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For TJ: Caps beat Canes 6-0!

By Peter Hassett

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April 20, 2019 10:59 pm

Whatever the Washington Capitals needed to do after two tough road losses, they sure did it. High-energy and high-scoring, the Caps blazed their way to an early lead and added to it whenever they felt like it. It was a beautiful thing.

Nicklas Backstrom kicked things off right with a power-play goal, his third game-opening goal of the postseason. The second period was all Carolina, except for the goal-scoring part, which was all Caps: with Nicky getting his second of the game, and then Alex Ovechkin setting up Brett Connolly for a big goal to make it 3-0 after forty minutes.

Tom Wilson got a dirty goal on a power play early in the third period to make it a blowout. Then Nic Dowd big-brained Petr Mrazek on a penalty shot, then Alex Ovechkin got a power-play goal on a set play.

Caps win! Caps lead the series 3-2.

Turn it up. Nothing is forbidden anymore.

  • Nicklas Backstrom opened up scoring in Game One. Then again in Game Two. Then he took two games off, but here he comes again with Game Five. Adding his momentum-shifting rush goal in the second period, and all of a sudden it’s clear who has been Washington’s MVP so far.
  • Backstrom’s second goal could not have happened without the oppositional assist of Carolina’s Warren Foegele. You might remember Foegele as the fella who boarded TJ Oshie out of the playoffs last game. This is the right way to get revenge: on the scoreboard. (Although a big clean hit from Ovi wasn’t bad either.)
  • I adore this video of the Dowd penalty shot. I had no idea what or how Dowd would handle his chance, but I sure did like it.

  • Tom Wilson probably didn’t elbow Greg McKegg. But Evgeny Kuznetsov really did high-stick Calvin de Haan on the follow-through on his funky open-ice hit. McKegg and de Haan both came back, but every player on that team seems liable to get hurt at any moment, and I hope their insurance adjuster is on the case.
  • Carolina sure had a lot of opportunities to score on the power play. Aside from Carlson’s goalie interference, I was mostly okay with the calls, and the Canes failure to convert or even generate good chances was a huge boon for the Caps, especially as the tide shifted late in the second period.
  • To that point, congrats to Brett Connolly for finally getting involved in the scoring. The third line had been clicking all night, but it was a shift with Ovechkin that got Connolly on the board with a weird no-icing call and an excellent pass from below the goal line.
  • Once the game hit laugher territory, the Capital One Arena crowd broke out into a chant of “TJ Oshie!” I don’t have anything to say about this except that I adore this family of fans we’ve got.
  • Welcome back to the NHL, Devante Smith-Pelly. He didn’t hit the scoreboard, but he was on-ice for one of Backstrom’s goals (see the hug at top!), he laid out some big hits, and got a few looks at the Carolina net. He was great. I’m so glad he’s in DC again.

Because of a travesty in NBC Sports programming, there was no Joe B at this game, so please accept this pic of Bob and some handsome boys.

Braden Holtby, my all-time favorite Caps player, has recorded his fourth shutout of the season and his first playoffs shutout since the back-to-back ones that eliminated Tampa in May of 2018. Holtby was in peak form on Saturday night – restrained in movement, but quick when he needed to be. The defense in front of him was damn good too, but Holtby was flawless. Literally.

Monday. 7 PM. Raleigh. Washington will have the chance to end Carolina’s season. The Canes will be the ones wearing black, dressed like they’re going to a funeral.

Let’s go.

Full RMNB Coverage of Game Five

Headline photo: Patrick McDermott

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