The Washington Capitals made their second-ever visit to the beautiful Climate Pledge Arena to take on the Seattle Kraken on Thursday. The former Cap-filled Kraken are red hot but could the current Caps throw some ice water on that flame?
Martin Fehervary slammed the Caps into the lead with his second goal in as many games. Conor Sheary doubled that lead on a power play some minutes later. Jaden Schwartz got the Kraken into the game with a power play goal of his own in the second.
Yanni Gourde pots the late equalizer. Matty Beniers overtime winner.
Kraken beat Capitals 3-2.
- The first period was a weird one. The Kraken had a whole lot more of the puck but didn’t create much of anything that really threatened Darcy Kuemper in the Capitals’ net. On the other hand, the Caps seemed to hit Seattle on the counter, created more high-danger offense, and converted twice. Reminded me a lot of watching teams soak up pressure during this current World Cup until they find an opportunity to put the ball in the net going the other way with numbers.
- TJ Oshie was playing in front of a whole bunch of friends and family in Seattle tonight. He sure seemed up for the occasion as he wasted no time throwing a big hit on Brandon Tanev and then dropping the mitts with Yanni Gourde. Per hockeyfights, that fight was Oshie’s first non-preseason fight since August of 2020. That last fight came against…Yanni Gourde.
- Noted all-time great assist man Alex Ovechkin grabbed helpers on both first-period tallies. He’s doing it all right now, folks. Coming for that road assist record next, I guess.
Time for some first-intermission fun.
In honor of all the #SpotifyWrapped hype, what song would you say sums up the Caps' season so far?
— RMNB (@rmnb) December 2, 2022
- Not the best second period from the Caps but not the worst either. The Kraken definitely had the better of the play but still weren’t able to create a ton at five-on-five. The Caps weren’t able to either though and got burned by a terrible bounce off the backboards.
- Philipp Grubauer did commit highway robbery on Evgeny Kuznetsov on the Capitals’ best chance in the second frame. Grubauer has not been good this season (minus-3.9 goals saved above expected) but he saved some of his best work for that chance created by some great work from TJ Oshie.
- I have to say it’s really impressive to see the steps Andre Burakovsky has taken individually since departing DC. He is no longer a passenger offensively and is the main driving force on his line. Would have been nice to keep him around. I’m saying that a lot lately when former Caps are on my screen and that’s never fun.
- Can we talk about what Jason Robertson is doing for the Dallas Stars this season? He put home another three goals tonight as he’s the first in the league to eclipse the 20 mark. Good ole California boy making Connor McDavid work hard this season.
more of me 2 luv pic.twitter.com/X9arfH4MQs
— Gritty (@GrittyNHL) December 1, 2022
- Really even third until the last five or so minutes where the Kraken really pushed. Didn’t love the Caps’ late power plays. Really could have put the game to bed and didn’t.
- I don’t watch Seattle play a whole bunch but man they seem to have a bit of overpassing-itis. For a team that just scored nine goals in one game, they sure pass up a ton of shots in favor of the extra pass.
- This was either the most boring wide-open game of all time or I’m just very tired. The Caps’ inability to finish teams this season has been hard to watch. They are 0-for in the win column when they score less than three times.
It's late out east but these guys are still stylin' #joebsuitofthenight pic.twitter.com/wbEwo3UB5S
— RMNB (@rmnb) December 2, 2022
The next stop on this season-long road trip for the Caps will come in Calgary against the Flames. The Caps shut out the Flames 3-0 at home the day after Thanksgiving.
Headline photo via @JenStatz8/Twitter
