The Washington Capitals defeated the New York Rangers in a game that people tuned into for one reason, but I hope they stuck around for another.
TJ Oshie, in his first game back from bereavement, scored in the first and second periods. Nic Dowd deflected John Carlson’s shot to make it 3-0 before the third period, where Alexis Larenfriere cracked the shutout.
Then TJ Oshie, for his dad, completed the hat trick with an empty-net goal. Morgan Barron added one for the Rangers in the final minute and change.
Caps win.
- I don’t think the New York Rangers showed up tonight intending to play hockey. One second after puck drop, there was a braaaaaawl. Three fights there, and they weren’t done.
- Less than a minute later was the main event. Tom Wilson fought Brendan Smith. Wilson bloodied his knuckles and later left the game with a reported upper-body injury.
- Pavel Buchnevich, the initial victim in Monday’s brawl, crosschecked Anthony Mantha in the face. It was a reckless move, Buchnevich was ejected, and he’ll almost certainly be suspended.
Intermission: There was a lot of violence in this game, and hockey violence has sorta been the topic of the week, so I just want to revisit my personal position: every headshot, whether intentional or not, should be punished. I’m thinking an automatic 10-minute misconduct, plus more if needed.
- During the second period, Zdeno Chara ambled over to the Rags bench and said… something. The refs didn’t like it and issued him a 10-minute misconduct for incitement. I love Zee so much.
- Vitek Vanecek had a shutout going until early in the third period, when he bobbled a rebound onto Alexis Lafreniere’s stick.
- By the time we got into the third period, all that wear-and-tear showed. Stuff settled down, and thank goodness.
a belated #joebsuitofthenight with a tasteful gray and orange sherbet number on @JoeBpXp pic.twitter.com/R6o8CpoBUk
— Good Tweet Pete (@peterhassett) May 6, 2021
This was supposed to be the Wilson revenge game, but I hope we will remember it for TJ Oshie, who, one game after his father’s passing, led his short-staffed team with two goals.
Oshie’s father Tim passed away this week after years of living with Alzheimers. It would be hard to know anything about Oshie without learning about his relationship with his father, whom TJ and everyone else called Coach. Coach raised a son of tremendous character. Coach would have loved this game.
I know we joke about it a lot, but TJ has really only ever stood for Tim Junior.
Rest in peace, Coach.
We’ll see you all Friday.
RMNB Coverage of Caps at Rangers
Screenshot courtesy of NBCSN
