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Tag: Braden Holtby

  • Game Recap – 11/13/2019 – Washington Capitals v. Philadelphia Flyers

    Game Recap – 11/13/2019 – Washington Capitals v. Philadelphia Flyers

    Washington Capitals (13-2-4 30pts) v. Philadelphia Flyers (10-5-2 22pts)

     

    Game Recap:

    Coming to Philadelphia to visit an old friend, the Washington Capitals would take on Matt Niskanen and the Flyers for a Metropolitan Division matchup. In the first seven minutes of the game the Capitals would swarm the Flyers in all three zones and it would pay off as the Capitals would not only out shoot the Flyers 7-1, but would also strike first off of a hard hustle from the Capitals grind line of Garnet Hathaway, Nic Dowd, and Brendan Leipsic as they would get the puck to John Carlson for a point shot and Leipsic would crash the net to cash in on the rebound to take the 1-0 lead. The Capitals and Flyers would both trade powerplay opportunities, but neither team would be able to capitalize on them. Especially the Capitals who looked very sloppy with their first powerplay. the Capitals would draw another penalty in the final minute of the period to give them an abbreviated powerplay to start the second period.

     

    In the second period the Capitals would waste away the powerplay opportunity to start the period and would then be outplayed for the first half of the period, including a powerplay opportunity for the Flyers that they would not capitalize on themselves. The Capitals would get another powerplay opportunity in the second half of the period, and would waste their opportunity once again. The Capitals powerplay so far through three chances has looked horrible. Passes aren’t connecting and are trying to force it too much. However, the Capitals penalty kill has been spectacular killing off all three chances the Flyers have had. The Flyers would out shoot the Capitals 12 to 6 in the second period, but Braden Holtby would stand tall for the Capitals to keep the 1-0 lead.

     

    In the third period the Capitals would play with a very lackluster play as the Flyers would once again be buzzing on the Capitals, and on a Nic Dowd tripping call it would be Claude Giroux tying up the game while on the man advantage. In the final five minutes of regulation the Capitals would start to pick up the play and Tom Wilson in particular would get golden opportunity after golden opportunity only to be denied by Carter Hart on three to four high quality scoring chances. Then in overtime the Flyers would take advantage of the long change as they would be able to do three line changes while Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, and Dmitry Orlov were trapped on the ice for over two minutes, but to their credit were able to keep the Flyers to the outside and kept the shot quality as low as possible. Then in the shootout the Capitals would get goals from Evgeny Kuznetsov and TJ Oshie to clinch the 2-1 victory over the Flyers.

     

    Lineups:

    Washington Capitals:

    Alex Ovechkin — Nicklas Backstrom — T.J. Oshie

    Jakub Vrana — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Tom Wilson

    Chandler Stephenson — Lars Eller — Richard Panik

    Brendan Leipsic — Nic Dowd — Garnet Hathaway

    Michal Kempny — John Carlson

    Dmitry Orlov — Radko Gudas

    Jonas Siegenthaler — Nick Jensen

    Braden Holtby

    Ilya Samsonov

    Scratched: None

    Injured: Carl Hagelin (upper body)

     

    Philadelphia Flyers:

    James van Riemsdyk — Claude Giroux — Joel Farabee

    Oskar Lindblom — Sean Couturier — Travis Konecny

    Carsen Twarynski — Kevin Hayes — Jakub Voracek

    Andy Andreoff — Michael Raffl — Tyler Pitlick

    Ivan Provorov — Matt Niskanen

    Shayne Gostisbehere — Justin Braun

    Travis Sanheim — Philippe Myers

    Carter Hart

    Brian Elliott

    Scratched: Chris Stewart, Robert Hagg

    Injured: Nolan Patrick (migraine disorder), Scott Laughton (broken finger)

     

    First Period:

    WAS Goal – 6:13 – Brendan Leipsic (2) from John Carlson (22) and Nic Dowd (2)

    PHI Penalty – 9:23 – Matt Niskanen 2 minutes for Holding

    WAS Penalty – 15:26 – Jakub Vrana 2 minutes for Slashing

    PHI Penalty – 19:02 – Travis Sanheim 2 minutes for Hooking

     

    End of 1st

    11-13 at PHI.png

     

    Second Period:

    WAS Penalty – 5:46 – Richard Panik 2 minutes for High Sticking

    PHI Penalty – 10:47 – James van Riemsdyk 2 minutes for Tripping

    WAS Penalty – 13:01 – Jakub Vrana 2 minutes for Slashing

     

    End of 2nd

    11-13 at PHI-2.png

     

    Third Period:

    WAS Penalty – 6:15 – Nic Dowd (Jakub Vrana) 2 minutes for Tripping

    PHI PPG – 6:38 – Claude Giroux (5) from Jakub Voracek (9) and Ivan Provorov (8)

     

    End of 3rd

    11-13 at PHI-3.png

     

    Overtime:

    N/A

     

    Shootout:

    1 – PHI – Jakub Voracek – Missed

    1 – WAS – TJ Oshie – Goal

    2 – PHI – Claude Giroux – Goal

    2 – WAS – Evgeny Kuznetsov – Goal

    3 – PHI – Sean Couturier – Save

     

    Final

    11-13 at PHI-4.png

     

    Next Up:

    Washington (14-2-4 32pts) v. Montreal (9-5-3 21pts)

    Philadelphia (10-5-3 23pts) @ Ottawa (7-10-1 15pts)

  • Game Recap – 11/7/2019 – Washington Capitals v. Florida Panthers

    Game Recap – 11/7/2019 – Washington Capitals v. Florida Panthers

    Washington Capitals (11-2-3 25pts) v. Florida Panthers (7-3-4 18pts)

     

    Game Recap:

    In Florida the Washington Capitals look to extend their winning streak to five against the Panthers, and the Capitals would strike quickly as John Carlson would strike to make it 1-0 for the Capitals, but the Panthers would respond a little over a minute later as Frank Vatrano would score his fourth of the season to tie the game at one. The Capitals would get a powerplay opportunity, but would fail to convert. Then the Panthers would strike late in the first as Brett Connolly would score his sixth of the season against his former team to take the 2-1 lead.

     

    Then in the second period the Panthers would strike again as Aleksander Barkov would score 27 seconds into the period to grow their lead to two. However, Brian Boyle would get called for slashing sending the Capitals to another powerplay, and this time the Capitals would strike as Alex Ovechkin would score his 12th of the season to cut the Panthers lead to one. Then six minutes later after killing back to back penalties, Ovechkin would strike again to tie the game at three. The Capitals would get a powerplay opportunity, but were unable to strike on the powerplay, and then would get into penalty trouble themselves as on their second penalty Evgenii Dadonov would strike to retake the lead for the Panthers heading into the second intermission.

