{"id":406547,"date":"2026-01-14T11:46:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T11:46:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/406547\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T11:46:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T11:46:07","slug":"ethen-frank-fuels-comeback-win-with-two-goal-game-against-canadiens-hes-really-come-into-to-his-own","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/406547\/","title":{"rendered":"Ethen Frank fuels comeback win with two-goal game against Canadiens: \u2018He\u2019s really come into to his own\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON, DC \u2014 The Washington Capitals are walking wounded. They\u2019ve gone without star centerman Pierre-Luc Dubois<\/a> for much of the season, but the lineup has gotten even thinner to start 2026: Tom Wilson<\/a> went down with a lower-body injury early in the month, Jakob Chychrun<\/a> has been sick for two games, and even Justin Sourdif<\/a>, who has stepped up at center since Dubois got hurt, is missing time after taking a puck to the face.<\/p>\n

In the absence of so many star players, the Capitals have looked for help in unlikely places, and and Ethen Frank<\/a> played the hero on Tuesday night. Frank, already riding a two-game goal streak coming into the night, scored both of Washington\u2019s regulation goals to force overtime against the Montreal Canadiens, setting off a third-period comeback effort that culminated with a Connor McMichael<\/a> overtime-winner.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith some high-end guys out right now, it\u2019s huge when guys like that can step up,\u201d McMichael said of Frank postgame. \u201cAnd Franky over the last probably month, I\u2019d say he\u2019s really took it to his own. He\u2019s really stepped up, and he\u2019s making huge plays at key moments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frank got his first of the night five minutes into the third, tipping in a shot from defenseman Matt Roy<\/a> to break Montreal goaltender Sam Montembeault\u2019s shutout bid.<\/p>\n

With less than two minutes to go in regulation, Frank evened the score on another deflection, this time redirecting a puck from Rasmus Sandin<\/a> in the slot.<\/p>\n

The pair of goals gave Frank his first 10-goal NHL season, and he\u2019s scored four times in his last three games.<\/p>\n

\u201c(I\u2019m) just feeling good,\u201d he said of his hot streak postgame. \u201cThere\u2019s good energy around the room. Whether it\u2019s win or lose, this group is amazing. No matter what, it\u2019s a new day every day, so it\u2019s just exciting to come to the rink and see what\u2019s in store.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frank has taken a long road to the NHL, signing an amateur try-out deal with the AHL\u2019s Hershey Bears in 2022 before slowly working his way up organizational depth chart. He measures just 5\u201911\u201d and 188 pounds \u2014 hardly the norm for an NHL player \u2014 but his time in Hershey proved he had offensive potential, and he clocked speeds rarely seen even at the NHL level.<\/p>\n

After making his NHL debut last winter, he started the 2025-26 season on the outside looking in, one of the team\u2019s last cuts at training camp. But once the Capitals called him up to replace injured players, he became an integral part of Washington\u2019s roster.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can see him getting more comfortable in this league,\u201d said Logan Thompson<\/a>. \u201cYou hear about how fast he was in the American League and how dominant he was. Some players just need time, and I think he\u2019s really come into to his own. It\u2019s really impressive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now 60 games into his NHL career, he\u2019s making valuable contributions to a Capitals roster that desperately needs them.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Tonight was] just another example of Franky, how far he\u2019s come in his career in the National Hockey League, of being able to legitimately take over a game at this level,\u201d said head coach Spencer Carbery. \u201cWhich is just amazing, his progression, and to be able to play at the level that he\u2019s playing at. It\u2019s not going to be every night like that, but he was, to me, the best player on the ice tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beyond the flashier elements of his game, Frank\u2019s teammates consistently praised his work ethic: four players and head coach Spencer Carbery all brought it up independently when speaking to reporters Tuesday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a guy that he shows up first every morning to practice and games, and he\u2019s always working his bag off,\u201d said Matt Roy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s weird, this league. Once you once you put your head down and work, it seems like the puck starts to find you,\u201d remarked Connor McMichael, who has known Frank since their shared time in Hershey.<\/p>\n

That sustained drive for improvement, to head coach Spencer Carbery, is what has turned Frank from a temporary stopgap to a fixture on the team, even making him a viable linemate for Alex Ovechkin<\/a> and Dylan Strome<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s what separates him from normal NHL players, is his speed and his ability to shoot the puck and score. The other stuff, though, is what he has worked tirelessly on to make sure that he can earn a spot in the lineup every single night. He can be reliable. He can be strong on the puck. He can win wall battles. He can be aware and shoulder check. All that stuff, he has worked tirelessly on.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd every single day he works with Kenny (skills coach Kenny McCudden) and wants to see film, and wants to constantly push himself so that the Ethen Frank two years ago, that maybe struggled a little bit with the little things inside of an NHL game, now I don\u2019t even notice. Wall play? Spot on, he\u2019s dialed in. Coverage in the defensive zone? Spot on, he\u2019s dialed in. All those things, being able to handle pressure and a big defenseman barreling down, actually he\u2019s initiating contact. So those are the little things that go unnoticed that allow him to play on the first line with Stromer and O.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frank himself has hardly let the year sink in. He\u2019s come a long way from the kid who grew up on roller skates, not ice, or the 24-year-old looking for a shot in the minors. What he does know, however, is that he\u2019s ready for more.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s meant a lot,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s been quite a ride. I don\u2019t even know if I could find the words to describe it. It\u2019s been pretty chaotic, but it\u2019s been a lot of fun, for sure. It\u2019s a good start to my (NHL career), and I\u2019m trying to keep taking steps forward every day.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON, DC \u2014 The Washington Capitals are walking wounded. They\u2019ve gone without star centerman Pierre-Luc Dubois for much…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":406548,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-406547","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\/406547","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=406547"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406547\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/406548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=406547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=406547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=406547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}