Aliaksei Protas is on a royal heater to start the 2025-26 season.<\/p>\n
Protas leads the Capitals in goals after scoring 4 times in the team\u2019s first 5 games of the year. All 4 tallies have come at five-on-five, which puts him in a three-way tie for second place in the entire NHL. His hot start sees him on pace to score 66 goals this season and record 98 points in a full 82-game season.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes you get lucky, and I think that\u2019s what\u2019s happening with me right now,\u201d Protas explained after the Capitals\u2019 5-1 win over the Minnesota Wild on Friday. \u201cSometimes a couple of good bounces and great work from the whole five on the ice, from the whole team just being on the same page.\u201d<\/p>\n
Is Protas right? Well, let\u2019s look at his goals.<\/p>\n
October 11 vs New York Islanders (2 goals)<\/p>\n
Protas\u2019s first goal of the season came after Jakob Chychrun chopped at the puck near the blue line, and it rolled right to him between the circles.<\/p>\n
His second of the night came after he sped by everyone on the ice and scored on a breakaway.<\/p>\n
October 14 vs Tampa Bay Lightning<\/p>\n
Against the Lightning, he shot the puck past Andrei Vasilevskiy after Connor McMichael had the goaltender looking the wrong way. \u201cOh god, my mom would score from that,\u201d Protas said afterward<\/a>.<\/p>\n October 17 vs Minnesota Wild<\/p>\n Protas scored his fourth goal with a pass. His attempted cross-crease feed to McMichael instead went off a Wild defenseman, through netminder Filip Gustavsson, and into the net.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, I tried to pass,\u201d Protas said. \u201cI mean, every goal is like it, this one, too.\u201d<\/p>\n But what if there\u2019s something more going on here than just puck luck?<\/p>\n The 24-year-old Protas is entering his prime as a scoring forward and appears to have returned to the Capitals a step quicker after another hard offseason of training in Belarus with his brother, Ilya.<\/p>\n Protas recorded a career-high 66 points (30g, 36a) in 76 games last season as Spencer Carbery made him a staple in the Capitals\u2019 top six. His previous career high in tallies was 6, meaning he had a 400 percent increase in goals.*<\/p>\n Nothing in Protas\u2019s underlying stats says he is undeserving. With him on the ice at five-on-five, the Capitals are seeing positive differentials in shot attempts (+19), scoring chances (+14), and high-danger chances (+8). The Capitals have outscored their opponents 6 to 1 with Protas on the ice at five-on-five, despite him being a part of the Caps\u2019 shutdown line.<\/p>\n Protas\u2019s shooting percentage is currently 25 percent (4 of 16), a tad high. Though if you compare it to his shooting percentage over 76 games during the 2024-25 season, he\u2019s about in line with that mark: 21.1 percent.<\/p>\n All of this is to say, Aliaksei Protas is one of the best players in the NHL currently<\/a> and is beginning to make the case that he\u2019s an elite finisher. Nothing he does this season should surprise you, even if it may surprise him.<\/p>\n