     

    Then in the third period it would be Tom Wilson getting the Capitals back on the board as he would tip an Evgeny Kuznetsov shot to tie the game at four 44 seconds into the period. Both teams would trade powerplay opportunities, but neither would be able to capitalize thus sending the game to overtime. Then in overtime Braden Holtby would make a huge save and the Capitals would turn it around as Tom Wilson would score his second of the game to win the game 5-4 11 seconds into overtime.

     

    Lineups:

    Washington Capitals:

    Alex Ovechkin — Nicklas Backstrom — T.J. Oshie

    Jakub Vrana — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Tom Wilson

    Carl Hagelin — Lars Eller — Garnet Hathaway

    Brendan Leipsic – Chandler Stephenson — Travis Boyd

    Michal Kempny — John Carlson

    Dmitry Orlov — Radko Gudas

    Jonas Siegenthaler — Nick Jensen

    Braden Holtby

    Ilya Samsonov

    Scratched: Tyler Lewington

    Injured: Richard Panik (upper body), Nic Dowd (lower body)

     

    Florida Panthers:

    Jonathan Huberdeau — Aleksander Barkov — Evgenii Dadonov

    Mike Hoffman — Brian Boyle — Brett Connolly

    Frank Vatrano — Denis Malgin — Mark Pysyk

    Dryden Hunt – Dominic Toninato — Colton Sceviour

    MacKenzie Weegar — Aaron Ekblad

    Mike Matheson — Anton Stralman

    Keith Yandle — Josh Brown

    Sergei Bobrovsky

    Sam Montembeault

    Scratched: None

    Injured: Noel Acciari (lower body), Vincent Trocheck (lower body), Jayce Hawryluk (upper body)

     

    First Period:

    WAS Goal – :25 – John Carlson (8) from Michal Kempny (7) and Alex Ovechkin (9)

    FLA Goal – 1:55 – Frank Vatrano (4) from unassisted

    FLA Penalty – 2:22 – Aleksander Barkov 2 minutes for Interference

    FLA Goal – 14:26 – Brett Connolly (6) from Anton Stralman (6) and Brian Boyle (2)

     

    End of 1st

    11-07 at FLA.png

     

    Second Period:

    FLA Goal – :27 – Aleksander Barkov (3) from Evgenii Dadonov (3)

    FLA Penalty – 5:38 – Brian Boyle 2 minutes for Slashing

    WAS PPG – 6:13 – Alex Ovechkin (12) from Evgeny Kuznetsov (7) and John Carlson (17)

    WAS Penalty – 7:03 – Tom Wilson 2 minutes for High Sticking

    WAS Penalty – 8:59 – Garnet Hathaway 2 minutes for Slashing

    WAS Goal – 12:14 – Alex Ovechkin (13) from Dmitry Orlov (6) and Nicklas Backstrom (11)

    FLA Penalty – 14:13 – Keith Yandle 2 minutes for Slashing

    WAS Penalty – 16:42 – Dmitry Orlov 2 minutes for Hooking

    WAS Penalty – 18:37 – Lars Eller 2 minutes Tripping

    FLA PPG – 18:59 – Evgenii Dadonov (7) from Jonathan Huberdeau (10)

     

    End of 2nd

    11-07 at FLA-2.png

     

    Third Period:

    WAS Goal – :44 – Tom Wilson (6) from Evgeny Kuznetsov (8)

    FLA Penalty – 6:00 – Dryden Hunt 2 minutes for Tripping
    WAS Penalty – 8:59 – Michal Kempny 2 minutes for Tripping

     

    End of 3rd

    11-07 at FLA-3.png

     

    Overtime:

    WAS Goal – :11 – Tom Wilson (7) from John Carlson (18) and TJ Oshie (5)

     

    End of OT

    11-07 at FLA-4.png

     

    Next Up:

    Washington (12-2-3 27pts) v. Vegas (9-5-2 20pts)

    Florida (7-3-5 19pts) @ New York Islanders (11-3-0 22pts)

  • Game Recap – 11/1/2019 – Buffalo Sabres v. Washington Capitals

    Game Recap – 11/1/2019 – Buffalo Sabres v. Washington Capitals

    Buffalo Sabres (9-2-2 20pts) v. Washington Capitals (9-2-3 21pts)

     

    Game Recap:

    After a successful month of October that was capped off with an even more successful five game road trip to end the month, the Washington Capitals start the month of November at home against the Buffalo Sabres. In the first period the Sabres would get an early powerplay, but after the Capitals killed it off it would spark them as Jakub Vrana would score on a breakaway to to the early lead, but then less than 45 seconds later the Capitals would go on a 4 on 1 and off the tic tac toe play Chandler Stephenson would score his second of the season. Then before the game would be ten minutes old Michal Kempny would find a wide open Vrana who would one time a blast past Linus Ullmark for his second of the game. But the Capitals weren’t done there as Brendan Leipsic would score his first as a Capital on another passing play to give the Capitals the 4-0 lead less than eleven minutes into the game. In the final minutes of the period the Sabres would surge, but they would not be able to solve Braden Holtby before the first period ended.

     

    In the second period after a very quick moving first half it would be the Sabres getting on the board as Henri Jokiharju would score his first career goal to cut the Capitals lead to three. Then with a little over three minutes left in the period the Sabres would fail to clear their zone as Michal Kempney would be able to keep the puck in and wrist it from the point for a Tom Wilson tip to make it 5-1 heading into the second intermission.

     

    In the third period it would be relatively quiet for the majority of the period. The Sabres would get a late powerplay opportunity, but would not capitalize on it. Then after the Capitals killed the penalty it would be TJ Oshie scoring to put the Capitals up by five. The Capitals would get a late powerplay, but would be unable to get Vrana the hat trick goal before the final buzzer as the Capitals would go on to win 6-1.

     

    Lineups:

    Buffalo Sabres:

    Victor Olofsson — Jack Eichel — Sam Reinhart

    Jeff Skinner — Marcus Johansson — Vladimir Sobotka

    Evan Rodrigues — Casey Mittelstadt — Conor Sheary

    Zemgus Girgensons — Johan Larsson — Kyle Okposo

    Jake McCabe — Rasmus Ristolainen

    Rasmus Dahlin — Henri Jokiharju

    John Gilmour — Colin Miller

    Linus Ullmark

    Carter Hutton

    Scratched: None

    Injured: Marco Scandella (lower body), Jimmy Vesey (upper body), Brandon Montour (hand), Zach Bogosian (hip)

     

    Washington Capitals:

    Alex Ovechkin — Nicklas Backstrom — T.J. Oshie

    Jakub Vrana — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Tom Wilson

    Carl Hagelin — Lars Eller — Garnet Hathaway

    Brendan Leipsic — Chandler Stephenson — Travis Boyd

    Michal Kempny — John Carlson

    Dmitry Orlov — Radko Gudas

    Jonas Siegenthaler — Nick Jensen

    Braden Holtby

    Ilya Samsonov

    Scratched: Tyler Lewington, Liam O’Brien

    Injured: Richard Panik (upper body), Nic Dowd (lower body)

