The Washington Capitals are going green tonight and I’m not talking energy or the Seattle Kraken’s branding.
The team is giving out Sonny Milano chia pets to all fans, allowing them to grow a plant on the top of Terracotta Sonny’s head. What fans won’t get is to see Milano out on the ice, as the forward is still ailing from an injury.
TJ Oshie is back in the lineup after some of us thought his career was over while Tom Wilson is out of the lineup due to his broken nose.
Tonight’s game returns to 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 healthy scratches. NO TOM.
Lineys!#CapsKraken | @JackDaniels_US pic.twitter.com/DCK9XkKTbC
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 11, 2024
Tunnel weirdness
Tunnels vibes on the 🆙 and 🆙#ALLCAPS | @CaesarsSports pic.twitter.com/StEPZsjpXA
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 11, 2024
1st Period
Darcy Kuemper will oppose Joey Daccord (who started in the 2023 Calder Cup Finals for the Coachella Valley Firebirds) in net. Malenstyn-Dowd-NAK and TVR-Jensen get the start for the Capitals.
Skating the puck out of the left corner boards, Connor McMichael skates in on Daccord all alone. He dekes the Kraken goaltender hard, and tries to slide the puck past him on his backhand. The goalie makes the insane pad/skate save. McMichael then gets the rebound back but misses the net with his shot. So close!
🚨 1-0 Kraken. From the top of the left circle, Tye Kartye just snaps a wrist shot past Kuemper. Darcy appeared to not see the release. The tally came 8:50 into the period.
Shots are 7-2 Capitals 11:40 in.
🚨 2-0 Kraken. Alex Wennberg beats Kuemper with a pretty simple wrist shot through a screen. Both goals have felt stoppable. The goal came 18:12 in the period.
The Capitals outshot the Kraken 10-6 overall and out-attempted them 23-21 at five-on-five.
2nd Period
Puck is dropped.
🚨 2-1 Caps. Max Pacioretty scores his first goal as a Capital after a perfect cross-ice feed by Alex Ovechkin, which appeared to be bumped by Dylan Strome. Patches goes five hole with a huge shot. It’s Pacioretty’s first goal in the NHL since January 10, 2023. The goal occurred 5:47 into the second.
🚨 3-1 Kraken. A Justin Schultz centering pass bounces back out to him outside the crease. He finds the loose puck and beats Kuemper who was not tight to the post. The tally came at the 18:20 mark.
The Capitals are outshooting the Kraken 21-15 at all strengths, but Seattle holds the slight edge in 5v5 attempts, 45-44.
3rd Period
Puck is dropped.
Nick Jensen draws a tripping minor at the 7:00 mark of the period. It’s the first power play of the game for either team.
🚨 4-1 Kraken. A give and go with speed. Adam Larsson scores on a semi-breakaway after a great pass by Tanev. This one’s over.
TVR to the box for cross-checking Jared McCann.
Capitals lose 4-1. They only had five shots in the third period. The Caps outshot the Kraken overall 26-23 but Seattle out-attempted them 63-54 at five-on-five.
Comment on the game below along with us!
