The Washington Capitals had a good chance to go up 2-0 in their first-round series against the Boston Bruins but could not avoid the temptation to turtle and got burned. The Bruins took Game Two in overtime by a score of 4-3.
The Bruins outshot the Caps 48 to 39 and out-attempted them at five-on-five 70 to 49.
- The Caps took a lead in the third period and then went completely away from their game. The injury issues and depth problems did not help but it’s tough to stave off a team like Boston for that long if you just let them come at you every single shift like they did in the third. The Caps were out-attempted at five-on-five in the third 30 to 14, out-scoring chanced 16 to 6, and had a minus-8 high danger chance differential. They did not record a single high danger chance. That’s pretty much the difference between a 2-0 series lead and a 1-1 series tie. Pete, not our Pete other Pete, get Michelangelo, Leonardo, Donatello, and Raphael off the ice late in games, please.
- John Carlson was terrible in this game. He got burned on the tying goal and was burned about four other times in that same period. With him on the ice at five-on-five, the Caps had a minus-six high danger chance differential.
- Craig Anderson is almost 40-years-old and just made 44 stops in an NHL playoff game. He gave his mates all the chances in the world to win this game. I honestly don’t think you can go away from him in Game Three.
INJURY UPDATE #Caps Lars Eller is doubtful to return to tonight’s game (lower body)
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) May 18, 2021
- That tweet right there ^ is very bad news. It’s one of the reasons the Caps collapsed in this game and is terrible for the playoffs as a whole if he cannot get healthy enough to play. We need Evgeny Kuznetsov to swoop in on a bird celly and return to 2018 form very quickly. Or…is that Connor McMichael‘s music I hear?
- That top-line just cannot buy a goal right now. Alex Ovechkin and Anthony Mantha combined for 16 individual shot attempts, 11 shots on goal, ten individual scoring chances, and six individual high danger chances. The Bruins have not checked that line in either game. Time for them to pot a few in Boston.
- Garnet Hathaway scored two goals and the Caps couldn’t win the game. That stings a whole bunch when you consider how tough it has been for them to get depth scoring in recent playoffs.
Numbers thanks to Hockey-reference.com and NaturalStatTrick.com.
Headline photo: KP8 Design
