A banged up Washington Capitals team, missing three of its roster’s biggest pieces, went into Colorado and got the job done even despite those injuries and some shoddy officiating. The Caps took down their former pal, Philipp Grubauer and his new Avalanche teammates 3-2 in overtime.
The Caps out-shot the Avalanche 29 to 26, but were slightly out-attempted by the Avs at five-on-five 45 to 43.
- Tom Wilson was the best player on the ice for both teams in this game. He recorded two assists on the night and now has three points in three games to start his season. His 18 points in the last 24 competitive hockey games he’s played is a 60-plus point trajectory over a full 82-game campaign. Please stay on the ice, Tom.
- Wilson did not only tally two points in Friday night’s affair, but he also led the entire team in ice time with a career high 24:24 of play at all strengths. And it goes even further as we can heap some more praise on Willy as he also led the team at five-on-five in shot attempt differential (plus-14), scoring chance differential (plus-5), and high danger chance differential (plus-5).
Tom Wilson, who played a career-high 24:24 tonight: "Altitude is definitely a thing. It's not a myth."
— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) November 17, 2018
- I don’t think it’s any surprise that with Wilson’s great numbers that his linemate Alex Ovechkin also had a sparkling evening. Ovi recorded his 13th goal of the season, 14 individual shot attempts, seven shots on goal, and drew a penalty. The third member of that top line, Lars Eller also deserves a shout for once again stepping into the top six and doing nothing but deliver.
- Another incredibly strong game from young Pheonix Copley who has been nothing but solid in his first full time NHL season. The Caps put on turtle mode in the third period after a strong first two frames and Copley was there more than a few times with a couple big stops out of his 24 total.
- The defensive pairing of Matt Niskanen and Michal Kempny absolutely neutralized the Avs devastating top line of Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog, and Mikko Rantanen who have about a gajiliion points between the three of them if you read the pregame. The three of them at five-on-five got zero grade A looks at the Capitals net whilst playing against Kempny and the Caps actually created three high danger chances of their own during that time on the ice.
- The Caps now have earned four points out of a possible six on this road trip and will wrap things up in Montreal against the Canadiens before returning to Chinatown for a date Wednesday night with the Chicago Blackhawks and their new bench boss.
Numbers thanks to Hockey-reference.com, NaturalStatTrick.com, and Corsica.hockey.
Full RMNB Coverage of Caps at Avalanche
Headline photo: Michael Martin
