Happy Halloween, humans! If you stayed up to watch the Caps beat the Calgary Flames, you certainly weren’t tricked. You could even say it was a treat–
Oh gosh. This is terrible writing. I’m just rusty. I promise I’ll get better. Let’s talk scoring.
Starting us off was Brett Connolly, the new guy, aided by Jay Beagle and Zach Sanford. Then Marcus Johansson scored his third goal of the weekend (!!!) on the power play, set up by Alex Ovechkin. Mikael Backlund cut the lead in half with a controversial goal for the Flames.
All that happened in the first period. The next 39 and a half minutes went by without much furor, unless you consider Craig Anderson’s emotional shutout over the Oilers and the Cubs fending off Cleveland. Then Marcus Johansson got his second of the night with an empty netter to seal the deal.
Caps beat Flames 3-1!
First, let’s set the mood.
Okay, great. Mood is set.
- So Brett Connolly‘s goal was his first as a Cap, and Zach Sanford‘s secondary assist (off some strong forechecking) was his first professional point. Great all around. During his intermission interview with Alan May, Connolly congratulated Sanford.
- Before Mikael Backlund pocketed Calgarys opening goal, Matthew Tkachuk tackled Nate Schmidt to the ice. Craig Laughlin called “a fullback move,” but the refs decided it was not interference. Judge for yourself.
— Spenser Smallwood (@SP_Smallwood) October 31, 2016
- You probably heard that Alex Ovechkin paid the way for young Cash (note: decent rapper name) to attend the game. If you didn’t, Alan May reminded you during the second period, along with name dropping this here blog and a little friendly ribbing to boot.
- Ovechkin didn’t have a lot of individual highlights, but he made that great assist on Marcus Johansson’s goal, plus this ridiculously accurate pass made from the heel of his skate.
- Calgary’s power play is a mess. There are some talented skaters on that team (Johnny Gaudreau for one), but they’re shambolic at the blue lines, so their man advantage didn’t have a lot to offer Washington. One shot on two opportunities.
- Submitted without comment:
Brouwer just whiffed on a golden opportunity.
— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) October 31, 2016
- The very end of the game was bit too tense after an unfortunate icing by Brooks Orpik, who otherwise had a great night.
- After a great performance in Edmonton, the second line (but not the second second line, which let’s just call the third line) of Wilson, Kuznetsov, and Johansson didn’t look quite so studly. With the top line reliably dominating, the bottom line contributing, and the other second line (some are calling it the third line) being just as good as they’re supposed to be, top-six Tom Wilson and company brought up the rear in this one.
- Marcus Johansson is on fire, and it is so earned.
Joe B suit of the late late night
Solid win by Washington. The only shot that beat ’em was tainted, if you ask me. This is shaping up to be a respectable road trip, and there’s one more game to go with the Jets on Tuesday.
P.S. Hey, good to see you guys. Sorry I’ve been so scarce. You all look great. Let’s do this again soon.
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