     

    First Period:

    WAS Penalty – 2:42 – Dmitry Orlov 2 minutes for Elbowing

    WAS Goal – 6:17 – Jakub Vrana (5) from Tom Wilson (4)

    WAS Goal – 6:59 – Chandler Stephenson (2) from Travis Boyd (2) and Brendan Leipsic (4)

    WAS Goal – 9:29 – Jakub Vrana (6) from Michal Kempny (3) and Tom Wilson (5)

    WAS Goal – 10:44 – Brendan Leipsic (1) from Travis Boyd (3) and Radko Gudas (5)

     

    End of 1st

    11-01 v BUF.png

     

    Second Period:

    BUF Goal – 10:40 – Henri Jokiharju (1) from Rasmus Dahlin (10)

    WAS Goal – 16:53 – Tom Wilson (5) from Michal Kempny (4)

     

    End of 2nd

    11-01 v BUF-2.png

     

    Third Period:

    WAS Penalty – 11:10 – Dmitry Orlov 2 minutes for Tripping

    WAS Goal – 13:43 – TJ Oshie (8) from Michal Kempny (5) and Alex Ovechkin (8)

    BUF Penalty – 18:24 – Johan Larsson 2 minutes for Slashing

     

    End of 3rd

    11-01 v BUF-3.png

     

    Next Up:

    Washington (10-2-3 23pts) v. Calgary (7-6-2 16pts)

    Buffalo (9-3-2 20pts) v. NY Islanders (9-3-0 16pts)

  • Game Recap – 10/29/2019 – Washington Capitals v. Toronto Maple Leafs

    Game Recap – 10/29/2019 – Washington Capitals v. Toronto Maple Leafs

    Washington Capitals (8-2-3 19pts) v. Toronto Maple Leafs (6-5-2 14pts)

     

    Game Recap:

    The Washington Capitals head to Toronto to take on the Maple Leafs to close up their five game road trip, but it would be the Leafs striking first as Andreas Johnsson would score 40 seconds into the game to take the quick 1-0 lead. Then after both teams traded powerplay opportunities it would be the Capitals striking to tie the game as John Carlson would blast a bullet past Frederik Andersen to tie the game at one. Both teams would powerplay opportunities again, including a two man advantage for Toronto, but neither team would capitalize on their opportunities as the game would remain tied at one going into the first intermission.

     

    In the second period the Capitals would strike on the powerplay to take the 2-1 lead when John Carlson would score his second of the game, but then the Capitals would do a march to the penalty box to allow the Leafs to take back the momentum. Then in the final minute of the second Auston Matthews would get one past Braden Holtby to tie the game at two as they entered the intermission.

     

    In the third period the Capitals and Leafs would trade goals once again as Auston Matthews would score his second of the game to give the Leafs the 3-2 lead, but then Alex Ovechkin would score his tenth of the season to tie the game and send it to overtime. then in overtime the Maple Leafs would put themselves into penalty trouble and the Capitals would take advantage as Ovechkin would score his second of the game to secure the Capitals the 4-3 overtime victory to close out their five game road trip.

     

    Lineups:

    Washington Capitals:

    Alex Ovechkin — Nicklas Backstrom — T.J. Oshie

    Carl Hagelin — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Tom Wilson

    Jakub Vrana — Lars Eller — Garnet Hathaway

    Brendan Leipsic — Nic Dowd — Travis Boyd

    Michal Kempny — John Carlson

    Dmitry Orlov — Nick Jensen

    Jonas Siegenthaler — Radko Gudas

    Braden Holtby

    Ilya Samsonov

    Scratched: Tyler Lewington, Chandler Stephenson

    Injured: Richard Panik (upper body)

     

    Toronto Maple Leafs:

    Andreas Johnsson — Auston Matthews — William Nylander

    Ilya Mikheyev — Alexander Kerfoot — Mitchell Marner

    Trevor Moore — Jason Spezza — Kasperi Kapanen

    Dmytro Timashov — Nicholas Shore — Frederik Gauthier

    Morgan Rielly — Cody Ceci

    Jake Muzzin — Tyson Barrie

    Travis Dermott — Justin Holl

    Frederik Andersen

    Michael Hutchinson

    Scratched: Nic Petan, Martin Marincin, Kevin Gravel

    Injured: John Tavares (broken finger), Zach Hyman (ACL)

     

    First Period:

    TOR Goal – :40 – Andreas Johnsson (4) from Auston Matthews (5)

    TOR Penalty – 3:10 – Morgan Rielly 2 minutes for Cross Checking

    WAS Penalty – 5:15 – Alex Ovechkin 2 minutes for Slashing

    WAS Goal – 10:47 – John Carlson (6) from Alex Ovechkin (6) and Nicklas Backstrom (8)

    TOR Penalty – 14:55 – Justin Holl 2 minutes for Interference

    WAS Penalty – 16:47 – Jakub Vrana 2 minutes for Hooking

    WAS Penalty – 18:04 – Lars Eller 2 minutes for Slashing

     

    End of 1st

    10-29 at TOR.png

     

    Second Period:

    WAS Penalty – 3:34 – TJ Oshie 2 minutes for Holding

    TOR Penalty – 6:31 – Alexander Kerfoot 2 minutes for High Sticking

    TOR Penalty – 7:53 – Cody Ceci 2 minutes for Holding

    WAS PPG – 7:59 – John Carlson (7) from Alex Ovechkin (7) and Backstrom (9)

    WAS Penalty – 10:57 – Michal Kempny 2 minutes for Interference

    WAS Penalty – 15:20 – Jonas Siegenthaler 2 minutes for Interference

    TOR Goal – 19:27 – Auston Matthews (10) from Tyson Barrie (5) and Morgan Rielly (11)

     

    End of 2nd

    10-29 at TOR-2.png

     

    Third Period:

    WAS Penalty – 1:27 – Tom Wilson 2 minutes for Charging

    TOR Penalty – 1:27 – Frederik Gauthier 2 minutes for Roughing

    WAS Penalty – 1:27 – Tom Wilson (Brendan Leipsic) 2 minutes for Cross Checking

    TOR PPG – 1:46 – Auston Matthews (11) from William Nylander (6) and Mitch Marner (13)

    WAS Goal – 4:10 – Alex Ovechkin (10) from TJ Oshie (4) and Nicklas Backstrom (10)

    TOR Penalty – 7:40 – Justin Holl 2 minutes for Interference

    WAS Penalty – 16:46 – Radko Gudas 2 minutes for Delay of Game

     

    End of 3rd

    10-29 at TOR-3.png

     

    Overtime:

