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Every week, across several sports, players around the DMV (D.C./Maryland/Virginia) shine in individual performance. Every Monday, I’d like to take a minute to highlight some of those performances, including what I view as the best performance and name that athlete the “DMV Star of the Week.”
This week’s DMV Star of the Week is Washington Capitals’ Winger T.J. Oshie.
The Washington Capitals had a less than 5% chance to make the playoffs just a few months ago. On Tuesday night, T.J. Oshie netted a go-ahead goal with three minutes to go in Philadelphia to help the Caps clinch a playoff berth.
Oshie assisted on Washington’s first goal of the night, a Alex Ovechkin goal late in the first period, before scoring in the closing minutes to give the Caps a 2-1 victory and the final wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Washington needed to win its last three games of the regular season to get there, and did so, outscoring opponents 8-3 along the way.
On Sunday, the Caps fell in New York to the top-seeded Rangers in Game 1 of the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Game 2 in New York goes down on Tuesday night before Game 3 back in D.C. on Friday.
The DMV saw five teams in action this past week, including the Washington Nationals, Washington Capitals, D.C. United, Washington Spirit, and the D.C. Defenders
Here are some honorable mention performances for DMV Star of the Week:
Washington Nationals Pitcher Mitchell Parker pitched 7 shutout innings in Sunday’s win over Houston, allowing just 3 hits, 0 walks, and striking out 8 batters
Washington Spirit Midfielder Croix Bethune scored the opening goal in Saturday’s win over Gotham FC, bringing her season total to 3 goals in 5 games, tied for the second-best mark in NWSL
Here’s what’s coming up this week in DMV Sports:
Washington Nationals (10-11, 4th in NL East)
4/23 vs. LA Dodgers
4/24 vs. LA Dodgers
4/25 vs. LA Dodgers
4/26 @ Miami
4/27 @ Miami
4/28 @ Miami
Washington Capitals (40-31-11, 4th in Metropolitan Division)
4/23 @ New York Rangers (Game 2 - NYR leads 1-0)
4/26 vs. New York Rangers (Game 3)
4/28 vs. New York Rangers (Game 4)
D.C. United (2-4-3, 10 points 11th in Eastern Conference)
4/27 vs. Seattle
Washington Spirit (4-0-1 overall, 12 points, 4th in NWSL)
4/26 vs. Orlando
D.C. Defenders (2-2 overall, 3rd in XFL Conference, 5th in UFL)
4/28 vs. St. Louis
*Denotes games I will be covering in-person