The Washington Capitals made quick work of the Vegas Golden Knights this season, downing them 5-2 in Vegas on Sunday night after already beating them 4-2 at home in October.
Washington’s win was their first-ever regular-season triumph at T-Mobile Arena after failing to secure two points in their previous six tries. Good to see the back of that run.
#NHL GameScore Impact Card for Washington Capitals on 2024-11-17:#ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/lVxYh90YHM
— HockeyStatCards (@hockeystatcards) November 18, 2024
- I really loved the first period from the Capitals. It felt like they were executing everything they’ve done well to start this season and really didn’t let Vegas get a sniff of the puck. Unfortunately, the concerning trend that I’ve been highlighting for some time now crept back into play in the latter two periods. The Golden Knights dominated the Caps at five-on-five for the final 40 minutes, out-attempting them 59-36, winning the scoring chance battle 25-15, and the high-danger chance battle 12-2. I felt like they responded well to Vegas’ initial push in the second but then just let them do whatever they wanted in the third. They’ve gotta be better with the lead.
- Logan Thompson was a big reason this game stayed a two-goal game for so long in the third period. He put a hurtin’ on his former team, making 40 saves, the most he has in a single game this season. Per MoneyPuck, he stopped another 1.71 more goals than expected so he’ll keep climbing the leaderboard there. His current season total, 6.91, would rank ninth in the league coming into Sunday’s games.
- Alex Ovechkin tallied his first hat trick since December 31, 2022. Ovechkin is just 28 goals away from tying Wayne Gretzky for a share of the NHL’s all-time goals record. The 39-year-old winger (13) is tied for the league lead in goals with Sam Reinhart and Leon Draisaitl. Per Steve Dangle, Ovechkin had scored 422 goals before either Reinhart or Draisaitl were drafted.
The Capitals have a +24 goal differential through 17 games this season, which ranks third in the NHL (Winnipeg: +31; Carolina: +27).
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) November 18, 2024
- I thought Jakub Vrana was noticeably good in a building he has very good memories in. Vrana potted his fourth of the season and second in as many games to give the Capitals a 3-1 lead in the second period. Jake has nine points (5g, 4a) in nine career regular-season games against Vegas.
- Peter pointed this out to me on Discord after the game. The fourth line has been struggling in recent outings. Since the start of November at five-on-five, Washington is seeing just 37.9 percent of the shot attempts, 45.1 percent of the expected goals, and 39.5 percent of the scoring chances with the trio on the ice. Of course, their deployment is partially at fault as they’ve taken just four total offensive-zone faceoffs in those eight games. They’ve also managed to still stay above water in high-danger chances, 14-12. Still, something to keep an eye on.
- Jakob Chychrun’s recent hot streak since returning to the lineup has seen him jump up some offensive leaderboards among defensemen. His five goals are second among all defenders, trailing just Cale Makar (6).
Numbers thanks to Hockey-Reference, NaturalStatTrick, and HockeyStatCards.
