Comments / New

Capitals-Oilers Recap: Ovechkin Breaks Camera, Caps Break Down, Lose to Oilers in Shootout, 5-4

[GameCenterIce TrackerGame SummaryEvent SummaryShot ReportFaceoff SummaryPlay-by-PlayHome TOIVisitor TOI – Advanced Stats at: war-on-ice, hockeystats, Natural Stat Trick and more via Nice Time On Ice

The Washington Capitals jumped out to a 2-0 lead over the Edmonton Oilers in the first period, but Edmonton stuck around to make a game of it, eventually scoring two goals in the last five minutes of regulation to push the game to overtime. After a scoreless five-minute session, the shootout would be the same story as regulation. The Caps scored on their first attempt, but Edmonton scored on their last two tries to take the win, 5-4.

  • Plus: Getting down to business from the start. The Caps allowed one Oiler shot on goal in the first 12 minutes and had two goals before Edmonton had their second shot on goal.
  • Minus: Not taking care of business. After a 6-1 advantage in shots and a 2-0 lead on the scoreboard in the first 14 minutes, the Caps went dormant. They had only 13 shots on goal in the next 32 minutes (one goal) before Nicklas Backstrom scored in the third period. And in the other end they looked to be chasing the puck far too often against a poor offensive team. It had the classic look of a team starting its vacation too early.

Ten more notes on the game:

  • With two goals tonight, Alex Ovechkin has 11 goals in his last 11 games. It was his second multi-goal game in his last three contests and his seventh such game of the season. He is tied with Dallas’ Tyler Seguin for most multi-goal games (pending results of Dallas’ game against Boston).
  • With his goal, Jay Beagle made it points in three straight home games. And, he keeps adding to career highs in goals (now with seven) and points (13).
  • Beagle’s best work might have been on a penalty kill in the third period. He and Eric Fehr seemed to single (double?) handedly stifle whatever Edmonton momentum might have come from a power play when the Caps were holding a two-goal lead. Pity it was not more inspirational to the rest of the team.
  • With two assists, Mike Green made it 14 helpers in his last 16 games. With 23 assists he is now in the top-ten in the league among defensemen in assists. Meanwhile, John Carlson had two assists of his own, lifting him into second place among defensemen in helpers (29).
  • Andre Burakovsky had his first two-point game since Veterans Day, when he had a pair of assists against Columbus. He jumped into a tie for sixth among rookie in assists (12) and points (18).
  • The Caps were outshot at even strength, 13-4 over the third period and overtime and were outscored, 2-1.
  • This game makes five straight one-goal decisions for the Caps (2-2-1) and nine in their last 11 contests (4-2-3). Are we seeing “Huntz Hockey?”
  • Braden Holtby had a streak broken of eight straight home games allowing three or fewer goals. He had won seven straight starts at Verizon Center before Tuesday night’s loss.
  • Let’s recap Edmonton’s goals… one goal coming 53 seconds after the Caps scored their second goal, one goal coming in the last five seconds of the second period, two goals in the last five minutes of regulation time. If Barry Trotz had hair, he would be tearing it out.
  • It was the second straight game that the Caps allowed five or more power plays (six in this one). That makes six times in 13 games that the Caps have allowed five or more power plays to their opponent. The power play differential in those 13 games is 57-40. Only twice in those 13 games have the Caps had more power plays than their opponent.

And now…this:

Game Highlights:

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Talking Points

%d bloggers like this: