Washington Capitals (4-3-2 10pts) v. Calgary Flames (5-5-0 10pts)
Time: 4p EST
Station: NBC Sports Washington
Preview:
In an early matinee for the Washington Capitals, they visit the Calgary Flames who are also going to be looking to rebound from a very bad game. The other night thhe Flames were dismantled by the Pittsburgh Penguins 9-1 while the Capitlas lost to the Edmonton Oilers 4-1. Also in net it looks like our matchup will be Mike Smith for the Flames against Pheonix Copley for the Capitals.
Washington Capitals:
Projected Lineup:
Alex Ovechkin — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Jakub Vrana
Andre Burakovsky — Nicklas Backstrom — T.J. Oshie
Chandler Stephenson — Lars Eller — Brett Connolly
Devante Smith-Pelly — Nic Dowd — Dmitrij Jaskin
Michal Kempny — John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov — Matt Niskanen
Brooks Orpik — Madison Bowey
Pheonix Copley
Braden Holtby
Scratched: Christian Djoos, Nathan Walker
Injured: Travis Boyd (leg)
Keys to the Game:
1. Play with urgency
The other night in Edmonton it looked like the Capitals did not play with any urgency, and lost as a result. The Flames are going to be looking to rebound after their horrendous game against Pittsburgh and are going to want to play with more urgency and the Capitals will need to match that.
2. Keep your feet moving
The Capitals need to keep their feet moving to force the play in the Flames zone but to also force the Flames to take penalties. If the Capitals can do this, they will have a much better game than they did against Edmonton.
Calgary Flames:
Projected Lineup:
Johnny Gaudreau — Sean Monahan — Sam Bennett
Matthew Tkachuk — Mikael Backlund — Austin Czarnik
Dillon Dube — Elias Lindholm — James Neal
Michael Frolik — Derek Ryan — Garnet Hathaway
Mark Giordano — TJ Brodie
Noah Hanifin — Travis Hamonic
Juuso Valimaki — Rasmus Andersson
Mike Smith
David Rittich
Scratched: Mark Jankowski, Michael Stone, Dalton Prout
Injured: None
Keys to the Game:
1. Get a good start
The Flames will want to have a much better game today than they did against Pittsburgh and a good start to the game is something that they will need to do. They may not have to score in the opening minutes, but a some good solid chances to start the game is something they should strive for.
First Period:
Flames Penalty – 1:10 – James Neal 2 minutes from Slashing
Capitals Penalty – 1:37 – Nicklas Backstrom for Interference
Capitals Goal – 9:28 – Jakub Vrana (3) from Evgeny Kuznetsov (9)
Flames Penalty – 13:49 – Derek Ryan 2 minutes for Slashing
Capitals PPG – 14:27 – TJ Oshie (6) from Alex Ovechkin (6) and Evgeny Kuznetsov (10)
Flames Goal – 14:41 – Travis Hamonic (1) from Johnny Gaudreau (8)
Capitals Penalty – 16:45 – Brett Connolly 2 minutes for Holding
Flames PPG – 16:54 – Elias Lindholm (7) from Johnny Gaudreau (9) and Mark Giordano (7)
End of 1st – WAS – 2 CAL – 2
Shots 10 09
Faceoffs 14 10
Hits 11 12
PP 1/2 1/2
Analysis:
This period had three phases to it. The first was the feeling out process as both teams are coming off of tough losses, so they obviously want to play more defensively and see where they can get their chances. Then for a five minute stretch the Capitals looked great and were the dominate team scoring two goals, for which one was on the powerplay. However, after their powerplay goal to give them a 2-0 lead they let the Flames back into it, and also took a bad penalty that allowed the Flames to tie the game at 2.
Need to Do:
The Capitals need to play with some more killer instinct. They had a 2-0 lead and then let up. You can’t do this, and the Capitals need to hunker down and play with more killer instinct.
Second Period:
Flames Penalty – 11:13 – Bench (Matthew Tkachuk) 2 minutes for Too Many Men
Capitals Penalty – 12:53 – Evgeny Kuznetsov 2 minutes for Tripping
Capitals Goal – 17:03 – Matt Niskanen (2) from Brett Connolly (6) and Dmitrij Jaskin (1)
End of 2nd – WAS – 3 CAL – 2
Shots 18 15
Faceoffs 19 19
Hits 16 17
PP 1/3 1/3
Analysis:
In all honesty, this was a very boring period to watch. Plus you had for the second period in the row the Capitals also lost another powerplay by taking another penalty. However, the one positive of this period is that they did get the lone goal of the period, and they did it late in the period too.
Need to Do:
Capitals need to put their foot on the gas and finish this one so they can walk out with a win. They scored late in the 2nd to swing the momentum their way, and they need to keep it in their corner.
Third Period:
Flames Goal – 18:33 – Matthew Tkachuk (4) from Rasmus Andersson (1) and Mark Giordano (8)
Capitals Penalty – 18:48 – Evgeny Kuznetsov 2 minutes for Delay of Game
End of 3rd – WAS – 3 CAL – 3
Shots 26 26
Faceoffs 25 32
Hits 20 22
PP 1/3 1/3 *4th in Progress
OT:
N/A
End of OT – WAS – 3 CAL – 3
Shots 27 30
Faceoffs 27 33
Hits 21 22
PP 1/3 1/4
Shootout:
Flames – Matthew Tkachuk – Save
Capitals – TJ Oshie – Save
Flames – Sean Monahan – Goal
Capitals – Evgeny Kuznetsov – Goal
Flames – James Neal – Save
Capitals – John Carlson – Save
Flames – Johnny Gaudreau – Save
Capitals – Nicklas Backstrom – Goal
Final – WAS 4 CAL 3
Analysis:
This could have easily of been a loss for the Capitals. All they had to do was force the play in the Flames zone for the third period and run down the clock, but instead they turtled and played mainly in their own zone and kept icing the puck, especially near the end. That is a recipe for losing and they almost did. Bright spot was definitely Pheonix Copley and his play. The first two games he played this season, which were loses, he played well and deserved the victory.
Next Up:
Washington (5-3-2 12pts) @ Montreal (5-2-2 12pts)
Calgary (5-5-1 11pts) @ Buffalo (6-4-0 12pts)
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