The Washington Capitals looked great on Wednesday night, and I’m not just talking about their uniforms. A win over the Ottawa Senators wasn’t in doubt until Tommy Drama got the home team in trouble late, but some sturdy penalty killing and the world’s best goaltender made it 22 wins for the Caps.
Michael Latta got Washington on the board in the first period with a breakaway goal set up by Dmitry Orlov’s skyward pass. John Carlson put the Sens in a two-goal hole with a one-timer masterfully facilitated by Justin Williams. Tom Wilson got a match penalty late in the third period, allowing Ottawa to spoil Braden Holtby’s shutout, but that was it.
Caps beat Sens 2-1!
- Aesthetics first: Damn, those uniforms look good. That’s a lovely shade of red, and those brilliant blue shorts are a look I didn’t realize I missed so much. They looked like comic-book superheroes in a white panel. They should only be fighting purple and green villains like Lex Luthor, The Joker, Doctor Octopus, Green Goblin, Sandman, etc, etc, etc.
- I’ve been saying it for two and a half years now: Michael Latta is a gamer. He got a jailbreak from Orlov, but he had to use his hands to finish this play off. More goals are coming– especially if he gets the ice-time promotion he deserves.
- Because, yeah, Latta was second-to-last in ice time. Andre Burakovsky, or the man who stole Andre Burakosky’s identity, actually had more ice than Latta, who had a two-point night.
- I just thought this was a great catch by Ian, so I’m embedding it:
When Braden Holtby's dad casually walks through the frame pic.twitter.com/kZa3p61IUv
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) December 17, 2015
- Justin Williams never disappoints as long as you ignore all the disappointing times that he gets goals washed out. He drew two hooks on Tuesday, the latter of which he turned into a goal before the whistle could be blown due to an expert pass to John Carlson.
- Guess whose goalie mask came off during play? The other guy’s! That’s right, Strokes guitarist Andrew Hammond lost his mask during first-period play. Braden Holtby‘s mask straps: first star of the night.
- The Capitals played totally differently after their dominant performance in the first period. The pace of the game slowed down dramatically after that intermission, though not so badly that the Sens could wrest control back.
- Except when the third line was on the ice. Phew, they are not getting the job done during even strength, mustering a possession score somewhere around 2:1 in the opponent’s favor. Late in the game Tom Wilson or Tom Wilson’s reputation got a match penalty for a what I thought was an innocuous hit. I have a feeling that penalty will be rescinded tomorrow: the player had the puck and was eligible to be hit, the hit wasn’t blindside, and it did not target the head. Just the idea of Tom Wilson is kind of a fiasco at this point– it divides and inflames and has developed the power to affect reality, namely Holtby’s deserved shut out.
https://twitter.com/myregularface/status/677314427914313728
- Closing note: Weird day for RMNB. It began with Pat’s triumphalist piece on Holtby, then the infinite jest of the Caps Christmas video, then Jeremy Roenick might’ve commented on my hitpiece. There’s more, but Chris won’t let me talk about the rest.
Joe B suit of the night
Twenty two wins. That’s Knuble number wins, and it was Michael Latta’s best game as a pro to boot. The only thing missing was Braden Holtby’s shutout, but that’s a topic for later.
