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Caps beat Rangers 6-3: Finally, goals!

By Peter Hassett

 4 Comments

February 25, 2023 3:34 pm

The Washington Capitals – inconceivably – defeated the New York Rangers in a matinee game on Saturday afternoon. The goals the team had been so dearly missing for so dearly long came all at once.

TJ Oshie began the day with a power-play goal, tipping a point shot from Erik Gustafsson. Barclay Goodrow took advantage of some careless Washington defense to tie it up by the end of the first period.

The Capitals exploded in a good way in the second period. TJ Oshie scored on the rush, then Tom Wilson scored on the rush, then Milano got Oshie’s rebound, then Kuznetsov scored on the rush.

Chris Kreider tipped in a goal during five-on-three to start New York’s comeback, but Evgeny Kuznetsov responded by tucking in a goal to make it 6-2. The Rangers got one in garbage time, but that was it.

Caps win 6-3!

It has been so long since the Caps have scored five. Let’s do a Bailamos.

  • The last time the Washington Capitals scored five goals in a game was January 5, when they scored 6 on the Columbus Blue Jackets. Washington scored more in the second period (4), then they have in any full game this month.
  • Even better, the Capitals scored a bunch of those goals on the rush, entering the zone and scoring in quick succession. The team has had a brutal time controlling the puck as they cross the opponent’s blue line this season, but something about the Rangers (i.e. they sucked on defense today) was just what the Caps needed.
  • TJ Oshie recorded his first ever Gordie Howe Hat Trick (one goal [plus an extra], one assist, and one fight). The fight was Oshie’s obligation after injuring Ryan Lindgren in a hit along the boards. In this intrepid reporter’s opinion, Oshie didn’t board Linggren, but an unfortunate confluence of events, starting with Lindgren’s unintentional elbow into Oshie’s head, got him hurt. But Oshie didn’t get penalized, so he had to get punched.
  • Tom Wilson scored, his third in four games, so I’m embedding this fun boy:

  • The Capitals had to fend of five-on-three Rangers power plays twice in this game, including a full two minutes in the third period. The Caps did superbly on the first two-man disadvantage, but Kreider’s tip-in during the other one was unstoppable.
  • I say that to pump goalie Darcy Kuemper‘s tires a bit. He’s had critically low goal support lately, but he was very good early in this one, spotting his team enough time to get that uncommon lead.
  • But the best save of the day probably belonged to Igor Shesterkin, who denied Trevor van Riemsdyk here:

  • Shesterkin was pulled after the second period, meaning the Caps had to face the villain Jaroslav Halak in the third.
  • Caps legend Devante Smith-Pelly was in the house today, dropping the ceremonial puck before the game. Also cheering on the team was actor and hockey player Keivonn Woodard. (I did see the episode; please don’t discuss it comments). I like to think the team kicked it up a notch for them both.
  • Both of Evgeny Kuznetsov‘s goals came on breakaways just as he got on the ice, receiving stretch passes both times – first from Nicolas Aube-Kubel, then from Alex Ovechkin.

No Joe Beninati today, so here is Keivonn. No TLOU spoilers in comments please.

I made a joke the other night that TJ Oshie didn’t get the memo that the Caps were giving up on the season. He certainly gave his all today. Personally, I tried not to let the team macro-strategy get in the way of my appreciation of today’s game. This was a fun one. The Caps didn’t dominate early, but they held on thanks to some good goaltending. They they dismantled New York’s casual blue-line defense in the middle frame, reaching a goal-scoring height that they’ve been ducking under for a month.

I don’t know what this means for the trade deadline or playoff chances or the Ovechkin endgame, and for the next little bit I don’t care. The Caps played hockey. They won. It was fun. That’s enough for now.

Headline photo: @pennybacker

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