For much of the game the Caps were out-shot, out-worked, and
out-hustled by the speedy Oilers, but they would not be outscored. That the Caps were not out-scored was a product
of a howitzer of a shot by defenseman Dmitry Orlov late in the third
period. It started with Brooks Laich
doing battle with Mark Fayne along the right wing wall in the offensive zone.
Laich won the battle to move the puck down the boards to Tom Wilson, who sent a
centering feed to Michael Latta closing on the Oiler net. The pass was too strong for Latta and sailed
all the way through to the left wing wall, off which the puck rebounded
sharply. It served to set up a shot from
just inside the top of the left wing circle that Orlov leaned into, sending the
puck over goalie Anders Nilsson’s left shoulder and into the top of the net. That would be all for the scoring as Caps’
goalie Braden Holtby turned away all 33 shots he faced to seal the 1-0 win.
Other stuff…
-- The Oilers won the possession battle, launching 68 shot
attempts at the Washington net to 54 for the Caps. The edge was 54-43 at 5-on-5. However, the 5-on-5 battle slowly turned the
Caps’ way as the game wore on. Edmonton
had a 25-13 edge in shot attempts at 5-on-5 in the first period. That edge was whittled down to 14-10 in the
second period. In the third period, the
Caps flipped the script, out-attempting the Oilers by a 20-15 margin (numbers from war-on-ice.com).
-- For Braden Holtby it was his first shutout of the season,
coming in his 16th contest.
For those keeping score, he had one shutout in his first 16 appearances
last year, too, on his way to nine for the season.
-- Alex Ovechkin was plus-1.
We mention that because in some circles, that number still seems to be
held important. He has only two “minus”
games this season and is a plus-11 overall, tied for eighth best in the league
this season (tied for fourth-best among forwards), pending results of Monday’s
games.
-- Orlov’s goal was his first game-winning goal since his
first NHL goal, the game-winner in a 2-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on
January 15, 2012…
-- The 33 shots on goal allowed by the Caps was a season
high by an opponent. The San Jose Sharks
had 32 shots on goal in a 5-0 win in Game 2 back on October 13th.
-- On the other side, the Caps recorded 30 shots on goal in
this game, the third consecutive game they finished with 30 or more shots in a
game and ninth in ten games this month.
Last season, their longest streak of 30 or more shots in a game was
three, accomplished three times.
-- The Caps were 13-for-20 on faceoffs in the offensive end,
and that includes a 1-for-4 effort from Evgeny Kuznetsov.
-- Washington was credited with 28 hits to just 14 for the
Oilers. Alex Ovechkin had a team-high
seven.
-- The fourth line of Brooks Laich, Michael Latta, and Tom
Wilson combined for just two shot attempts, both shots on goal by Laich, and
one of Laich’s shots on goal was while skating with Evgeny Kuznetsov and Justin
Williams on the ice.
-- This was the 48th 1-0 decision in Capitals history. Their record improved to 25-20-3. They are 1-1 in such decisions this season,
dropping a 1-0 decision in Detroit on November 10th.
In the end…
In two games against the Oilers this season the Capitals
demonstrated that they can win with offensive depth, and they can win with
goaltending and defense (more goaltending than defense in this one). It shows a certain ingenuity and
opportunistic element to their game.
While there is a script to stick to, there is room for a bit of
improvisation to accommodate the situation any given game presents. And if that means winning ugly, then winning
ugly is attractive enough. Kanoobie would have approved...
