Washington Capitals (15-8-3 33pts) v. Vegas Golden Knights (14-13-1 29pts)
Game Recap:
Former Washington Capital Nate Schmidt would net the late game winner and an empty netter to seal the deal for the Vegas Golden Knights against the Capitals, making their return to Vegas an unsuccessful one. The Capitals were unable to capitalize on their powerplay opportunities, and put themselves into penalty trouble once again.
Lineups:
Washington Capitals:
Alex Ovechkin — Nicklas Backstrom — Tom Wilson
Jakub Vrana — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Brett Connolly
Andre Burakovsky — Lars Eller — Devante Smith-Pelly
Chandler Stephenson — Nic Dowd — Dmitrij Jaskin
Michal Kempny — John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov — Matt Niskanen
Christian Djoos — Madison Bowey
Braden Holtby
Pheonix Copley
Scratched: Jonas Siegenthaler, Travis Boyd
Injured: T.J. Oshie (concussion), Brooks Orpik (knee surgery)
Vegas Golden Knights:
Jonathan Marchessault — William Karlsson — Reilly Smith
Oscar Lindberg — Cody Eakin — Alex Tuch
Daniel Carr — Tomas Nosek — Ryan Carpenter
William Carrier — Pierre-Edouard Bellemare — Ryan Reaves
Brayden McNabb — Nate Schmidt
Shea Theodore — Deryk Engelland
Nick Holden — Colin Miller
Marc-Andre Fleury
Malcolm Subban
Scratched: Jon Merrill, Brad Hunt, Max Pacioretty
Injured: Erik Haula (lower body), Paul Stastny (lower body)
First Period:
Capitals Penalty – 1:03 – Brett Connolly 2 minutes for Goalie Interference
Golden Knights PPG – 2:30 – Ryan Reaves (6) from Cody Eakin (8) and Oscar Lindberg (1)
Capitals Penalty – 8:05 – Madison Bowey 2 minutes for Holding
Golden Knights Penalty – 9:43 – Bench (Daniel Carr) 2 minutes for Too Many Men
Capitals Goal – 15:33 – Jakub Vrana (7) from Brett Connolly (11)
Capitals Penalty – 19:44 – Nic Dowd 2 minutes for Tripping
End of 1st – WAS – 1 VGK – 1
Shots 09 07
Faceoffs 07 19
Hits 09 20
PP 0/1 1/2 *3rd in Progress
Analysis:
This was an ok period for the Capitals. They’ve gotten themselves into penalty trouble which allowed Vegas to take the 1-0 lead and a powerplay to start the second period. The Capitals are not doing well in the faceoff circle and they are being physically dominated by the Golden Knights in the hits category. However, they have responded well and got a good goal from Jakub Vrana to tie the game.
Need to Do:
The Capitals need to kill off this penalty, and then stay out of the box and stop giving the Golden Knights opportunities. Also the Capitals need to do a much better job in faceoff circle and pick up their physical play as they were horribly dominated in hits.
Second Period:
Capitals Penalty – 8:35 – Evgeny Kuznetsov 2 minutes for Illegal Equipment
Capitals Goal -11:42 – Alex Ovechkin (20) from Brett Connolly (12) and Madison Bowey (5)
Golden Knights Penalty – 15:42 – Ryan Reaves 5 minutes for Interference
Golden Knights Penalty – 15:42 – Ryan Reaves – Game Misconduct
End of 2nd – WAS – 2 VGK – 1
Shots 18 17
Faceoffs 18 26
Hits 22 35
PP 0/2 1/4
Analysis:
This was a better period for the Capitals as they were better in the faceoff circle and they also were able to get the lone goal of the period. However, they were still dominated in the hits category, plus they did not do much with their lone powerplay which was a 5 minute one.
Need to Do:
The Capitals need to keep on pressing the play, and play a full 20 minutes. Also the Capitals need to do a much better job with their powerplay opportunities.
Third Period:
Golden Knights Goal – 2:33 – Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (4) from Brayden McNabb (3) and Nate Schmidt (2)
Golden Knights Goal – 2:49 – Cody Eakin (11) from Oscar Lindberg (2) and Deryk Engelland (4)
Golden Knights Penalty – 3:53 – Colin Miller 2 minutes for High Sticking
Golden Knights Penalty – 7:14 – Jonathan Marchessault 2 minutes for Slashing
Capitals Goal – 11:40 – Jakub Vrana (8) from Evgeny Kuznetsov (18) and Matt Niskanen (9)
Capitals Penalty – 14:46 – Nic Dowd 4 minutes for High Sticking
Golden Knights PPG – 18:35 – Nate Schmidt (1) from Shea Theodore (12)
Golden Knights ENG – 19:53 – Nate Schmidt (2) from unassisted
End of 3rd – WAS – 3 VGK – 5
Shots 26 28
Faceoffs 26 37
Hits 40 41
PP 0/4 2/6
Analysis:
This was a letdown of a period for the Capitals. They gave up two goals in a span of 16 seconds in the first 3 minutes of the period, and did not play with much gusto throughout the period.
Next Up:
Washington (15-9-3 33pts) @ Arizona (13-11-2 28pts)
Vegas (15-13-1 31pts) v. Chicago (9-14-5 23pts)
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