The Los Angeles Kings did their ground-and-pound routine against the Washington Capitals on Tuesday. The Caps struggled at special teams and got pushed around at evens, but a sturdy performance by the back-up goalie kept it interesting until a win could be eked.
A disastrous first-period power play yielded a shorthanded goal for living zombie Anze Kopitar. The second period was dominated by Los Angeles, but Orlov and Burakovsky combined to get the Caps on the board late. The Caps look stronger in the third and pushed their way to victory with a late, scrappy goal by Kuznetsov, and then Chimera got another empty-netter. Haha.
Caps beat Kings 3-1!
- The first period was another penalty-heavy affair (10 PIMs, including one Mortal Kombat Mirror Match),. The Capitals did not emerge victorious. Washington’s power play is still practically inert, and worse: they surrendered a shorthanded goal for the whateverth time this season. Time to bring in one of those “wrinkles” I keep hearing so much about.
- Once 5v5 got rolling in the third, the Caps seemed to skate uphill. The top line was getting outshot 15 to 2 at one point in the game’s middle frame.
- Backup goaltender Philipp Grubauer, getting a rare start, was clutch in protecting the net while the Caps wee getting pwned. Gru was excellent, the main ingredient in this victory. He better get more starts in the final 30 games.
- After taking one game off in Minnesota, Andre Burakovsky returned to his scoring ways in Dallas and extended them at home. His second-period goal was a savvy tap on a thunderous slap pass by Dmitry Orlov. Burkie now has 12 goals and 26 points in 52 games. The sophomore slump is dead.
- Another double-digit shot-on-goal night for Alex Ovechkin, but no cigar. He looked thirsty. I think he knows that others are in pursuit of his Richard Trophy.
- Some people seem to misunderstand the tone of this Tom Wilson story. The point is that the benefit of the doubt is gone for Wilson, and every borderline hit further degrades his former ability to draw penalties, whether or not he deserves it.
- Brooks Orpik returned to action for the first game since the early 80s. He played like 17 minutes, and I’m not gonna comment on it except to say I’m glad he’s healthy.
- Karl Alzner, what the hell. 2 Caps attempts and 23 Kings attempts?! Does anyone have any incontrovertible evidence that Alzner really even played in this one? (Meanwhile, your boy Nate Schmidt was one of the few positive possession players.)
- Poor Evgeny Kuznetsov had to go without a primary assist. He settled for a game-winning goal.
- I want to upgrade Mike Richards to cinnamon roll status. Any seconds?
Joe B suit of the night
Worrying. I don’t like how the Caps played this at all. Bad at 5v5, bad at 5v4, but pretty great at 4v5. The two standings points are nice and all, but after that loss to Dallas and a downer of performance here, I keep thinking about late May and wincing.
Chris Gordon will have your recap in Brooklyn on Thursday. I’ll be in Indianapolis, wherever that is.
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