Brothers Ilya and Aliaksei Protas Play First NHL Game Together

via the Caps Last night, the Capitals took on the Bruins in their second preseason game, with a little brotherly surprise. Aliaksei Protas and his brother Ilya Protas played in their first NHL game together. Aliaksei, 23, just signed a five-year, $16.875 million contract with the Caps in January. Ilya, 18, was drafted 75th overall by the Capitals this year.

There are only a handful of brothers playing in the NHL. It’s even rarer for two brothers to play on the same team at the same time, even if this time it was just in preseason. Ilya and Aliaksei are only the 48th pair of brothers to play together on the same NHL team since 1917. They are the second pair of Belorussian brothers to do so in…