The Washington Capitals didn’t play their best on the road against the Detroit Red Wings, which is unfortunate in such a pivotal game.
The first period was all Wings, as the scoreboard testified. Shayne Gostisbehere started us off with a rocket off a shot that seemed to get redirected off Beck Malenstyn. Lucas Raymond made it 2-0 after a brilliant pass from JT Compher.
Hendrix Lapierre stayed hot in the second period, taking a pass from Ovechkin to get his third goal in two games. But a few shifts later, Joe Valeno scored after Joel Edmundson failed to clear. Gostisbehere got his second of the night, shooting from the slot after a penalty expired, but Mike Sgarbossa spun-and-shot to give the Caps some life, which was quickly snuffed out by a shorthanded goal by Compher.
Misery continued in the third period, with Robby Fabbri deflecting Patrick Kane’s shot. Max Pacioretty harried Lyon’s net to save some face. Alex DeBrincat finished off a ferocious passing sequence to make it 7-3. That would have been the final score in a polite society, but Dylan Larkin the brute beat Lindgren to make it 8-3.
.saiselgI euqirnE fo sgnilyts lacisum eht yojne s’teL .snaem taht tahw wonk uoY .yldab tsol dna tsol slatipaC ehT
- The Capitals looked tired. Last night’s excitement must have worn on them. They got doubled up in attempts in the first period, 26 to 13. The team struggled to do anything in the defensive zone. They got passed around (Raymond), they lost shooters (Gostisbehere I), they couldn’t clear the zone (Valeno).
- Twenty-five minutes into the game, all six Caps defensemen had been on the ice for a Wings goal. Calling any one of them would be unfair to the others. I bet Carbery is pretty unhappy with Ethan Bear though.
- I don’t think it’s an excuse, but I figure it’s worth noting that the Wings were rested and the Caps were not.
- Hendrix Lapierre scored twice in Monday’s thrilling win over the Senators, and he followed it up with a clean rush goal on Tuesday. It’s been a big call-up for Lapierre, but I think the highlight on that play was Ovechkin’s pass.
#ALLCAPS 1-2. LAPPY STAYS HOT! WHAT A PASS FROM OVECHKIN pic.twitter.com/SBfWLDNfDn
— x – Capitals Replays 🍁 (@capsreplays) February 28, 2024
- Ex-Capital Daniel Sprong got the secondary assist on the Fabbri goal. That’s not normally worthy of a bullet, but I bought the domain danielspro.ng to make a stupid joke, and so I’m not going to miss any opportunity to share it. Some unsolicited advice: make sure you have WHOIS privacy protection turned on when you register your Nigerian domain or else your entire life will become a spam wasteland.
- So Patrick Kane‘s still got the stuff? Hip-resurfacing surgery was a huge success for him? Well, that’s nice. Glad to hear that. Couldn’t be happier for the guy. I’m not mad at all. Don’t read this like I’m mad.
- I still like Mike Sgarbossa, who scored a cool, spin-to-win goal. It’s a bit twisted that the Caps got goals off him, an AHL veteran, and Lapierre, a prospect in the AHL. Those are not exactly two core players. At least the Caps also got a goal from Max Pacioretty, who probably won’t be here in two weeks.
Boys in Detroit #joebsuitofthenight pic.twitter.com/ExlCI41igd
— RMNB (@rmnb) February 28, 2024
Word on the street is that teams are interested in Charlie Lindgren, who got lit the hell up tonight. Lindgren has been a big bright spot this season, and his contract situation ($1.1 million with another year on the books) makes him a tantalizing target for a bunch of teams (though maybe no longer New Jersey, who probably waited too long already). We’re now two weeks past when Brian MacLellan said he was ready to make his decision on buying or selling at the deadline. The Capitals have a 15 percent chance of making the playoffs according to HockeyViz. They just got pummeled by a bubble team. I guess I’m just saying it’s obvious what’s going here, and I’m ready for the GM to actually do something. Put this rebuild into turbo mode, and let’s get excited about the future.
Another bubble team, the Philadelphia Flyers, come to town on Friday. They’re about to beat the Bolts tonight, so they’re going to have something to play for. See you there.
