The Washington Capitals hadn’t had a lot of contributions from their defense so far this season, but that all changed on January 1, #TwentySeminteen, and the Caps’ home game against the Ottawa Senators.

After a scoreless first, Kyle Turris scored following Matt Niskanen’s defensive zone turnover. In the final minute of the second period, Karl Alzner scored a blazing one-timer goal set up by TJ Oshie to tie it up.

Taylor Chorney gave the Caps the lead with a strong outside shot early in the third. The Caps killed a two-minute Senators power play and secured the win.

Caps beat Senators 2-1!

• Outside the third line, which is the Caps’ best line, the Caps didn’t have much offense in this one. Alex Ovechkin was without a shot attempt of any kind in the game’s first 30 minutes, despite having lots of time in the offensive zone.
• Ian called Brooks Orpik‘s hit on Curtis Lazar a “fiberglass sandwich” and I’m still giggling.
• Kyle Turris pinged the post in the first period. It was a warning and a guarantee that he would strike again, which he did against the Beagle line, which struggled during evens on Sunday.
• The whole series leading up to Karl Alzner‘s goal was dazzling. Justin Williams had a solo breakaway attempt that got rebuffed, but Oshie chased the rebound. A quick chip back to the circles set up what might have been Alzner’s most convincing goal as a pro. There’ve only been 19 of them, so that’s not saying much.
• The Caps power play continues to underwhelm. John Carlson is factory that only builds slapshot misses, and Alex Ovechkin isn’t getting chances. I don’t know what a good plan B would be, but I wouldn’t be cranky if Trotz and company got experimental with their man advantage.
• On the other side of special teams, the Caps PK is still wonderful, following up their perfect nine-kill afternoon on Saturday with an equally perfect outing. It had been a quiet night on the penalty summary until Orpik and Kuznetsov both got called for minors on the same play. Excellent work by Jay Beagle and friends for a huge performance.
• Taylor Chorney took Nate Schmidt’s spot and turned it into his first goal this season, his second as a Cap, and the third in his career. The goal was assisted by Orpik and Wilson, in case you still thought you understood how this planet works. The goal is great news for Chorn, but it’ll be a troubling complication for lineup decisions this week.

Joe B suit of the night

And that’s how #TwentySeminteen began: with a mild but respectable win at home. I dunno about you, but I’ve got one more day of vacation left, so I’m gonna play some NES classic and collect me some triforces. Have a good one!

A quick off-topic note: Before the game, in the wake of the Redskins loss, I made an enthusiastic tweet encouraging discouraged Skins fans to join the Caps bandwagon. I think that was fine, but I followed it up with less magnanimous tweets that I published when I should have been more considerate. I’ve been a dispirited DC/Baltimore sporps fan myself, and I didn’t like it when others gave me grief in the wake of defeat. While I stand by my dislike for the Redskins organization, I should have thought more of how different kinds of Skins fans could react. So, to all the Skins fans who caught my rancor, I’m sorry for being an insensitive jerk. 

Full Coverage of Caps vs Senators

Headline photo: Batya and son in the pokey