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Not enough offense, no fun, no win: Golden Knights beat Capitals 4-1

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📸: Chuck Butler

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The Vegas Golden Knights were what stood in the way of the Washington Capitals clinching a winning five-game road trip on Saturday night. While the Capitals have great postseason memories in Vegas’ barn, things haven’t gone as well during regular season play as they’ve never won inside of it. Would that change in this one? No.

Jonathan Marchessault and his ever-annoying self got the Golden Knights on the board first while on a power play. Jack Eichel fielded a lucky bounce and potted a breakaway chance to double the lead. Mark Stone for the field goal at the start of the third.

Tom Wilson got the Capitals on the board with Darcy Kuemper pulled at the end of the third. Marchessault empty netter.

Golden Knights beat Capitals 4-1.

  • The Capitals played a great road first period against a very good Vegas team. They had a whole lot more of the puck, almost doubling up the Knights in five-on-five shot attempts, 20 to 11. There were a few good chances but Logan Thompson was good in the other net or passes were just a tick off from being on the tape of would be goal scorers. Good overall effort.
  • Things should have been 0-0 after 20 minutes but one of the officials was conned into calling Tom Wilson for a slashing penalty because Ivan Barbashev apparently does not know how to hold onto his hockey stick properly. Third game in a row where the Capitals have been burnt by a penalty call that just involved the opposing player weakly dropping their stick. Brutal.
  • Hunter Shepard was recalled by the Capitals before tonight’s game. He got on a presumably super enjoyable cross-country flight from Charlotte, where the Hershey Bears played this weekend. Shep almost missed puck drop entirely as he arrived to the arena after warmups were already over. Charlie Lindgren is hurt, ill, in need of maintenance? You tell us because the Capitals haven’t been clear at all about him.

  • For the whole like first 12 or so minutes of the second period I wasn’t sure if the Capitals were an NHL team because they did literally nothing. They had zero energy or spark. They turned it around after Eichel scored but the refs ruined any sort of momentum with bogus calls and letting Vegas get away with whatever they wanted. Did I mention I wasn’t a fan of the officiating in this game?
  • I’m struggling for recap bullets so I’m going to do what I usually do when that happens and talk about professional wrestling. So, CM Punk is back. Do we think it’s him versus Seth Rollins at Wrestlemania or something else?
  • Jonathan Marchessault might be one of my least favorite players in the league. In fact, Vegas in general is probably one of my least favorite teams in the league. Anyone else in that boat?
  • The Vegas PA announcer might be the most annoying part about that franchise and that’s incredibly hard to do when you consider their Twitter account was built upon cringe. Also why is everything in that building that comes over the speakers at like one billion volume?

  • The Capitals had a lot of the puck in the third but Vegas just completely suffocated them and gave them no real scoring chances. The game overall was boring as any this season.
  • I know they scored twice against Anaheim on the power play but both of those were rather lucky bounces and nothing appears to really have changed intrinsically about how they operate up a man. I am still befuddled. Like what does Kirk Muller actually do?
  • Darcy Kuemper was very much himself. Some massive, awesome saves and a goal where you wonder what he was doing.

The Capitals will finish out their long road trip out west with a date in Arizona to see the Coyotes in their college arena. Still is actually a cool setting for a game every time I watch the Yotes.

Headline photo courtesy of Chuck Butler

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