The Washington Capitals fought their way out of two, one-goal holes on Saturday as they handed the New York Rangers a fourth-straight loss. After a disappointing, weak effort in the third period against the Seattle Kraken on Thursday, the Capitals reversed course and used a much better final frame to complete their comeback against New York.
Much better, much more fun to watch.
- Outside of a second period that saw New York take control of the game, the Capitals held the Rangers to just one, five-on-five high-danger chance in the other 40 minutes. That included a third period where the Caps found two goals and the two points from regulation. While the power play was still rather useless (0-for-3) and 21 total shots on goal still isn’t good enough, the Capitals felt like the better team overall. You’ll take those.
- Charlie Lindgren made his valiant return to net and picked up right where he left off. Lindgren made 25 stops on 27 shots and picked up another 2.21 goals saved above expected. Per MoneyPuck, that mark sees him move up to third in the whole league behind just Vezina Trophy favorites Connor Hellebuyck and Thatcher Demko
- TJ Oshie was the scorer of the game-winning tally with just over half of the final period remaining. Oshie’s third goal of this season was his first since returning from a long absence from the lineup on Thursday. The marker was also his 183rd career goal with the Capitals which moved him into sole possession of 10th all-time for the franchise.
Capitals defensemen have combined for 13 points (3g, 10a) over Washington’s last six games, led by John Carlson’s five points (2g, 3a).
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) January 13, 2024
- The Capitals’ most successful line during the game was a brand new one made up of Aliaksei Protas, Tom Wilson, and Connor McMichael. With McMichael on the ice at five-on-five, the team held positive differentials in shot attempts (+7), scoring chances (+6), and high-danger chances (+5). McMichael’s turnover that led to New York’s second goal was an unfortunate blemish that hopefully isn’t held against him moving forward.
- Anthony Mantha has set a new single-season best in goals as a member of the Capitals after potting his 12th. Mantha is second on the team in goal scoring behind only Dylan Strome (15). The big winger has scored in all three games the Capitals have played against the Rangers and former bench boss Peter Laviolette.
- Another game with Evgeny Kuznetsov spending time on the wing and I thought he was pretty great. The move limits what he needs to do defensively and lets him attack from out to in which is something opposing defenses are not used to seeing from him. I want to see more of it. It’s not like Kuzy has shown any opposition to moving and he still played the fourth-most minutes (16:13) of any Capitals forward in the game.
Numbers thanks to Hockey-reference.com and NaturalStatTrick.com.
