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A whole lot of self sabotage: Wild beat Capitals 3-2 (SO)

By Chris Cerullo

 2 Comments

January 8, 2022 10:56 pm

The Washington Capitals had an opportunity to bounce back from a bad loss in St. Louis the night prior. Could they do that or would the Wild just send them to the start of a losing streak?

Nada in the first period goals wise. Connor McMichael tipped home a Nick Jensen point drive to open the scoring. Evgeny Kuznetsov…get this…blasted home a slapper on a power play to double the lead.

Carl Hagelin put the puck into his own empty net with a delayed call coming against the Wild. I cant describe to you the full scope of that. Mats Zuccarello actually scored against Zach Fucale with less than a minute left to force overtime. To a shootout we headed.

  • Zuccarello did NOT put the biscuit in the basket
  • Kuznetsov did NOT put the biscuit in the basket
  • Fiala put the biscuit in the basket
  • Sprong did NOT put the biscuit in the basket
  • Gaudreau put the biscuit in the basket

Wild beat Capitals 3-2.

  • The first period was pretty even. The Wild are missing like 27 players though so it should probably not have been even. I thought the Caps were getting into better areas but the decision making sucked. The power play attempt in the first also made me want to never watch hockey again but that’s nothing new with that thing.
  • Zach Fucale set the franchise record for the longest streak without allowing a goal to start their Caps career in this game, jumping over Cristobal Huet’s 80:36 mark that he set in 2008. That was a really fun season.
  • After 3:43 of the second period he now actually owns the full-on NHL record for longest career-opening shutout stretch. Matt Hackett of the Wild previously held the record after 102:48 of his career.

  • Carl Hagelin scored on his own empty net with the goaltender pulled for a delayed penalty call. That’s enough of a summary for the period and for Hagelin’s season on this team.
  • A gong rang in Xcel Energy Center to begin the second period and almost immediately after the NBC Sports Washington feed went dark and I’m just very disappointed The Undertaker didn’t appear to drop the puck at center ice.
  • Connor McMichael scored a goal which is lovely whenever it happens. It’s nice when he gets to play hockey.
  • Happy birthday to Capitals owner, Ted Leonsis!

  • The passing in this game was some of the worst I can remember in a long while. I don’t know if they just didn’t like the ice or what but the number of passes to absolutely no one or directly to the other team were countless. It made me an incredibly cranky viewer.
  • Evgeny Kuznetsov may have scored directly off a draw with a great shot but this power play is still mind-numbingly terrible. I don’t want to watch the game anymore when they’re out there. They stand still and throw the puck at each other’s ankles for two minutes. It would be literal torture for me to be forced to watch it on repeat.
  • I mean…how do you go away from Zach Fucale again after that 47-save streak and especially that OT save? The late goal against was probably one he wants back but he was fantastic for the rest of regulation.

The almost always annoying Boston Bruins visit the Caps in DC next on Monday. Let’s hope the Caps try and score on themselves less in that game.

Headline photo: @mirrorvisor/Twitter

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