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No puck luck in shootout before the holiday break: Lightning beat Capitals 2-1 (SO)

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The last Washington Capitals game before the holiday break came at home against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Could the Capitals deliver an early Christmas gift to all their fans or would the hot-shooting Nikita Kucherov and co. play the role of the Grinch.

Luke Glendening got on the board first as he deflected home a Victor Hedman point drive past Charlie Lindgren. Anthony Mantha got his body in front of a Nick Jensen shot that was going wide and redirected it into the Lightning net to tie things up.

Nothing doing in overtime. Charlie Lindgren with a diving effort in the final seconds of the extra frame to keep it 1-1.

Shootout bullets time.

  • Kuznetsov put the biscuit in the basket
  • Stamkos did NOT put the biscuit in the basket
  • Strome did NOT put the biscuit in the basket
  • Point put the biscuit in the basket
  • Ovechkin did NOT put the biscuit in the basket
  • Kucherov did NOT put the biscuit in the basket
  • McMichael did NOT put the biscuit in the basket
  • Hedman put the biscuit in the basket

Lightning beat Capitals 2-1 (SO).

  • The Capitals did not start well against the Lightning and it took a goal against to seemingly wake them up. After going down 1-0 though, they settled into the first period and really tested Andrei Vasilevskiy in the Tampa Bay net. Unfortunately, The Big Cat did what he normally does and stopped a bunch of really nice scoring chances. Good to see that type of response, bad to see the lack of jump for the first five or so minutes after the opening draw.
  • When Nicolas Aube-Kubel took his penalty in the first period, that was the fourth line’s sixth combined minor in the Capitals’ last three games plus one period. You all are probably very tired of my complaining about the fourth line but that just can’t happen. The team’s supposed best shutdown trio is forcing the club shorthanded way too much…and they also play too much overall. Sorry.
  • The growth of Hendrix Lapierre is so apparent during this most recent call-up. He has a knack of entering the offensive zone with possession and speed that is such an underrated but very important quality in today’s game. The consistent offensive production probably won’t be there just yet but I think it’s going to come. And, I don’t think I would have been confident saying that after seeing him during Training Camp.

  • Very even, chess match second period. You may even call it sleepy but that just might be my natural state of being. Either way, I enjoy seeing the Capitals be able to really stick with good teams right now. They are playing some really good hockey over the past few weeks.
  • One of the main guys benefitting from that is Anthony Mantha, who is now at the double-digit mark in goals this season with 10. Mantha has points in three straight-games and three goals in his last two games. He is now on pace for a 27-goal season which would have been somewhat unfathomable to think about like just two months ago.
  • Aliaksei Protas grabbed another five-on-five point on Mantha’s goal, his 15th of the season which leads the team. Protas has been so impressive on both sides of the puck and seems to be growing in confidence every time he jumps over the boards. Some of the passes he was making in this game would make Nicklas Backstrom proud.
  • The Nick Jensen goal that got overturned for offside is the exact type of offside challenge reversal that I think needs more subjective review. Whether or not Edmundson had possession of the puck could be argued and even then, Tampa Bay definitely had full possession right after that zone entry and terribly turned the puck over. That was a self-inflicted wound that they shouldn’t just be able to dodge because of a somewhat unrelated prior play. Really sucks because both Protas and Connor McMichael deserved assists for their work on that would be marker.

  • The Capitals played an incredibly impressive two-way, team game in the third period. Vasilevskiy was just annoyingly good per usual and the Lightning did a good job of clogging up the middle of their zone.
  • Another stellar night from Charlie Lindgren. Typical at this point. Just awful puck luck in the shootout.
  • One of Nick Jensen’s best games in a good while I think. Really a shame he wasn’t rewarded with that goal. I really like the look of the current defense corps once Ethan Bear gets fully into the swing of things.

The Capitals are off for the next three days for the holiday break. We’ll see them next on December 27 when the New York Rangers will play host for them at Madison Square Garden. Happy holidays, y’all!

Headline photo via @jckozzie/X

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