It was the Rangers starting the scoring in this one, getting
a goal from Cap Killer Chris Kreider in the 11th minute of the first
period, a re-direction of a shot from the left point by Ryan McDonagh. The Caps tied it with just under two minutes
left in the period on a power play. A
cross-ice pass from Evgeny Kuznetsov to Alex Ovechkin was deadened by Marc
Staal Jesper Fast, but not enough to keep the puck from getting to its intended recipient. It prevented Ovechkin from firing a one-timer
from the left wing circle, but he still had time to settle the puck, step
around Dylan McIlrath, and fire a wrist shot through the pads of goalie Antti
Raanta.
The Caps opened up a lead in the second period with a pair
of goals just 62 seconds apart. Marcus
Johansson got the first one on another power play. It was the product of a subtle change in the
Caps’ deployment on the man advantage.
With teams cheating a defender to Ovechkin’s side of the ice to prevent
a pass for a one-timer, the Caps moved Johansson from the goal line extended
from the goalie’s left to the top of the crease, forcing defenders to play
honest to prevent a feed in front. The
Rangers could not prevent that, though, as Nicklas Backstrom threaded a fine
pass to the top of the Rangers’ crease where Johansson redirected it past
Raanta to make it 2-1.
Just 1:02 later it was 3-1.
Justin Williams took a pass at the Ranger blue line and skated into the
offensive zone. He left the puck for
Andre Burakovsky in the right wing circle, and Burakovsky kicked it out to
Taylor Chorney. From the top of the zone
Chorney fired a wrist shot that hit Justin Williams on the way through and
eluded Raanta to put the Rangers in a two-goal hole.
The Rangers got back within a goal late in the second period
when Kreider scored his second of the game, picking up a loose puck between the
hash marks, spinning, and wristing it past goalie Braden Holtby.
The Rangers would get no closer. Justin Williams scored his second goal of the
game less than five minutes into the third period to restore the Caps’ two-goal
lead. The Rangers’ J.T. Miller coughed
up the puck on a ghastly turnover in his own end, throwing the puck from the
wall at the players’ bench through the middle of the ice to no one in
particular. Andre Burakovsky collected
the puck and fed Evgeny Kuznetsov skating into the left wing circle. Kuznetsov passed it in front, and Williams
redirected it past Raanta’s left pad at the 4:51 mark to make it 4-2.
Williams ended the scoring with an empty-net hat-trick goal with
1:51 left. Settling a loose puck at the
red line, Williams turned and fired, the puck sliding past the stick of Dan
Boyle, off the toe of Derick Brassard, and into the net to give the Caps their
final 5-2 margin.
Other stuff…
-- In the last eight periods of hockey between these teams,
the Caps have outscored the Rangers, 15-5.
-- Alex Ovechkin’s goal made it nine straight games with a
goal against the Rangers, 11 overall.
The odd part of that is…no assists in any of those nine games.
-- Just 14 seconds after Chris Kreider’s second goal for the
Rangers, Braden Holtby took himself out of the game. He was reported to be suffering from symptoms
of dehydration.
-- With the hat trick, his first as a Capital and second of
his career (October 16, 2006 with Carolina in a 5-1 win over Tampa Bay),
Williams took over the number two spot in goal scoring for the Caps (16) behind
Alex Ovechkin (27).
-- Andre Burakovsky had two assists…again. That makes three games in his last four that
he recorded two assists.
-- Depending on which official source you look at, Evgeny
Kuznetsov had either two assists (on the league’s event summary for this game)
or three in this game (on his player page).
If it was three, that makes two games in his last three that Kuznetsov
had three points. And, he tied Nicklas
Backstrom for the team lead in helpers with 29.
-- With two power plays in four chances, the Caps bounced
back after consecutive games without a power play goal. They are 8-for-27 since January 1st
(29.6 percent).
-- Philipp Grubauer came in to spell Braden Holtby late in
the second period and played the final 32:18 of the game, stopping all 11 shots
he faced. In his last six appearances,
three of which involved his replacing Holtby in-game, he stopped 126 of 132
shots, a .955 save percentage. He did
not get the win, but if hockey had “saves” as they do in baseball, he would
have one for this game.
-- Anybody have Tom Wilson leading the team with six shot
attempts (three on goal, two blocked, one miss)? No, I didn’t either.
-- The Caps dominated the faceoff circle, winning 42 of 71
draws (59.2 percent). Over their last
four games the Caps have won 56.7 percent of their faceoffs (143-for-252).
In the end…
What can you say about this team at the moment? Their top defensive pair out, missing a
regular forward, their goalie going out mid-game in distress, and they still
win going away. Sure, that was Antti
Raanta in net for the Rangers, not Henrik Lundqvist, but the Caps did not let
up in facing the Rangers’ back-up. For
the 11th time in 45 games the Caps scored five or more goals (tied
for first in the league); for the 29th time they allowed two or
fewer (tops in the league). In doing
both they recorded their 14th win by three or more goals, tops in
the league, and they are now 55-21-6 in their last 82 games. You have to like the way this team is playing.
