102214

Alex Ovechkin Gets Fancy, Puts Puck-Through-Legs Past Justin Schultz (GIF)

Four minutes into the third period, Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin nearly tied the game with a brilliant individual effort. After getting a perfect pass from Troy Brouwer, Ovechkin churned his legs and went solo against Oilers defenseman Justin Schultz.

Schultz had plenty of space and read Ovi perfectly– at least at first. But when you reach with your stick against one of the greats instead of taking the body, you might get burned.

(more…)

By Ian Oland 8 years ago

0 Comment

Oilers beat Caps 3-2, First Regulation Loss, No Big

Photo: Andy Devlin

It’s too early in the season for late-night hockey, but okay, Thursday’s productivity be damned, let’s do this.

The Washington Capitals went into Edmonton with hopes of starting a perfect road trip, but a couple mistakes marred an otherwise solid game.

Justin Schultz scored about seven minutes in, directing Teddy Purcell’s clever shot behind Braden Holtby. The Caps tied it up with John Carlson’s power-play one-timer.

Mike Green scored a gorgeous one early in the second period, but a whiff by Ovechkin set Ryan Nugent-Hopkins loose to tie it up just twenty second later. With Jason Chimera in the box, Nikita Nikitin got one past a screened Braden Holtby to give the Oilers the lead.

The Caps fired furiously in the third, but couldn’t beat Ben Scrivens.

Oilers beat Caps 3-2. That’s the Caps’ first regulation loss.

(more…)

By Peter Hassett 8 years ago

0 Comment

Alex Ovechkin Celebrates Mike Green’s Goal from the Bench as If It Were His Own (GIF)

We always hear criticism about Alex Ovechkin‘s leadership, which is why I bring your attention to this post. Early in the second period, Caps defenseman Mike Green scored a goal on a beauty of a wrist shot, his third goal in five games.

(more…)

By Ian Oland 8 years ago

0 Comment

Weird: Former Capital Matt Hendricks Checks Two Guys at Same Time, Fights Liam O’Brien (GIF)

For three seasons, Matt Hendricks gave his heart and soul to the Washington Capitals. There were big hits, paralyzing shootout goals, and fights. Lots and lots of fights. When Hendricks’ contract ran out in 2013, he signed a new one, a large one, with Nashville– then bounced around until he found a home in Edmonton.

On Wednesday, in what was the weirdest moment of the night so far, Hendricks checked two (2!) guys at the same time, Michael Latta and an Edmonton teammate. Hendricks was then forced to drop the gloves with first-year Caps forward Liam O’Brien.

Perhaps an awkward moment for Caps fans?

(more…)

By Ian Oland 8 years ago

0 Comment

Nicklas Backstrom Scores 500th Point (GIF)

Playing the Atlanta Thrashers on October 5th, 2007, Nicklas Backstrom scored his first NHL point, an assist on Michael Nylander’s power-play goal. Five-hundred games and 2,570 days later, the 26-year-old Swedish center has scored his 500th career point, a power-play assist on a John Carlson goal.

(more…)

By Ian Oland 8 years ago

0 Comment

So begins the Capitals’ sojourn through western Canada, home of mostly bad hockey teams. We start with the Edmonton Oilers, a team who are probably a lot better than their record seems. It’ll be a late game– puck drops after 9:30 PM, so make sure you do all your homework first.

Team	Record	Possession	PDO	Power Play	Penalty Kill
Washington Capitals	3-0-2	52.92%	103.6	25.0%	90.0%
Edmonton Oilers	1-4-1	50.93%	90.80	17.6%	76.2%

(more…)

By Peter Hassett 8 years ago

0 Comment

PuckBuddys Game of the Week: Edmonton Oilers, Plus a Chat With OilersNation

Matt Hendricks and Boyd Gordon, who play on the same line, fml.

The Capitals are off and away on their grand Canadian adventure, and expectations are running high. As Peter noted, the team is looking healthy, playing tighter than they have in a while, and still undefeated in regular play.

Even better, first on our dance card are the Edmonton Oilers, who are not healthy, not playing tight and largely the definition of defeat lately. Plus, they have to spend much of their time in Edmonton, so there’s that, too.

We had a whole schtick worked up about Edmonton the Annoying – perhaps we’ll save it for next time, it was actually funny, which we admit is unusual for us. But sadly, in light of what appears to be a very bad no good day for all Canadians, and even the smart choice to cancel tonight’s scheduled Leafs/Sens match, we just don’t feel like making fun of anyone today, Canadians especially.

So here we give you Oiler insight from “baggedmilk”, a cheeky writer up at the OilersNation blog. He’s smart, even if our questions aren’t. Hit him up on Twitter @jsbmbaggedmilk; you can thank us later.

(more…)

By Doug Johnson 8 years ago

0 Comment