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Capitals get blasted out of the building by the Blues: Blues beat Capitals 5-1

By Chris Cerullo

 3 Comments

January 7, 2022 10:31 pm

After a handful of days off the Caps returned in St. Louis to take on the Blues in the first half of a road back-to-back. Would there be any rust or could the Caps immediately return to form?

Daniel Sprong put a laser past Ville Husso to open the scoring. Torey Krug snuck down into the offensive zone and fired home a wrister to tie the game. Pavel Buchnevich fired the Blues into the lead with a wicked wrister over Ilya Samsonov’s shoulder. Oskar Sundqvist, Ivan Barbashev, and Buchnevich all added to the hurting.

Blues beat Capitals 5-1.

  • Portions of the first period were great, the Caps were moving the puck and finding really good chances in tight on the St. Louis net. Really good pace to the game but Peter Laviolette probably isn’t happy with some of the defensive zone coverage. A breakdown in that coverage is what caused the Blues goal. The finishing was poor as well.
  • It’s always nice to see Daniel Sprong score because he rarely finds himself with a non-pretty goal. His wrist shot is just lethal and his goal in this game was his third in his last five games. Really nice find from Aliaksei Protas to set it up as well.
  • Can we talk about how the Caps make like sixteen roster moves what feels like every single day? Will this team ever have its full lineup on the ice this season? Probably not, right?

  • The second period was very, very bad on the scoreboard. The Blues scored three times on only six shots. I did not think Ilya Samsonov was good at all. Bad rebounds and just a couple of soft ones. He’s been trending in the wrong direction lately.
  • That buzzer-beater goal looked like a bunch of nine-year-olds learning how to skate. How many of your teammates can you run into at one time and how many dudes can trip over thin air at that same time?
  • Pavel Buchnevich is really good when he isn’t purposely cross-checking people in the face because he’s mad. The Rangers getting rid of him was idiotic. Can a team please make a stupid trade like that where the Caps are the benefactor?
  • You can really tell how tough it should have been for the Caps to keep winning earlier in the season with so many offensive pieces out. Alex Ovechkin was just on an otherworldly tear then and covered most of that up. Without that first line on the ice, it just feels like there is zero creativity out there. Would help if Connor McMichael wasn’t scratched or playing like max six minutes a game.

  • They did nothing in the third. The white flag was raised and that was probably the correct decision.
  • I thought Zach Fucale was fantastic in the third. He’d be getting the start for me tomorrow and is still probably deserving of a longer look. I’m just saying, that I’m just saying.
  • Power play still sucks. Who would have thought?

The Caps will get right back at it tomorrow night in Minnesota. Will we see Zach Fucale get another NHL start?

Screenshot courtesy of Bally Sports Midwest

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