The retooled Washington Capitals put together a respectable afternoon of hockey to down the Calgary Flames on the road, but it took extra time to decide the win.
Jakub Vrana, recently promoted to the top line, immediately proved his value with a goal in the first period, assisted by Kuznetsov. On the power play, TJ Oshie put a backhand on a rebound to make it 2-0, but the Flames immediately responded with a goal off Travis Hamonic’s foot and a power-play marker for Elias Lindholm.
The game was tied in the second period until Matt Niskanen scored from the point while Dmitrij Jaskin screened Mike Smith. With an empty net, Matthew Tkachuk deflects a shot to tie the score and force overtime. Overtime gave us nothing but palpitations so it’s time for our old friend…
Shootout bullets!
- Tkachuk did not put the biscuit in the basket.
- Oshie did not put the biscuit in the basket.
- Monahan put the biscuit in the basket!
- Kuznetsov put the biscuit in the basket!
- Neal did not put the biscuit in the basket.
- Carlson did not put the biscuit in the basket.
- Gaudreau did not put the biscuit in the basket.
- Backstrom put the biscuit in the basket!
Caps win 4-3 in the shootout!
- Coach Todd Reirden, apparently unhappy with recent performance, shook up his lines, delivering what might have been the best top six of the season so far. On the top line was Jakub Vrana, who wasted no time demonstrating his worth by finishing a rush attack with Kuzy.
Jakub Vrana scores on the 2-on-0 to give the Capitals an early lead pic.twitter.com/9xqaStNQr8
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) October 27, 2018
- The top line also gave up a goal (Hamonic’s foot bounce), but overall the top-nine forwards were fearsome, spotting dominant shot-attempt differentials. Very encouraging as this road trip nears its end.
- Madison Bowey returned to work for the first time since October 4. Bowey got skipped on a bunch of shifts and played with Orpik when he did jump over the boards. He had a big play late in the second, lying down to block a shot and suffering a spear in the process, but other than that it was a quiet game for 22. I don’t know what the idea is here exactly.
- Matt Niskanen had a monster game, setting team pace in shot attempts and scoring an impressive slapper from out deep to pad the stats of some depth players. In his intermission interview, Niskanen rightfully and graciously credited Brett Connolly for a smart assist.
Matt Niskanen scores from the point after some hard work by Dmitrij Jaskin. pic.twitter.com/xUld2VDHGK
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) October 27, 2018
- Washington’s penalty-kill problems apparently persist unabated; Lindholm’s goal came ten seconds into a PP. I think there’s less wrong on special teams than people think, and we’ll have more on RMNB about this soon.
- Backup goalie Pheonix Copley started instead of Braden Holtby, doing quite while in the opening minutes until some spotty defense left him out to dry. Nonetheless, Copley persevered and recorded his first career NHL win with 27 saves.
- Evgeny Kuznetsov done goofed with some penalties, especially a delay-of-game in the final minute of regulation, but he more-than-offset them in my opinion with his offensive contributions, so get off his back, darn it.
#JoeBSuitOfTheNight #CapsFlames pic.twitter.com/68BQWKa25p
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) October 27, 2018
It’s been a tough week for hockey and life, but this was a nice little distraction. We saw, I think, how the Caps want to play – even though they weren’t able to sustain it on every shift. Shame this didn’t end after sixty minutes.
I think the Caps will head home now before their date in Montreal this week. Prepare yourself for some dumb costumes, and be excellent to each other. <3
