Photo: Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images
Friday night, the Capitals headed up to Newark. Absolutely nothing happened. Someone finally dented the twine when John Carlson, fresh off the injured list, unleashed a deadly slapped for the game-winner. Or so I’m told. I conked out in a clonidine-induced stupor with like four minutes left in the third. I woke up in the wee hours of the morning to tangerine popsicles — thankfully wrapped — strewn around me as the Caps headed home with a 1-0 victory.
On Saturday night, however, the Capitals played an interesting hockey game. Unlike the Devils game, there were such pastimes as shots on goal — the Caps were the better team than the St. Louis Blues in the first too.
In the second, the Blues, in a fight with the Dallas Stars for the best record in the West, started to apply the heat on a team with little to play for. And guess what, the Caps allowed the first goal. Dmitry Orlov bumped the puck behind the puck after being pressured on the forecheck before Kyle Brodziak tapped a rebound into an empty net.
The second period carnage continued just from there when Colton Parayko beat Philipp Grubauer with a shot akin to a light breeze. One hundred seconds later Vladimir Tarasenko, now the NHL’s fourth leading goal scorer, made it a three goal game after Matt Niskanen left him unattended in the far circle.
YAWN. Somebody scored late in the third but I wasn’t paying attention. Blues blank Caps 4-0.
- With Braden Holtby chasing league history and also being a mad man who wants to play all the time, Philipp Grubauer has had to adjust to a limited workload this season after starting in Hershey last year. And he’s done well. Coming into Saturday’s game, Grubauer had a goals against average of 1.95 in his last seven appearances. Overall, Grubauer led all rookies with at least 10 games played in save percentage and was second in GAA. But tonight, he allowed the muffin to end all muffins. Grubi would have had to play like a superhero — I guess Batman since he seems to be getting a disproportionate share of the Marvel promotional money.
- Evengy Kuznetsov leads the Capitals in assists and points. He is the first Capitals player other than Ovechkin or Backstrom to register more than 20 goals and 50 assists in a second since Dale Hunter in the 1992-93 campaign. He leads the NHL with 41 primary helpers and has the most assists per 60 minutes of play of any forward. So the Capitals made this to honor him. Generic White Guy sure looks excited about Kuzy’s season.
- Barry Trotz’s line of Jason Chimera, Jay Beagle, and Tom Wilson were a pox during five-on-five play. If they’re the third line, and the fourth line is clearly superior, then are they still the third line?
- The first line, meanwhile, was fantastic — they just ran into a hot goalie in Jake Allen, who they nearly broke a couple times. Justin Williams finished with a game-high (by far) of seven shots on goal. Alex Ovechkin had a point blank look at game-high (once again) 11 shot attempts. As the despite the loss, Ovechkin, Williams, and Nicklas Backstrom were just about the best possession trio of the night.
- Troy Brouwer returned, though TJ Oshie‘s illness put a damper on things. The Caps played a lovely video for him. People clapped. Later in the game, Troy tried to take the heads off a few of his former teammates.
- Overall thoughts on Blues-Caps: meh.
“He looks like Mr. Negative from Spider-man. – Peter H., a reader of “graphic novels.”
Well, they Caps weren’t able to clinch the Presidents’ Trophy, which they could have done with a point. It’s been six long years since the Caps last topped the league in the regular season. I’m sure you’re dying to see this year’s banner raised in a glorious ceremony remember for years to come. (By the way, does anyone remember when they did for the last one?)
