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A power play goal from Alex Ovechkin wasn’t enough to lift the Capitals over their hated orange rivals, and Washington fell to the Fly Boys in overtime.
Here’s Sunday’s Plus/Minus:
Plus: Alex Ovechkin, The World’s Most Powerful Goober, was all over the ice, backchecking hard and recording his league-leading 29th goal.
Minus: Washington continued to struggle with sloppy turnovers and missed chances, and TJ Oshie looked noticeably, visibly off the whole game.
And now, this…
Ten more notes on the game:
1. After a performance against Montreal that Lars Eller eviscerated as perhaps their sloppiest of the season, would Washington bounce back for a Sunday matinee against a hot Philadelphia Flyers squad?
2. As the world turns, so change the lines of a Barry Trotz-coached NHL hockey team. Trotz split up Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom for Sunday’s match-up, hoping to jump start the stalling offense.
3. The Caps came out firing in the first period, racking up 10 shots in the opening frame. None was more tantalizingly juicy than goalie Brian Elliott’s David Blaine-esque embezzlement of Alex Ovechkin’s one-timer in the low slot. Despite the sleight of hand, the first frame concluded scoreless after twenty.
4. Philadelphia finally broke through six minutes into the second period. Valtteri Filppula worked the puck around the back of the net and found Michael Raffl allllll alooooneeeeee in the ritzy high-priced real estate. Raffl did not miss, and made the Caps pay for their oversight, staking the Flyers to a 1-0 lead. Christian Djoos appeared….uh….confused about his assignment on the play, as seen in the video above and here below:
5. But with just 16 seconds left in the frame, O Captain My Captain Alex Ovechkin put the Capitals on his назад, scoring his league-leading 29th goal of the season…….can you finish the sentence?…….from his office, on the power play. The game was tied 1-1 after two.
6. The third period treated the Capital One Arena faithful to a war of attrition that didn’t lack a few moments of excitement, but the 1-1 tie held until the end of regulation.
7. That’s right! We were all treated to a bit of FREE HOCKEY courtesy of OOOOOVERTIMEEEEEEEE!
8. Which didn’t last long, as Philadelphia’s Travis Konecny glided in, cut to the slot, and ripped a BB past Braden Holtby to take the 2-1 victory for the Flyers.
9. The Capitals take a point in the OT loss, but are now on a three-game losing skid. Yikes. Not how you want to come out of the bye week.
10. TJ Oshie played terribly the entire game. He spent the contest fanning on pucks, missing plays entirely, and losing battles he’s made his career winning. Something looks off. I’m no doctor and I find armchair speculation about a player’s health unprofessional, but it certainly seems like Oshie may still be struggling to return to form after suffering a concussion at the hands……er, ass, of San Jose’s Joe Thornton.
The Capitals have yet to get into the win column since the break. They’ll get their next chance on Thursday against the Florida Panthers.
Game highlights: