There’s a scene in Marvel’s Avengers where Iron Man and Loki are talking trash before the big fight. Iron Man plays his trump card, “we have a Hulk,” and then a long, exciting action sequence follows. The Capitals’ performance in Montreal on Thursday would be a bit like that if, instead of fighting for their lives, the Avengers just sorta chilled out and made their “Hulk” do all the work.
Tom Wilson scored on his first shift, a decent snipe after Brooks Laich did work along the boards. The Canadiens tied the game in the second with Lars Eller’s stuff-in goal, but the Caps took a lead to the second intermission thanks to TJ Oshie, ostensibly. The Habs tied it again early in the third with a shorthanded goal by Brian Flynn, but Oshie again restored the lead by being only barely involved in Karl Alzner’s long bomb.
Caps beat Habs 3-2. Seriously, they won that. I don’t know how. The six-game win streak continues!
- With one exception, and you know who that exception is, the Capitals played very poorly in French Canadia. The Habs seemed to farandole into the Caps’ zone without trouble and seemed curiously keen to get the puck back soon after losing it. If you’re one of the possession nerds, you probably already noticed that the Habs were owning house. 5v5 Shot attempts were 48 to 22 after two periods, which is ouch.
- One cause among many for that stupid ice tilt was turnovers. Rather than call him out, I’ll quote TJ Oshie‘s intermission interview: “I had a couple bad ones.” Yes, he did, but John Carlson was credited with six giveaways. Carlson was so bad, the team was probably better when he was in the penalty box. At least he wasn’t making failed breakout passes to phantom Caps like Jason Chimera. Unrelated: The Sixth Sense doesn’t really hold up.
- Tom Wilson has scored two goals on two shots in two consecutive games. Both goals have been pure goals, which is what we call goals who wear promise rings and perpetuate a toxic commodification of sexuality. No, but they were nice goals is what I’m saying.
- Marcus Johansson drew two penalties from the Habs, but hold up. That second penalty, early in the third period, resulted in two shorthanded breakaways, the latter of which yielded a goal for Montreal. Because of course a terrible 5v5 performance would hinge on a bad power play. Absurd. This is what it looks like in the exact moment your goalie starts hating hit team’s guts. From ya gal Steph:
Flynn SHG ties the game pic.twitter.com/G5YqTdEvWg
— steph (@myregularface) December 4, 2015
- Eventual 30-goal scorer TJ Oshie got two goals because that’s just how eventual 30-goal scorers roll. Neither was a pure goal, which will likely hurt their value against the British pound, which itself is at a 30-year low, which is also the number of goals TJ Oshie will score this season. Goal number one was this stupid bounce off Condon’s shoulder, and goal number two was basically Oshie going yoink on Alzner’s monster shot from the blue line. Oshie rules. 22 to go.
- Braden Holtby was — hmm. Magnifi– no. Subli– nu uh. Transcen– that’s not it either. Well, it turns out I don’t have the words. There are no adjectives I can hang on Holtby that do justice to the performance he delivered in Montreal. His team hardly played anything worthy of calling defense, so Holtby had to dig deep. Wave after wave of odd-man rushes washed off him ineffectually. Impossible gloves saves were commonplace. He made approximately sixteen saves of the game. I’ve got more to say, but look at this suit first.
Joe B suit of the night
The way the Caps played this game should have guaranteed a loss. Their four days off made them careless and error-prone. Only two things can save a game like this: bounces and Braden. Tonight the Cap got both, and that’s how they beat the best team in hockey.
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