“Red rover, Red rover, send Niskanen over!” (Photo: Rob Carr)
The Washington Capitals looked terrible for the first ten minutes of their home game against the New York Islanders, and no, I won’t blame the turkey. But instead of a lackluster affair, the Caps woke up and played a competitive game against one of the league’s best– a reward for the 18 thousand fans in attendance and the return of my personal Caps anthem below the jump.
The Capitals’ second power-play unit took the ice in the first period thirty seconds before Matt Niskanen unloaded his cannon through traffic to make it 1-0. A glorious snap shot from Marcus Johansson gave the Caps their first 5v5 goal in forever and made it 2-0, but hold on a sec. In the next 66 seconds, the Capitals’ bottom six allowed two goals– one from John Tavares and one from Anders Lee, to neutralize the two-goal lead before the first intermission.
Tom Wilson absorbed a bunch of Isles defenders to open up a seam for Alex Ovechkin to score halfway through the second period.
In the third, Evgeny Kuznetsov feasted upon his second-line spot, scoring at the tail-end of an offensive-zone shift, sliding into the high slot and ripping the puck top shelf. Joel Ward got the empty-netter and there was much rejoicing.
Caps beat Isles 5-2! Bailamos!
Five goals scored? Not a one-goal win? YOU KNOW WHAT’S COMING!
- 10:01. That was the game clock in the first period when the Caps got their first shot on goal, courtesy of Brooks Laich. I’m sure there are all kind of day-after-Thanksgiving/tryptophan hangover jokes, but no excuses.
- But the Capitals of the second period and beyond looked like straight-up the better team. Really fun hockey in my view.
- Marcus Johansson‘s snapshot ended the Capitals’ 5v5 goal-scoring drought just barely before it was able to order a beer. The Caps were due. They haven’t been generating enough offense in my opinion, but their shooting percentage was still way too meager. Johansson’s season, meanwhile, is still a revelation. When Marcus took a shift with Backstrom and Ovi, I was like, sure, that makes sense.
- Eric Fehr drew the short straw, taking shifts between the twins. Like we said earlier this week, that iteration of the 2b line has been pretty bad this season, and that’s why Eric Fehr was pulling up the rear of the Corsi stack ranking.
- It is reasonable to be skeptical about Brooks Laich returning from injury, but the guy looked wonderful on Friday night and led the team in shots on goal at the end of the second period.
- For some reason, DSP writer Katie Brown started demanding that Verizon Center fans do the wave in the stands. I’m confused too, but here’s irrefutable proof that it happened:
RT @katie_brown47: listen to @russianmachine. start the wave. It’s the rules.
— RMNB (@rmnb) November 28, 2014
- If you were convinced that Andre Burakovsky was the lone piece of puck-possession magic on the second line, Evgeny Kuznetsov‘s performance as the 2C pivot must have been confusing. Kuzya had one of his best games in Caps red and scored a sharp-looking goal in the third period, strafing to the slot before loosing a slick shot to the top corner. Here’s how John Walton called it:
- Ovi SCOAR! 5v5 edition!
- Matt Niskanen, who scored in the first, kneed Mikhail Grabovski, whom I love, in the third period, causing much conflict within me.
- Jack Hillen check-in: Solid as a fill-in with a 20-17 shot-attempt differential during 5v5.
Joe B suit of the night, lo-fi.
Here’s what a good effort after a slow start looks like, courtesy of HockeyStats.CA.
The Caps opened up in the second period. I bet they’ll say they allowed too many chances after that, but I really do think it’s a better way to play– plus it was fun. Lots of entries and duels in the end, less flummoxing and frustration at neutral. I like it.
So that’s a resolute W over a very good hockey team, won not just on luck but on superior performance. Aside from 66 seconds, this was an hour of hockey to be thankful for.
Thank you, Caps. Let’s do it again tomorrow.
BAILAMOS!
