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Western sweep: Caps beat Ducks 3-2

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The Caps are on a roll and brought their thundering train pace into Anaheim to take on the Ducks in what is the last game of this Californian swing.

Travis Boyd cashed in from an incredibly sharp angle to kick things off. Evgeny Kuznetsov fired home on a power play in the second and Ryan Getzlaf capitalized on a turnover to get the Ducks off the snide. Adam Henrique tied things at two very early in the third. Jakub Vrana moments later restored the Caps lead.

Caps beat Ducks 3-2!

  • The Caps looked great again up until right after they scored. Things fell to pieces a bit in the minutes after and the Ducks were definitely in control of the game heading into the first intermission. The first line in particular was noticeably terrible. Separate 8 and 92 very soon, please.
  • By all accounts the most recent notable Caps roster move, the trade of Chandler Stephenson, could have potentially seen Travis Boyd making the move to Vegas instead. Boyd earned his way out of that deal with the offense he has provided in very limited minutes this season. We saw that offense on display Friday night, as he beat Ryan Miller from no angle to get the scoring underway.
  • I’ve always found the “water bug” description of NHL players to be a little weird, but after watching Brendan Leipsic for 30 games this season…I finally get it. It’s like the dude teleports up ice with the puck sometimes. Love it, but don’t love his turnover that led to the Getzlaf goal.
  • How was there like absolutely zero mention of interference with the Radkos Gudas hip check on Nick Ritchie? And how exactly did the refs miss that one? I’m sure Radko had no ill intention, but like…you cant do that, y’all.

  • The Caps started the second somewhat decent again, but then let some dumb rough stuff screw up their groove. After the dust cleared, the Ducks took the game over and carved the Caps defense up multiple times. Braden Holtby and some luck were the only things that kept the Caps in the lead after 40 minutes. Maybe some tired legs coming into effect on this long road trip, but man the boys sure looked structureless.
  • We got our first Garnet Hathaway, Erik Gudbranson collision in the second. It ended before it started as the linesmen broke it up and the refs handed out two ten minute misconducts to both players as well as an unsportsmanlike minor to Gudbranson. That officiating smells of the league getting involved before this game ever began.
  • Notice how none of the Ducks challenged Tom Wilson to a fight? As the ever eloquent entrance music of AJ Styles states, “They don’t want none.”
  • The pairing of Gudas and Jonas Siegenthaler shared the ice at five-on-five a lot with the Caps first line. Gudas in particular has caught my eye as being rather bad or at least “uneven” of late. They also shared absolutely miserable numbers on the night, getting hemmed in their own zone pretty much the entire game. As said previously, the Caps coaching brass needs to get Ovechkin away from Kuznetsov. Save us, Nicky.

  • The third period featured the scheduled fight everyone knew was coming. It was entirely uneventful and pointless. Caps win, it wasn’t pretty. Win is a win.
  • Jakub Vrana‘s 15 goals on the season have all come at even strength. That is now tied for the league lead in that category with Brad Marchand and Leon Draisaitl.
  • A lot of Western Conference fans do not like the Anaheim Ducks. I understand this very much now. And this is WITHOUT Corey Perry.
  • Yo, I know that isn’t Boba Fett at the end of the most recent Mandalorian episode even with the clinky-jingley spur sound effect, but what if he really isn’t dead and shows up later? That would be rad.

The Caps next fixture is a home one against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Most importantly that night is also the RMNB 10th anniversary party!

Full RMNB Coverage of Caps at Ducks

Headline photo: NBC Sports Washington

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