The Caps are back on the east coast and everything is right in the world again. Besting bedraggled bench boss Bruce Boudreau’s Minnesota Wild at home, the Washington Capitals found the cure for what ailed them and delivered one heluva game for fans who needed to see one.
Here’s the part where I write about the goals. I shall begin by communicating the first goal in the most primal and raw way I know how.
Following 88 was Alex Ovechkin, ending a slump that had persisted since mid February. Evgeny Kuznetsov got in on the action with assist by fellow top-six center Nick Backstrom.
Matt Dumba opened up the third with a goal for the Wild, snuffing Holtby’s shutout. The Caps got into penalty trouble after that, enabling a goal by Caps killer Eric Staal to bring the Wild within one goal.
With six minutes to go, Jay Beagle put the Wild away with a breakaway goal.
Caps beat Wild 4-2!
- Before the Shattenkirk suspension, Nate Schmidt hadn’t played since the end of February. With a great goal leveraging Schmidt’s smarts and speed, do you think he has earned a spot in the regular rotation?
- We had a fast first, but penalties clogged the second period, then successive whistles by Connolly and Backstrom put the Caps on 5-on-3, which gave Staal his powerplay goal. Penalties had been a low-key struggle for the Caps all season. Now, with the Cali trip kaput and the team getting benign bounces again, the team’s problem with penalties is obviously and overtly hurting them. Good. Whatever umbrage I’ve feel for the Wild’s diving, the Caps need more discipline before the postseason. This will teach them.
- So here’s a tweet:
Ovi's slump ends tonight, you can take it to #thebank
— Good Tweet Pete 🌮 (@peterhassett) March 14, 2017
- Called it. Alex Ovechkin went 10 games between goals, the longest dry spell of his career. An assist by John Carlson has broken that spell and reminded us that shooting percentages are dumb. Ovechkin may very well again go ten games without a goal, but next time we’ll be steady enough to admit that no goals on 32 shots is a sign of miserable luck.
- The Caps scored four goals, and Nick Backstrom got an assist on three of them — two of which were primaries. He’s having an amazing season.
- A little less than a year ago, Wild forward Ryan White gave Brooks Orpik a concussion. On Tuesday, with the Caps up 3-0, Tom Wilson punched Ryan White in the face. The strategic wisdom of that decision aside, I understand why Tom did what he did. And here’s my pre-emptive, overwrought eyeroll for anyone who will assert that the fight was a turning point.
- I love Boose Boudreau. The Caps should not have fired him. The Ducks should not have fired him. There’s a strong argument that he’s the best head coach in the NHL today. His lineup and tactic decisions in Washington were situational and dynamic, so his Capitals were always exciting and fun to watch. But, god, he’s a hot mess. Ron Weasley’s tie in Prisoner of Azkaban was better assembled than BBBB’s tonight. And I’ll be damned if that doesn’t make Boudreau somehow even more winsome. The man is a treasure. We’ll see him again at the end of the month, and I hope we’ll see him some more before the Caps wrap up, wink wink.
- The Wild had a disaster of a line change in the third, and Jay Beagle exploited the hell out of it for his 12th of the year. How does he do it?
- The Caps’ second line was unspeakably dominant in puck possession, owning damn near 90 percent of the shot attempts during 5-on-5. Trotz should break them up. No, seriously.
Joe B suit of the night
Before this night began, what do you think would’ve made you happy? A win? An Ovi goal? Nate Schmidt getting some love? Tom Wilson fireworks? Kuzya doing electric stuff? Nick Backstrom’s hat trick of assists? Beagle.jpg?
YOU GOT IT ALL. That’s your Washington Capitals, rewarding you for sticking with it after that sucky road trip.
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