    TOR Penalty – :21 – William Nylander 2 minutes for Tripping

    TOR Penalty – 2:20 – Mitch Marner 2 minutes for High Sticking

    WAS PPG – 4:00 – Alex Ovechkin (11) from Dmitry Orlov (5) and Jakub Vrana (5)

     

    Final:

    10-29 at TOR-4.png

     

    Next Up:

    Washington (9-2-3 21pts) v. Buffalo (9-2-2 20pts)

    Toronto (6-5-3 15pts) @ Philadelphia (5-5-1 11pts)

  • Game Recap – 10/20/2019 – Washington Capitals v. Chicago Blackhawks

    Game Recap – 10/20/2019 – Washington Capitals v. Chicago Blackhawks

    Washington Capitals (5-2-2 12pts) v. Chicago Blackhawks (2-2-1 5pts)

     

    Game Recap:

    The Washington Capitals embark on a five game road trip to finish the month of October, and they begin in Chicago as they take on the Blackhawks. To start the game the first nine minutes was a bit of back and forth between the two teams until the Blackhawks would head to the penalty box due to an Andrew Shaw penalty, and the Capitals would need only eight seconds to convert on the powerplay as the TJ Oshie would roof a one time pass from Evgeny Kuznetsov to take the 1-0 lead. Lars Eller would get called for tripping shortly after to give the Blackhawks a powerplay opportunity, but the Capitals would shut it down to kill the penalty. To end the period the Blackhawks would get a flurry in the Capitals zone, but it would be Braden Holtby standing tall in net to keep the Capitals 1-0 lead heading into the firt intermission.

     

    In the second period the Blackhawks would start the period with a fresh two minute powerplay after some end of period shenanigans took place between Radko Gudas and Connor Murphy which would see both get two minutes each for roughing, and Gudas getting an additional two minutes for cross checking. However, the Capitals would shut down the Blackhawks and kill the penalty. But the Blackhawks would continue to persist as they would force a turnover in the Capitals zone and Drake Caggiula would net his second of the season to tie the game at one. Then the Capitals would get hit with a double minor to Chandler Stephenson for high sticking, but they would strike while shorthanded when Carl Hagelin would make the pickoff and create a two on one with Nic Dowd who would score to retake the Capitals one goal lead. To end the second period the Blackhawks would outshoot the Capitals 15 to 9 for the period, but the Capitals would make sure that Braden Holtby could see the puck and cut down on the quality chances for the Blackhawks.

     

    In the third period the Capitals would go shorthanded early, but would be able to kill the penalty and then John Carlson would feed Alex Ovechkin a hard pass that Ovechkin would one time past Corey Crawford to give the Capitals a 3-1 lead. However, the Blackhawks would get a really solid shift from their grinder line, and they would cause a lot of chaos in the Capitals zone and Dominik Kubalik would get a lose puck in the crease to score his second of the season. Then after poor passing decision by Lars Eller, the Blackhawks would go on a two on one break which would see Patrick Kane score his third of the season on a beautiful wrist shot, but the Capitals would respond right away as Eller would atone for his costly mistake by creating the play that generated Tom Wilson’s third goal of the season to retake the lead. Then to ice the game Eller would score on the empty net to secure the 5-3 victory for the Capitals.

     

    Lineups:

    Washington Capitals:

    Alex Ovechkin — Nicklas Backstrom — T.J. Oshie

    Carl Hagelin — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Tom Wilson

    Jakub Vrana — Lars Eller — Garnet Hathaway

    Brendan Leipsic — Nic Dowd — Chandler Stephenson

    Jonas Siegenthaler — John Carlson

    Dmitry Orlov — Nick Jensen

    Michal Kempny — Radko Gudas

    Braden Holtby

    Ilya Samsonov

    Scratched: Tyler Lewington, Travis Boyd

    Injured: Richard Panik (upper body)

    https://twitter.com/Capitals/status/1186048324975124480?s=20

     

    Chicago Blackhawks:

    Alex DeBrincat — Jonathan Toews — Andrew Shaw

    Dylan Strome — Kirby Dach — Patrick Kane

    Brandon Saad — David Kampf — Dominik Kubalik

    Alexander Nylander — Ryan Carpenter — Drake Caggiula

    Duncan Keith — Connor Murphy

    Olli Maatta — Brent Seabrook

    Calvin de Haan — Erik Gustafsson

    Corey Crawford

    Robin Lehner

    Scratched: Brendan Perlini, Slater Koekkoek, Zack Smith

    Injured: None.

     

    First Period:

    CHI Penalty – 9:17 – Andrew Shaw 2 minutes for Holding

    WAS PPG – 9:25 – TJ Oshie (7) from Evgeny Kuznetsov (4)

    WAS Penalty – 12:59 – Lars Eller 2 minutes for Tripping’

    WAS Penalty – 20:00 – Radko Gudas (Jakub Vrana) 2 minutes for Roughing

    CHI Penalty – 20:00 – Connor Murphy 2 minutes for Roughing

    WAS Penalty – 20:00 – Radko Gudas 2 minutes for Cross Checking

     

    End of 1st

    10-20 at CHI.png

     

    Second Period:

    CHI Goal – 8:25 – Drake Caggiula (2) from Alexander Nylander (1) and Ryan Carpenter (3)

    WAS Penalty – 9:25 – Chandler Stephenson double minor for High Sticking

    WAS SHG – 9:53 – Nic Dowd (2) from Carl Hagelin (3)

     

    End of 2nd

    10-20 at CHI-2.png

     

    Third Period:

    WAS Penalty – :33 – Michal Kempny 2 minutes for Tripping

    WAS Goal – 3:52 – Alex Ovechkin (6) from John Carlson (15) and Michal Kempny (1)

    CHI Goal – 6:05 – Dominik Kubalik (2) from Brandon Saad (2) and David Kampf (2)

    CHI Goal – 9:58 – Patrick Kane (3) from Alexander Nylander (2)

    WAS Goal – 11:47 – Tom Wilson (3) from Carl Hagelin (4) and Lars Eller (4)

    WAS ENG – 19:10 – Lars Eller (3) from Dmitry Orlov (4)

     

    End of 3rd

    10-20 at CHI-3.png

     

    Next Up:

    Washington (6-2-2 14pts) @ Calgary (4-4-1 9pts)

    Chicago (2-3-1 5pts) v. Vegas (6-3-0 12pts)

     

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  • Game Recap – 10/18/2019 – New York Rangers v. Washington Capitals

    Game Recap – 10/18/2019 – New York Rangers v. Washington Capitals

    New York Rangers (2-2-0 4pts) v. Washington Capitals (4-2-2 10pts)

     

    Game Recap:

    The Washington Capitals host the New York Rangers as they look to end their three game homestand with a possible 4 out 6 standing points, and early in the first period while on the powerplay the Capitals would strike as TJ Oshie would continue to jam at the puck, in front of the net, and due to the scrum would see a Rangers defensemen inadvertently kick the puck into the net to give the Capitals the 1-0 lead. Then 10 minutes later Pavel Buchnevich would strike on a Rangers powerplay to tie the game at one, but the Capitals would strike less than three minutes later as the as the returning Michal Kempny would one time a rebound past Henrik Lundqvist to give the Capitals the 2-1 lead going into the first intermission.

