The Washington Capitals have lost six straight at home and to snap that streak they’d need to take a piece out of the East-leading Carolina Hurricanes. A tough task for any team let alone a struggling one.
Evgeny Kuznetsov slung a wrist shot past a screened Freddy Andersen to give the Caps a first-period lead. Martin Fehervary finished off a fantastic shift from the “fourth” line to double the lead. Alex Ovechkin added a one-time blast from his office to the proceedings.
Dmitry Orlov with the cherry on top. Vitek Vanecek shutout.
Capitals beat Hurricanes 4-0!
- That first period felt like the best period the Caps have played in months. They really took it to one of the NHL’s top teams and even got on the board on a power play against a penalty kill that has hovered around 90-percent effectiveness this season. The level of jump they had would make Kriss Kross proud.
- Really nice to see Anthony Mantha back. His presence in the lineup just evens out the forward group and gives the Caps a true second line for the first time since really he went out injured in November. It’s gonna take some time to get used to his invisible hockey stick again though.
- I have to say although the national ESPN broadcasts have their certain faults…such as the insanity that was the 567 Ryan Reaves mentions in a game where he played like seven total minutes…I enjoy them a lot more than the robotic, formulaic garbage NBC was putting out towards the end of their ownership of the TV rights.
#canucks pic.twitter.com/U5guv5fXDr
— Jen (@NHLhistorygirl) March 4, 2022
- The Canes were a bit better in the second but the Caps still had the majority of the play go in their favor and they added two goals to their lead. They found back-to-back great periods in a game which is something they have had a ton of trouble with recently. So very encouraging to see they can still pull forty minutes like that out of their back pocket.
- The second goal of the game came off of Martin Fehervary‘s stick and boy does it feel like he really needed that one. It was created from fantastic work by the Nic Dowd line which feels like a sentence that has been on repeat for the last three months. It’s only one game but Conor Sheary looks like he’s blended in perfectly filling in for the injured Carl Hagelin.
- An Alex Ovechkin one-time blast from his office hits the back of the net? I could live off of the feeling of watching that go in alone. That was number 763 for Ovi and he’s now only four away from passing Jaromir Jagr for third in NHL history.
- Two power-play goals just in general? What a…coup! Could that unit really be turning around? They’ve clearly been better as of late and the emphasis on getting more shots to the net and traffic in front of that net seems to be working.
bada boom pic.twitter.com/vuCfFbMh2c
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) March 4, 2022
- The Caps full on turtled in the third but who really cares. You don’t love to see that but hey…it worked tonight. Luckily a certain dude was very, very good in net.
- And that dude is named Vitek Vanecek. Third shutout of the season for Vanecek as he slays the home regulation losing streak. He’s gotta be “the guy” the rest of this season.
- Really cool to see John Carlson rocking some Pride Tape on his stick during the game tonight. Hope everyone in attendance at Pride Night had a great time!
No Joe B so here’s your Peter Laviolette suit of the night.
Lavi update: pic.twitter.com/rZgLl0BKb2
— Ted Starkey (@TedStarkey) March 4, 2022
Next up for the Caps, the Seattle Kraken will be in town for the first time in their franchise history. A couple of Washingtons doing battle.
Headline photo: Phil Owen
