The Washington Capitals returned to DC just in time to shut down the Tampa Bay Lightning with a stirring overtime win.
Jake Guentzel owned the lone goal of the first period, a layup after a face-off in the Caps’ zone. There was just one goal in the second as well, as Connor Michael delivered a perfect pass from below the goal line to Aliaksei Protas, who was wearing his Metal Gear Solid stealth camouflage.
Early in the third, Brayden Point got a touch on a power-play shot down the gullet to put the Bolts back ahead. The Washington Capitals – and brace yourself here – scored a power-play goal, with Tom Wilson deflecting Dylan Strome’s slot shot.
In overtime, and after Strome hit the post, Jakob Chychrun finished it off a pass from Tom Wilson.
Caps win!
- Tom Wilson had a point on all three Caps goals.
- Pierre-Luc Dubois missed the game with a mysterious lower-body injury.
- The Washington Capitals have had eleven power-play opportunities. The first ten passed without notice, ranking them worst in league, even if the NHL calls that a four-way tie for 29th. There’s a lot going wrong with the PP, but Tom Wilson planting himself in front of the net can right a lot of wrongs.
- That wasn’t the only good power-play news: Alex Ovechkin also recorded his second shot on goal of the season. Actually, that’s terrible news. Or it’s a scarcely positive atom of good news alone in an endless, black sea of bad news. I think they should pass to him more. That’s just my take.
- “Good mane.” – Aileen, upon seeing Morgan Geekie take his helmet off after that scrum with Lapierre and others. I just now asked if she could guess what salad meant in hockey, and she knew. She has a PhD.
- From the Prodigy Corportation out-of-town scoreboard: come delight with me in the New York Rangers sucking. Kinda undermines Lindgren’s shutout, but still.
- Aliaksei “Flukeleksei” Protas continues his season of defiance. He scored his third goal of the season after receiving a flawless pass from Connor McMichael, who chased a puck below the goal line and sent it north to Protas once Tampa goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy turned his attention away.
- Speaking with Al Koken during intermission, Protas said even his mom would have scored on that pass. In the goal’s aftermath, Protas pondered the statisticians who said his shooting percentage was unsustainable, and he found himself incredulous. See:
- Sonny Milano didn’t get a lot of shifts. I counted a team-low of 12 through regulation. His linemates Lapierre was Leonard were similarly slighted. I think the Bolts are one of those teams you game-plan for, and the plan doesn’t have the “two kids and the hair” line in it.
- May I ask what you think of Justin Sourdif? There’s some debate about him in the RMNB Discord. Feels to me like the fourth line is as cohesive as it’s been since before Hathaway left. They had impossible assignments in this game, and they were on the ice for the Guentzel goal, but so far I like what I see. Still, it’s early, and I could be wrong. But it’s important to celebrate our disagreements. Vive la sourdifférence.
looking like the upholstery on grandmas couch #joebsuitofthenight
Obviously, the power play is fixed now. I hereby declare they don’t need to work on opening up space during their two days off before hosting the Wild on Friday.
At fives, this game was better for Washington than my first impression. Offense in the first period was lean, but there were lots of good looks in the second – especially Ryan Leonard ringing the post after starting a sequence with a big hip check. And in overtime, the Caps dominated.
See you next time.
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