{"id":395096,"date":"2026-01-08T12:01:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T12:01:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/395096\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T12:01:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T12:01:11","slug":"ryan-leonard-moved-by-teammates-brandon-duhaime-and-dylan-mcilrath-seeking-revenge-for-him-against-ducks-it-went-without-saying-that-you-knew-my-teammate-was-going-to-step-up-for-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/395096\/","title":{"rendered":"Ryan Leonard moved by teammates Brandon Duhaime and Dylan McIlrath seeking revenge for him against Ducks: \u2018It went without saying that you knew my teammate was going to step up for me\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON, DC \u2014 The Washington Capitals had a score to settle when they played the Anaheim Ducks on Monday. Ducks blueliner Jacob Trouba had injured Ryan Leonard with a high hit during the team\u2019s last meeting in early December, and both Brandon Duhaime and Dylan McIlrath stepped up to the plate to defend the rookie\u2019s honor in the rematch<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Duhaime kicked off the fireworks early, dropping the gloves with Trouba six minutes into the game, and McIlrath followed him up by challenging Ducks heavyweight Ross Johnston to a bout in the second period.<\/p>\n

To Leonard, the fights showed just how much his teammates cared for him, and he choked up when praising the pair postgame.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s unbelievable,\u201d he told Monumental Sports Network\u2019s Al Koken<\/a>. \u201cIt went without saying that you knew my teammate was going to step up for me. And that\u2019s just the type of brotherhood we have in there. It doesn\u2019t go unnoticed, and it means a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

McIlrath\u2019s fight, in particular, energized his teammates, who scored two goals in just over two minutes following the scrap.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe building comes alive,\u201d head coach Spencer Carbery said postgame. \u201cOur bench comes alive. I think we scored right after it, a minute later. Twice, right? Like boom, boom. [McIlrath is] in the penalty box banging on the glass. Our guys are loving it.\u201d<\/p>\n

On-ice officials and the NHL Department of Player Safety had declined to penalize the hit, which knocked Leonard out of the lineup for seven games, but the Capitals had no trouble<\/a> criticizing Trouba<\/a>. Like so many of his teammates, Leonard had Monday\u2019s game circled on his calendar.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know he was ready for this one. He wanted some redemption,\u201d Justin Sourdif said of Leonard postgame.<\/p>\n

Just minutes after McIlrath took his revenge with blood, Leonard got his own form of payback with a goal. He ended the night with a two-point game (1g, 1a), something he credited to his teammates\u2019 support.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t happen without Dewey (fighting Trouba),\u201d he said postgame. \u201cIt goes without saying just the respect that I have for him, and Mac too. Both of them had my back, and it seemed like the whole team did too. It\u2019s a great brotherhood in here and (I\u2019m) really, really, really fortunate to be part of this group.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Duhaime and McIlrath\u2019s bouts were the most visible example of the Caps standing up for each other, the team\u2019s close-knit bonds weave up and down the lineup. Carbery, who called the fights \u201cthe most important part of the f****** game,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0highlighted another small gesture that showed that same support.<\/p>\n

\u201cJustin Sourdif, another thing that I point out, which I love, is he\u2019s not on the ice. He comes off the bench to go hunt out Dylan McIlrath and give him (a fist bump),\u201d he said. \u201cNow I say that \u2014 we don\u2019t need 20 guys going over there. But it tells me that he\u2019s so engaged in the game and appreciates what his teammate just did that he gets up, hops over, and skates across the ice. We\u2019re not short on players like that and people like that, that have that type of character.\u201d<\/p>\n

Washington came out victorious against the Ducks, earning a much-needed win in a 7-4 gongshow. But even beyond the scoreboard, the Capitals knew they had plenty to be proud of.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the great thing about this team is we protect each other, we care for each other, and tonight we showed that,\u201d said Charlie Lindgren.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON, DC \u2014 The Washington Capitals had a score to settle when they played the Anaheim Ducks on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":395097,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-395096","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-nhl","9":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395096","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=395096"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395096\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/395097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=395096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=395096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=395096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}