For the second straight game, the Washington Capitals played one good period out of three. Except this time that was enough to fend off the Los Angeles Kings.
After a scoreless first, in which the score was nonetheless 0-0, Sean Durzi caught a pass from below the goal line to make it 1-0 early in the second. Phillip Danault doubled that lead by tapping in a lateral pass.
Things got better. Nic Dowd gave the Caps a breath of life early in the third, scoring after Snively’s whiff and through a screen. Under a minute later, John Carlson scored a rush goal to tie it up. Lars Eller finished a gritty shift with a one-timer from the slot to give Washington a lead that did not last long. On a breakaway, Trevor Moore fed Viktor Arvidsson to tie it up again. But Marcus Johansson gave Washington their final lead with a classic Marcus wraparound goal with five minutes left.
Caps win!
- Dylan Strome got Washington’s best chance of the first forty minutes with two up-close shots on LA goalie Jonathan Quick. By the third period, Peter Laviolette had swapped Strome with Evgeny Kuznetsov as first-line center. I don’t know if it worked– still precious little from Ovechkin.
- Speaking of Kuzy: After serving a one-game suspension for a high stick, Evgeny Kuznetsov returned by doing another high stick. JK though, it was a total softie call that I think was maybe a bit engineer by Adrian Kempe.
- The Caps had three power-play opportunities in the first forty minutes, generating six shots on goal in total. I don’t think those are terrible numbers, so I could buy that they were maybe a bit unlucky. I’m trying to be generous
- Meanwhile, Tom Gulitti pointed out that through the first two periods the Caps had not had a five-on-five goal in five periods. Did I say that in a confusing way? Is that a sentence I should rewrite for better clarity? The Caps had gone five periods without a five-on-five goal as of period two of this game? I dunno. I’m not changing it because I want my writing about Caps hockey to share experiential qualities with watching Caps hockey. That slump ended early in the third as the Caps scored four goals.
- Though I dunno if Lars Eller‘s goal should count as five-on-five. Eller ripped Blake Lizotte’s helmet off, which forced him to leave the ice immediately. The Kings weren’t really back to full strength by the time Eller scored. I’m not saying it’s cheating. It kind of rocks. Just not real five-on-five rocking.
- Why does John Carlson do this? If you’re the last guy back, this is reckless.
3-3 THANKS TO 33 #GoKingsGo pic.twitter.com/vFy4nWHnzb
— LA Kings (@LAKings) October 23, 2022
- Viktor Arvidsson‘s line got all three goals tonight. They didn’t dominate the flow of play against their main matchups (especially Carlson); they just converted all their chances.
- Aliaksei Protas, whose name I spelled correctly without looking it up, ate it on a rush play late in the third. It seems like Capital One Arena’s ice was the only contributor to the fall.
- Off-ice note: I really don’t enjoy the digital ads on the boards. I’m fine if they’re inserted digitally, but the animation and changes during plays are disruptive to the watcher, and that’s like the cardinal sin of presenting a sport. To send the message, I say we organize a consumer protest against Raytheon. As of right now, I am no longer using Raytheon as my preferred military-grade weapons provider. Me and my entire munitions budget are moving across the street to a war profiteer that doesn’t fractionally annoy me during hockey games. Who is with me?!
- The Caps scratched Connor McMichael. This is fine overall, but they really need to get him some playing time. I don’t mind him not playing here; I mind him not playing at all.
#joebsuitofthenight pic.twitter.com/6rmyGg1Etq
— Peter Hassett (@peterhassett) October 22, 2022
I hate how the Capitals have played so far this season. I’m glad they dug deep and played so much better late in this one, but these early games are about setting standards as much as grabbing standings points. Sure, I had a good time for twenty minutes, but I have powerfully disliked watching 66.66666 percent of the team’s last two games.
Headline photo: @PuckBuddys
