The Stars came to town on Tuesday night to play the Caps, who wore their blue Stadium Series jerseys to honor Isabelle’s new blue hair.
Tyler Seguin opened the scoring on the PP with about four minutes left in the first.
The Caps scored in a burst in the second. First, TJ Oshie tied it up and then Matt Niskanen put the good guys ahead. Later in the second, Alex Radulov deflected one home that put us back at square one. Alex Ovechkin scored number 44, this one on the PP, to put the team in blue back ahead, 3-2. Jamie Benn made the Caps look like a bunch of silly gooses towards the end of the period to tie the game at three.
With five minutes to go in the third, John Carlson capped off a strong four-on-four shift for the team with a bomb of a shot to give the Caps the lead.
Caps win 4-3!
- Brooks Orpik drew back into the lineup tonight after missing last game with an injury. Earlier today, Barry Trotz talked about what Orpik means to this team. Look, the Orpik debate is tired and we’re all just beating a dead horse at this point, but when the head coach continues to float out flimsy defense of the guy, it’s hard not to rehash the same old stuff. So, here we are:
OOPS, I WILL. Spin the “can’t measure his contributions” however you want but hockey is a game ultimately measured by goals. Caps score 39.3% of the goals at 5v5 w/Orpik on ice, worst on team. His on-ice goal differential is a -16, the next worst is a -6.
— Pat Holden (@pfholden) March 20, 2018
And let us rid the world of the notion that Orpik makes it tough for opponents around the crease. The Caps limit shots in close far better when he’s not on ice. Whatever his intangibles are, they doesn’t show up on scoreboard or shots against. But we all know this already.
FIN pic.twitter.com/JHIpNo1PUP— Pat Holden (@pfholden) March 20, 2018
- Nick Backstrom decided to bring his goon jersey to the rink tonight.
- Alex Ovechin scored his 44th goal of the season. At age 32, he may lead the league in goals. Amazing.
- People (okay, only like two but still) think Braden Holtby was to blame for the Stars second goal, a deflection like two feet in front of the crease. Fam…
- What does everybody think of Michal Kempny? I think he looks good, but I still prefer Christian Djoos on the second pair.
- Orpik was deployed as the sixth defender at five-on-five tonight.
Caps D 5v5 ice time through 2
Niskanen 12:42, Orlov 12:12, Kempny 12:04, Carlson 10:10, Djoos 8:00, Orpik 6:31— RMNB (@russianmachine) March 21, 2018
- Thanks to everyone for the tea recs in my recap last week. Very noted.
- Lars Eller got benched for his turnover that led to the Stars third goal.
- I thought Jakub Vrana played really well tonight, as he has been known to do lately. He wasn’t rewarded with much ice time (he skated a team-low 5:10 through two periods).
- Christian Djoos didn’t get an assist on the fourth goal, but he sure looked good that shift.
- Important hair update: Isabelle went blue
— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) March 20, 2018
- Two Points! Pens lose! It’s snowing! A good night!
Full Coverage of Caps vs Stars
Headline image: Nick Waas
