The Washington Capitals have finally returned home to Capital One Arena, and their first game back was a qualified triumph over the New York Rangers.
The game kicked off quickly with a goal from Chris Kreider in the first 21 seconds. The Capitals looked sleepy as heck. But, Nicklas Backstrom saved the day with a goal late in the period. Only 21 seconds after that (a theme here), Michal Kempny scored a five-hole from the slot and gave the Capitals a 2-1 lead.
Tom Wilson scored his third power play goal of the season, but Brady Skjei scored a weird one for the Rangers to finish the second period with the Capitals up 3-2.
Once again, a quick goal from the Rangers tied the score at 3-3. Nic Dowd clearly didn’t want to lose this game, so he scored his sixth goal of the season. This was a game for those named Nick/Nic because Nicklas Backstrom tallied his second of the game for the boys in red. The Rangers tied it 5-5 with a couple goals to bring the game to overtime.
A final goal from Evgeny Kuznetsov in overtime secured two points for the Capitals. To be honest, the goal might have been from Ovechkin….but as Kuzy said after the game, “It doesn’t matter”.
Caps win 6-5 (OT).
- Nicklas Backstrom scored his 14th and 15th goals of the season. He is second on the team in points this year with 15 goals and 43 assists.
- The third line is hot lately. Recording an assist on the Kempny goal, Andre Burakovsky has three points (1g, 2a) in his last four games. Do you still think they’re trading him tomorrow?
- Evgeny Kuznetsov had another uneven game on defense. On ice and at fault for the Kreider and Skjei goals, Kuznetsov really needs to improve his play without the puck before the playoffs begin.
On the Skjei goal, Ovechkin and Kuznetsov both do lazy stick checks high in the zone that accomplish nothing except removing themselves from the play. Is this something they’re coached to do? Maybe this is okay when ONE of them is being opportunistic, but both of them? Yechhh. pic.twitter.com/gSwCF8RTCU
— Good Tweet Pete 🌮 (@peterhassett) February 24, 2019
- Yes, pretty crazy to see the Capitals score twice in 21 seconds after giving up that first goal to the Rangers. But, that’s still not the fastest. It’s actually one second shy of the fastest back-to-back goals the Caps have had this season (20 seconds, February 18 at Los Angeles).
- Nick Jensen looked great today, both play-wise and face-wise. Today was Jensen and Carl Hagelin’s debut at Capital One Arena.
- Tom Wilson scored his 17th goal of the season, which is his career high in goals. It was also his third power play goal of the season. Not everyone was exactly thrilled with the goal:
When Tom Wilson scores on you pic.twitter.com/pPpFSvK58B
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) February 24, 2019
- Speaking of Tom Wilson, he was operating at near-peak Tom Wilson levels. He scored the big power-play goal in the bullet above (a rare one for the team’s ice cold PP2 unit), forcing Henrik Lundqvist to acknowledge his inferior handsomeness levels in a head-to-head battle. Wilson had a chip on his shoulder all game, but it came to a head in the third when he got wrapped up in some drama after a questionable Matt Niskanen hit.
- Classically handsome guys on the mic this afternoon:
Finalllyyyyyyyyyyyy
Joe B and Locker
have come back
to DC#JoeBSuitOfTheNight pic.twitter.com/yZ9kWy4397— Good Tweet Pete 🌮 (@peterhassett) February 24, 2019
What a game to welcome the Capitals back home to D.C. Time for the boys to get some rest, we’ll see you all on Tuesday when the Capitals host the Ottawa Senators.
Full RMNB Coverage of Caps vs Rangers
Headline photo: Patrick McDermott
