The Washington Capitals kicked off their March slate with their first meeting of the season with the Utah Mammoth. Washington’s last game was a rough 6-2 loss in Montreal, so they were looking to turn things around back on home ice tonight. They’d need to do it without John Carlson, who was still out with a lower-body injury, and Aliaksei Protas, who was out of the lineup tonight for personal reasons. Could they make it happen?
Plus: The Capitals scored two (two!) power play goals tonight, converting on both of their opportunities. Washington’s power play hadn’t found the back of the net since February 5, their last game before the Olympic break. Pierre-Luc Dubois scored a PPG with just 33 seconds left in the first period, and then Ryan Leonard tallied one on the man-advantage in the third period to bring the Caps within one.
Minus: Special teams giveth and special teams taketh away, apparently. Since December 1st, the Capitals’ penalty kill had been fourth-best in the league overall and top of the league on home ice. That unfortunately went out the window tonight, and Utah scored on both of their power play opportunities.
Caps Player of the Game: We’ll give this one to Pierre-Luc Dubois tonight. He opened the scoring for the Caps—on the power play no less—and it seems like having him back in the lineup after missing so much time earlier this season has been huge for the rest of the team.