Dylan Strome had one of his best performances of the season on Thursday, but his mind was far away from the rink.<\/p>\n
While the Capitals faced the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre, Dylan\u2019s wife Tayler was giving birth to the couple\u2019s daughter, Sutton Kimberley, back home in Washington. The birth came ahead of schedule: Dylan got word after warmups that Tayler was in the hospital, and Sutton was born by the end of the first period.<\/p>\n
Strome was devastated as he delivered the news postgame, tearing up and at times struggling to get his words out.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy warrior of a wife had our third daughter while we were on the ice,\u201d he said. \u201cReally proud of her. It\u2019s tough. You obviously want to be there for the birth of your children. (We) didn\u2019t know it was coming this soon, but can\u2019t wait to go see her.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Sutton Kimberley Strome, my third daughter, was born at 7:30 pm today. It was really quick. She felt it two hours before, and it just happened. There was nothing I could do to get there. So super proud of her, and just definitely playing with a lot of emotions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sutton\u2019s early arrival meant Strome didn\u2019t have time to make the 500-mile trip back to DC. Instead, he was forced to get updates via video call from afar, wanting nothing more than to be there with her. He praised Tayler for the courage it took to go through labor alone.<\/p>\n
\u201cI heard before the game and talked about what I should do,\u201d he said. \u201cI mean, there was nothing I could do to get back. Just really proud of her. It\u2019s not easy. We go on the road a lot. And women go through a lot, and their bodies change so much, and for her to do that herself is unbelievable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Playing a hockey game while his wife was in the hospital was far from easy. With no way to get home any faster, Strome remained in the lineup for Thursday\u2019s game, still hoping he\u2019d make it back in time. He was devastated to miss the birth, both worried for the health of mom and baby as well as upset he couldn\u2019t lend Tayler his support.<\/p>\n
Understandably, his thoughts were elsewhere for much of the night, especially before Sutton\u2019s arrival.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were just so many emotions going through my mind,\u201d he explained. \u201cJust first of all, you want to make sure everyone\u2019s okay. It\u2019s a pretty scary thing. Just at the time of the first period, I kind of thought I was going to make it home in time, maybe. Obviously that didn\u2019t happen, but just try to focus on hockey\u2026<\/p>\n
\u201c(Not being able to be there), it\u2019s horrible. You know she\u2019s in good hands at the hospital. And we\u2019ve got two young ones at home, and she\u2019s taking care of both of them while I\u2019m gone. Had to call in some reinforcements for her to go to the hospital. Yeah, it\u2019s a crazy thing \u2014 definitely hockey was not really on my mind going out there the first period\u2026So just incredible, and I can\u2019t stress enough just how super proud I am of her.\u201d<\/p>\n
The couple have two other daughters, four-year-old Weslie and two-year-old Emerson, and announced news of the pregnancy<\/a> in May. The Capitals later confirmed<\/a> that both Tayler and Sutton are doing well.<\/p>\n But if Strome struggled to focus, you couldn\u2019t tell from his play. He recorded a trio of assists over the Canadiens in the 8-4 win, including a two-on-one pass to Alex Ovechkin in the second period that head coach Spencer Carbery said \u201cessentially seals the game.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe is a hockey player through and through,\u201d Carbery said. \u201cHe\u2019s going to be in this game for a long, long time, long after he\u2019s done playing, but this will be one night that he will never forget \u2014 and I\u2019ll never forget \u2014 when his daughter was born. And to win the way that we did, and (for) the guys to rally around him at the Bell Centre, back-to-back, everything surrounding the game, good for him. Proud of him, and a night we won\u2019t forget.\u201d<\/p>\n The Capitals made sure to celebrate Strome\u2019s milestone during Carbery\u2019s postgame locker room speech.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re gonna tell stories about this for years,\u201d Carbery said before a round of cheers drowned him out, demanding a speech from Strome.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously you want to be there for the birth of your child, honestly,\u201d Strome said. \u201cNo, I love you guys so much. Said a little prayer with [Jakob Chychrun] before the game for my wife.\u201d<\/p>\n As he dealt with the stress of not being there with Tayler in labor, Strome was glad to have his teammates there to support him in Montreal.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just a brotherhood we have in here,\u201d he said. \u201cEveryone was making sure I was okay and good to go. And that\u2019s why we\u2019re a really close team. It\u2019s something that I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll ever experience again \u2014 hopefully no one does \u2014 kind of just feeling helpless, but luckily I had the guys here.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, the most exciting moment of the night was yet to come.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m looking forward to getting on the plane and going home to see her.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t