The Washington Capitals played a damn good road game against Connor McDavid’s Edmonton Oilers on Monday night. Frankly, I had a really good time watching this game.
Unrewarded for a strong first period, the Capitals ceded the first goal to Brett Kulak, screened thricewise. Lars Eller caught a turnover and tied it up. John Carlson handed Connor McDavid a shorthanded breakaway to blow that lead. TJ Oshie tied it up from the slot on that same power play. Aliaksei Protas was a monster in the third period, setting up late man Nic Dowd for the go-ahead goal.
Caps win!
- I was looking forward to this game because I assumed Jack Campbell, that absolute donkey of a goalie, would be in net. We were not so lucky…
- The Capitals put 22 shots on Stuart Skinner in the first period, seven of them coming danger-close on a power play. In expected goals language, the Caps generated enough offense for two goals but instead got none.
- Sonny Milano forced a turnover and threaded a lovely pass to Lars Eller before his goal. I’ve really enjoyed him as a Cap. I’m still mystified how he went unsigned over the summer.
- Marcus Johansson missed a couple shifts in the first period, but it was a false alarm (which literally always means a gear problem or potty break). That was a huge relief, until Erik Gustafsson got hurt off Even Bouchard’s crosscheck. He came back too. I include this just to show how frazzled we all are by near-injuries.
- The plays that are damaging my sanity this season are John Carlson‘s turnovers on the attacking blue line.
Raise your hand if you knew he was going to score before he even crossed the blue line 🙋 pic.twitter.com/FwjMhEE7Ly
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) December 6, 2022
- I like how Edmonton plays McDavid on the penalty kill, and Washington plays Ovechkin against an empty net.
- The Caps have now scored a power-play goal in each of their last seven games. They sure go hot and cold.
- Aliaksei Protas had a very strong game in front of his former billet family. He was unstoppable in the third period, with two drives before he set up Dowd for Washington’s game-winner.
- I think the Oilers benched defender Evan Bouchard in the third period. He was not very good, but you don’t often see a team icing a D-man unless they have to.
- Downright gaudy shot totals tonight, led by Dylan Strome with six. Until like the last eight minutes it was Erik Gustafsson, and that would have been a good joke, but Strome ruined it by taking more shots.
Tasteful olive #joebsuitofthenight pic.twitter.com/QGQb91hkBX
— Peter Hassett (@peterhassett) December 6, 2022
Really good stuff!
The Caps have one more road game, Wednesday in Philly, and then their season-longest road trip is over. It’s been brutal overall, but tonight was sincerely a blast.
Credit: Adam Kubaryk
