The Washington Capitals wrapped up their three-game road swing in California against the Anaheim Ducks on Friday night. The Ducks were coming off a 7-0 shutout loss to the Utah Mammoth, while the Caps beat the San Jose Sharks 7-1 on the same night.
Tom Wilson opened the scoring with a great shot from the slot. Cutther Gauthier tied the game after Anaheim received a power play for no reason. Ethen Frank put the Capitals back up one. Ross Johnston somehow scored a goal to tie the game again. Aliaksei Protas and Beckett Sennecke traded goals to end the second frame.
No goals in overtime. To the shootout.
- Leo Carlsson did NOT put the biscuit in the basket.
- Dylan Strome did NOT put the biscuit in the basket.
- Troy Terry put the biscuit in the basket.
- Anthony Beauvillier put the biscuit in the basket.
- Mason McTavish put the biscuit in the basket.
- Ethen Frank did NOT put the biscuit in the basket.
Ducks beat Capitals 4-3.
- Well, I liked how the Capitals looked when the game was played five-on-five in the first period. They had much more of the puck than the Ducks and really should have come away with a lead. Unfortunately, the referees intervened and didn’t allow that to happen, which leads me to my next
- Jacob Trouba is one of the most predatory hitters in the history of the NHL, and he’s never been justly punished, on the ice or off, for his constant intent to injure opponents. That didn’t change on the ice tonight, and I don’t think it will after, because the league never wants to strongly disagree with its on-ice officials. The primary point of contact was to Leonard’s head. The “initial” point of contact is more up for debate. Either way, Trouba loves these types of hits where he can hide behind the net and nail an unsuspecting opponent coming around the other side. It’s garbage and should be illegal, no matter what the rulebook says. Let’s just hope Ryan Leonard is okay.
- Just for the record, I’m writing this bullet after the first intermission. I assume this game might go sideways. Here’s your reminder that the Ducks come to DC in exactly a month, January 5. I wonder if Dylan McIlrath gets a sweater.
- Didn’t like the second period as much from the Capitals, but they also played a ton of it shorthanded. The whistles went in one direction for the majority of this game. Alex Ovechkin was clearly slashed on a chance before Anaheim tied the game 3-3, but didn’t get the call.
- Trouba, in very typical fashion for him, refused to drop the gloves with Tom Wilson multiple times in the second period. Here are a few acceptable words you could use for Trouba: milksop, coward, wimp, poltroon, loser, very stupid guy, weirdo, plug, etc.
- Ross Johnston barely knows how to skate in a straight line and had two points (1g, 1a) in this game. His single-season career high is seven points (2g, 5a) in 2021-22 with the New York Islanders. Those two points were over five percent of his career points in 272 games.
- The Ducks have a lot of enviable young talent, including Cutter Gauthier, Beckett Sennecke, Leo Carlsson, Pavel Mintyukov, Mason McTavish, and Jackson LaCombe. None of them got hit in the head by anyone with a lengthy, relatively unpunished history of doing so on the Capitals, so we couldn’t see the Caps’ top young player match up with them for too long. No, “choo choo train” as the Ducks’ social media person would call it. Gross tweet, y’all.
- Yeah, the very tired and beaten-up Caps just looked to hold the tie in the third period. Some good shifts at the end of the period, but that was clearly the last of their gas on this trip.
- I am very happy the Capitals do not see much of referees Mitch Dunning and Peter MacDougal. They looked completely out of their depth and shellshocked by any confrontation. No call on that blatant trip of TVR right before the final regulation horn about sums those two up.
- Logan Thompson couldn’t do anything about the goals he allowed. No chance on any of them. He was great nonetheless.
The Capitals will now return home to play the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday night.
