Happy Beagle GIF by @myregularface

A full sixty minutes of good hockey still eludes the Washington Capitals. Saturday’s bout with the Carolina Hurricanes almost shaped up that way, but the Caps let the Canes shamble away after the second intermission. And just like Tyreese on the Walking Dead with that creepy guy in the baseball cap, the Caps would regret not killing the bastards when they had the chance.

But they still squeaked out the W, and that’s what matters. Two in a row!

Eric Fehr drew a penalty in the first period, resulting in a hardworking power-play goal by Troy Brouwer set up by Marcus Johansson’s drive to the net. Jay Beagle made it 2-0 by scoring from an angle where it’s supposed to be impossible to score. The Canes got on the board late in the period with a nice goal by Riley Nash.

Eric Fehr scored a thrilling goal late in the second period, converting a turnover he forced, and then reaching wide to beat Anton Khudobin.

The Canes closed the gap int the third period. Jeff Skinner ripped off Eric Fehr in the D zone and set up Eric Staal for a one-timer, and then Justin Faulk got a shot off the faceoff through a bunch of traffic to tie it (Update: Lindholm tipped it, which explains why Peters couldn’t stop it).

With just seconds left in overtime, Nick Backstrom put Alex Ovechkin’s rebound in the back of the net like a flappy salmon.

Caps beat Canes 4-3 in overtime!

• 

  beagle.jpg!

  All of those Caps goals in the first two periods required the intervention of a Hurricanes player to deflect. Bounces, bounces, bounces.

• If Jay Beagle scores, beagle.jpg appears. What– are you new? Beagle scored the exact kind of goal I was talking about with that fluke goals story on Tuesday: “You’re not supposed to be able to score from behind the net. The part of the net that is open faces in the other direction, so if you’re back there you’re not going to score.”
• Eric Fehr was the best. His line took on the best the Canes had to offer, and they took care of it handily. Fehr drew a big penalty early on that resulted in a goal. Fehr forced a turnover, beat a defenseman, recovered from a trip, and tucked in a big goal. Scratch him at your peril.
• Of course, as soon as I write that, Jeff Skinner cuts Fehr’s purse in the defensive zone and Eric Staal scores.
• Top-line Tom Wilson left the game in the second period with a lower-body injury. Here’s hoping it’s not related to whatever it was that ruined his summer. Wilson’s had a nice sophomore year so far.
• Here are some Wilson shift lengths: 01:06, 01:02, 01:52. That last one resulted in the injury. Here are some Ovechkin shift lengths: 01:24, 01:52, 02:48, 01:23. Wow. Maybe some bench management strategies should be revised?
• I’d like to imagine Alex Semin entering the Verizon Center penalty box, finding a loose brick in the ground, moving it, and pulling out a pack of smokes he hid there five years ago. Light a mup mup mup, Sasha. I don’t know what’s ailing the guy, but his offensive production is off HUGE this season– like -8.66 unblocked shot attempts per 60 minutes fewer than last season. What gives?
• Do not click this link.
• A woozy John-Michael Liles left the game during overtime after colliding with Troy Brouwer, who is a solid slab of man.
• Justin Peters faced just three shots in the first period, and he let one of them by. That’s not exactly sterling, but it’s way too tidy to blame a game like this on the goalie. He’s an easy target, he’s a patsy, a fall guy, but he’s not the reason the Caps struggled.
• Great decision by Alex Ovechkin to put the puck on the net in his last entry to the O-zone. Nick Backstrom’s shot on the rebound was perfection. That was Ovechkin’s 400th NHL assist.

Joe B suit of the night: brown!

I like a ton of what the Caps are doing, but they’re leaving a lot of cash on the table so to speak. Let’s start with this: the Capitals are downright cowardly when they have the lead. They drop from a top-5 possession team to a truly mediocre bubble team. The killer instinct is missing, and that is the fault of head coach Barry Trotz. Instead of putting five or six goals on the Canes, getting everyone some free wings and cheap pizza, and unlocking Enrique, Trotz had his Caps lay back, allowing the Canes to claw back into this one.

The Capitals need to scoar moar goals. Like Galactus, they need a constant hunger for planets, except goals instead of planets and no Silver Surfer. The Caps need to be more like the Tampa Bay Lightning, who scored seven tonight. Moar. Moar. Moar. Then we won’t be in a silly situation like this, where the Captain and Backstrom have to bail them out in 4v4 overtime.

But by all means, please tell me which goals Justin Peters “had to have” and which ones “he’s gonna want back.”

Oh well, two points is two points. Woot!

Full RMNB Coverage of Caps vs Canes