Merry Clinchmas, fam. The Washington Capitals faced off against a tricky Carolina Hurricanes team and snagged the win to clinch a playoff spot.
The scoring began in the first period with a goal from Nino Niederreiter. Brett Connolly answered with a gorgeous goal, continuing to make it very clear that he’s going to get pa-a-aid in his next contract.
Second period scoring kicked off with a slick goal from Warren Foegele to bring the Canes up 2-1. The first penalty of the game happened and the Capitals got a chance on the power play. It was a mess, you don’t need to worry about it.
A quick goal from Jakub Vrana tied the game up 2-2. Nic Dowd saved the day and scored his first goal in 13 games. We called it.
Caps beat Canes 3-2. PLAYOFFS.
- The best highlight of the night comes from a moment during warm-ups. Tom Wilson and Jakub Vrana gave their sticks to fan who held a sign saying they ‘skipped chemo’ for the game. Such an awesome moment to see.
- No seriously, that Brett Connolly goal was amazing. Connolly now has 22 goals this season. His two-year, $1.5 million AAV contract expires this summer soooooo cheers to that big fat paycheck in his future.
- Another very good goal? It came in the second period from Warren Foegele.
Gettin’ Foegele wit it pic.twitter.com/SLTD1n2Lek
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) March 29, 2019
- Dmitry Orlov and Matt Niskanen have been a meh-tier defensive pair this season, but they were pretty solid against the Aho line. They did get scored on, but Peter insists the other stuff matters because he’s convinced the Caps and Canes will play in the playoffs.
- Jakub Vrana scored his 23rd goal of the season. He’s tied with TJ Oshie for the second most goals on the team. He has two goals in his last three games.
- With the assist on the Vrana goal, Evgeny Kuznetsov is very close to reaching 50 assists this season. He only needs one more!
- Nic Dowd scored his seventh goal of the year! This is a new single season high for him (previously 6 as a member of the LA Kings, 2016-17).
- Don’t miss Peter’s quick statistical musing about Alex Ovechkin on the second power play unit.
now this is not a music video but it is a v v short statistical musing about Ovi on the 2nd PP unit pic.twitter.com/Jm98nmRrMT
— Good Tweet Pete 🌮 (@peterhassett) March 29, 2019
- The best game of the night wasn’t this one. From the out of-of-town scoreboard, the Blue Jackets are beating the Canadiens handily. HockeyViz says, with a win, CBJ’s playoff chances go up 20 percent and MTL’s down the same. It’s looking pretty certain who’s in the playoff bubble and who’s out.
- The guys are lookin’ extra sharp this evenin’:
clashing patterns I love it #JoeBSuitOfTheNight beat you @ianoland pic.twitter.com/stuvdIi97t
— Good Tweet Pete 🌮 (@peterhassett) March 28, 2019
Being honest, this is looking like it could be a possibility for a series playoffs and it would be extremely entertaining. We’ll see you on Saturday for another tricky match-up. The Capitals will be travelling down to pay another visit to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Clinch it up.
Full RMNB Coverage of Caps at Canes
Headline photo: Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images
