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Gavin McHale lived his NHL dream serving as the Capitals’ emergency goaltender. He just hoped they’d let him keep the jersey.

Less than two hours before puck drop against the Winnipeg Jets, the Washington Capitals faced a goaltending quandary. Braden Holtby, the team’s scheduled starting goaltender, would not be able to play due to an upper-body injury. Pheonix Copley was forced to tend the twine for the second straight night. The Caps top goaltending prospect Ilya Samsonov couldn’t be called up from Hershey because the Russian’s flight would not arrive in time, leaving the team without a backup.

The Stanley Cup champions turned to the Winnipeg Jets’ emergency goaltender pool and signed 31-year-old Gavin McHale, a six-foot, seven-inch University of Manitoba hockey coach, to be the team’s backup goalie. The jacked physical trainer, who played three seasons of junior hockey and posted a sub-.900 save percentage during his time in the WHL, spends his Saturdays playing on a beer-league team called Shake N Bake.

Plucked off the street, McHale selflessly skipped dinner and grinded through rush hour traffic to be an NHL hockey player for the evening.

“I got here as fast as I could, basically told everyone I knew and got here as fast as I could,” McHale said. “I was coming from the south end so I had to fight a bit of traffic, but I was weaving my way in and out.”

The Capitals, Alex Ovechkin in particular, didn’t take it easy on McHale during warmups.

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Beaten and bruised: numbers for the morning after

Wednesday night, the Washington Capitals were looking to take both games of their western back-to-back, but in a twist they’d have to do it without Braden Holtby. Without their star netminder and with a couple other health issues, the beat up Caps fell 3-1.

The Caps out-shot the Jets 28 to 24, but were out-attempted at five-on-five 46 to 36.

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By Chris Cerullo 4 months ago

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Todd Reirden’s injury updates on Braden Holtby and Evgeny Kuznetsov

After the Capitals’ 3-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets, Capitals head coach Todd Reirden gave updates on injured players Braden Holtby, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and Michal Kempny.

Reirden also discussed the hit that injured TJ Oshie late in the game.

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By Ian Oland 4 months ago

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TJ Oshie injured after being dropped on head by Josh Morrissey

Braden Holtby and Michal Kempny were both unable to suit up in Wednesday night’s game against the Winnipeg Jets. When the actual puck was dropped, things did not get any better for the Capitals.

In the first period, Washington lost their top point-getter Evgeny Kuznetsov to injury after a head shot. In the waning minutes of the game, star forward TJ Oshie, who has had at least four documented concussions in his career, was dropped on his head by defenseman Josh Morrissey.

“You can tell he’s not right over there on the bench,” the Jets play-by-play announcer said. After the game, Capitals head coach Todd Reirden mentioned Oshie was injured late in the game, but did not have an update on his condition.

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By Ian Oland 4 months ago

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Beat up and shut down: Jets beat Caps 3-1

The illness- and injury-struck Washington Capitals came close to securing an unlikely road win on a back-to-back, but a late-game push by the Winnipeg Jets dashed those hopes.

Jakub Vrana scored a smart rush goal in the first period, bringing him to five on the season. Alex Ovechkin got whistled for a joke of a toepick in the second period, and Mark Scheifele responded immediately with a power-play goal for the Jets. Late in the third, Ben Chiarot’s wristshot beat Copley stick-side to give the Jets the game-winner. Kyle Connor got the empty-netter. Womp womp.

Caps lose 3-1.

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By Peter Hassett 4 months ago

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Evgeny Kuznetsov leaves game after head shot from Brandon Tanev

Halfway through the first period of Wednesday night’s game against the Winnipeg Jets, center Evgeny Kuznetsov was elbowed in the head by forward Brandon Tanev.

Tanev was penalized for an illegal hit to the head. Kuznetsov played one more shift on the resulting power play but soon headed to the Capitals locker room. He did not return.

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By Brennin Weiswerda 4 months ago

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Capitals dress emergency goalie Gavin McHale to back up Pheonix Copley, Braden Holtby is out

Braden Holtby was supposed to be in net against the Winnipeg Jets Wednesday night. But not anymore. According to the Capitals PR, Holtby suffered an upper-body injury and Pheonix Copley will get the start.

With Holtby out, the Capitals will dress an emergency goalie, 31-year-old Gavin McHale, to ride the bench.

This will be a back-to-back for Copley, who let in two goals on 28 shots last night against the Minnesota Wild.

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By Brennin Weiswerda 4 months ago

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Caps at Jets pregame: A goal-scorers game

The road trip continues for the Capitals with a stop in Winnipeg to play the Jets! This means that the top-two goal scorers since the beginning of the 2016-17 season will be meeting again. That would be Alex Ovechkin and Patrik Laine. The Capitals might look a tad tired tonight since they played a pretty great game 24 hours ago. I will also be tired tonight after tweeting during a Capitals game only 24 hours ago.

The puck will be dropping again at 8:00 PM on NBC Sports Washington. You can stream the game with NBCS Washington on any of your devices beginning with the pregame at 7:00 PM. Another recap from Peter? You betcha.

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By Elyse Bailey 4 months ago

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