In Game #79, the Washington Capitals returned home to face the visiting Lightning in a desperate situation, having dropped seven of their last eight coming into this one and trying to stay alive in the playoff race. This time, they stepped up, starting strong and then taking up the defense of a fallen teammate to fuel their victory. A huge two points in the books for a team nearing the end of the fight.
Three Takeaways:
- The officiating last night was…suspect. You could make a legitimate case for a call or a non-call on the hit on Nick Jensen, but the more egregious missed call was the elbow to the face of Tom Wilson by Nikita Kucherov late in the second.
- Carbery mentioned it in his postgame speech to the boys, but how about the captain, Alex Ovechkin, flinging himself in front of a shot and making a huge block in the waning minutes of regulation. Stud.
- Considering the fact that the Capitals were the only team with something on the line (other than pride), last night’s game really had something of a playoff feel to it. Tampa wasn’t letting up simply because they were locked in to the first Wild Card spot, and the Caps showed the desperation we’ve been missing from them. Throw in some high-octane offense in the first and some dueling goalies in the second and yeah, this one had a bit of postseason flair to it.
They Said It:
“Scary situation. He’s doing better though, than initially when you see something like that. When someone is stretchered off, you’re thinking of the worst-case situations, and he’s doing better. He walked out of the building with his family tonight. He didn’t go to the hospital, so that was very, very positive.”
– Spencer Carbery