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Lights out: Caps beat Leafs 5-2 at the Naval Academy!

By Peter Hassett

 3 Comments

March 3, 2018 12:07 am

The Washington Capitals beat the Toronto Maple Leafs in a hockey game. That sentence doesn’t make it sound like a special night, but it was a really special night. The game was played outside at the Naval Academy, which was neat, and the Caps played excellently, which is basically unprecedented these days.

Evgeny Kuznetsov kicked us off, scoring from the doorstep on the power play. Zach Hyman fired back with a screened shot to beat Braden Holtby. Alex Ovechkin restored the lead after a solid pass from Tom Wilson to make it 2-0 (and to record his 598th career goal). Before period one was up, Nick Backstrom added a rare rush power-play goal assisted by Evgeny Kuznetsov.

Nazem Kadri gave the Leafs some hope early in the second, but John Carlson responded less than a minute later. Jakub Vrana converted a solo breakaway to make it 5-2 and chase Frederick Andersen from net. Nothing much happened in the third period aside from a major power outage that was not at all a metaphor for anything, thank you very much.

Caps beat Leafs 5-2!

Oh my goodness. It’s a Bailamos game! When was the last time we had a Bailamos game?! Nothing is forbidden anymore, for one night only! Turn it up.

  • The Caps are undefeated in outdoor games. If you care. Can’t believe they did it without Eric Fehr, outdoor G.O.A.T., this time.
  • What a first period. With goals from Nick Backstrom, Alex Ovechkin, and Evgeny Kuznetsov, the fellas you needed to score did just that. And they did it in style. From the first period on, the Caps pressured the net with regularity and proximity – no goal came from beyond 15 feet out. Check out the heatmap from NSS.
  • Oh, nothing, just a couple three-point nights for your top-six centers, Backstrom and Kuznetsov. Kuznetsov also hit the twenty-goal mark, tying his career high.
  • And Captain Alex Ovechkin nears the 600 mark with a lovely 5-on-5 goal made possible by Tom Wilson, who looks precisely perfect on the wing of that top line.
  • Jakub Vrana had not scored since mid December and had missed a bunch of games as a healthy scratch. His solo breakaway to make it a blowout should help him stick in the lineup, which might help his team more than any goal he’d score in the month of March.
  • I watched exactly four minutes of the Olympics this year, but those four minutes were just curling and women’s hockey, so I loved the celebrations entirely.

  • I really thought this was the game when TJ Oshie would finally score. Instead, he didn’t have a shot on net until one second left in the second period – a muffin from 41 feet out. I apologize to anyone who took an Oshie goal to the bank per my recommendation. Oshie had a couple good looks in the third but remains snakebit.
  • The third line really stank, but let’s not worry about that for now. The Beagle line had one of their best nights of the season, so I’m not gonna do a thing over the spilled milk or whatever.
  • Frederik Andersen allowed five goals on 25 shots. I don’t recall the last time the Caps chased a goalie from net, aside from their own. It’s a fun feeling.
  • As the Caps and Leafs switched sides with ten minutes remaining in the third period, power went out in Annapolis. I have to assume it’s some hangover from the wind storm that was so scary on Friday. The game was paused for 15 minutes while a few tens of thousands of folks waited for the lights to come back on.

You know what? We never get to do this. Let’s do Bailamos again!

Enrique I. Bailamos of the night

Listen, we have a lot more coverage of the Stadium Series – more than I can summarize here. Whatever turmoil the team is experiencing right now, we just had a great night. Annapolis and the Naval Academy were wonderful hosts, and the team really stepped up on the big stage. I had low expectations for the outdoor game, and now I feel ungrateful and underserving. This was a delight. Thanks, Caps.

Full RMNB Coverage of Stadium Series

Headline photo: Dave Sandford

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