Game Recap – 10/22/2018 – Washington Capitals v. Vancouver Canucks

 

 

Washington Capitals (3-2-2 8pts) v. Vancouver Canucks (5-3-0 10pts)

 

Lineups:

Washington Capitals:

Alex Ovechkin — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Devante Smith-Pelly

Chandler Stephenson — Nicklas Backstrom — T.J. Oshie

Jakub Vrana — Lars Eller — Brett Connolly

Dmitrij Jaskin — Nic Dowd — Andre Burakovsky

Dmitry Orlov — Matt Niskanen

Michal Kempny — John Carlson

Brooks Orpik — Christian Djoos

Braden Holtby

Pheonix Copley

Scratched: Madison Bowey, Nathan Walker 

Injured: Travis Boyd (lower body)

Suspended: Tom Wilson

 

Vancouver Canucks:

Nikolay Goldobin — Bo Horvat — Brock Boeser

Sven Baertschi — Adam Gaudette — Jake Virtanen

Antoine Roussel — Brandon Sutter — Loui Eriksson

Tim Schaller — Mikael Granlund — Tyler Motte

Alexander Edler — Christopher Tanev

Derrick Pouliot — Troy Stecher

Ben Hutton — Erik Gudbranson

Anders Nilsson

Jacob Markstrom

Scratched: Michael Del Zotto, Brendan Leipsic

Injured: Elias Pettersson (concussion), Jay Beagle (broken arm)

 

First Period:

Capitals Penalty –  :52 – Michal Kempny 2 minutes for Roughing

Canucks Penalty – :52 – Antoine Roussel 2 minutes for Roughing

Capitals Goal –  2:20 – John Carlson (5) from Jakub Vrana (2) and Christian Djoos (3)

Capitals Penalty – 3:55 – Brooks Orpik 2 minutes for Tripping

Canucks Penalty – 15:28 – Bo Horvat 2 minutes for Hooking

 

End of 1st – WAS – 1       VAN – 0

Shots              13                6

Faceoffs         8                  9

Hits               8                    7

PP                 0/1                 0/1

 

Analysis:

This was a good start to the game for the Capitals. They brought the physicality early and on a great break out play the Capitals were able to give themselves an early 1-0 lead. The Capitals also are doing a great job of clogging up the neutral zone, and making it difficult for the Canucks to enter the zone and create a presence.

 

Need to Do:

The Capitals need to continue clogging up the neutral zone, and making smart plays to generate offense in the Canucks end. Also the Capitals need to shoot some more when they have the opportunity to do so.

 

Second Period:

Capitals Penalty – 3:22 – John Carlson 2 minutes for Tripping

Canucks Goal – 7:30 – Troy Stetcher (1) from unassisted

Canucks Penalty – 8:47 – Erik Gudbranson 2 minutes for Cross Checking

Capitals PPG – 9:29 – Evgeny Kuznetsov (5) from John Carlson (7) and Alex Ovechkin (4)

Capitals Goal – 19:34 – Alex Ovechkin (7) from Nicklas Backstrom (9) and TJ Oshie (4)

Capitals Penalty – 19:45 – Nicklas Backstrom 2 minutes for Tripping

 

End of 2nd – WAS – 3        VAN – 1

Shots               25                 18

Faceoffs          16                 21

Hits                 15                  18

PP                   1/2                  0/2 *3rd in Progress

 

Analysis:

Not the best start to this period, but the Capitals rebounded beautifully, and were able to come out of the second period with a two goal lead. However, they have put themselves in some tough spots as they have taken some bad penalties.

 

Need to Do:

The Capitals need to start the 3rd period strong and kill off the Nicklas Backstrom penalty, and then they need to force the play in the Canucks zone and not allow the Canucks any opportunities to get back into this game.

 

Third Period:

Canucks PPG – :20 – Sven Baertschi (3) from Brock Boeser (4)  and Bo Horvat (2)

Canucks Penalty – 1:52 – Alexander Edler 2 minutes for Interference

Canucks Penalty – 4:31 – Troy Stetcher 2 minutes for Tripping

Capitals PPG – 5:35 – Alex Ovechkin (8) from John Carlson (8) and Nicklas Backstrom (10)

Capitals ENG – 18:19 – TJ Oshie (5) from Alex Ovechkin (5) from Nicklas Backstrom (11)

Canucks Penalty – 19:29 – Sven Baertschi 2 minutes for Delay of Game

 

End of 3rd – WAS – 5         VAN – 2

Shots              33                   24

Faceoffs        25                    28

Hits               19                     21

PP                 2/5                    1/3

 

Analysis:

This was a good game for the Capitals overall as they played a hard fought game against the Canucks. The Capitals responded very well when the Canucks scored, and the Capitals, while wasying at least one powerplay opportunity, untilized their powerplay very well. The Capitals also did a very good job of controlling the tempo and clogging up the neutral zone against the Canucks, and will need to do the same Thursday night in Edmonton against the Oilers.

 

Next Up:

Washington (4-2-2 10pts) @ Edmonton (3-3-0 6pts)

Vancouver (5-3-0 10pts) @ Vegas (4-4-0 8pts)

 

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