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Jakub Vrana scores twice, including overtime game-winning goal, after getting benched by Peter Laviolette again

By Ian Oland

 10 Comments

March 9, 2021 11:05 pm

Peter Laviolette does not give Jakub Vrana a lot of ice time, yet on Tuesday, V bailed out coach once again.

Vrana scored twice, including the overtime game-winning goal, after being benched for almost the entire third period.

This is becoming a story that’s repeating itself.

Goal 1

The Snek scored his first goal of the game in the second period to give the Capitals a 2-0 lead. After some masterful possession by the second line, John Carlson found Vrana wide open on the right wing for a stunning one-timer goal.

Goal 2

After the Capitals gave up a 4-1 lead in the third period, Vrana saved the boys in overtime, taking a pass from Evgeny Kuznetsov and scoring on his forehand on a semi-breakaway. 5-4. The Capitals win!

On the night, the second line (Vrana, 2g; Sprong, 1g; Kuznetsov, 2a) scored three of the Capitals’ five goals on the evening. Per the Capitals PR, Vrana has recorded seven points (5g, 2a) in his last six games. Vrana’s 18 points (10g, 8a) rank tied for third on the team and his 10 goals are tied with Nicklas Backstrom for the team lead.

But that’s not where this story ends.

Vrana rode the pine and skated only 1:47 in the third period after Laviolette benched him for the second time in a 10-day span.

Vrana appears to have caught Laviolette’s ire on a third-period goal by Miles Wood, which made it 4-2. Kuznetsov and Vrana went for a shift change while the Devils pressed up the ice, leaving Richard Panik, who was coming onto the ice, helpless to guard Wood down the wing for a layup.

“We just stopped playing,” Laviolette said. “We went out in the third period and didn’t play with the same zip that we needed to that we played =in the previous two periods. It was just a lot of errors to be honest with you from mishandling pucks, to not executing with pucks, to penalities, to line changes. Just a bunch of things. Some bad defense tied in there as well.”

But Laviolette didn’t bench Brenden Dillon (gave up Egor Sharangovich goal) or Vitek Vanecek or the fourth line. Laviolette benched Vrana, Kuznetsov, and Daniel Sprong in what appears to be selective punishment.

This is what makes Vrana’s reaction after he scored the game-winning overtime goal all the more interesting. After putting the puck in the net, Vrana didn’t celebrate. He stared at someone on the bench. Sprong, noticing what was happening, grabbed Vrana by his neck to turn his focus to the goal hug.

It’s unclear if this was a joke or serious. I don’t know if there’s *something* here here. You be the judge.

But it’d be understandable if Vrana is frustrated. Throughout his career, Vrana’s been benched by coaches in Washington, the Hershey Bears, and the Czech National Team. While Vrana ranks fifth in the NHL in even-strength goals (10), he also is first in another not-so-great stat.

What do you think is going on?

RMNB Coverage of Caps vs Devils

Screenshot courtesy of NBC Sports Washington

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