Hoo boy. I’m not gonna sugarcoat it, guys. The Caps got wubbalubbadubdubbed by the Florida Panthers. With approximately 35 thousand players missing due to various injuries and arbitrary suspensions, the remaining Caps couldn’t put the puck in the net for forty minutes, whereas the Panthers couldn’t stop scoring.
First was Jonathan Huberdeau assisted by Jaromir Jagr. Alex Barkov came second with a top shelf score on Philipp Grubauer. The second period saw goals from Trocheck and Huberdeau again, and if you noticed that none of those people are Capitals, good for you.
The Caps came back to life in the third, lifted by goals by Nick Backstom and Andre Burakovsky, but this was never a winnable game. Some dude got an empty netter, and that’s that.
Panthers beat Caps 5-2. The Caps have not won a game since January 19.
- A word on Caps goaltender Philipp Grubauer: Yeesh.
- There were sixteen penalty minutes in the first period, with five penalties to the Panthers alone, but the Caps scored on not a one. The Caps technically went scoreless on every power play, as Nick Backstrom’s goal came right after time expired.
- There were lots of penalties to love, but my fave belonged to Jason Chimera, who got promoted to the top line and responded by instantly boarded a guy.
- Andre Burakovsky‘s goal streak extends to three games. Andre came screaming into this game with a couple good scoring chances early but went unrewarded, which is probably how TJ Oshie feels all the time.
- Speaking of Osh, he nearly killed Barkov. It was awesome.
- Non-hockey note: NBC Sports was made infinitely better by the broadcast team of Joe B, Craig Laughlin, and Alan May. Yeah, the CSN crew got a one-night promotion. They had to do that non-homer broadcast, which means Joe B growled for four Panthers goals. Felt greasy to me.
If you don't like Joe B and Locker, I will personally kick your ass and by that I mean ask Alan May to do it for me. https://t.co/hyrLElI9Px
— Michael Jenkins (@JenksNBCS) February 3, 2016
- Taylor Chorney left the game with flu-like symptoms, which probably means he has the flu. I calls ’em like I sees ’em. The Caps played the final period with five defensemen.
- Jaromir Jagr suffered some sort of butt or butt-adjacent injury in the third period. His butt was attended to by a professional person who went to college so that he could work Jaromir Jagr’s butt on national television. Jagr did not return.
- Just for the record, the Caps doubled up the Cats in 5v5 shot attempts. Only flu-y Chorney got manhandled in the corsi count. Score effects, shrug.
- NHL.tv is bad.
Joe B suit of the night
The Caps lost again, but don’t despair. It’s not going to be cold, it’s not going to be gray, and it’s not going to last you for the rest of your life. Bad nights happen to even great teams, and this is a great team. I usually hate this time of year, but with the Caps this good, tonight excepted, I can’t imagine a better fate than a long and lustrous winter. 😉
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