The Washington Capitals played a big Saturday night game against a pretty hot Nashville Predators team. The Preds were playing tired, so the home advantage should have been washed out. We’ll see how that played out.
Nashville scored first, with Colton Sissons on the power play deflecting a shot from Roman Josi. In the second period, TJ Oshie fought in the low slot for a loose puck served up by Alex Ovechkin to tie the game. That tie was short-lived; Philip Tomasino converted a breakaway that the Caps ought not have given him. In the third, Yakov Trenin scored on a broken play at the end of a Nashville power play. The Caps had some power plays to try and catch up, but they couldn’t.
Caps lose.
- The Predators beat Carolina on the road last night, so they were the more tired team on paper. Except it was the Caps who looked sleepy in the first period. They flipped a switch in the second period and played some of their best hockey that kept Nashville goalie Juuse Saros on his toes. But then the breakaway goal for the Preds ended the momentum.
- The Capitals earned a five-on-three power play in the second period and made it work for them. I feel like I’m staring at Ovechkin with white knuckles in those situations, cursing each time he gets stopped in his one-timer. Ovi got a couple of those, but then he sent a really sneaky fast pass into the slot where Strome and Oshie fought to turn it into a goal.
- TJ Oshie fell several times in this game. He does that every game, but he did in this game too.
- By the way, the refs let the Predators get away with a penalty at the tail end of the power play. Can’t call it straight, I guess.
- I picked on Martin Fehervary‘s crease defense last game, so I have to call out this mondo hit from this game. Big boy.
#ALLCAPS What a hit by Fehervary pic.twitter.com/avLWsOZCRA
— x – Capitals Replays 🍁 (@capsreplays) December 17, 2023
- Tomasino’s breakaway goal came at the end of two really strong shifts from Washington, but a neutral zone misplay from TJ Oshie and Connor McMichael sent the puck the wrong way. That goal ended some puck domination by Washington, and then the Trenin goal in the third deflated whatever was left.
- Consulting the RTX out-of-town scoreboard, the Toronto Maple Leafs repeatedly pants-ed their ex-GM’s new team, the Pittsburgh Penguins. Final score: 7-0.
- Alex Ovechkin made Saros work for it, putting more shots on net than he has since the end of October. And yet he didn’t score. Again. If he doesn’t score tomorrow, it’ll be a full month without an Ovi goal.
- Aside from the two-man advantage, the power play remains frustrating. When they move action low and into the slot, it’s exciting. But whenever the puck is high, it feels like wasting time waiting for a penalty-killer to get suckered out of position, which never ever happens. The chances come when Carlson takes the low-danger shot and hopes for a rebound – or when Ovechkin looses a one-timer that inevitably get stopped but might create a secondary chance.
- The fourth line hardly even sniffed the offensive zone. I don’t think they got a single faceoff there, I believe I saw them get into the zone with possession just once. This is not a diss, just an observation.
Some earthtones for Saturday night hockey #joebsuitofthenight pic.twitter.com/h9W9mZ3bKh
— RMNB (@rmnb) December 17, 2023
That wasn’t a terribly played game. There was a lot of good play, including a great stretch int the second period. But one bad bounce and a few too many odd-man rushes plus a poor power play – yeah, that’s enough for a regulation loss.
No rest. The Caps fly now to Raleigh, where they’ll take on the inconsistent Hurricanes (4-4-2 in their last ten) at the early start time of 6 PM. See you then.
Headline photo: Gracie from Crashers
