Home / Game Recap / Oops, he did it again: Caps beat Hurricanes 6-5 (SO)

Oops, he did it again: Caps beat Hurricanes 6-5 (SO)

By Chris Cerullo

 1 Comment

December 14, 2018 10:23 pm

After a quick jaunt down south, the Washington Capitals met up with their former Southeast Division and current Metropolitan Division pals, the Carolina Hurricanes. The two teams had yet to match up with one another this season until Friday night so this was their first look at former teammate and now Hurricanes captain, Justin Williams.

Jordan Martinook didn’t wait long to get the Canes on the board very early in this one, but Alex Ovechkin responded with a tally of his own only minutes later. Noted Caps killer Sebastian Aho added a shorthanded goal to give the Canes a 2-1 lead after twenty minutes.

Aho got his second on a man advantage in the second, Teuvo Teravainen did the same moments later, but goals from Tom Wilson, Ovechkin, and Travis Boyd within six minutes tied this bad boy up.

Alex Ovechkin scored his third of the night. Again. LOL. Justin Williams tied things up on a power play after a brutal turnover from Braden Holtby.

  • Kuokkanen did not put the biscuit in the basket.
  • Oshie did not put the biscuit in the basket.
  • Slavin did not put the biscuit in the basket.
  • Kuznetsov did not put the biscuit in the basket.
  • Di Giuseppe did not put the biscuit in the basket.
  • Ovechkin did not put the biscuit in the basket.
  • Hamilton put the biscuit in the basket.
  • Backstrom put the biscuit in the basket.
  • Williams did not put the biscuit in the basket.
  • Eller did not put the biscuit in the basket.
  • McGinn did not put the biscuit in the basket.
  • Vrana put the biscuit in the basket.

Caps beat Hurricanes 6-5!.

  • I thought that the first period was pretty good from purely a game flow standpoint for the Caps as after Martinook’s early goal they seemed to take control of the game. The Aho goal shorthanded was just a back breaker and definitely stunted that momentum in the few remaining minutes of the frame.
  • Alex Ovechkin has dented the twine three times in one night in back to back games. His league leading 26th goal of the season tied the game in the first, extended his point streak to 13 games (ties his career high), extended his goal streak to five games, and I’m sure broke about 58 more records. It also put him on pace for 69 goals at the end of the year which is nice. He added his 27th of the season in the second to get rid of that 69 goal pace and replace it with a 71 goal pace, which is better but also not because memes. His 28th of the year gave the Caps their first lead of the game in the third and moved that 71 goal pace to a 74 goal pace. Lord have mercy.
  • Jonas Siegenthaler received the primary assist on Ovi’s marker and that assist was his first career NHL point. He is the first Thai player (from his mother’s side) in NHL history to record a point. We’re going to be seeing a lot more of Jonas now that Christian Djoos is down with an injury for quite some time. I think he’s looked better than Madison Bowey ever did last season, I’m not worried about him having to shoulder more NHL minutes.
  • Speaking of Bowey, he “took” two minor penalties in about nine seconds of ice time in the first period. That’s some Mike Green disaster game type stuff. The first one was a bit of a joke as the Canes player was also sent to his proverbial room for embellishing an interference situation of sorts, so lets give Madison a bit of a break for these.

  • The second period was a strange one. The Caps were still the better team at even strength evidenced by all three of those quick goals to tie this game at four, but a questionable call on Ovi and a dumb penalty from Wilson gave the Canes two goals on their man advantage.
  • Speaking of young Tom Wilson, he scored again to make up for his earlier penalty. Big Willy now has nine goals in twelve games and this time he did it from the Caps second line. Really strong play from Evgeny Kuznetsov to set up the goal and Kuzy is now riding a seven game point and assist streak.
  • Another player on quite the streak is Travis Boyd who has goals in three straight games and at least one point in his last four games. Boyd scored his first career goal a week ago in Columbus and seemingly hasn’t missed the net since. His linemate Nic Dowd also recorded his first career three assist night, which should be noted as Dowd had all of one assist in 56 games last year with the Kings and Canucks.
  • Everyone ignore that Siegenthaler pick play on Ovi’s second goal. Nothing to see there, I promise.

  • The third period was the Caps worst. Canes were scary at evens for really the first time in the game.
  • Do y’all realize how special what Alex Ovechkin is doing right now is? Take a mental picture, note, whatever you can to remember this time. What an absolute worldwide, historical, sporting legend.
  • Caps penalty kill was awful. Pretty simple and why they didn’t outright win this one in regulation.
  • Braden, what on earth was that? Play the puck up the boards, bud.
  • First career shootout attempt for Jakub Vrana was no biggie. Winner, winner, chicken dinner.

The Caps are back home tomorrow night to see the young, upstart Buffalo Sabres. Pheonix Copley will surely be your netminder and it will be his job to stop Jeff Skinner, Jack Eichel, and their buddies.

Full RMNB Coverage of Caps at Hurricanes

Headline photo: NBC Sports Washington

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