Boston Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy told the media that defender Brandon Carlo was taken to the hospital in an ambulance on Friday night.
Carlo left the game after taking a high hit from Tom Wilson along the boards.
By Peter Hassett 1 month ago
The Washington Capitals and Boston Bruins played a fierce game on Wednesday night. It had a playoff feel, which is the polite way of saying that neither team could put a dang shot on net.
I swear the Caps scored in the first period, but it didn’t count, so we went forty minutes with a goalie duel. Then, eighty seconds into the third period, John Carlson got owned at the Boston blue line and David Pastrnak scored on a breakaway. Lars Eller fought back with a greasy rebound goal from traffic to tie it up with 14 minutes left in rego.
Boston goalie Tuukka Rask had to bust out a big save on Dmitry Orlov to survive overtime, but he did.
Shootout bullets.
Caps win!
By Peter Hassett 2 months ago
The NHL’s COVID unavailability list has been dwindling in recent days, but it will have one big addition today: Pittsburgh Penguins forward Sidney Crosby.
On Tuesday morning, Pens head coach Mike Sullivan said Crosby will be unavailable for tonight’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers.
By Peter Hassett 2 months ago
Hi everybody. You may know me for being insufferable about hockey, but I’m also a music human, which sounds less pretentious and job-y than “musician” does to me right now. I’ve got a new record coming out on Wednesday, and maybe you’ll like it.
(Probably not, but maybe.)
By Peter Hassett 2 months ago
Against the Penguins on Thursday night, your Washington Capitals did what Washington Capitals do: obtain lead, blow lead, repeat. But this time there was a twist. I won’t spoil it for you, but it was Tom Wilson.
Offensive dynamo Nick Jensen set up white-hot Nick Backstrom for a good goal early in the game, but then the rest of the first period and all of the second passed without any more scoring. TJ Oshie scored a thrilling goal to open up the third period, but Brandon Tanev’s shorthanded goal followed close behind. Then Jake Guentzel got a greasy goal and all of a sudden the lead was fully blown.
As per the Prophecy, the game was won by Tom Wilson with a low-down tap-in on the power play. Carl Hagelin scores as only Carl Hagelin can: with an empty netter. Eller added another.
Caps win!
By Peter Hassett 2 months ago
Let’s be real: the Capitals did not offer a winning effort on Tuesday night, and they were lucky to have escaped with a loser point.
But in overtime, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Jakub Vrana just sorta gave up on a very important play.
By Peter Hassett 2 months ago
The Washington Capitals played a mostly miserable game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night. But mostly miserable is sometimes also partially passable, which is how the Caps somehow got a standings point out of the night.
The Caps got crushed in the first period, spotting the Penguins a one-goal lead thanks to Evgeni Malkin on the power play. Washington fought back in the second period with two big goals — one from Richard Panik and one from Conor Sheary — only to lose their lead on the very next shift as Jake Guentzel tipped in a tying goal.
Both teams turtled in the third, pushing us into overtime, which is where Kasperi Kapanen won it.
Caps lose.
By Peter Hassett 2 months ago
The Washington Capitals kept to their winning ways with a convincing yet sloppy victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night.
After Alex Ovechkin took a couple swings against Buffalo goalie Linus Ullmark, Nicklas Backstrom said “bro i got this” and did it himself. Tom Wilson extended the lead in the second period with a very welcome shorthanded goal. In the third, Conor Sheary cleaned up a rebound on a great rush play. But then Victor Olofsson ended the shutout with a power-play goal that clipped the top of Vancek’s net.
Caps win!
By Peter Hassett 2 months ago
In a stunning turn of events, the Washington Capitals played well against the Pittsburgh Penguins and actually won a game. I’d be honored to tell you about it.
There we were, early in the second period but late in capitalism, when Nick Jensen outworked the Pens in the corner to set up Conor Sheary for a laser-fast shot. Later that period, TJ Oshie sent a wizardly pass to Jakub Vrana, who roofed it to beat Tristan Jarry up high.
The Caps did not let up in the third. Early, Richard Panik found Lars Eller at the weak side to make it 3-0. The Penguins cracked the shutout late on a messy play, but the day belonged to Washington.
CAPS WIN. Losing streak over.
By Peter Hassett 2 months ago
If you go the NHL’s stat site, go to teams, and then sort by goals against per game, you see the Capitals right near the top: 3.77 per game, second highest in the league, behind only Ottawa.
That’s atrocious. It paints a picture of the Capitals — now nursing a four-game losing streak — as a disaster. But I don’t think that picture is accurate.
By Peter Hassett 2 months ago
