Peter Hassett

About Peter Hassett (@peterhassett)

Vitek Vanacek wins first NHL game, gets shaving-cream pie to the face

It was a big Friday night for 25-year-old Czech rookie Vitek Vanacek. After years in the Capitals farm system, he finally made his NHL debut against the Buffalo Sabres. He stopped 30 of 31 shots to deliver a win for his team and secure the first W of his NHL career. His teammates sung his praises after the game. He was given a post-game award.

And then, naturally, he got a shaving cream pie to the face.

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By Peter Hassett 6 hours ago

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Rise of Vitek Vanacek: Caps beat Sabres 2-1

With a narrow win on Friday night, the Capitals emerged victorious in the back-to-back season opening series in Buffalo. But this was not quite the commanding performance that had the Caps coasting on Thursday night.

The Caps took took three penalties in the first period, but ably killed them to escape tied. The second period was similarly blah, but Jakub Vrana scored a pretty rush goal to give the Caps the lead.

The Sabres scored on their first shift of the third period, with one of their many Rasmii loosing a wrister from the blue line. Tom Wilson answered back with a wrister to the top shelf from the faceoff dot to restore Washington’s lead.

Caps win!

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By Peter Hassett 7 hours ago

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And we’re back: Caps beat Sabres 6-4!

Hey! Hockey’s back. Let’s pretend the pandemic doesn’t exist for a few minutes. The Caps just beat the Sabres, starting off the Laviolette era in a sloppy but successful manner.

Alex Ovechkin served up his Only True Center, Nicke Backstrom, who scored the first goal of the season. The Sabres responded with a power-play goal from Taylor Hall, who I am sad to report really does play for the Sabres now. TJ Oshie turned Ovechkin’s rebound into a goal, and that got us through the first period.

The second period was more of the (good) same, with John Carlson scoring on a breakaway. The Caps killed a penalty, and then Brenden Dillon finally got his first goal as a Cap. Tobias Reider got a greasy goal late in the period, but the Caps led 4-2 after two periods.

Winning a board battle and then making a swift pass across center ice, the Sabres made it a one-goal game early in the third, but Jakub Vrana responded immediately, stealing a puck from Eric Staal to score solo. With an extra attacker, Victor Olofsson buried a one-timer to make it a one-goal game late. No worries: Garnet Hathaway sunk an empty-netter.

Caps win!

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By Peter Hassett 1 day ago

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Caps at Sabres pregame: Ready to get hurt again

Let’s do it again. The NHL is back, albeit without fans and in a shortened season and Holtby is gone but Lundqvist is here no wait he isn’t Chara is here, yeah, Chara is a Capital. We’re just making it up as we go along.

The Washington Capitals’ season kicks off tonight at 7 PM as the team travels to Buffalo to beat the Sabres. Catch the NBC stream and hang out with us. Pete here reporting for duty, stealing valor, and doing good tweets.

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By Peter Hassett 2 days ago

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Peter Laviolette shuffles top six at Saturday practice

After the day off on Friday, the Capitals have reconvened this morning at Medstar Capitals Iceplex with some changes.

For starters, Hershey stud Daniel Sprong has joined Group A to take shifts on the third line. Also, Ovechkin and Backstrom are reunited.

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By Peter Hassett 7 days ago

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Alex Ovechkin’s lost goals and who is to blame

Here is a story that I’ve put off as long as I could. The short version is that Alex Ovechkin has been unfairly deprived of almost 100 goals. The long version is longer, and it has graphs in it.

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By Peter Hassett 2 weeks ago

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Peter Laviolette debuts forward lines and defensive pairings on first day as Capitals head coach

On Monday morning, Peter Laviolette took the ice for the first time as head coach of the Washington Capitals.

Wearing his blue Capitals sweatsuit, Warrior gloves, and a black athletic mask, Laviolette wasted little time before debuting the first lines of the 2021. These lines could be pretty close to what we will see on opening night.

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By Ian Oland and Peter Hassett 2 weeks ago

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Caps announce 2021 training camp roster, including Craig Anderson and Hendrix Lapierre

The Washington Capitals released on Friday night the schedule and roster for the 2021 training camp. Camp begins on Sunday, January 3 and will include veteran goalie Craig Anderson (recently signed to a tryout agreement) and 2020 draft pick Hendrix Lapierre.

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By Peter Hassett 2 weeks ago

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The 2021 preview podcast episode

Happy new year! The last month has been a blur, but Ian has graciously caught me up on a ton of action. We’ve got a big year ahead, and it starts right now.

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By Peter Hassett 2 weeks ago

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Caps sign Craig Anderson to tryout agreement

The Washington Capitals are apparently still sizing up their options in net. The team announced on Sunday that they have signed a professional tryout agreement with Craig Anderson.

Anderson, 39, played with the Ottawa Senators for the last decade.

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By Peter Hassett 3 weeks ago

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About Peter Hassett (@peterhassett)