The Washington Capitals fell to the New York Rangers in a punishingly boring hockey game that I will now describe in the general direction of you.

Ryan Strome tipped a shot from Adam Fox to score in the first period. Anthony Bitetto danced around the Hagelin-Dowd-Hathaway line to score in the second period, but Carl Hagelin scored on accident later that same period.

Hagelin’s goal did not shift momentum. Strome capped off a two-on-one sequence to put the Caps back in their two-goal hole. Alex Ovechkin scored a ferocious goal off a faceoff to make it close down the stretch, but the Caps couldn’t catch up. Pavel Buchnevich got the empty-netter.

Caps lose.

• With a bazillion injuries and COVID absences, the Caps ran with 11 forwards and seven defenders.
• Just in case you’re tracking them: yes, Nic Dowd did a restraining penalty in the offensive zone. They never stop.
• As our hated foes over at Japers Rink observed, the Dowd line has been not great lately. Here’s how they “handled” Anthony Bitetto:

Oh hello @ABitetto7! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/J5KDFZPz4g

— NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) February 5, 2021

• Carl Hagelin has had a handful of golden chances to score this season as well as a goal that was called back recently, but he finally got on the scoreboard on Thursday. But he didn’t really take a shot; he just sorta crashed the net and the puck bounced off him. That’s the only way he’s allowed to score now.
• As bad and as boring as most of the team was, Alex Ovechkin was neither. He had a perfect chance on his very first shift of the game, and he finally scored on his seventh shot way later in the third period. He has now passed Mike Gartner.
• This is my obligatory bullet about referees being fallible humans. They missed an obvious dive in the first period, but let Hathaway get away with a dive in the second, and then called a dive in Washington’s favor in the third. I guess that’s fine. I dunno.
• Jakub Vrana rang the post during a four-on-four in the third period. He looked gutted by it when he got back to the bench. After a hot start, he’s having a rough go.

#JoeBSuitOfTheNight From the Bethesda studio for Caps-Rangers pic.twitter.com/B6RVJXLxvl

— Ian Oland (@ianoland) February 4, 2021

Late in tonight’s game learned that the Colorado Avalanche will shut down for at least a week, joining the billion other teams having COVID-related setbacks. Earlier today I wrote about how the league’s safety protocols are failing and its messaging is just plain hypocritical. I’m not proven wrong just yet. I sure hope Ralph Krueger gets well soon.

Anyway, that game was a dud. See you Sunday for the Flyers.

RMNB Coverage of Caps at Rangers

Screenshot courtesy of NBC Sports Washington