Freaking great GIF by @myregularface
The Chicago Blackhawks were wayyyyy better than the Washington Capitals for the first half of Friday night. Like, it wasn’t even close. It was like David and Goliath except if Goliath mercilessly beat David to death with a club. But then the Caps herded a little big mo’ and got the bounces that had been eluding them for the last two weeks.
It was ugly at first. Get this. Marian Hossa beat Matt Niskanen along the boards and set up Brandon Saad for a lovely goal on a two-on-one. Then, Duncan Keith got a rebound for a power-play goal from the Ovi spot to make it 2-0.
Okay, now get THIS, ’cause this all happened inside five minutes. First,Andre Burakovsky called his own number on a breakaway late in the second, scoring with a dart to the high corner. Then, Marcus Johansson tied it up with a spinny shot that took some bounces. Finally, Matt Niskanen release a long b0mb from the blue line that had plenty of support up front– namely Joel Ward, who tipped it in.
The third period was all Hawks as the Caps played prevent defense in the same manner as your parents played prevent defense about nine months before you were born. Except this time it worked.
Caps beat Hawks 3-2! THE CAPITALS HAVE WON A GAME!
Bullets coming, but first, a photo from Bill Smith from after the Johansson goal.
ENHANCE.
ENHANCE DELTA EPILSON PICARD GAMMA.
ENHANCE SCHLEMIEL SCHLIMAZEL.
ENHANCE HOSSENPEPPER INCORPORATED.
Yessssssss. Thank you, Chicago.
Okay, back to the game.
- The Capitals were truly bad in the first period. They went without a single shot attempt for a five-minute stretch, and had just two shot attempts (neither on net) after the 11:07 mark. The Hawks will toying with the Caps– they looked like teams from two different leagues.
- Through the first thirty minutes, the 2014-15 Caps looked like the 2013-14 Caps. That was the cruciatus curse of sentences right there.
- When did momentum turn in the second period? It had to be when Nate Schmidt, who is awesome, took a nasty shot to let Corey Crawford know the fusillade was coming.
- Technically I’m doing movember but I don’t think anyone will notice.
- 4:52. That’s the span of time in which Andre Burakovsky, Marcus Johansson (whom I’m loving), and Joel Ward each scored. The final two shots of the second period both belonged to Washington, and both hit the back of the net.
- Joel Ward now leads the Capitals in goals and oh my gosh is that right? (Checks.) What the hell. Yeah, it is. I guess Chimera did the same for a bit last season. Ovi needs to Ovi soon.
- I just wanna apologize to everyone following along with us on Twitter tonight. The game was pretty rough for a while, and I figured whatever pathetic nerds who were on Twitter on a Friday night wouldn’t mind if I tweeted too much and about inane things. Still, I regret sullying Andre Burakovsky’s goal with a discussion about which Disney cartoon animals were the hottest.
BURRACUDA SCOAR PLEASE IGNORE THIS PHOTO pic.twitter.com/5oOD93agUj
— RMNB (@rmnb) November 8, 2014
- I also apologize to Andre, who probably hasn’t even seen The Sword in the Stone.
- Jonathan Teoeowos is really good at faceoffs. He pwned Nicky Backstrom. I put extra e‘s and o‘s in his name just to be safe. Just like prophylactics, you can never put too many on.
- Jay Beagle started the third period on the top line. Perhaps this was an effort to balance the offense-defense of the lines, but it sort of highlights something: Jay Beagle should not get a sweater instead of Eric Fehr ever, and he should probably shouldn’t get one instead of Evgeny Kuznetsov. Either of those two healthy scratches would’ve been a much, much better option on the top line. Regardless, and as inspired by @zuc0, I shall now link to the “Adam Oates, Adios” song. Still holds up!
- Ian missed the entire second period while on assignment for the site. Reap the fruits of his sacrifice.
Joe B suit of the night
I could wax poetic about the bounces finally going our way tonight despite a very strong game from the opposition, but I doubt I could be any more articulate than I was here:
MATT FARGIN NISKANEN WEEEEEEEEEEEE CAPS LEAD PDO MFERS
— RMNB (@rmnb) November 8, 2014
Yep. Go Caps! IS PARTY NOW!
Full RMNB Coverage of Caps vs Hawks
