The Washington Capitals fell to the Vancouver Canucks in a subdued Sunday afternoon game.
Alex Ovechkin opened up scoring with an Ovi Shot from the Ovi Spot, but then Elias Pettersen scored twice (once on the power play, once at evens) to put Vancouver in control. A late-second-period power play goal from Bo Horvat made it 3-1 entering the third period.
The Caps converted their second (!!!) power play of the day early in the third with Tom Wilson in the middle-man spot. A late-game too-many-men penalty kinda snuffed Washington’s comeback bid. The Canucks secured an empty-netter and that was that.
Caps lose.
- The Vancouver Canucks commanded play overall. They doubled up Washington in five-on-five attempts in the first period, and they seemed to get lots of second and third chances on their attacks. The Caps got better as they grew more desperate but this was not one of their better outings at even strength.
- With John Carlson out on COVID protocol, Justin Schultz acted as setup man for Alex Ovechkin on the power play. Schultz gave Ovechkin two good looks before Ovechkin sunk the third. Whether that’s Schultz knowing the assignment or if it’s just the Canucks being the worst PK team in the league, I leave to you to decide.
- With Wilson’s PPG in the third period, the Caps have converted two power plays in a single game for the first time since October 27.
- Also on COVID protocol was power play coach Blaine Forsythe.
Garnet Hathaway blatantly elbows Tyler Motte in the face. Complete cheapshot. #Canucks pic.twitter.com/7tEFLdmpml
— Lachlan Irvine (@LachInTheCrease) January 16, 2022
- Prior to the game I ranted on the RMNB Discord in defense of the Hagelin-Dowd-Hathaway line. Naturally, they stunk today. Dowd got dominated on the faceoff dot, Garnet Hathaway committed a costly penalty then a very foolish one, and Hagelin was fine but I’m sure you goblins are gonna bring up the one rush attempt he didn’t score on, so yeah, okay. I wonder if Hathaway might face extra discipline for the elbow above.
- I’ve been exhausted by the goalie wheel since last April, and it continues to spin. After Vanecek’s shutout, Samsonov left a bit to be desired, though I don’t want to discount how much Bruce’s Canucks challenged him though. This was a much tougher goalie-game than Saturday’s Islanders outing.
ah yes, @JoeBpXp
the color
*squints*
…blurple?#joebsuitofthenight pic.twitter.com/G141ACELjY— Peter Hassett (@peterhassett) January 16, 2022
So, not a great game, but we got an Ovi goal out of it.
The Winnipeg Jets are coming to town on Tuesday I hear. I’ve been skeptical that this game will actually happen, but all signs point to a Nate Schmidt reunion. He’s with the Jets, right? And I trust they’ve been insulated from COVID due to lack of parks. See you then.
Headline photo: @kristin0770
