the next stretch of the schedule. For Montreal, Anderson's two goals were not enough, and the late Suzuki strike only made the last minute louder inside Capital One Arena.

Here is my measured take. The early giveaway is the kind of play coaches put on the video board the next morning. The rebound goal and the power-play helper are the kind of plays that make the same coaches shrug and keep your ice time. One night does not define a trade or a season. But a goal and an assist in a one-goal win, after already scoring his first for the Capitals this week, is a clean two-game story for Greek hockey fans to follow.

Next up for Washington is the rest of a busy October on the NHL calendar, while Montreal looks to bounce back on the road. For more Greek and Greek-heritage results from the rink, the court and the pitch, keep an eye on our Greek Sports section. Two points. We will take them.

Sources: NHL.com, ESPN box score.

Image: Jordan Kyrou in 2019, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).