^ From actual gameplay during a penalty kill with the clock running and everything

If I were a pro hockey player who was paid ludicrously well to play a silly game, I’d be in a good mood all the time. I’d be an unlimited high five dispenser. You’d get so many free drinks off me you’d develop cirrhosis. I definitely wouldn’t be a cranky piss-pants. And yet, Saturday’s game between the Winnipeg Jets and Washington Capitals had a bunch of cranky piss-pants in it. From the first whistle players on both teams were already peeing pants. That led to a bunch of penalties early on, but no clear victor in rego and a very murky finish in overtime.

Andrew Ladd scored on a controversial power play late in the first period. Nick Backstrom even it up with a Nicky shot from the reverse-Ovi spot in the second period. No one scored in the third, so into overtime we went. The Caps fired a million shots, but Mark Scheifele finally beat Braden on a disputed but upheld OT goal.

Jets beat Caps 2-1 in overtime, eventually.

• Barry Trotz threw the metaphorical challenge flag on Mark Scheifele‘s overtime goal, alleging offside on the zone entry. I have no opinion on the call, but that super-extended review will be Exhibit A in any argument against the coach’s challenge.
• Alex Ovechkin set the game’s tone on his very first shift. It was a physical game with lots of big hits and hot tempers. Dustin Byfuglien responded by bullying the most adorable player on the ice, Andre Burakovsky, to no avail. But the animosity grew until it hit a flash point in our next bullet.
• I’m not going to pretend I understand half of what went on in the brawl that led to the Jets’ first goal. Ian did his best to recap it here, but here’s my takeaway: Michael Latta was in the wrong with that knee, Tom Wilson‘s reputation is a bigger liability than Wilson himself, and the third man in and instigator penalties might as well just be removed from the rule book.
• Marcus Johansson missed the game due to a tweak, which is probably somewhat unfortunate for him but definitely devastating to the Capitals’ power play, which can’t seem to get past the neutral zone without him. Georgia wants to share her thoughts on the power play as well:

• I’ve been saying this forever: Tom Wilson is a drama king. He’s a vortex of conflict. Whether he’s the perp or the victim, it seems like he’s always involved in zebra justice. After serving time during Ladd’s opening PPG, Wilson drew back-to-back penalties in the second period to set up Washington for their own power-play marker.
• If Braden Holtby’s mask comes off during play one more time, I’m gonna hurl.
• The game was relatively tight in the first period despite all those Winnipeg power plays, but the Caps pulled away with possession in the second period, led, appropriately, by Nick Backstrom‘s dominance on the top line. That line had around 75-percent of the 5v5 shot attempts.
• For fellow Swede Andre Burakovsky, it’s a different story. Andre looked out of his depth on the second line, which hardly got into the offensive zone at all. Rather than a promotion, it seems to me that Andre might be better served by a break. That’s a bummer.
• Someone on Twitter expressed frustration at John Carlson for giving up too many turnovers. While a single turnover is a bad thing, having a lot of them might be what nerds call a contraindication because you can only give the puck up if you have the puck in the first place. Carlson and D-partner Nate Schmidt had a good afternoon with 60+% possession, and I didn’t notice a lot of turnovers personally.
• Something was up with Thaddeus E. “Thunderbolt” Chorney. He played only 1:20 in the second period. I recall the Caps getting meaningfully into the o-zone just once while he was on the ice. Maybe Trotz noticed that too, or maybe something else was going on. Karl Alzner skipped some shifts in the third (not sure why yet), so Chorney saw more action late it the game.
• Alex Ovechkin had a dynamic, end-to-end shift in the third in which he forced a turnover and set up TJ Oshie for a backhand shot to put the Caps up. Oshie got rebuffed by galie Connor Hellebuyck just barely. If were were going by “goals Oshie should have scored,” I would have won this bet already.
• Barry Trotz again started 3v3 OT with two defenseman, Schmidt and Niskanen, and one forward, Kuznetsov. Is that happening on other teams too?
• Despite the result, that was another great game from Braden Holtby, la dee da, it’ll never end, he’s the best.

Joe B suit of the mid afternoon

If you mix special teams and 5v5 together, it probably looked like Winnipeg owned this game, but without those unevenly distributed penalties, the Caps were the better team with a much better goalie. But that doesn’t guarantee a win. A controversial game-winner has ended the Caps’ win-streak, so I guess it’s time to start another one.

Catch you next time.

Full RMNB Coverage of Caps at Jets