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Caps beat Rangers 3-2 in Sunday shootout with a weird finish

By Peter Hassett

 7 Comments

March 3, 2019 3:13 pm

The Washington Capitals spent their Sunday afternoon in midtown Manhattan, playing an uneven game against the Rangers. There was a lot of good and new stuff in Washington’s game, but also way too much of the same old silliness.

The Caps – and tell me if you’ve heard this one before – allowed the game’s first goal in the first minute, with a defensive turnover setting up Ryan Strome. The third line responded with a goal from Carl Hagelin, his first for Washington. Halfway into the first period, Andre Burakovsky got the fourth line involved, turning a commanding carry-in into the go-ahead goal.

That lead disappeared late in the second period, when the Caps couldn’t beat Georgiev and then Pavel Buchnevich was left open. A tight third period gave us no decision, so off we went to overtime, which was bad for my hypertension and told us nothing new.

Shootout bullets!

  • Shattenkirk put the biscuit in the basket
  • Oshie put the biscuit in the basket
  • Zibanejad did NOT put the biscuit in the basket
  • Kuznetsov did NOT put the biscuit in the basket
  • Deangelo put the biscuit in the basket
  • Backstrom put the biscuit in the basket
  • Chytil did NOT put the biscuit in the basket
  • Ovechkin did NOT put the biscuit, but it counted anyway because Georgiev threw his stick, that’s…. I guess… how it ends?

Caps win.

  • Mike Vogel points out that the Caps have given up the game’s first goal in the first four minutes in five straight games. Some people will consider this a bad thing, but slow starts are actually a team tradition now. It’s heritage.
  • Andre Burakovsky got demoted to the fourth line but he didn’t miss a step. His goal in the first period was the platonic ideal of Burakovsky offense: confident carriage, outplaying his defense, fast release. He has two goals and two assists in his last five games.
  • In his fifth game as a Washington Capital, Carl Hagelin scored his first goal – against his former team, no less. Beyond the goal, it was a strong performance from the new guy. He was great on the PK, drawing a penalty at one point and threatening a shorthanded chance at another. I’m eager to see how Reirden modifies his usage going forward.
  • Michal Kempny almost probably certainly got his nose broke, but has fine, and yes that is a deliberate word choice.

  • The Caps dominated the second period. Shot attempts were 30 to 14 and scoring chances were 16 to 4, but the Rangers scores and the Caps didn’t. Alexandar Georgiev had a huge game in net for New York. He was the biggest reason why this wasn’t over in 60 minutes.
  • The MSG organist played “Baby Shark.” Now you know.

  • I did not love the performance out of the top line today. Kuznetsov had some chances, but the the Ovi line in general got outplayed by a weak opponent, and that might’ve been the difference.

Okay, well no Joe B suit today so let’s see what –

Ack

Lots to like in today’s effort – especially out of the deadline-decision players: Burakovsky, Hagelin, and Jensen. But the top forward line and top defensive pairing did not have a good outing — turning what should have been two easy points for a regulation win into something much more marginal. The stars need to be brighter.

Full RMNB Coverage of Caps at Rangers

Headline photo: Jared Silber

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