Washington Capitals (18-9-3 39pts) v. Carolina Hurricanes (13-13-4 30pts)
Game Recap:
The Washington Capitals managed to leave Carolina with the shootout victory over the Hurricanes. The Capitals did so while constantly putting themselves in the penalty box which the Hurricanes made them pay for that 3 times. Also Alex Ovechkin’s 2nd goal came controversially as Jonas Siegenthaler clearly interfered with Dougie Hamilton to allow Ovechkin to get into the slot area to score.
Lineups:
Washington Capitals:
Alex Ovechkin — Nicklas Backstrom — T.J. Oshie
Jakub Vrana — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Tom Wilson
Brett Connolly — Lars Eller — Devante Smith-Pelly
Dmitrij Jaskin — Nic Dowd — Travis Boyd
Michal Kempny — John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov — Matt Niskanen
Jonas Siegenthaler — Madison Bowey
Braden Holtby
Pheonix Copley
Scratched: Andre Burakovsky, Chandler Stephenson
Injured: Christian Djoos (leg), Brooks Orpik (knee)
Carolina Hurricanes:
Jordan Martinook — Sebastian Aho — Teuvo Teravainen
Janne Kuokkanen — Victor Rask — Brock McGinn
Andrei Svechnikov — Lucas Wallmark — Justin Williams
Warren Foegele — Clark Bishop — Phillip Di Giuseppe
Jaccob Slavin — Brett Pesce
Calvin de Haan — Justin Faulk
Trevor van Riemsdyk — Dougie Hamilton
Scott Darling
Petr Mrazek
Scratched:
Injured: Jordan Staal (concussion), Curtis McElhinney (lower body), Micheal Ferland (upper body), Haydn Fleury (concussion)
First Period:
Hurricanes Goal – :47 – Jordan Martinook (8) from Sebastian Aho (21) and Calvin de Haan (4)
Capitals Goal -3:56 – Alex Ovechkin (26) from Jonas Siegenthaler (1) and Nic Dowd (6)
Capitals Penalty – 7:59 – Madison Bowey 2 minutes for Interference
Hurricanes Penalty – 7:59 – Warren Foegele 2 minutes for Unsportsmanlike Conduct
Capitals Penalty – 10:06 – Madison Bowey 2 minutes for Holding the Stick
Hurricanes Penalty – 11:54 – Dougie Hamilton 2 minutes for High Sticking
Hurricanes SHG – 13:18 – Sebastian Aho (10) from Teuvo Teravainen (17)
End of 1st – WAS – 1 CAR – 2
Shots 10 10
Faceoffs 08 12
Hits 05 16
PP 0/1 0/1
Analysis:
Not a solid period for the Capitals. Giving up the first goal of the game in the first minute was not ideal, especially for going up against a team that got home last night at 3 in the morning. The Capitals responded very well by getting a goal of their own to tie the game. However, it would be poor play on their powerplay that would result in a shorthanded goal against, plus Madison Bowey needs to play smarter. The penalties he has been taking have been hurting the Capitals.
Need to Do:
The Capitals need to clean up their play in their own zone. They have been sloppy, and it has been costly. The Capitals need to come out and start the 2nd period with a better pace to their game, and on their next power play opportunity they need to get Tom Wilson out there.
Second Period:
Capitals Penalty – 4:00 – Alex Ovechkin 2 minutes for Holding
Hurricanes PPG – 4:39 – Sebastian Aho (11) from Justin Faulk (8) and Teuvo Teravainen (18)
Capitals Penalty – 5:03 – Tom Wilson 2 minutes for Interference
Hurricanes PPG – 6:41 – Teuvo Teravainen (6) from Andrei Svechnikov (8) and Sebastian Aho (22)
Capitals Goal – 12:37 – Tom Wilson (8) from Evgeny Kuznetsov (23)
Capitals Goal – 17:25 – Alex Ovechkin (27) from Nic Dowd (7)
Capitals Goal – 18:19 – Travis Boyd (3) from John Carlson (28) and Nic Dowd (8)
End of 2nd – WAS – 4 CAR – 4
Shots 21 16
Faceoffs 14 21
Hits 16 20
PP 0/1 2/3
Analysis:
Yet again another rough period for the Capitals, but this time they ended it strong. They took a couple bad penalties, one of which was very questionable, and the Hurricanes made them pay for it. The Capitals were able to tie it up late, even though Alex Ovechkin’s 2nd goal should have not happened as it was clear interference by Jonas Siegenthaler, and has gotten them some confidence.
Need to Do:
The Capitals need to play a full 20 minutes. They need to play smart and stay out of the penalty box. The Capitals also needs to contain the hurricanes speed as right now they are being burned by Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen.
Third Period:
Capitals Penalty – 3:19 – Michal Kempny 2 minutes for Hooking
Hurricanes Penalty – 9:20 – Jordan Martinook 2 minutes for Slashing
Capitals PPG – 9:49 – Alex Ovechkin (28) from John Carlson (30) and Nicklas Backstrom (29)
Capitals Penalty -11:49 – TJ Oshie 2 minutes for High Sticking
Hurricanes PPG – 13:48 – Justin Williams (7) from unassisted
End of 3rd – WAS – 5 CAR – 5
Shots 25 26
Faceoffs 23 35
Hits 23 22
PP 1/2 3/5
OT:
Capitals Penalty – 3:25 – Matt Niskanen 2 minutes for Tripping
End of OT – WAS – 5 CAR – 5
Shots 29 27
Faceoffs 25 35
Hits 25 26
PP 1/2 3/6
Shootout:
CAR – Janne Kuokkanen – Save
WAS – TJ Oshie – Save
CAR – Jaccob Slavin – Save
WAS – Evgeny Kuznetsov – Save
CAR – Phil Di Giuseppe – Save
WAS – Alex Ovechkin – Save
CAR – Dougie Hamilton – Goal
WAS – Nicklas Backstrom – Goal
CAR – Justin Williams – Save
WAS – Lars Eller – Save
CAR – Brock McGinn – Save
WAS – Jakub Vrana – Goal
End of SO – WAS 6 CAR 5
Analysis:
A decent 3rd period and overtime period for the Capitals. They did great getting the lead on their lone powerplay of the 3rd period only to blow it one a sloppy play by Braden Holtby behind the net to let former Capital Justin Williams tie it up on a powerplay. In overtime the Capitals started strong, and then was forced to kill off a late Matt Niskanen tripping call. As for the shootout, why did Rod Brind’Amour not put in Sebastian Aho or Teuvo Teravainen?
Next Up:
Washington (19-9-3 41pts) v. Buffalo (19-9-4 42pts)
Carolina (13-13-5 31pts) v. Arizona (14-15-2 30pts)
