Connor McMichael proved to be The Savior for the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night.
McJesus (mc)scored his biggest goal of the season thus far, beating Montreal Canadiens goaltender Samuel Montembeault on the doorstep to give the Capitals a 3-2 victory in overtime.
The goal was made possible by Capitals defenseman Rasmus Sandin, who skated the puck hard down the left wing. He then hit Dylan Strome, driving the center lane, who threw a hard shot on net. Connor McMichael found the rebound, pulled the puck around Montembeault’s outstretched pad, and punched the puck into the side of the net.
“Yeah, just kinda drove the net there,” McMichael said postgame. “Sandy made a hell of a play to Stromer, and I just saw the goalie kinda fumble it, and I was lucky enough to pull it out in time and put it in.”
With the goal, McMichael became the first Capitals player not named Jakob Chychrun to score in overtime this season. It also marked the first OT-winner of his NHL career.
“Yeah, it feels good anytime, no matter how it looks,” McMichael said. “I think we’re willing to take it at this point. Like I touched on, the race in the East is so tight. Every point is huge. Whether it’s me or anyone else, we don’t care how it looks. We just want the two points, and we’re real pleased to have them tonight.”
McMichael’s game-winner capped off a late-game comeback effort after the Capitals went down 2-0 in the opening two periods. The team fought back in the third as Ethen Frank scored twice on deflections to force OT. There, the Capitals overwhelmed the Canadiens with 10 shots on goal, eventually lighting the lamp with 39 seconds remaining in sudden death.
The OT victory improved the Capitals’ record to 3-1 in the extra session this year, while they’re 0-5 in the shootout. Many of the games that have gone beyond regulation though, the Capitals have failed to generate much offense during three-on-three play. Tonight, was different.
“I feel like we’ve taken a step,” Carbery said of the team’s overtime play. “Part of it is there’s a little bit of chance to it, but I feel like we’ve done a better job of being very, very organized and urgent when we get into these situations so that we’re not going to have a breakdown.
“And when we didn’t have the puck tonight, coverage was perfect in every situation, even when they had possession and they’re rolling around and they’re doing some things, so that the coverage was as good as it could be. And then with the puck, I think we’re trying to threaten and try to attack the net and try to create advantages… So I think the urgency level just maybe a little bit has been ratcheted up in the attention to details through our three-on-three.”
McMichael, who was the game’s Second Star (after Frank), now has seven points (2g, 5a) in his last five games, including goals in two of his last three. On the season, the Ajax, Ontario native has recorded 28 points (7g, 21a) in 47 games.
