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This rivalry keeps getting better: Caps beat Canes 4-3

By Peter Hassett

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January 3, 2020 10:08 pm

The Washington Capitals played a darn fun game of hockey against the hosting Carolina Hurricanes on Friday night. This rivalry gets better every time.

After a scoreless first period, the Caps made progress int he second. First, Richard Panik got a funky goal up front, then Evgeny Kuznetsov got a lovely layup after John Carlson faked a shot during a power play.

Jordan Staal ended Samsonov’s shutout bid early in the third period. Lars Eller extended Washington’s lead with a rebound off Ovechkin’s slapshot. Jakub Vrana finished off a good drive to score for the first time in a while. Teuvo Teravainen and Ryan Dzingel responded with two power-play goals to make it 4-3. It was close, but the Caps held on.

Caps win!

  • Chris Cerullo was supposed to have recap duty, but he bailed at the last second. Frankly, he missed out. This was a fun game.
  • Nic Dowd got assessed a ten-minute game misconduct for chucking Andrei Svechnikov‘s stick over the glass at the end of the first period. I loved it. I know it was technically bad for the Caps, but it was so goofy, and it didn’t cost the team goals, so I loved it.
  • The Capitals got outplayed in the first period, but they fought back in the second, putting up 65 percent of the expected goals and 100 percent of the actual goals (two to none). The third period saw the Canes make a serious push late, which was exhilarating but frustrating.
  • After a slow start, it’s been fun to see Richard Panik pick up the pace.

  • Some people will say that Evgeny Kuznetsov has played great since he shaved his beard last week, but really he’s been playing great ever since I thrashed him in that article last week.
  • Jakub Vrana scored his first goal since December 6 —  ten games ago. He got a nice assist from Kuznetsov, who has never done anything wrong in his life.
  • Some good PK work early, which partially made up for the Caps still being really bad with discipline. The Samsonov dive penalty was ridiculous, but everything else seemed fair to me. This really needs some attention from the Todd Squad.
  • With the starter struggling, it’s been a delight to watch Ilya Samsonov play so well. Despite some dangerous attack from the Canes, Sammy was excellent– and he looked like he was having fun too.

If every game in 2020 is as silly and entertaining and intense as this one, it’s gonna be a good year. If that and also if there’s no war.

See you Sunday for one of those matinee games you all love so much. The San Jose Wife Guys  are coming to town.

Full RMNB Coverage of Caps at Hurricanes

Headline photo: Fox Sports

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