It took them a while, but the Washington Capitals finally began play in the 2023-24 NHL season sometime towards the end of the first period against the Calgary Flames last night. Darcy Kuemper kept the seat warm for them as he waited for the team to arrive, making 16 saves in a first period that could’ve ended a lot uglier than Calgary leading 2-0.
This opened the door for some high-level schadenfreude in the second period, as a sweet give-and-go between Sonny Milano and Matthew Phillips–two skilled wingers who could’ve very easily been on the Flames’ bench instead–ended up in the back of the net as Phillips picked up his first NHL goal. He twisted the knife a bit further for Calgary fans with his first NHL assist off a neat feed to Connor McMichael that trickled through Jacob Markström’s pads. Just like that, a game that seemed lost before it even began started right back over knotted up at 2.
The third period saw the Capitals go on X-Games Mode, taking three consecutive penalties as well as giving away a penalty shot to Flames forward Blake Coleman. They turned away all four opportunities and kept the game tied. After a scoreless OT period, Evgeny Kuznetsov beat Markström in the shootout using the most feared move in hockey: Just standing there. A couple more Kuemper stops (one aided by the goalpost) later, and the Capitals entered the win column with a 3-2 shootout victory. Never in doubt.
3 Takeaways
- The Milano-Strome-Phillips line continues to be the Capitals’ most effective offensively. A couple more games like these and they might achieve nickname status.
- Conversely, it was another rough game for the Ovechkin-Backstrom-Oshie line, earning an expected goals share of 23.79% per NaturalStatTrick. Ovechkin himself was held shotless for just the 18th time in his career. Drastic changes aren’t gonna be made off a two game sample size, but it’s something to watch going forward.
- Has Kuznetsov’s slow-mo shootout move ever missed? That’s not a rhetorical question, I don’t think it has. Why isn’t every other player in the league trying this?