First Period
It was not a first minute goal, but the Caps didn’t waste much more
time getting the early lead. Lars Eller
outmuscled Quinn Hughes to get possession of the puck and position out of the
left wing corner and along the boards.
It enable Eller to slide a pass to Jakub Vrana in the left wing circle,
and Vrana one-timed the puck over goalie Jacob Markstrom’s left shoulder to
make it 1-0 just 2:22 into the game.
There was a lot of back and forth with not a lot of production, but the
Caps got a chance to change that when Jake Virtanen was sent off at 10:29 for
high-sticking Lars Eller. Marstrom
kept the Caps at bay though, first stopping a one-timer from Alex Ovechkin and
then, just as the power play expired, snuffing out a flurry at the top of his
crease.
The Canucks got their first power play chance when Chandler Stephenson was
charged with interference right off a faceoff at the 12:42 mark. Just 62 seconds later, Elias Petterson drew a
second penalty, a tripping call to Richard Panik to put the Caps down two men
for 58 seconds. It got worse when Michal
Kempny lost his stick off a faceoff, giving the Canucks what amounted to a
5-on-two and a half advantage. It
allowed J.T. Miller to circle out unchallenged to the top of the zone, where he
fed Pettersson for a one-timer that beat goalie Braden Holtby over his right
shoulder at the 14:00 mark to tie the game.
Although the Canucks had a late chance on the 5-on-4 portion of the
power play, Holtby flashed a pad on an attempted redirect to keep the game tied
and get the Caps out of the man disadvantage.
The Caps had a late flurry in the Vancouver zone, but nothing that got
all the way to Marsktrom, and the teams went to the dressing room tied after
one period, 1-1.
-- The Caps had an 11-7 edge in shots on goal in the first period and a
19-14 advantage in shot attempts.
-- Evgeny Kuznetsov won six of eight faceoffs in the period.
-- Alex Ovechkin had a pair of shots on goal and a pair of hits…no goals.
-- Radko Gudas led the Caps with four credited hits; Tom Wilson had
three. They, and Ovechkin, were the only
Caps credited with hits in the period.
Second Period
Early in the period Vrana almost had his second goal, a shot from the
right wing that slithered through Markstrom and toward the goal line. But Tyler Myers swooped in behind Markstrom
and swept the loose puck off the goal line to preserve the tie.
It was not the last chance Vrana had in the period, he had a fine one
in the ninth minute, but shortly thereafter Siegenthaler was sent off on a
hooking call, the penalty coming at 8:37.
As the penalty was expiring, the Canucks had a chance, a shot by Tanner
Pearson sneaking though Holtby, the puck lying behind him. But his teammates came to the rescue as
Holtby spun and covered the puck to keep the game tied.
Washington had their own chance coming out of a television timeout, an
Ovechkin shot redirected by Evgeny Kuznetsov off the post to Markstrom’s left
and out.
Late in the period, Eller and Petterson got locked up inside the Vancouver
blue line, and it was Eller sent off for hooking at 16:20 to put the Canucks on
their fourth power play of the afternoon.
The Caps killed off that penalty, and then Tom Wilson drew an
interference penalty at the end of his shift from Tyler Myers with 46 seconds
left in the period. The Caps had a chance
to convert in the dying seconds when an Ovechkin one-time slap-pass was
redirected by Kuznetsov just wide to Markstrom’s left. The teams went to the second intermission
tied, 1-1.
-- The Canucks flipped the script in the second period, recording 11
shots to the Caps’ seven, reversing the first period result, leaving the teams
even at 18 shots apiece through two periods.
Vancouver had 23 shot attempts to the Caps’ 16 to take a 37-35 edge in
that department.
-- Jakub Vrana led the Caps through two periods with four shots on goal
and six shot attempts.
-- The Caps had a 23-14 edge in faceoff wins through two periods,
Evgeny Kuznetsov (9-for-12) and Lars Eller (8-for-12) going a combined
17-for-24 (70.8 percent).
Third Period
The Caps opened the period with the last minute and change on the power
play that carried over from the previous period, but they could not solve
Markstrom. It set the stage for some
further threatening activity by the Caps in the Vancouver zone that paid off
with the Caps drawing an interference call on Pettersson 4:43 into the period
to put the Caps on a power play.
Washington had a couple of fine chances, including a pair of unsuccessful
one-timers by Ovechkin, but Vancouver skated off the shorthanded situation, and
the game remained tied.
The teams went back and forth, but Markstrom and Holtby turned
everything reaching them aside, and the Canucks foiled a breakaway by T.J.
Oshie in the last 15 seconds. The teams
went to overtime tied, 1-1.
Overtime
Evgeny Kuznsetsov was sent off 1:25 into the extra frame on a hooking
call, and the Caps went shorthanded for the fifth time in this game. The Caps’ penalty killers were up to the
challenge though, Holtby turning away two shots, and the teams played on. Neither team could score, though, and it went
to the freestyle competition.
The Gimmick
Six rounds, nothing. Dmitry Orlov
denied in Round 7, Bo Horvat wins it for the Canucks.
Other stuff…
-- Jakub Vrana’s first period goal was his 11th of the season
and his 11th even strength goal.
Pending later action, Vrana has more goals with all of them recorded at
even strength than any other player in the league (three other players had 10
even strength goals among their 10 total goals).
-- This was the Caps’ 11th extra time game this season. They are 6-5 in those contests, 3-2 in the
Gimmick.
-- Going to extra time, Washington avoided consecutive losses,
maintaining their streak of games without consecutive losses to 25 this season. If you are thinking that is impressive,
consider that the Caps went the entire 2015-2016 season without losing
consecutive games in regulation.
-- This was the Caps’ third loss to a Pacific Division team this
season. All of them have come in extra
time. The others were to Arizona (in a
Gimmick) and Edmonton (in overtime).
-- The Caps finished the hockey portion of the contest with a 33-32
edge in shots on goal, but Vancouver had a 64-61 advantage in shot attempts.
-- Alex Ovechkin led the team with seven shots on goal and 12 shot
attempts.
-- Radko Gudas and Tom Wilson led the Caps with seven credited hits
apiece.
-- Wilson led all Caps with three blocked shots.
-- Both Lars Eller and Evgeny Kuznetsov went 11-for-16 on
faceoffs. The rest of the team was
7-for-21.
-- Even with this loss, Braden Holtby is 10-1-2, 2.44, .925 in his last
13 appearances.
In the end…
Whether it is missing Nicklas Backstrom, Nic Dowd, and Carl Hagelin, or
it is just part of the ebb and flow of a long season, the Caps are in a bit of
a funk. They are now 3-2-2 in their last
seven games after going 10-0-1 in their previous 11 games. Backstrom’s absence is felt in a lot of ways,
disrupting the line assignments for the other centers, while his absence on the
power play had obvious effects. And, the
New York Islanders are within striking distance – four points back with five
games in hand – of the top spot in the Metropolitan Division that the Caps
occupy.
The team now has a few days to get straight with their game and
hopefully get healthier before the Thanksgiving wrap around games against
Florida and Tampa Bay later in the week.
For now, just give thanks that the Caps are still grinding out points,
even if they are one at a time.
