The Washington Capitals played the first half of their back-to-back, home-and-home matinee series against the New York Rangers, and they did it without Alex Ovechkin.
Adam Fox had a big afternoon, starting with scoring on the second of two chances after Jensen’s turnover in the first. Anthony Mantha returned serve with a breakaway backhand to the top shelf. Fox got his second goal in the second period, a screened shot that beat Charlie Lindgren.
Nic Dowd tied it in the third, tipping in a rebound off Kuznetsov’s shot. TJ Oshie finished off a rush led by Strome to give the Caps their first lead with 11 minutes left in regulation. It held.
Caps win 3-2
- Alex Ovechkin missed today’s game with a lower-body injury. Feels to me like he’s going to play tomorrow though.
- The Capitals played a strong first period, dominating play in the first few minutes. Then they played one of their worser periods of the season in the second. The third was still weak but they finished their chances. I can’t remember the last time they strung two good periods together.
- Chris mentioned this on Twitter, and I’m just going to mention it and let you draw your own conclusion. How about the enthusiasm on this playcall?
The feed. The finish. A McManthony beauty. pic.twitter.com/uXZ2ktsZv1
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 13, 2024
- For the actual goal, it’s another example of how Connor McMichael activates Anthony Mantha on the rush. Great recovery of possession, even better chip pass.
- Elsewhere on that line, I think Aliaksei Protas shares partial blame for the second Fox goal. McMichael reasonably expected Protas to be along the boards for the outlet. I suppose that’s shared blame.
- Tom Wilson got a boarding penalty for smearing Jonny Brodzinski in the first period. I have an opinion about it, but I’ll outsource its expression to the ESPN team.
#ALLCAPS ESPN thoughts on the Wilson hit. CLEAN pic.twitter.com/pprQGCKaLn
— x – Capitals Replays 🍁 (@capsreplays) January 13, 2024
- Evgeny Kuznetsov, who was on the ice for the first Fox goal, got just four shifts in the second period. When he was on the ice, it sure felt like he was playing wing to Lapierre’s center. Then in the third he flies below the net, puts a backhand on net so Dowd can get the rebound. His default setting this season is worst-player-in-the-league, but it’s undeniable that he’s still got the skills.
- And yet Kuznetsov still played three more minutes than McMichael. One of several unforced errors behind the bench.
- TJ Oshie was due. He’s still due.
- Tony P, DC’s pathologically normie influencer superstar, was at the game today. As a rabid member of the P-hive and our passionate Instagram comments community, I was very happy to hear this. (Is there any job title more depressing, more late-stage, more dread than “content creator”? I would never want to be that. Thanks for reading RMNB.) Anyway, I’d like to think Tone’s philosophy of vibrant masculinity animated the comeback win.
- A fine start for Charlie Lindgren, who got 300 percent the goal support as Darcy Kuemper the other night.
all the boys in zoot suits seeing this provocative suit, eyes popping out, biting their hands, stomping their feet, tongue rolling out of their mouths, steam coming out of their ears
(miss you Joe B) pic.twitter.com/0fSlDFDLR0— RMNB (@rmnb) January 13, 2024
I’ll take it.
See you again in 21 hours.
Headline photo: kurly from Crashers