     

    Then early in the second period Nic Dowd would score his first of the season after finding the rebound and shooting it into the wide open net for the 3-1 lead. But late in the period Artemi Panarin would score his third of the season to cut the Capitals lead back to one as the Capitals head into the second intermission with the 3-2 lead.

     

    In the third period the physicality would pick up as both Brendan Smith and Garnet Hathaway would have a fight, but Smith would also get an addition two minutes for cross checking to give the Capitals the powerplay that would see TJ Oshie score his second of the game after he would tip a John Carlson point blast to give the Capitals the 4-2 lead. Then in the final thirty seconds of the game Hathaway would score the empty net goal to secure the Capitals the 5-2 victory over the Rangers.

     

    Lineups:

    New York Rangers:

    Artemi Panarin — Mika Zibanejad — Pavel Buchnevich

    Chris Kreider — Brett Howden — Kaapo Kakko

    Brendan Smith — Ryan Strome — Jesper Fast

    Greg McKegg — Lias Andersson — Micheal Haley

    Brady Skjei — Tony DeAngelo

    Libor Hajek — Jacob Trouba

    Marc Staal — Adam Fox

    Henrik Lundqvist

    Alexandar Georgiev

    Scratched: Brendan Lemieux

    Injured: None

     

    Washington Capitals:

    Alex Ovechkin — Nicklas Backstrom — T.J. Oshie

    Carl Hagelin — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Tom Wilson

    Jakub Vrana — Lars Eller — Garnet Hathaway

    Brendan Leipsic – Nic Dowd — Chandler Stephenson

    Jonas Siegenthaler — John Carlson

    Dmitry Orlov — Nick Jensen

    Michal Kempny — Radko Gudas

    Braden Holtby

    Ilya Samsonov

    Scratched: Tyler Lewington, Travis Boyd, Martin Fehervary

    Injured: Richard Panik (upper body)

     

    First Period:

    NYR Penalty – 1:09 – Artemi Panarin 2 minutes for Slashing

    WAS PPG – 2:24 – TJ Oshie (5) from unassisted

    NYR Penalty – 4:11 – Brendan Lemieux 5 minute major for Fighting

    WAS Penalty – 4:11 – Radko Gudas 5 minute magor for Fighting

    WAS Penalty – 5:08 – Michal Kempny 2 minutes for Interference

    WAS Penalty – 11:50 – Nicklas Backstrom 2 minutes for Tripping

    NYR PPG – 12:25 – Pavel Buchnevich (1) from Mika Zibanejad (5) and Jacob Trouba (4)

    WAS Goal – 15:16 – Michal Kempny (1) from Alex Ovechkin (4) and John Carlson (12)

    NYR Penalty – 16:23 – Chris Kreider 2 minutes for Tripping

     

    End of 1st – NYR – 1       WAS – 2

    10-18 v NYR 1

     

    Second Period:

    WAS Goal – 3:45 – Nic Dowd (1) from Dmitry Orlov (3) and John Carlson (13)

    WAS Penalty Shot – 10:16 – Jakub Vrana – Saved by Lundqvist

    WAS Penalty – 13:16 – Radko Gudas 2 minutes for Holding

    NYR Goal – 16:56 – Artemi Panarin (3) from Chris Kreider (3)

     

    End of 2nd – NYR – 2       WAS – 3

    10-18 v NYR 2

     

    Third Period:

    NYR Penalty – 9:20 – Brendan Smith (Artemi  Panarin) 2 minutes for Cross Checking

    NYR Penalty – 9:20 – Brendan Smith 5 minute major for Fighting

    WAS Penalty – 9:20 – Garnet Hathaway 5 minute major for Fighting

    WAS PPG – 10:18 – TJ Oshie (6) from John Carlson (14) and Nicklas Backstrom (6)

    WAS Penalty – 11:42 – John Carlson 2 minutes for Slashing

    NYR Penalty – 15:29 – Libor Hajek 2 minutes for Tripping

    WAS ENG – 19:32 – Garnet Hathaway (2) from Carl Hagelin (2)

     

    End of 3rd – NYR – 2       WAS – 5

    10-18 v NYR 3

     

    Next Up:

    Washington (5-2-2 12pts) @ Chicago (2-2-1 3pts)

    NY Rangers (2-3-0 4pts) v. Vancouver (4-2-0 8pts)

     

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  • Game Recap – 10/14/2019 – Colorado Avalanche v. Washington Capitals

    Game Recap – 10/14/2019 – Colorado Avalanche v. Washington Capitals

    Colorado Avalanche (4-0-0 8pts) v. Washington Capitals (3-1-2 8pts)

     

    Game Recap:

    Coming home for a three game homestand the Washington Capitals host the Colorado Avalanche, and less than four minutes into the game it would be the Avalanche getting on the board first as Erik Johnson would rip it from the point and have it beat Braden Holtby to give the Avalanche the 1-0 lead. Then the Avalanche would strike two more times, first from Nikita Zadorov, and then less than two minutes later Nazem Kadri would victimize Holtby as he would give up his third goal on the Avalanche’s third shot of the game which would force Todd Reirden to send in Ilya Samsonov. However, it would not matter as while shorthanded on a Jonas Siegenthaler cross checking penalty the Avalanche would strike on the powerplay with a Mikko Rantanen marker. After the Rantanen marker Tyler Lewington would look to get the Capitals back into this game as he would scrap with Valeri Nichushkin, but the Capitals would not capitalize on the fight as they enter the first intermission down 4-0.

     

    In the second period the Capitals would pick up the physicality, and in turn would start generating more shots on goal. A little less than seven minutes into the period Alex Ovechkin would force the turnover and get the puck to Lars Eller who would break Philipp Grubauer’s shutout bid. Then TJ Oshie would deke out Grubauer to cut the Avalanche’s lead to two as they would hold onto a 4-2 lead going into the second intermission.

     

    In the third period the Capitals would start off flying, but a couple mistakes and an Ilya Samsonov turnover would allow the Avalanche back into the game as Matt Nieto would score his first of the season to give the Avalanche the 5-2 lead. However, the Capitals would get a late powerplay opportunity and they would pull Samsonov to which right off the faceoff following a timeout Alex Ovechkin would rip one from the point to cut the Capitals deficit to two. Then the Capitals would strike again with a John Carlson marker, but it would be called back after a Coach’s Challenge for offsides, which was the correct call as TJ Oshie was in the zone before the puck was. But it would be Nathan MacKinnon icing the game for the Avalanche as he would hit the empty net to give the Avalanche the 6-3 victory.

