Photo: @oddwomanrush
Before morning skate on Saturday, Florida-based Caps fan Jenna (@oddwomanrush) ran into CSN Washington color commentator Craig Laughlin. That’s when some social media magic happened. I’ll let Jenna explain.
Photo: Chris O’Meara
Skating in his second game of the season on Saturday, Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson looked to make an impact in any way he could. That included getting in his first fight of the season with Lightning defenseman Radko Gudas after Eric Fehr crashed into Lightning goalie Ben Bishop. Gudas skated towards Fehr, and Wilson was having none of that.
They dropped the gloves. Boys will be boys. Willy Baby unleashed one vicious punch that connected early in the fight. Gudas, who doesn’t wear a face shield (this is important for later), then skated off the ice and went to the locker room.
When Gudas came back to the Lightning bench, he was wearing a full cage.
@russianmachine did @tom_wilso break Gudas' jaw in that fight? He wasn't wearing a cage before it. #Caps #CapsBolts
— . (@clj94104) November 2, 2014
Good question. I looked back on the action and this is what I figured out.
People have dogged Alex Ovechkin for his defense over the years, but this season the conversation is a little bit different. Here’s a fun example. A few weeks ago, NBCSN held a panel discussion and Mike Milbury talked about why he thought Ovechkin shouldn’t block as many shots. Wut?
Ovechkin is making more of an effort defensively this season, and tonight came his greatest effort yet. The Russian machine broke up a two-on-one after hustling back and making a suicide dive towards the slot.
Look at this.
Photo: Scott Iskowitz
The Washington Capitals are way better than their record shows, but it still ain’t showing up in the standings. A thrilling defeat to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night extends that patterns and tests our patience, but at least it was fun to watch.
Ryan Callahan returned from injury tonight and scored right away with a fancy redirect between his legs. The Caps tied it up when Marcus Johansson scored on a rebound off a hero effort by Alex Ovechkin.
The second period was a back-and-forth affair. Eric Fehr scored after a blistering attack (told ya so), but the Bolts tied it up with a pretty passing play punctuated by Palat. It looked like the Bolts would have the lead going into the third, but Brouwer scored off a perfect tee-up by Johansson during a late-period power play.
Jason Garrison scored off a faceoff early in the third, the deflection going off Nick Backstrom’s skates. The Caps couldn’t get it one.
Lightning beat Caps 4-3.
Some of the greatest plays of Alex Ovechkin‘s career have come when he’s not even on his skates. There was The Goal, when he scored on the Coyotes while doing a barrel roll in the slot. Then there was that one time he almost scored against the Rangers while sitting on his bum.
Against the Lightning on Saturday, Ovechkin passed the puck to himself and got a semi-breakaway. He fell over, but that’s no reason not to get a shot on goal.
On Wednesday, Jason Chimera broke his nose in the most grotesque way possible. It looked like a boomerang. It had so much curve our readers made graphics where it helped spell the word Capitals.
On Saturday, Chimera took the ice against Tampa with two black eyes, which is the maximum number you can have. He looked like a raccoon.
Early in the first period, Washington Capitals defenseman Brooks Orpik hit Vladislav Namestnikov hard into the side boards. As Namestnikov received a pass, he turned towards the Caps bench and was railed head-first into the boards.
I don’t like the Capitals’ record so far, but I’m like cosmically certain they’re a really good team. They’ll have another chance to prove it with tonight’s match-up against the Tampa Bay Lightning, who are also a really good team. Holtby’s in net versus Ben Bishop. Tune in at 7 PM on CSN+.
(Yeah, it’s on the plus.)
| Team | Record | Possession | PDO | Power Play | Penalty Kill |
| Washington Capitals | 4-3-2 | 54.4% | 100.8 | 24.2% | 79.4% |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | 7-3-1 | 54.0% | 100.0 | 26.2% | 87.1% |
