Photo: Maddie Meyer
The Capitals won their seventh straight game on Saturday night beating the Montreal Canadiens 3-1. Nate Schmidt recorded his first career multi-point game with two assists, as Evgeny Kuznetsov, Jay Beagle and Jason Chimera scored for the Caps.
By Hana Imiolczyk 7 years ago
Graphic via Hockey Night In Canada
Saturday, there was a bit of history in DC sports. The Washington Redskins, Washington Capitals, and Washington Wizards all won on the same day for the first time in 32 years (and nine days). And if we’re counting just by days, it took 11,697 of them for this to happen again.
The Redskins’ 38-24 win over the Eagles gave the Skins the NFC East title (8-7 record) and a playoff berth. It was also the Redskins’ 600th win as a franchise.
Photo: Patrick McDermott
The Capitals have the best record in the National Hockey League. They are playing their most impressive hockey in years. On Saturday, after not skating for four days during the Christmas break, the Capitals pounced on the hobbled Montreal Canadians for their seventh straight victory, with Evgeny Kuznetsov, Jay Beagle, and Jason Chimera providing the scoring.
“I think it’s huge for us,” defenseman Nate Schmidt said. “I think with this team, we showed tonight, we don’t need everybody going. We have secondary scoring. It takes a lot of the pressure off some our top guys.”
One of those top guys, in fact, is Schmidt. Since Brooks Orpik went down with a lower body injury in early November, Schmidt has been called on to play on the top defensive pairing with John Carlson, one of the team’s stalwarts for the past five seasons. Against the Canadians, Schmidt tallied two assists, tying his career high in points and helpers.
By Chris Gordon 7 years ago
Jay Beagle, the man who put the Caps up 2-1 in the second period, was Hockey Night In Canada’s guest during the second intermission. Yes, Beags got the esteemed HNIC towel.
Usually intermission interviews are irrelevant and chock full of cliches. Instead, Beags revealed a tasty nugget about what the Caps did on their flight home from Raleigh Monday night.
On the same goal, Caps forward Jason Chimera put the Habs away and reached the twenty-point plateau for the first time since the 2013-14 season.
After a set play off a breakout, Tom Wilson redirected a Nate Schmidt pass to a streaking Chimera. The Ice Cheetah put on his jets and beat Mike Condon on the breakaway.
Photo: Maddie Meyer
Ah, where were we? Yes, hockey! It’s like ballet on ice. You get the idea. Facing off against the Montreal Canadiens in their first game since Monday, the Washington Capitals got the jump early, showing no ill effects — but maybe a slight tan — from their Christmas break.
They pressed Habs netminder Mike Condon — minding the cage because Carey Price is out with a Michal Neuvirth — early, converting 6:45 into the game when Evgeny Kuznetsov redirected Nate “Heart Eyes Emoji” Schmidt’s slapper from the high slot.
In the second, the Caps jumped back on the board when Jay Beagle fired a rifle from the near circle on a three-on-four after an excellent setup by Tom Wilson. Montreal cut the lead in half on the next shift, as Washington’s second line repeated failed to clear the defensive zone. Eventually, Daniel Carr popped in the rebound off Andrei Markov’s wrister from the faceoff dot. The Caps continued to shower Condon in pucks, but the Canadiens reserve netminder held strong as Washington took a one goal lead into the final 20.
In the third, Jason Chimera picked up a loose puck, shot forehand, and flew one-legged toward victory. Caps top Habs 3-1!
By Chris Gordon 7 years ago
Tom Wilson showed how hard his fists could be in the first period. In the second, Willy Baby showed his hands could be soft too.
After racing to a turnover in the Habs offensive zone, Wilson flung a pass behind his body to a trailing Jay Beagle. Beags skated to a better shooting angle before fling a wrist shot past Habs goaltender Mike Condon. Craig Laughlin called the goal, Jay Beagle’s “best shot of his career.”
In the first period of Caps-Habs, we had a bizarre situation unfurl during a Tom Wilson/Jarred Tinordi fight. It wasn’t so much that Wilson and Tinordi were trying to angrily face punch each other. It was the fact that Jarred’s dad, former Capital Mark Tinordi, was in the stands watching it all with the rest of the Tinordi family.
Photo: Bruce Bennett
After no games for three days, the NHL is back. Whether you celebrated Christmas with your family while jamming to 101.9’s commercial free Christmas music or Christmas isn’t your holiday, it’s time to get back on the horse. Everyone ready?
The Canadiens are 1-9-0 in their past 10 games and are clinging to the Atlantic Division lead. The Curse of the Bambino has nothing on the Curse of the Sasha.
Our main homies over on CSN have the call at 7 PM.
| Team | Record | Possession | PDO | Power Play | Penalty Kill |
| Washington Capitals | 25-6-2 | 51.0% | 102.0 | 25.7% | 84.7% |
| Montreal Canadiens | 20-13-3 | 53.9% | 99.4 | 19.5% | 84.9% |
By Patrick Holden 7 years ago
