Hey, remember June 7? That sure was fun. Game three of the regular season didn’t have anywhere near the stakes of the Caps’ championship-winning night last summer, but the Vegas Golden Knights’ first trip to DC of the season was still fun as all get-out.
Evgeny Kuznetsov opened up scoring by finishing off a brilliant pass from Nicklas Backstrom on the power play. It was Kuznetsov again in the second period, this time setting up Ovechkin for a lovely rush goal. Cody Eakin struck back for the Knights with a nifty wraparound, but Holtby turned back the rest of Vegas’ attack until the second intermission.
The Caps kept drawing penalties in the third and punished Vegas for their insolence with a goal inverse to the game-opener: Backstrom from Kuznetsov. Reilly Smith returned fire with a net-crashing goal to keep it close with 13 minutes left. For his fourth point of the game, Kuznetsov took a pass from Brett Connolly to serve Ovechkin for the goal. Oshie got an empty-netter, and we all went home happy.
Caps win 5-2.
Goodness, another Bailamos game? Let’s dance!
- Near the end of the first period, William Carrier put a big hit on Brooks Orpik behind the net. The hit looked shoulder-to-shoulder, but Orpik crunched into the glass and then fell awkwardly to the ice. I’ll put two embeds below; the first a GIF from Ian and the second the NHL’s definition of slew-footing.
Brooks Orpik goes down the tunnel after this hit by William Carrier. Orpik's head appeared to bang off the ice. pic.twitter.com/agGLmHdjYN
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) October 11, 2018
Now from the NHL:
Slew-footing is the act of a player using his leg or foot to knock or kick an opponent’s feet from under him, or pushes an opponent’s upper body backward with an arm or elbow, and at the same time with a forward motion of his leg, knocks or kicks the opponent’s feet from under him, causing him to fall violently to the ice.
- I’ve always struggled with that definition. It’s so awkward. Does a slew require both A) a foot behind the victim, and B) a shove backwards into that foot? I could be convinced Carrier did A, but B seems unlikely. That’s why we at RMNB settled on the descriptor “slew-footy,” which is similar or as of or pertaining to a slew-foot without actually being one. Orpik was fine by the way, but I bet he’ll be icing that general upper body region tonight.
- Now here’s a cute tweet from my good pal Ryan.
Ovi on pace for an 82 goal regular season
— Ryan Deem (@Ryan_Deem) October 11, 2018
- Pals, it’s fun to have fun, but don’t do this to yourselves. Ovi scored seven goals in the first two games of last season but somehow fell short of a 287-goal season. Ovi (and Kuzy too) are on impressive yet less stratospheric paces this time around, but I’m not holding out hope for Gretzky-tier numbers just yet.
- Still, Ovi and Kuzy and Nicky look absolutely amazing out there. Evgeny Kuznetsov in particular seems just fearless on the ice, in seeming complete control of everything that happens around him. Corsica put his game score at 3.3.
- Quick interlude: Are you following Brennin on twitter? You know how people will reply by saying “I’m screaming” or somesuch? I do that with Brenin five times a night.
the secret behind holtby's success pic.twitter.com/YjtB6UpKBE
— b. (@youripides) October 11, 2018
- Also in early-season returns: the Caps power play is humming along at a humble 50-percent clip. Not bad. Certainly makes up for a much more modest performance during 5-on-5 play, where Vegas really owned the puck up and down the lineup after the first intermission. Nicklas Backstrom‘s line and the fourth line got especially dominated, though Backstrom’s line at least had the excuse of defensive deployments.
- So no, it was not a sterling Caps debut for Dmitrij Jaskin, though no one seems to have had great results on the fourth line just yet.
- What’s the bigger number: Ovechkin’s eventual 2018-19 point total or Marc-Andre Fleury‘s current save percentage? (MAF’s around 83 percent right now. Woof.)
- It sure looked like Max Pacioretty tipped in Nosek’s pass to narrow the score with six minutes left in the third, but Todd’s offside challenge was successful: Patches was too eager at the blue line.
- Did you see Ovi’s celebration after his second goal? Me neither. Brad Marchand’s assault on precinct 20 seems to have had the impact of mellowing Ovi’s glove-kissing.
https://twitter.com/WCStanley18/status/1050207870543941632
Joe B suit of the night, by way of Stephanie and company.
We’re three games into the season, and I sure like the headlines. There’s been more sloppiness than I’d want, and the depth isn’t quite as reliable as I’d hoped just yet, but it’s way too early to complain – and there’s not much time to do so anyway. The Caps are headed up to Jersey right now to face the Devils. See you here tomorrow night. Yay for hockey.
