The Capitals were looking to shake off a two-game losing streak against the Arizona Coyotes, who they lost to just over a month ago 4-1. The redux had a whole lotta weirdness.
After dominating the first five minutes, an Andre Burakovsky turnover led to a Christian Fischer blast past Pheonix Copley. Then the Caps came out slow again in the second period, and Richard Panik failed on his penalty shot after a perplexing throwing-the-stick interference play from Brett Connolly. Jakub Vrana fired an absolute dart past Adin Hill off a loose puck in front. Lawson Crouse then converted off a rebound where three Caps were standing around in front of the net. Matt Niskanen slung a wrister to the front and got a kind deflection in front off Jakob Chychrun to tie the game again. 15 seconds into the third, Jakub Vrana got the second penalty shot of the game, but couldn’t convert. Andre Burakovsky ripped a shot short-side with roughly five minutes left, and the Yotes couldn’t convert with an empty net, but Alex Ovechkin could for the Caps first win in Arizona since 2006.
Caps win 4-2!
- Alex Ovechkin had to take one shot on goal tonight to become the fastest player to 5000. We get to watch history almost every night and that’s awesome.
- Birthday goals are the best goals, so congrats to Matt Niskanen for snagging one on his 32nd birthday!
- If y’all were confused by that Brett Connolly stick throw and penalty shot combo, it turns out that rule 53.6 addresses such a play. Basically you can’t throw equipment and have it interfere.
- Entering this game, the Coyotes were 11-2-1 when leading after one, and it’s clear to see why. After Fischer’s goal the Coyotes forecheck was relentless, suffocating the Caps passing lanes and blocking off any board passes out of the zone. This game should not have been as close as it was, and the Yotes forecheck was big reason it looked out of reach early.
- Pheonix Copley kept his team in this game when they looked supremely lackluster. He faced down a penalty shot, then got an assist on Niskanen’s goal for his first career point. What a game from the backup.
- We need to talk about how good Jakub Vrana has been with a more prominent role. He might not have the Pavel Datsyuk shootout move mastered yet, but he now has nine goals this season, all of them have come at even strength, and it’s the sixth time Vrana has scored the Caps first goal.
- Adin Hill, who is in fact a real person, didn’t get the win tonight, but he’s been a big reason the Yotes looked good. Just over two weeks ago he was in Tucson and entering tonight he had four straight wins. Goaltending is wizarding voodoo magic and no one can tell me otherwise.
Matt Niskanen tied the game at 2-2 with a goal. Today is his birthday. He's the first Capital to score on his birthday since John Carlson (Jan. 10, 2015), and it's the first time Niskanen has ever scored a goal on his birthday.
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) December 7, 2018
Rule 53.6 appears to be the applicable rule to why the Coyotes were awarded a penalty shot in that situation . pic.twitter.com/SjiQP8BeOF
— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) December 7, 2018
Joe B Suit of the Night
#JoeBSuitOfTheNight #CapsYotes A black suit with a peach tie for Desert Hockey. pic.twitter.com/MVLJakLvKH
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) December 7, 2018
This was such a weird game, fam. The Caps looked lethargic, but snuck their way back into a game they shouldn’t have had a chance in. But a win is a win, and they have the chance to make it two in a row when they take on the Columbus Blue Jackets Saturday night.
