One could make the argument that yesterday’s game was lost less than one minute into the game, when Elias Pettersson put the Canucks up 1-0 at :59 of the first period. Hell, one could make the argument it was lost the second the puck dropped, because one team was ready to go and one team was decidedly not. Amazingly, it was the more rested team that fell into that latter category, while the Canucks were playing their third game in four days and were down to 10 forwards by the end of the first period.
Alas.
But at that point, when Pettersson scored early, the Caps were still only down 1-0 for most of the opening frame and could have easily gotten their butts in gear to tie it up at any point. Instead, a couple of things happened in the final few minutes of the period to basically put this game out of reach.
First, a bad turnover at neutral by Connor McMichael forced the play back into the Caps’ zone. The Canucks funneled the puck to the net, collapsed in front of (and in some cases, on top of) Charlie Lindgren. It was wrenched free and ended up on the stick of Tyler Myers, who sent the puck into what was basically an open net:
The Caps took about a year to look at the play and eventually decided to challenge for goalie interference, which it’s becoming more and more clear no one – not even the league – actually understands. You make your own call on whether the above goal would constitute GI, but the official ruling was a good goal, leading to that double whammy of being down 2-0 and also going shorthanded for delay of game.
And then, of course, the Canucks scored on the ensuing power play:
Again, whether or not Coach Carbery and friends should have challenged the play is certainly a question, as is whether or not the ultimate call was correct. Regardless, the Caps simply weren’t ready to hit the ice yesterday afternoon and it cost them, putting them in a 3-0 hole before the first period ended – one that proved too deep to dig out of despite a late push to bring the game within one.
That team that took the ice yesterday afternoon bore little resemblance to the one that steamrolled Minnesota less than 48 hours earlier…let’s hope that team comes back in time to face the Kraken tomorrow night and end the homestand on a high note.