Home / Game Recap / Category 5: Canes demolish Caps 5-1

Category 5: Canes demolish Caps 5-1

By Chris Gordon

 0 Comment

November 12, 2016 10:38 pm

After a flukey win again against the Chicago Blackhawks, who were riding a seven game winning streak, the Washington Capitals headed down to the City of Oaks, Raleigh, North Carolina, for a date with the rested (but terrible) Carolina Hurricanes.

So what happens when a team that has won six of their last seven games matches up against a team that is last in the division, on a three game losing streak, and has lost five of their last six games? Disaster, of course.

The Capitals got on the board early thanks to some boys from the land of tracksuits and autocracy, when Dmitry Orlov set up Evgeny Kuznetsov with a brilliant drop pass, who unleashed a bomb past Carolina goaltender Cam Ward.

The Canes tied the game just 35 seconds after Washington’s opening tally. They kept going. I don’t have 400 words to waste on an intro, so I’ll leave it there. Canes demolish Caps 5-1.

  • It was that kind of night. Here’s something to cheer you up.
  • The lines got shuffled more than CNN’s roster of paid talking heads.
  • Brett Connolly drew into the lineup after head coach Barry Trotz made himself feel touched by God by faking out the media during pregame warmups once again.
  • Connolly played well, though. The fourth line was the only line that could hold on to the puck for more than a few seconds. Zach Sanford, who usually goes to the press box when Connolly is in, skated on the fourth line with him and Jay Beagle, who, it must be said, was uncharacteristically awful in the faceoff dot.
  • Evgeny Kuznetsov has been in a hole for a while. Tonight, he left the dipsy do aside and scored via old-fashioned firepower for just his second goal in 34 games.
  • Philipp Grubauer was fantastic tonight. He had absolutely no defense for much of the game. The Canes probably should have had another three goals Saturday night. The goals Grubi did allow came off failed clears, shots by wide-open forwards, rebounds, and defenders looking simply confused on the ice. Last year, the Capitals often provided Grubauer with almost no run support, leading to a record that didn’t reflect his level of play. Tonight was one of those nights. I won’t pin any of Carolina’s goals on him, but his GAA will burst through PNC Arena after this.
  • The Capitals’ power play now has one goal in its last 18 opportunities. The second unit still has not scored this year. The Capitals defense has been incredible so far, but eventually the Caps are going to need their PP firepower and better five-on-five production. A 2.15 GAA is not sustainable.
  • The penalty kill started the game at 80 percent, in the bottom third of the league. They finished second in the league last season. The Capitals took seven minors tonight. That ain’t good.
  • I love Nate Schmidt. Like, it’s unhealthy. But his positioning on the Canes second goal was amateur.

  • The Hurricanes third jerseys are hideous.
joebsuit111216

So… hmm… yeah. That game was awful in every way. It’s easy to pin it on the fact the Caps were on the second end of a back-to-back, but it’s not that simple. The Capitals were more sloppy and careless than slow while they had good enough goaltending to bail them out against a bad team. The Capitals haven’t played well the last two nights, but they’ll come back home, rest up, practice Monday, and head to Columbus on Tuesday.

Here’s where I shield myself against angry comments:

It’s only one loss.

Full Coverage of Caps at Hurricanes

,