Good morning. Did you watch the Washington Capitals’ game against the San Jose Sharks? I did. It was okay. Lemme tell you about it.
Fabian Zetterlund was the beneficiary of the some defensive goofs by Washington, giving San Jose a 1-0 lead after one period. Late in the second, Evgeny Kuznetsov looked effortless to tie the game with a helpful bounce off Nikita Okhotiuk. Luke Kunin made it 2-1 with a power-play goal with seven minutes to go, and the Caps couldn’t come back.
Caps lose.
- Nic Dowd absorbed a high hit from Nico Sturm in the first period and missed some time, perhaps due to the concussion spotter. Dowd returned and played well in the second and third periods.
- But maybe due to his absence, five-on-five play felt a bit troubled in the first period. The third line in particular (Sonny Milano, Hendrix Lapierre, and Aliaksei Protas) got clobbered.
- Tom Wilson delivered this monster hit on Calen Addison. The refs considered it clean, and so do I. I like how Ian phrased it in the Discord: It wasn’t dirty, but it was mean.
Tom Wilson thumps Calen Addison! 💥 pic.twitter.com/xGUKUJz8Fu
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 28, 2023
- The Capitals could not convert on any of their three power-play opportunities. Their last power-play goal came more than a month ago – or more than 60 minutes of man-advantage time. At last count they had been stopped on 45 shots, which is one more than Alex Semin took without scoring a goal in the 2010 playoffs, which is a stat I have committed to memory for no good reason.
- And yet Alex Ovechkin got what I think was his best shot from the Ovi Spot of the whole season. It went off the post, as did another of his. Rotten luck.
- I don’t know if Anthony Mantha did anything to contribute to Evgeny Kuznetsov’s goal, but I liked him being there, in the thick of it, looming, shedding ambient bad-luck particles onto the Sharks.
#ALLCAPS 1-1. KUZNETSOV! its nice to see Kuzy smile 🙂 pic.twitter.com/4MpdMb53xs
— x – Capitals Replays 🍁 (@capsreplays) November 28, 2023
- I’m still jammed up over Evgeny Kuznetsov, but I admit he was alright in this one. Playing with him with Ovechkin is still a mistake, and every time I see him in a puck battle along the boards I just assume that’s a loss, but he scored a goal and drove play in this one, so I’ll shut up for now.
it is obscenely late, let's watch hockey #joebsuitofthenight pic.twitter.com/8i0Kf8OjAj
— RMNB (@rmnb) November 28, 2023
That was supposed to be the easiest game of the roadtrip. Now onto LA and the Kings, who are on like a 125-point pace with one regulation loss in their last ten games. The Capitals will need to be at their absolute best in that one. They’ll need some luck too. Maybe either one.
Screenshot: Monumental Sports Network
