Game Recap – 11/23/2018 – Detroit Red Wings v. Washington Capitals

Detroit Red Wings (10-9-2 22pts) v. Washington Capitals (11-7-3 25pts)

 

Preview:

The Washington Capitals go for their fourth straight victory and their longest winning streak this season when they host the Detroit Red Wings at Capital One Arena on Black Friday. Meanwhile the red hot Red Wings are 8-2-0 in their past 10 games and are looking for their seventh win in eight games.

 

Lineups:

Detroit Red Wings:

Justin Abdelkader – Dylan Larkin – Anthony Mantha

Gustav Nyquist – Frans Nielsen — Andreas Athanasiou

Tyler Bertuzzi – Luke Glendening – Michael Rasmussen

Christoffer Ehn – Jacob de la Rose – Thomas Vanek

Trevor Daley – Mike Green

Niklas Kronwall – Dennis Cholowski

Danny DeKeyser – Nick Jensen

Jonathan Bernier

Jimmy Howard

Scratched: Luke Witkowski, Martin Frk

Injured: Evgeny Svechnikov (knee surgery), Jonathan Ericsson (undisclosed), Darren Helm (upper body)

 

Washington Capitals:

Alex Ovechkin — Nicklas Backstrom – Tom Wilson

Jakub Vrana – Lars Eller – Brett Connolly

Andre Burakovsky – Travis Boyd – Devante Smith-Pelly

Dmitrij Jaskin – Nic Dowd – Chandler Stephenson

Dmitry Orlov – Matt Niskanen

Michal Kempny – John Carlson

Christian Djoos – Madison Bowey

Braden Holtby

Pheonix Copley

Scratched: Jonas Siegenthaler

Injured: Evgeny Kuznetsov (upper body), T.J. Oshie (Concussion), Brooks Orpik (Knee Surgery)

 

First Period:

Capitals Penalty – 6:38 – Madison Bowey 2 minutes for Tripping

Red Wings Goal – 8:46 – Andreas Athanasiou (10) from Thomas Vanek (4) and Danny DeKeyser (4)

 

End of 1st – DET – 1       WAS – 0

Shots              14                05

Faceoffs         08                13

Hits               05                  09

PP                 0/1                 0/0

 

Analysis:

This was not a very good period for the Capitals. They were out played and out hustled for the majority of the period, plus the Red Wings out shot the Capitals 14-5 which is not acceptable. One bright spot is the fact that the Capitals are doing a good job in the faceoff circle winning 62% in the first period. The score could be worse, but Braden Holtby is playing extremely well, and keeping them in the game.

 

Need to Do:

The Capitals need to get their forecheck going and force the play in the Red Wings’ zone and generate scoring chances. Late in the first period the Capitals started doing that, and they need to continue that and kick it up a notch and force the play against the Red Wings. Also the Capitals need to keep their feet moving and force the Red Wings to take some penalties.

 

Second Period:

Capitals Penalty – :42 – Michal Kempny 2 minutes for Holding

Red Wings Penalty – 3:14 – Nick Jensen 2 minutes for Hooking

Red Wings Penalty – 5:57 – Bench (Thomas Vanek) 2 minutes for Too Many Men

Capitals Goal – 12:13 – Tom Wilson (3) from Nicklas Backstrom (19) and Alex Ovechkin (10)

 

End of 2nd – DET – 1        WAS – 1

Shots               18                 13

Faceoffs          15                 24

Hits                 08                  20

PP                   0/2                  0/2

 

Analysis:

This was a better period for the Capitals that saw them hold the Red wings to 4 shots the entire period, and the Capitals had 8 shots on the period themselves. They did a good job of drawing a couple penalties this period, but did not convert on either opportunity. The controlled the tempo a bit better, but can do a better job in the third period.

 

Need to Do:

The Capitals need to kick it up a notch and really force the play in the Red Wings zone. The Capitals also need to play a full 20 minutes to help potentially close out the Red Wings in regulation. The Capitals also need to do a better job with their powerplay opportunities.

 

Third Period:

Capitals Penalty – :20 – Alex Ovechkin 2 minutes for High Sticking

Capitals Goal – 6:38 – Michal Kempny (2) from Travis Boyd (5) and Andre Burakovsky (3)

Capitals Goal – 8:34 – Alex Ovechkin (16) from Nic Dowd (2) and Tom Wilson (5)

Red Wings Penalty – 11:12 – Mike Green 2 minutes for Hooking

 

End of 3rd – DET – 1         WAS – 3

Shots              32                   20

Faceoffs        25                    34

Hits               12                     23

PP                 0/3                    0/3

 

Analysis:

This was a solid game defensively for the Capitals, but their overall game could have been better. In the third period the Capitals were out shot once again by the Red Wings 14-7, and Braden Holtby were relied on heavily to keep the Capitals in the game. The powerplay was a bit sloppy and there were too many passes, and that will need to get cleaned up going into tomorrow’s matinee visiting the New York Rangers as well.

 

Next Up:

Washington (12-7-3 27pts) @ NY Rangers (12-9-2 26pts)

Detroit (10-10-2 22pts) v. Buffalo (15-6-2 32pts)

 

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