Oh, I’m sorry. Were you desperately trying to make the playoffs? It’d be a shame if….something were to happen. So the Capitals spake to the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday night, taking a low-scoring contest to overtime before beating the Orange Menace on a Nick Backstrom stunner.
Here’s Saturday night’s Plus/Minus:
Plus: Tom Wilson was everywhere, and I don’t just mean on your little sister’s Instagram.
Minus: Some sketchy penalty calls, including an unnoticed embellishment that, if submitted, would have at least received a nomination from the Academy.
And now, this..
Backstrom putting Steve Mason out of his misery in OT pic.twitter.com/HIZ7bXGD6n
— Ozzie (@OldComiskey) March 5, 2017
Ten more notes on the game:
1. Given that this was a hockey contest between the Washington Capitals and the primates from the Philadelphia delegation, this game promised to feature some rough stuff. It didn’t disappoint.
2. The first fireworks came in the opening period. Justin Williams, typically sage and poised veteran, had just entirely enough of Nick Cousins’ shenanigans and challenged him to fisticuffs. It was an energetic if brief scuffle, and both boys sat out to cool off.
3. Perhaps no player better embodied the ethos of this game than Washington’s Tom Wilson, human hot sauce cannon ball. Tom was all over the ice tonight, recording 8 hits and 2 shots, plus serving six tours of duty on the penalty kill. Tom also selflessly sacrificed his body to block shots, giving up his delicate little back meats to block a slapshot in the second. Way to know your role, Tom.
4. Like Thursday’s game against the New Jersey Devils, this was a contest for fans of attrition and trench warfare. After forty minutes, the game remained scoreless. Wherefore art thou, 5-goal games of yesteryear?
5. The first goal came from those rogue Philadelphia Flyers, as Sean Couturier pushed a beautiful deflection towards the goal and past Holtby for a 1-0 third period lead.
6. But just minutes later, Washington’s own Kremlin Gremlin answered back as Dmitry Orlov knocked home an utterly gigantic slapshot from just inside the blue line. The score was once more even at 1-1.
7. The score would hold until….*Wes Johnson voice* OVERRRTIMMMME!
8. And everybody knows, overtime is for the killers. The cold-blooded professionals. The seasoned vets. Nick Backstrom said, “I got this,” showing pass in the circle before instead calling his own number, ripping a rocket into the back of the net and ensuring sudden death for the flailing Flyers, 2-1.
9. Braden Holtby, predictably and tiresomely, was again phenomenal. Holtby saved 30-of-31 for a .968 save percentage.
10. The penalty kill was deadly, snuffing out all 6-of-6 chances they faced. Good job, fellas. No tomfoolery here!
Two points don’t mean a ton for the Caps any more, but you love to see the hated Flyers be denied a crucial lifeline to the playoffs. Mwahaha, schadenfreude, engage! Next up is the Stars at home on Monday.
Game highlights: