Big career milestone for Capitals prospect in Hershey

The 6-foot-6 Latvian finally snapped his AHL goal drought, wiring a Nachbaur feed from the right circle to make it 5-3.

Hershey never found the next one, falling 6-3 as the Penguins ruined the Thanksgiving Eve vibe at Giant Center.

Even in defeat, it was a nice little milestone, bumping Mateiko to one goal and one assist through 13 AHL games. For a raw power forward just turning 20, those first points often feel bigger than the box score suggests.

The goal followed his first professional point on October 24, when he fed Spencer Smallman early in the second period at Lehigh Valley. That assist came in a 5-4 heartbreaker the Bears dropped on a late Zayde Wisdom winner.

Hershey has mostly used Mateiko in a depth role, bouncing between center and wing while Derek King protects him with fourth-line minutes and offensive-zone starts. At 6-foot-6 and 209 pounds, he shares the team height crown with rookie Ilya Protas and looks every inch of it forechecking.

If you watched the 2025 World Juniors, that moment probably felt familiar, because Mateiko practically dragged Latvia into the headlines last December. He scored in their 3-2 upset of Canada and buried the only goal of an eight-round shootout to finish the job.

That scoring touch carried back to junior last season, where he posted 26 goals and 41 points in 47 games with Saint John and Rimouski. He even scored a double-overtime Game 7 winner in the QMJHL playoffs, the kind of moment that sticks in a young player's toolkit.

Washington grabbed him 90th overall in the 2024 draft, then signed him to a three-year entry-level deal that kicked in this season. Now freshly 20, learning the North American pro grind in Hershey feels like the logical bridge between tournament star and future Capitals contributor.