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