Reeling from two blowout losses in the last week, the Washington Capitals have held multiple players-only meetings in recent days. As reported by The Washington Post’s Samantha Pell and The Athletic’s Tarik El-Bashir, Caps players spoke with the media on Tuesday about how the team got into their present situation and how they can get out of it again.
For TJ Oshie, it’s all about identity.
By Peter Hassett 2 months ago
The Washington Capitals, who enjoyed five days of rest before Sunday’s game, got trounced by the Minnesota Wild, who played last night. This game was awful from the first minute.
Speaking of: The Wild scored two goals in the first 100 seconds of the game. The second period was slower, but Joel Eriksson Ek scored his second of the game off a loose puck. Marcus Foligno scored on the first shift of the third period.
Garnet Hathaway tipped in an Alex Ovechkin shot to end the shutout, but it was over. Nicolas Deslauriers got the empty-netter.
By Peter Hassett 2 months ago
The Washington Capitals (mature but tired) narrowly defeated the New Jersey Devils (spry and rested) on home ice on Saturday night. An otherwise mundane game was elevated to classic status thanks to a game-winning pivotal goal from the man of the night, Nicklas Backstrom, and the apple-raining celebration that followed.
After a scoreless first period in which the score was 0-0 despite me calling it scoreless, Jack Hughes scored early in the second period, a dart just under the crossbar. Tom Wilson tied it up after a nice setup pass from Conor Sheary, but Damon Severson threaded the needle for a controversial go-ahead goal before the second intermission.
On a delayed penalty early in the third period, Connor McMichael recorded his ninth goal of the season, a layup after a lovely passing sequence. The man of the night, Nicky Backstrom, wristed the go-ahead goal in the third period, triggering an apple-toss bonanza. Alex Ovechkin added an interesting power-play goal for his 42nd. The Devils got one back in garbage time, but Washington held on for the win.
Caps win 4-3.
By Peter Hassett 2 months ago
The Washington Capitals did not play their best game of the season against the St Louis Blues. The Caps lost track of the game in the second period and never caught up.
Evgeny Kuznetsov scored first, getting perhaps a favorable deflection off Colton Parayko’s stick. Brandon Saad returned fire, carving up defenders Orlov and Carlson on his way. Anthony Mantha set up Tom Wilson for a rush goal, but Ryan O’Reilly found a rebound on the power play to tie it up after one period.
The Blues dominated the second period and were rewarded for it with two goals — one from ex-Cap Nathan Walker and another from Brayden Schenn. The Blues added an empty-netter with thirty seconds left in rego.
Caps lose 5-2.
By Peter Hassett 2 months ago
On Monday, the Washington Capitals traded to acquire forward Marcus Johansson from the Seattle Kraken. Johansson, 31, is a professional Swedish hockey player who has played for 12 seasons. A little-known fact: Many of those seasons were played right here in Washington for the Capitals.
If you are one of the people for whom that fact is news, here’s a brief explainer on who exactly Marcus Johansson is.
By Peter Hassett 2 months ago
Evgeny Kuznetsov won the faceoff, getting the puck to John Carlson. Carlson sent the puck to the goal-scorer, already drifting to his favorite shooting spot.
That’s how Alex Ovechkin scored the 40th goal of his season, the twelfth time in his careers he’s hit the mark. That ties the NHL record.
By Peter Hassett 2 months ago
The Washington Capitals welcomed Braden Holtby back to DC on Sunday afternoon with a tribute video and prolonged standing ovation.
Well deserved for — if you’ll forgive me for being personal for a moment — my favorite Capital of all time.
By Peter Hassett 2 months ago
The Washington Capitals will host the Dallas Stars for a weird 5 PM start today.
Braden Holtby will be at the game but he won’t be playing. Ian and his birthday-boy son Ethan will also be at the game and also won’t be playing. I don’t know why you even thought they’d be playing.
The Capitals will be without a few dudes, which we’ll tell you about below. Vitek Vanecek gets the start.
Tonight’s game is on NBC Sports Washington, which you can watch using a television.
By Peter Hassett 2 months ago
The NHL trade deadline is on Monday afternoon, but we all talked and decided to wrap the whole thing up before dinnertime on Sunday. A handful of big trades have been made this weekend, and most of them have improved eastern-conference teams that Washington may meet in the playoffs.
A quick rundown for your early afternoon.
By Peter Hassett 2 months ago
Through a haze of tree pollen on Friday night we watched the Washington Capitals play visitors to the Carolina Hurricanes. Both teams were coming off a back-to-back, so expectations were low. And yet we were given a dramatic and exciting game. There were hi-jinx early on, and then it got dire, then it got fun again. Real fun. Ovi fun.
Seth Jarvis started off scoring by beating Ilya Samsonov up the middle. Evgeny Kuznetsov got a very curious goal from no angle while no one was paying attention (more on that later). John Carlson caught a drop pass from Connor McMichael and slapshotted the Caps into the lead, but the Hurricanes scored twice in the second period (Trocheck off a turnover, Jarvis again thanks to sustained pressure) to give Carolina the lead after two.
With five minutes left in regulation, the Caps got a power play and Ovechkin immediately scored, pushing two tired teams to overtime. The Caps played great in OT but could not get the decision.
Shootout bullets!
Caps win in the shootout!
By Peter Hassett 2 months ago