     

    Lineups:

    Colorado Avalanche:

    Gabriel Landeskog — Nathan MacKinnon — Mikko Rantanen

    Joonas Donskoi — Nazem Kadri — Andre Burakovsky

    Matt Nieto — Tyson Jost — Colin Wilson

    Matt Calvert — Pierre-Edouard Bellemare — Valeri Nichushkin

    Samuel Girard — Erik Johnson

    Nikita Zadorov — Cale Makar

    Ryan Graves — Ian Cole

    Philipp Grubauer

    Pavel Francouz

    Scratched: Kevin Connauton, Vladislav Kamenev, Mark Barberio

    Injured: J.T. Compher (lower body)

     

    Washington Capitals:

    Alex Ovechkin — Nicklas Backstrom — Tom Wilson

    Jakub Vrana — Lars Eller — T.J. Oshie

    Carl Hagelin — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Richard Panik

    Brendan Leipsic — Nic Dowd — Garnet Hathaway

    Jonas Siegenthaler — John Carlson

    Dmitry Orlov — Nick Jensen

    Radko Gudas – Tyler Lewington

    Braden Holtby

    Ilya Samsonov

    Scratched: Chandler Stephenson

    Injured: Michal Kempny (hamstring)

     

    First Period:

    COL Goal – 3:42 – Erik Johnson (1) from Nazem Kadri (1) and Andre Burakovsky (3)

    COL Goal – 6:00 – Nikita Zadorov (1) from Mikko Rantanen (4) and Nathan MacKinnon (6)

    COL Goal – 7:54 – Nazem Kadri (2) from Joonas Donskoi (1) and Cale Makar (6)

    WAS Penalty – 11:11 – Jonas Siegenthaler 2 minutes for Cross Checking

    COL PPG – 9:25 – Mikko Rantanen (4) from Gabriel Landeskog (3) and Nazem Kadri (2)

    COL Penalty – 9:44 – Valeri Nichushkin 5 minute major for Fighting

    WAS Penalty – 9:44 – Tyler Lewington 5 minute major for Fighting

    WAS Penalty – 9:44 – Tyler Lewington (Jakub Vrana) 2 minute minor for Instigating

    WAS Penalty – 9:44 – Tyler Lewington 10 minute Misconduct

    WAS Penalty – 16:28 – Evgeny Kuznetsov 2 minutes for Hooking

     

    End of 1st

    10-14 v COL.png

     

    Second Period:

    COL Penalty – :50 – Nikita Zadorov 2 minutes for Hooking

    WAS Penalty – 1:45 – Alex Ovechkin 2 minutes for High Sticking

    WAS Penalty – 5:06 – Tom Wilson 2 minutes for Hooking

    COL Penalty – 5:06 – Samuel Girard 2 minutes for Embellishment

    WAS Goal – 6:56 – Lars Eller (2) from Alex Ovechkin (2)

    WAS Goal – 15:28 – TJ Oshie (4) from Dmitry Orlov (2) and Evgeny Kuznetsov (2)

     

    End of 2nd

    10-14 v COL-2.png

     

    Third Period:

    COL Goal – 4:24 – Matt Nieto (1) from Tyson Jost (1)

    COL Penalty – 15:39 – Gabriel Landeskog 2 minutes for Slashing

    WAS PPG – 17:39 – Alex Ovechkin (5) from Evgeny Kuznetsov (3) and John Carlson (9)

    COL ENG – 19:21 – Nathan MacKinnon (2) from Mikko Rantanen (5)

     

    End of 3rd

    10-14 v COL-3.png

     

    Next Up:

    Washington (3-2-2 8pts) v. Toronto (3-2-1 7pts)

    Colorado (5-0-0 10pts) @ Pittsburgh (4-2-0 8pts)

     

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  • Game Recap – 10/10/2019 – Washington Capitals v. Nashville Predators

    Game Recap – 10/10/2019 – Washington Capitals v. Nashville Predators

    Washington Capitals (2-0-2 6pts) v. Nashville Predators (2-1-0 4pts)

     

    Game Recap:

    Heading into Nashville to start a quick two game road trip, the Washington Capitals look to get back into the win column after two consecutive overtime defeats at home. However it would be the Predators on the quick pounce as they would get four shots in the first three minutes of the game. After a little over 8 minutes played the Predators would be outshooting the Capitals 7-3, and Braden Holtby had to come up huge to deny Matt Duchene, but after the TV break Lars Eller would knock in the loose puck in the crease after a mad scramble around the Predators net. However, the Predators would respond when Jakub Vrana would do a very poor break out pass attempt and Filip Forsberg would get a breakaway opportunity and rip the puck past Holtby to tie the game. After both goals were scored the Capitals would get a powerplay opportunity, but could not capitalize and then gave the Predators two powerplay opportunities which they would kill going into the first intermission tied at one a piece.

     

    In the second period the Capitals would get an early powerplay opportunity on a Colton Sissons high sticking penalty, and it would take the Capitals about 30 seconds of powerplay time for Alex Ovechkin to crank a one timer past Pekka Rinne to give the Capitals the 2-1 lead. However, the lead would not last long as the Predators would take advantage of a stretch pass that scattered the Capitals defense to give Ryan Johansen his first goal of the season to tie the game at two. After giving up the tying goal Garnet Hathaway would be called for interference, but Tom Wilson would wrist a beautiful shot past Rinne for the shorthanded goal to give the Capitals the 3-2 lead. A little later into the period the Capitals first line of Wilson, Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom would do a very good job of cycling the puck to result in a Roman Josi penalty, and on the powerplay Ovechkin would bomb his second powerplay goal of the game to make it 4-2 Capitals.

     

    Then in the third period the Capitals would lay back and take a bad penalty that would allow the PRedators to get back in the game starting with Ryan Johensan scoring his second of the game while on the powerplay, then a minute ten seconds later Matt Duchene would score his first goal as a Nashville Predator to tie the game at four a piece. However, Dmitry Orlov would lead a rally as he would have a huge shift that would have him finding TJ Oshie who would bury the puck to make it 5-4 Capitals. But it wouldn’t last long as the Predators would get goals from Nick Bonino and Mattias Ekholm in a 28 second span to give the Predators a 6-5 lead over the Capitals. The Capitals would pull Braden Holtby for the extra attacker, and draw one last powerplay, but the Capitals could not comeback after blowing their third consecutive third period lead as they fall to the Predators 6-5.

