After a trillion days off, the Washington Capitals played their first game since the late eighties, beating the New Jersey Devils in a stifled but successful outing.
Someone named Nick Merkley scored the first goal of the game after Vitek Vanecek served up a massive giveaway. No worries though, as Dmitry Orlov 🇷🇺 pinged a goal off the far post two minutes later. Miles Wood restored the Devils lead with a zero-angle goal, but Alex Ovechkin 🇷🇺 put them back in a tie less than a minute later. Evgeny Kuznetsov’s 🇷🇺 fourth of the season gave the Caps a bit later.
After a somewhat soft call on Nick Jensen in the third period, Jesper Bratt tied the game on a Devils power play. Once last time, the Capitals responded promptly, with Kuznetsov recording the game winner and his second goal of the night with a tip-in up front.
Caps win!
- Daniel Sprong had a heckuva game. I’m not sure if he’ll ultimately get credit for setting up Kuznetsov’s first goal, but regardless he helped make three goals happen. He’s not leaving the lineup any time soon.
- Alex Ovechkin has been so hot lately. After a relatively quiet start, he’s had seven goals in his last seven games, including number 721 on Thursday night: an even-strength version of an Ovi Shot from the Ovi Spot.
- With Lars Eller out, TJ Oshie‘s been doing some duty all around the middle six. I’m not exactly sure how yet to describe that duty though, but I’d agree he’s been “stabilizing” or whatever.
- Old friend from out of town: Minnesota Wildperson Marcus Johansson scored his first goal since January after a mondo setup from Kevin Fiala. Johansson had missed 18 of the last 20 games.
Marcus Johansson is back. What a sequence between him and Fiala. 1-0 Wild #mnwild pic.twitter.com/6EX0c7iFf4
— Spoked Z (@SpokedZ) March 26, 2021
- After the Tim Peel incident, I thought I’d comment on the officiating in this one, but William did it better than I ever could.
I guess I’d be more upset about that incredibly weak call if the #Caps hadn’t gotten away with two crystal clear high-sticking penalties so far tonight.
— William Stilwell (@LoudGoat) March 26, 2021
- Kinda wild that Evgeny Kuznetsov only has five goals this season. I hereby acknowledge that JP over at The Rink was right that Ovi/Kuzy is the better top-line, insofar at least as it’s way less boring. He was great tonight.
- The Caps scored 1:47 after the Devils’ first goal, 55 seconds after their second, and 1:02 after their third. Timely goals mean a lot when you’re
- After bailing out his team for weeks, rookie goalie Vitek Vanecek had a crummy start. He hand-delivered the opening goal to Merkley and failed to lock down the near post on the Wood goal. He had to scramble a bit to make some big saves late in the third, but he delivered in the end.
- Jakub Vrana got benched again in the third period. He and Panik took one shift early in the period, and then they got stapled to the bench until the ten-minute mark. I’d love to find out what’s going on there. I still think he’s the kinda player you invest in; he needs more opportunities.
#JoeBSuitOfTheNight #CapsDevils Navy blue checkers with a purple tie @JoeBpXp pic.twitter.com/4yujaleBbp
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) March 25, 2021
RIP Jessica Walter, one of the funniest humans ever. I’d include an Archer clip here but NONE of them were family friendly. Embed your fave in comments.
After taking so many days off, there’s no rest for the winners. The Caps will host the Devils again on Friday night. See you back here real soon.
RMNB Coverage of Caps vs Devils
Screenshot courtesy of NBC Sports Washington
