Dylan Strome kept the Caps on the winning tip Thursday night, slapping home an OT winner to defeat the Islanders on a power play…although yes, he thought about trying to set up Alex Ovechkin before ripping it himself.
“I knew their goalie was back in the net, and obviously, you're trying to get the puck to Ovi, especially four-on-three, because he's got one of the best shots of all-time,” Strome told EB and JP Thursday. “So I think that helps a lot when the goalie is thinking about where Ovi is, so you kind of just pick your corner and I was happy it went in.”
So if Ovi is the GOAT shot, is Stromer the 1A right now?
“I don't think so in terms of, in terms of speed for sure, not the hardest shot,” Strome laughed. “I think maybe mine's a little bit deceptive. I think I tend to pull mine back a little bit further than a lot of guys, so I think that helps me a lot. I think the way I pull it back, where I pull the puck from, I pull it back a little bit further than a lot of guys, and I think it makes it a little bit tougher for goalies to read, because they can’t exactly see where it’s coming from.”
The Caps have had three OT games in the last four with two going to shootouts, and Strome believes playing in so many close games, win or lose, can only help the team as they go forward.
“I think it's a good thing for us. When you get later in the season and in the playoffs, there’s a lot of close games, and we've been finding ways to win those close ones,” Strome said. “I think that's a sign of a good team – we’re not really blowing anyone out and not really getting blown out. We’ve maybe had a couple games where there hasn’t been an empty net or we’ve been down too much, so it’s been really tight games. Good games both ways and we’re finding ways to win, so it’s fun to be a part of.”
And, the power play has been better of late, too, which is helping.
“I think we're kind of just keeping it simple. Before Oshie got hurt, we had four righties and myself, which is a bit of a different look, and Tom (Wilson)’s really good at being in front of the net screening the goalie from all angles and I think that's kind of where we started to get some good looks,” Strome said. “When Oshie got hurt, we put Kuznetsov on there, and he's so skilled with the puck that I think we're kinda just playing off our instinct a little bit. We're not overthinking it, just keeping it simple and making the plays. We had a couple posts last night before scored, and I think we have power play goals in four of our last five games, so I really think that we're starting to click a lot more. So we gotta take the positives in that sense, and any time we can help the team win with the power play is a huge bonus, especially since the way we started.”
Take a listen to Strome’s entire call-in above, which also includes some thoughts on Ivan Miroshnichenko’s NHL debut and how the players can communicate, how the players use iPads to watch back shifts, and more!