     

    Lineups:

    Washington Capitals:

    Alex Ovechkin — Nicklas Backstrom — Tom Wilson

    Jakub Vrana — Evgeny Kuznetsov — T.J. Oshie

    Carl Hagelin — Lars Eller — Richard Panik

    Brendan Leipsic — Chandler Stephenson — Garnet Hathaway

    Jonas Siegenthaler — John Carlson

    Dmitry Orlov — Nick Jensen

    Radko Gudas — Tyler Lewington

    Braden Holtby

    Ilya Samsonov

    Scratched: Nic Dowd

    Injured: Michal Kempny (hamstring)

     

    Nashville Predators:

    Calle Jarnkrok — Ryan Johansen — Viktor Arvidsson

    Filip Forsberg — Matt Duchene — Mikael Granlund

    Colton Sissons — Nick Bonino — Austin Watson

    Daniel Carr — Kyle Turris — Craig Smith

    Roman Josi — Ryan Ellis

    Mattias Ekholm — Dante Fabbro

    Matt Irwin — Yannick Weber

    Pekka Rinne

    Juuse Saros

    Scratched: Rocco Grimaldi, Dan Hamhuis

    Injured: None

     

    First Period:

    WAS Goal – 9:17 – Lars Eller (1) from Garnet Hathaway (1) and John Carlson (5)

    NAS Goal – 10:39 – Filip Forsberg (4) from Matt Duchene (7) and Mikael Granlund (1)

    NAS Penalty – 11:09 – Craig Smith 2 minutes for Tripping

    WAS Penalty – 14:15 – Radko Gudas 2 minutes for Tripping

    WAS Penalty – 17:53 – Evgeny Kuznetsov 2 minutes for Slashing

     

    End of 1st

    10-10 at NAS.png

     

    Second Period:

    NAS Penalty – 4:14 – Colton Sissons 2 minutes for High Sticking

    WAS PPG – 4:46 – Alex Ovechkin (2) from John Carlson (6) and Evgeny Kuznetsov (1)

    NAS Goal – 7:37 – Ryan Johansen (1) from Viktor Arvidsson (1) and Calle Jarnkrok (2)

    WAS Penalty – 11:03 – Garnet Hathaway 2 minutes for Interference

    WAS SHG – 12:28 – Tom Wilson (1) from Chandler Stephenson (1)

    NAS Penalty – 17:11 – Roman Josi 2 minutes for Tripping

    WAS PPG – 17:36 – Alex Ovechkin (3) from John Carlson (7) and Nicklas Backstrom (3)

     

    End of 2nd

    10-10 at NAS-2.png

     

    Third Period:

    WAS Penalty – 4:15 – John Carlson 2 minutes for Hooking

    NAS PPG – 5:03 – Ryan Johansen (2) from Viktor Arvidsson (2) and Roman Josi (2)

    NAS Goal – 6:13 – Matt Duchene (1) from Filip Forsberg (2) and Mikael Granlund (2)

    WAS Goal – 10:09 – TJ Oshie (3) from Dmitri Orlov (1)

    NAS Goal – 14:52 – Nick Bonino (1) from Colton Sissons (2) and Austin Watson (1)

    NAS Goal – 15:20 – Mattias Ekholm (2) from Calle Jarnkrok (3)

    NAS Penalty – 19:43 – Ryan Ellis 2 minutes for Slashing

     

    End of 3rd

    10-10 at NAS-3.png

     

    Next Up:

    Washington (2-1-2 4pts) @ Dallas (1-3-0 2pts)

    Nashville (3-1-0 6pts) @ Los Angeles (1-2-0 2pts)

     

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  • Game Recap – 10/2/2019 – Washington Capitals v. St. Louis Blues

    Game Recap – 10/2/2019 – Washington Capitals v. St. Louis Blues

    Washington Capitals (0-0-0 0pts) v. St. Louis Blues (0-0-0 0pts)

     

    Game Recap:

    NHL hockey is back and the Washington Capitals start it up on the road as they visit the new defending Stanley Cup Champion St. Louis Blues to start the 2019-20 campaign. The Blues would start everything off with their Banner Raising Ceremony before we would drop the puck.

     

    Once the banner was raised and the puck was dropped it wouldn’t take long for the Blues to strike as 53 seconds into the game Sammy Blais would score the first goal of the 2019-20 season to give the Blues a quick 1-0 lead. Then a little later in the period on a Jonas Siegenthaler slashing penalty, Alex Pietrangelo would net one on the powerplay to give the Blues a 2-0 lead. However, the Capitals would not go quietly as Alex Ovechkin would shoot one past Jordan Binnington to cut the lead to one again, and have the first period end with a 2-1 Blues lead.

     

    Then in the second period the Capitals would be given an opportunity on the powerplay as well as Dmitry Orlov would knuckle puck one past Binnington to tie the game at two a piece. The period would also feature some stellar goaltending from Braden Holtby especially in the opening minutes of the second period.

     

    In the third period both teams would not score and would send this one to overtime, which a little three minutes would see Jakub Vrana score to seal the Capitals comeback and give them the 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues. The next game for the Capitals will be this Friday at 7p ET as they visit the New York Islanders.

     

    Lineups:

    Washington Capitals:

    Alex Ovechkin – Nicklas Backstrom – Tom Wilson

    Jakub Vrana – Lars Eller – TJ Oshie

    Carl Hagelin – Chandler Stephenson – Richard Panik

    Brandon Leipsic – Nic Dowd – Garnet Hathaway

    Jonas Siegenthaler – John Carlson

    Dmitry Orlov – Nick Jensen

    Martin Fehervary – Radko Gudas

    Bradon Holtby

    Ilya Samsonov

     

    St. Louis Blues:

    Jaden Schwartz – Brayden Schenn – Vladimir Tarasenko

    Sammy Blais – Ryan O’Reilly – David Perron

    Robby Fabbri – Tyler Bozak – Robert Thomas

    Ivan Barbashev – Oscar Sundqvist – Alexander Steen

    Alex Pietrangelo – Justin Faulk

    Jay Bouwmeester – Colton Parayko

    Vince Dunn – Robert Bortuzzo

    Jordan Binnington

    Jake Allen

     

    First Period:

    STL Goal – :53 – Sammy Blais (1) from David Perron (1) and Ryan O’Reilly (1)\

    WAS Penalty – 6:40 – Jonas Siegenthaler 2 minutes for Slashing

    STL PPG – 7:55 – Alex Pietrangelo (1) from Justin Faulk (1) and Ryan O’Reilly (2)

    STL Penalty – 11:05 – David Perron 2 minutes for High Sticking

    WAS Goal – 15:37 – Alex Ovechkin (1) from John Carlson (1) and Lars Eller (1)

     

    End of 1st – WAS – 1       STL – 2

    Shots              05                 07

    Faceoffs         10                 04

    Hits                12                 09

    PP                 0/1                  1/1

     

    Second Period:

