The Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers were tied 5-5 after 65 minutes of hockey, and so they went to the shootout. Were the Bruins to win in the shootout, they’d keep pace with Washington for the best record in hockey.
One of the world’s best players, Brad Marchand, skated to center ice to keep his team alive.
And then he did the single worst shootout attempt we’ve ever seen.
By Peter Hassett 1 week ago
The Washington Capitals got back in a winning way on Monday night, downing the Carolina Hurricanes, who didn’t seem to be paying much attention to the hockey game they were in.
The goals came front loaded and off the stick of Alex Ovechkin. He scored both in the first period: one during even strength off a nice pass from Tom Wilson, and the second on the power play from his Ovi Spot. There were no more goals, and you know what that means:
Caps win! Ilya Samsonov’s first career shutout!
By Peter Hassett 2 weeks ago
Outside of you elite Caps fans, I bet not many people know that Jakub Vrana is in the league’s top three in five-on-five goals. As of Sunday, Auston Matthews has 20, and Vrana and David Pastrnak are tied at 17.
Whatever success Vrana has had this season has happened during even strength. He’s been scarcely used on the power play. Until now.
By Peter Hassett 2 weeks ago
Surely filled with shame due to their 5-1 win over the Washington Capitals on Saturday, the New Jersey Devils have fired general manager Ray Shero. With a 16-21-7 record, the Devils sit in last place in the Metropolitan Division.
By Peter Hassett 2 weeks ago
Saturday’s miserable defeat at the hands of the New Jersey Devils appears to be having consequences. At practice on Sunday morning, head coach Todd Reirden announced that rookie goalie Ilya Samsonov will start against the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday.
By Peter Hassett 2 weeks ago
Chris, Ian, and I had a spirited conversation about the Washington Capitals during their 5-1 loss to the Devils on Saturday night. The three of us spent a lot of time bemoaning how bad the Caps were playing before we all realized that they were still the best team in the NHL. We had cycled through our worries — Braden Holtby’s apparent downturn and Nick Jensen’s disastrous results in particular — and then we collectively noticed that the Washington Capitals of January 2020 are way better than the Capitals of January 2019 — and even better still than the eventual-champion Capitals of January 2018.
If you were handed a report card for the Capitals right now, there would be A‘s and smiley faces everywhere. Whatever anguish we’re feeling is because of the sharp contrast between the team’s bright, long-term success and some far more fleeting dark spots.
In this snapshot, we look at the shade while enjoying the sunshine.
By Peter Hassett 2 weeks ago
Caps forward TJ Oshie is an All-Star for the first time in his career. As part of the NHL’s Last Men In fan vote competition, Oshie will join David Perron,Mitch Marner, and Quinn Hughes on the 2020 NHL All-Star Team.
This is Oshie’s first All-Star nod. He has scored 18 goals and 15 assists this season.
By Peter Hassett 2 weeks ago
The Caps are 100-percent healthy heading into Saturday night’s date with the New Jersey Devils. Christian Djoos is fully mended and back in Hershey.
Game starts at 7 PM. Here’s your injury report.
By Peter Hassett 2 weeks ago
We’ve now entered the seemingly endless and bleak portion of the season known as mid-January. I tell you this in case you stepped outside, noticed it’s 72 degrees, and thought we were in the second round of the playoffs. No, sir, we are not. Another way you can tell we’re not in the playoffs yet is by tonight’s opponent: the New Jersey Devils. Yikes. Let’s get some power plays going.
Puck drop is at 7:00 PM. Your recap services come courtesy of Chris Cerullo.
By Peter Hassett 2 weeks ago
On Saturday morning the Capitals re-assigned defender Christian Djoos to the AHL Hershey Bears. Djoos played two games in his most recent stint, the second of which ended early due to an upper-body injury.
By Peter Hassett 2 weeks ago
