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The Washington Capitals rode high into this Sunday matinee against the Boston Bruins on the heels of back-to-back victories against quality opponents in the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Pittsburgh Penguins. And while it seemed for a moment like the stakes for this home stretch towards the playoffs would be non-existent with playoff seeding locked, a Penguins losing streak has opened the window for the Caps to climb out of a very difficult first-round wildcard matchup.
Here’s what the Caps lines looked like, with Nicklas Backstrom getting a late scratch, for maintenance purposes according to the team, and Connor Sheary drawing back in after missing some time with a non-COVID illness.
Here’s Sunday afternoon’s Plus/Minus:
Plus: John Carlson stayed hot, opening the scoring with another 5v5 blast. He’s now got three goals and seven points in his last three times out, and if John Carlson can play at the top of his game when things matter most, that’s going to go a long way towards making this team a true contender.
Minus: The Caps continue to be able to get a game without a questionable goal allowed from the netminders. It wasn’t quite the smoking gun as Ilya Samsonov’s softies from yesterday were, but Vanecek was beaten clean over the glove on Eric Haula’s goal, despite an angle and shooter-handedness that favored the goalie. You might give a different goaltender the benefit of the doubt on a play like that, but the benefit of the doubt is something that no one in the net for DC has earned.
Some more notes on the game:
10. The Captain sent the fans home happy with an empty-net goal with just 1.7 seconds left in regulation to salt away the victory, 4-2. Ovechkin, who now has 13 goals in his last 17 games, tallied his 45th goal of the season and the 775th of his NHL career.
Washington put on a strong showing in the second of back-to-back matinee games, this one following a travel day no less, earning four points over division rivals whom they look up to in the standings. The Caps play host to the Flyers on Tuesday before embarking on a five-game road trip that includes three contests against western conference opponents. While Washington’s playoff prospects are just about solidified heading into the season’s homestretch, the response shown by the squad after back-to-back drubbings earlier this week offers encouraging signs for the team and the fans with the postseason looming.