    WAS Penalty – 1:54 – Martin Fehervary 2 minutes for Delay of Game

    STL Penalty – 10:35 – Tyler Bozak 2 minutes for Tripping

    WAS Goal – 12:28 – Dmitry Orlov (1) from Nick Jensen (1) and Lars Eller (2)

     

    End of 2nd – WAS – 2       STL – 2

    Shots              20                 15

    Faceoffs         21                 17

    Hits                19                 19

    PP                 1/2                  1/2

     

    Third Period:

    STL Penalty – 3:29 – Jaden Schwartz 2 minutes for High Sticking

     

    End of 3rd – WAS – 2       STL – 2

    Shots              30                 22

    Faceoffs         28                 28

    Hits                25                 23

    PP                 1/3                  1/2

     

    Overtime:

    WAS Goal – 2:51 – Jakub Vrana (1) from John Carlson (2) and TJ Oshie (1)

     

    End of 3rd – WAS – 3       STL – 2

    Shots              34                 22

    Faceoffs         30                 31

    Hits                25                 23

    PP                 1/3                  1/2

     

     

    Next Up:

    Washington (1-0-0 2pts) @ NY Islanders (0-0-0 0pts)

    St. Louis (0-0-1 1pts) v. Dallas (0-0-0 0pts)

     

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  • Wednesday Night Hockey: The Last Two Champs Face-off For the First Time.

    Wednesday Night Hockey: The Last Two Champs Face-off For the First Time.

    Washington Capitals (0-0-0) v. St Louis Blues (0-0-0)

     

      Pre-Season Record Predicted Goaltender Stanley Cup Champions
    Washington Capitals 5-1-0 Braden Holtby 2017-18
    St. Louis Blues 4-3-0 Jordan Binnington 2018-19

    It has been a long off-season for Caps’ fans, but we’re finally here. Does anyone else find it slightly more than coincidental that the two previous Stanley Cup Champions are facing off on the first day of the 2019-20 season? I know, I know, the schedule was made before the Blues won the cup, but raise your hand if you think that had something to do with the end result. The Capitals and Blues played each other twice during the preseason, splitting the games with one win a piece. Both teams won by just a single goal in each victory.

    On Sunday, the Washington Capitals rounded out their six-game preseason schedule with a tight 4-3 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes. While many fans are hesitant about making associations between preseason performances the regular season, there are a couple of things we know for certain. Tom Wilson is about to have a heck of a year. In just 3 preseason matches, Wilson tallied two goals and an assist, including one short-handed goal against the Chicago Blackhawks. While Top Line Tom led the team in short-handed goals last season (2G), it is vital to remember he only played 63 games during the 2019-19 season. Setting a career-high of 22 goals last year, we anticipate he should set another personal record with at least 25 goals this coming season (TheScore, Wilson). Caps’ captain Alex Ovechkin is prepared to win himself another Rocket Richard Trophy this year, and has expressed his desire, and ability to have another 50+ goal season (Gulitti). By a margin of 236 goals, Ovechkin only needs 5 more seasons of 50 goals, or 6 seasons of 40 goals to bypass the all-time goals leader of the Great Wayne Gretzky (894G). With the final year of his contract looming in not-so-distant future, the Capitals front office have already begun playing out some possible scenarios that will need to be played out in order to keep the Great 8 a Capital until retirement. But perhaps the biggest what-if many Caps’ fans are trying to answer involves defenseman Michal Kempny, whom had his season cut short last year due to a hamstring injury he suffered in a March 20th match against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Many, including head coach Todd Reirden, hoped Kempny would be ready in time to make the Opening Night roster for the Capitals, but that is still to be determined, as the blue-liner was still practicing in a non-contact jersey as of September 28th (Khurshudyan). In 71 games played with the Washington Capitals during the 2018-19 season,, Michal Kempny led the team with a +/- rating of 24, tallied 6 goals of his own, and racked up 19 assists, as a defenseman (TheScore, Kempny). However, a number of mid- and off-season acquisitions by the Capitals including Nick Jensen (DET) and Radko Gudas (PHI) and will bolster the Caps’ roster and hopefully this season will play out as well in reality, as it should on paper.

                   The St. Louis Blues did not play their final scheduled preseason game due to a plane malfunction, but did beat the Caps’ on September 27 by a score of 4-3. For those not in the know, the St. Louis Blues won their first Stanley Cup Championship in team history this past June, similarly to the feat the Capitals accomplished in 2018. In true underdog fashion, the Blues went from worst, to first, in a matter of months. Was it the change in bench bosses? The puppy? The mid-practice brawls? Will the Blues fall victim to the infamous Stanley Cup Hangover? St. Louis elected to play eight preseason games (only played seven, see above), and managed to win 4 of 7, including one overtime win versus the Winnipeg Jets. Those 3 losses came resulted from a 2-3 loss to the Capitals, a 1-2 loss to the Dallas Stars, and an especially-embarrassing 4-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings. Fellow Russian Vladimir Tarasenko (a.k.a. Vladdy) is expected to have a bounce-back season after a seemingly lack-luster 2018-19 season, where he managed to score 33 goals in 76 regular season games (NHL.com). While Tarasenko led the Blues in goals, and points, he has seen a downward trend in goal-scoring since the 2015-16 season, where he scored a career-high 40 goals, and tallied 34 assists. During the 2018-19 playoffs, he scored 11 goals of the teams’ 75 total goals, good enough for second most on the team, but accounted for just 14.6% of total goals scored (NHL.com).

    While the St. Louis Blues and their fans are, of course, hoping to repeat their recent success, the Washington Capitals are out for blood (redemption) after a disappointing first round exit. It seems as though Caps’ PR is keeping on with the #ALLCAPS catch-phrase for this upcoming season, but #2Cups3Years sounds pretty good too.

    Coverage of the game begins at 6:00pm with Caps Faceoff Live, followed by Caps Pregame Live at 6:30pm, all on NBCSN/NBCSWA, with puck drop following the Blues’ Stanley Cup Banner Raising at Enterprise Arena in St. Louis, MO.

     

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    Gulitti, T. (2019). Ovechkin talks 50-goal record, catching Gretzky, future with Capitals. https://www.nhl.com/news/alex-ovechkin-chases-wayne-gretzky-hopes-to-score-50-goals/c-308941324.

    Khurshudyan, I. (2019). Michal Kempny doubtful for Capitals’ season opener at Blues because of hamstring injury. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/09/28/michal-kempny-doubtful-capitals-season-opener-blues-because-hamstring-injury/.

    NHL.com. (2019). Vladimir Tarasenko. Retrieved from https://www.nhl.com/player/vladimir-tarasenko-8475765.

    TheScore. (2019). Michal Kempny. Retrieved from https://www.thescore.com/nhl/players/5579.

    TheScore. (2019). Tom Wilson. Retrieved from https://www.thescore.com/nhl/players/2592.