The Washington Capitals and Vancouver Canucks gave us a hotly contested goalie duel on Saturday afternoon, which is a polite way of saying I wanted more goals and wild stuff to happen.
Jakub Vrana gave us an early, lonely goal, but Elias Pettersson answered on the power play to tie it up in the first period. The remainder of rego gave us no more goals as Markstrom and Holtby put on a clinic. The Caps got beaten down during overtime but got a few chances of their own before the buzzer. Those chances amounted to nothing, so here we go:
Shootout bullets:
- Oshie did not put the biscuit in the basket.
- Boeser did not put the biscuit in the basket.
- Kuznetsov did not put the biscuit in the basket.
- Pettersson did not put the biscuit in the basket.
- Ovechkin did not put the biscuit in the basket.
- Leivo did not put the biscuit in the basket.
- Vrana did not put the biscuit in the basket.
- Miller did not put the biscuit in the basket.
- Eller did not the biscuit in the basket, though we needed a replay to confirm it.
- Virtanen did not put the biscuit in the basket.
- Gaudette did not put the biscuit in the basket.
- Carlson did not put the biscuit in the basket.
- Pearson did not put the biscuit in the basket.
- Orlov did not put the biscuit in the basket.
- Horvat put the biscuit in the basket.
Caps lose in the shootout.
- With his 11th goal of the season, it’s officially time for the rest of the hockey world to start pumping Jakub Vrana‘s tires. He’s really something special. He’s probably been Washington’s best forward so far. He threatened the net a few times today, but, ya know: goalie duel.
- Due to various injuries, the Caps lacked the services of Nic Dowd, Nicklas Backstrom, and Carl Hagelin. Dowd and Backstrom should both be back next week, plus Hathaway will be coming off suspension soon. If this is a lull in the team’s performance, it hasn’t been so bad– and it’ll be over soon anyway,
- Unfortunately, we were all denied a game from Jay Beagle, who seems to have a hip injury of some sort. Beagle’s been something of an anchor on possession this season, and yet…
- …The Caps out-shot the Canucks until halfway through the third period. That this game was not a runaway is to the singular credit of Vancouver goalie Jacob Markstrom, who Donya had in fantasy today, in addition to Holtby. So good on Donya. Bummer for, uh, people who like goals.
- Alex Edler left after the first period, after possibly catching Travis Boyd’s skate blade. Yikes.
Nice work by the @Sportsnet broadcast crew to identify a collision between Edler and Caps forward Travis Boyd, in which Edler may have been cut by a skate blade: pic.twitter.com/ZyAAfkXBuI
— Thomas Drance (@ThomasDrance) November 23, 2019
- Sure seemed to me like the ice sucked in Capital One Arena today. Kuznetsov blew some passes uncharacteristically, and the puck tumbled away from plays on a few occasions. That might have been a factor in the goalies getting good numbers.
- The Caps got totally wrecked during overtime. Maybe don’t go to overtime so much. By my math, this is the three billionth time they’ve gone beyond regulation this season. Big facts.
Lavender tie for the Caps' Hockey Fights Cancer game. Bid for it here: https://t.co/RgZb2FgoKo #JoeBSuitOfTheNight #CapsNucks pic.twitter.com/UQW2woHo8j
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) November 23, 2019
Today is Hockey Fights Cancer day in the NHL. For lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of people, the event hits close to home. If you, like me, are one of those people, supporting private charities and raising awareness are noble acts. More investment — massive, concerted, public investment — is needed to detect cancers early, to make treatment available, and to find the cures that the world needs. Maybe that is something to think about next time you’re in a booth of any kind with a list of names in front of you.
Full RMNB Coverage of Caps vs Canucks
Headline photo: Katie
