Welcome back from the holiday break, friends. I hope your stockings were full of Capitals’ game-used warmup pucks, no matter if you were naughty or nice.
Tonight our dear Washington Capitals will take on Peter Laviolette’s New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers, who have the best winning percentage in the league at .734, will look to deliver payback after the Capitals blanked them 4-0 two weeks ago.
The Capitals will turn to backup goaltender Darcy Kuemper in net. Ivan Miroshnichenko and Hendrix Lapierre were recalled in the morning and will suit up on the third line.
Tonight’s game is on Monumental Sports Network. Joe Beninati and Craig Laughlin have the call. Puck drop is a little after 7:00 pm.
Lines
Alex Alexeyev and Matthew Phillips are the Capitals scratches. TJ Oshie, Sonny Milano, and Max Pacioretty are all injured but nearing returns.
Lineys!#CapsRangers | @JackDaniels_US pic.twitter.com/8MaXYh1fdi
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) December 27, 2023
Tunnel weirdness
Cheezus, Tom.
Oh.#ALLCAPS | @Kia pic.twitter.com/iuIy5zCJVb
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) December 27, 2023
That feeling when you get your first NHL bobblehead.
𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙩 𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙤𝙬𝙣 pic.twitter.com/YYelENXm8L
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) December 27, 2023
1st Period
Darcy Kuemper will oppose Igor Shesterkin in net.
No pressure, Ovi!
Ovi loves the bright lights of Broadway!@Capitals | #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/OPOLCcX7BY
— NHL Network (@NHLNetwork) December 28, 2023
The Capitals start Ovechkin-Strome-Wilson and Fehervary-Carlson.
Mika Zibanejad hooked on a breakaway and the Rangers are going to a power play.
Rangers don’t score. The Capitals have killed off 26 of the last 27 power play opportunities they’ve faced.
Erik Gustafsson beats Kuemper clean but the puck rings off the post and out.
Beck Malenstyn draws a penalty on Ryan Lindgren after a power move to the net with 24.7 seconds remaining in the period.
Capitals outshoot the Rangers 10-7 and out-attempt them at 5v5, 18-11.
2nd Period
Puck is dropped.
🚨 1-0 Caps. Anthony Mantha scores his 11th goal of the season after calling his own number as Ovechkin drove down the right wing. Mantha beat Shesterkin high glove. Aliaksei Protas tallied his 14th assist of the season on the goal, which came at the 4:12 mark of the period.
🚨 1-1 tie. Artemi Panarin works a give and go with K’Andre Miller and the big defenseman scores his sixth goal of the season at the 7:03 mark.
Beck Malenstyn looks unbelievable tonight. Put on his jets and nearly created a shorthanded chance.
Martin Fehervary gets dumped and the Caps go to the power play at the 8:45 mark.
Miro ends the Capitals’ power play early after dumping Zibanejad on a puck battle in front of the net.
🚨 2-1 Rangers. Panarin beats Kuemper to the top corner on the resulting power play. It’s the first time he’s ever scored on him. The Rangers have PPGs in eight straight games. For Panarin, that’s his 15th multi-point game of the season and his 19th goal.
🚨 3-1 Rangers. Kuemper beaten clean 42 seconds later by Rangers 2020 first-round pick Braden Schneider. Jimmy Vesey was skating through the crease as he was about to shoot.
Ryan Lindgren hits Tom Wilson into Shesterkin from behind and Igor was BIG mad about it.
Through two periods of play, Anthony Mantha has seven shots on goal. Perhaps Lavy’s got him in MADtha mode.
The Capitals are outshooting the Rangers 20-18 and out-attempting them at 5v5, 32-26.
3rd Period
Puck is dropped.
🚨 4-1 Rangers. Miller beats Kuemper clean again. Kuemper may have been screened by John Carlson in net. The tally came at the 6:54 mark.
🚨 5-1 Rangers. Alexis Lafrenière, who I’m surprised Laviolette does not have in the AHL, beats a beleagured Kuemper with a one-timer.
Miro has a wide-open chance in front of the net, but misses high and wide. He slams the stuck on the ice in disappointment.
Caps lose 5-1. They had a great first period, but defensive miscues, a lack of offense, and some questionable goaltending down the stretch did them in.
The Rangers outshot the Capitlas 31-26, but the Capitals out-attempted them at 5v5, 47-41.
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