Washington Capitals (23 – 10 – 3 (49 pts)) at Ottawa Senators (15 – 19 – 4 (34 pts))
Game Recap: The Washington Capitals would face-off against the Ottawa Senators and would come away with the 3-2 win. The Washington Capitals would have two firsts in the contest with Tyler Lewington and Madison Bowey both scoring their first NHL career goals. Lewington and Bowey would become the first set of teammates to score their first goals against a goalie that is making his first career start since the Kings Gord Labossiere & Brian Kilrea vs Flyers Doug Favell on Oct 14, 1967.
The second period would be a even-matched penalty-filled period with Bowey and Ottawa’s Brady Tkachuk getting minors and matching fighting penalties. However, Tkachuk would get hit with a 10-minute misconduct penalty. At the end of the second period, the Capitals would hold a 3-1 lead. The third period would be a slow, but evenly matched period for the Capitals. The Senators would score late in the third period when they were caused chaos in front of the net but the Capitals would hold on to seal the 3-2 win over the Ottawa Senators.
The Capitals look to take this energy into their next contest on Monday afternoon when they take on the Nashville Predators.
Lineups:
Washington Capitals:
Alex Ovechkin — Nicklas Backstrom — T. J. Oshie
Jakub Vrana — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Tom Wilson
Andre Burakovsky — Lars Eller — Brett Connolly
Chandler Stephenson — Nic Dowd — DeVante Smith-Pelly
Michal Kempny — John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov — Madison Bowey
Jonas Siegenthaler — Tyler Lewington
Pheonix Copley
Braden Holtby
Scratched: Dmitrij Jaskin, Travis Boyd
Injured: Matt Niskanen (Upper body), Christian Djoos (lower body), Brooks Orpik (knee surgery)
Tonight's lineup #CapsSens
Read preview: https://t.co/rrWA0tOVX3 pic.twitter.com/Xd3HbQ66UY
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) December 29, 2018
Ottawa Senators:
Brady Tkachuk — Colin White — Mark Stone
Zack Smith — Matt Duchene — Ryan Dzingel
Mikkel Boedker — Chris Tierney — Bobby Ryan
Tom Pyatt — Nick Paul — Jack Rodewald
Christian Wolanin — Dylan DeMelo
Maxime LaJoie — Cody Ceci
Mark Borowiecki — Ben Harpur
Marcus Hogberg
Mike McKenna
Scratched: Stefan Elliott, Magnus Paajarvi, Christian Jaros
Injured: Marian Gaborik (back), Justin Falk (upper body), Craig Anderson (concussion), and Jean-Gabriel Pageau (torn Achilles), Thomas Chabot (upper body), Clarke MacArthur (undisclosed)
First Period:
Capitals Goal: Tom Wilson (11) from Evgeny Kuznetsov (26) and Tyler Lewington — 7:12
Wilson with the finisher and the Caps take the lead 1-0! #CapsSens #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/QAzgBwtLxe
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) December 30, 2018
Capitals Goal: Tyler Lewington (1) from Nicklas Backstrom (33) and Jonas Siegenthaler (3) — 16:00
Tyler Lewington scores his first goal as a Washington Capital for a 2-0 lead in Ottawa! #CapsSens #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/GhyvebeRRM
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) December 30, 2018
Capitals Penalty: Madison Bowey for Interference — 2 min minor– 16:37
End of 1st – WSH – 2 OTT – 0
Shots 10 07
Faceoffs 05 10
Hits 08 07
PP 0/0 0/1
Analysis: The first period started off slow until Tom Wilson registered his 11th goal of the season. Capitals goaltender Pheonix Copley made a couple good saves in the first and the Capitals should maintain the pace of play they had in the first period for the next 40 minutes.
Need to Do: The Capitals need to apply more pressure to the Senators, as Ottawa is not known for shooting the puck well this season. The Capitals also need to do better job at the faceoff circle.
Second Period:
Capitals Goal: Madison Bowey (1) from Tom Wilson (8) — 1:01
It's a night of firsts as @m_bows4 ALSO buries his FIRST NHL GOAL – #Caps lead 3-0 #CapsSens #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/mWmGjvytbI
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) December 30, 2018
Senators Goal: Colin White (10) from Mark Stone (25) and Brady Tkachuk (9) — 4:22
Capitals Penalty: Madison Bowey for Interference — 2 min minor — 4:55
Capitals Penalty: Madison Bowey for Fighting — 5 min major — 4:55
Senators Penalty: Brady Tkachuk for Instigator– 2 min minor — 4:55
Senators Penalty: Brady Tkachuk for Fighting — 5 min major — 4:55
Senators Penalty: Brady Tkachuk for Misconduct — 10 min — 4:55
Capitals Penalty: Tyler Lewington for Fighting — 5 min major — 15:36
Senators Penalty: Zack Smith for Fighting — 5 min major — 15:36
End of 2nd – WSH – 3 OTT – 1
Shots 17 20
Faceoffs 11 20
Hits 16 18
PP 0/0 0/1
Analysis: Madison Bowey would register his first career NHL goal one minute into the period and then seemed like things got very chippy. Madison Bowey would be called for interference after what looked like a high hit under the chin, which started a brawl with Ottawa’s Brady Tkachuk. Tkachuk would be called for an instigator penalty, which kicked the brawl off. Later in the period, Tyler Lewington would get the “Gordie Howe hat-trick” with a fight of his own with 4:24 left in the period with Ottawa’s Zack Smith.
Need to Do: The Capitals need to do whatever they can to stay of the penalty box, even if the penalties have been matching. The Capitals also need to maintain focus and create a bit more chaos around the net. Ottawa had very close calls with the puck coming into the net. The Capitals blue-liners need to play smart and take advantages of the puck coming their way and re-direct shots the other way.
Third Period:
Senators Goal: Mark Stone (18) from Brady Tkachuk (10) and Colin White (15) 16:30
End of 3rd – WSH – 3 OTT – 2
Shots 24 33
Faceoffs 24 32
Hits 22 21
PP 0/0 0/1
Analysis: Slow third period with the only noteworthy bit of information is the Ottawa goal. Both teams played a strong third period but the Capitals would escape Ottawa with the 3-2 win.
Next Up:
Washington (24 – 10 – 3 (51 pts)) vs. Nashville (22 – 15 – 2 (46 pts))
Ottawa (15 – 20 – 4 (34 pts)) at Columbus (22 – 13 – 3 (47 pts))
