WASHINGTON, DC — The Washington Capitals foiled a late-game comeback effort Friday night in a 3-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights, but their special teams came close to costing them yet another game.
Led by a three-point night from Pierre-Luc Dubois and a goal from Jakob Chychrun, the Capitals had a seemingly secure 3-0 lead after two periods, but the Golden Knights came out swinging in a two-goal third period, with only a heroic effort from Logan Thompson separating the Capitals from a tie game.
Vegas has the NHL’s best goal differential in the third period — a startling +34 — but much of the blame for the close game laid on the Capitals’ power play. Washington drew five penalties against the Golden Knights, including 43 seconds of time at five-on-three, but failed to capitalize on any of them.
Not only did the Capitals struggle to generate meaningful threats on the power play, but they allowed some of Vegas’ most dangerous chances all night. Mark Stone’s high-sticking late in the third period stands out as a particular lowlight: a fall from Chychrun gave Brayden McNabb a shorthanded breakaway chance, then Reilly Smith and Mitch Marner were left nearly entirely alone at the netfront less than a minute later.
Despite the win against Vegas, head coach Spencer Carbery was visibly frustrated when asked about the power play postgame.
“I really don’t feel like — I’m not being disrespectful; I just do not feel like getting into the power play right now,” he said after a sigh. “It was not good. It wasn’t even the structure part. It was just poor — and Chych (Chychrun) blows a tire. There’s nothing you can do there. But we should have more insulation back in that spot. Five minutes to go, protecting (a lead), yeah. We just did a very poor job of handling that scenario, that power play.
“But we do need — I thought the five-on-three was fine. I thought we had a couple looks. I know they’re frustrated. Guys, they want to score in those spots, especially Stromer (Dylan Strome), O (Alex Ovechkin), Chychy, they want to produce, because they understand that’s an important part of their identity and their roles, is capitalizing on power play. So when they don’t, they get frustrated. I get it. But we just have to, yeah, we’ll continue to work at it, and hopefully some of those pucks will start to go in for us.”
The answer was classic Carbery, characteristic of the rapport he’s built with the media over his three seasons in Washington — from his steadfast refusal to take his anger out on reporters (in this case, me), to his willingness to give meaningful, well-thought out answers even on subjects he’d rather not discuss. Still simmering from the game, he spoke for nearly a minute on the power play, breaking down what went wrong in the team’s worst moments of the night.
This isn’t a new issue for the Capitals. Friday marked the fourth time this season Washington’s power play has gone goalless with five or more opportunities, and its 15.8 PP% ranks third-last in the NHL. They came out with a win on Friday, but the power play has already cost them much-needed wins during a tight race for a playoff spot.
Before the first game back from the Olympics, Carbery estimated that the Capitals will need a 16-7 record in their last 23 games to make the postseason. So far, they’ve made progress towards that goal, winning games against the Philadelphia Flyers and Golden Knights. But if they want a solid shot at the playoffs, they’ll need to find a solution to their power play woes, and they’ll need to do it soon.
