The Washington Capitals traveled to the scene of many
disappointments in recent years – Madison Square Garden in New York City – and served
notice that this isn’t your father’s Capitals.
It isn’t even your older brother’s.
The Caps fell behind by a 3-1 score after 20 minutes, then
systematically and clinically dissected the Rangers for six unanswered goals,
during which they chased the demonic Henrik Lundquvist from the Rangers’ net,
and won going away, 7-3.
The first 20 minutes of this contest will not make any
Capitals highlight videos. Justin
Williams did get the Caps off on the right foot when he redirected a Taylor
Chorney drive past Lundqvist at the 12:03 mark after getting decked at the side
of the net by Kevin Hayes.
Then the Caps started kicking their own behind with their
other foot. The Rangers scored three
times in a space of 4:21 – goals by J.T. Miller, Chris Kreider, and Dan Boyle –
to take a 3-1 lead into the locker room at the first intermission.
Then the Caps unleashed the fury. In the sixth minute of the period Justin
Williams worked the puck down the left wing wall, then sent a pass into the
middle for Dmitry Orlov skating down the middle. Orlov walked down the middle and with Chris
Kreider playing nominal defense, draping his stick across Orlov’s arm, Orlov
slid the puck through the top of the crease.
Evgeny Kuznetsov unwrapped the present and backhanded a shot past goalie
Henrik Lundqvist to make it 3-2.
Less than two minutes later, T.J. Oshie tied the game. It was another case of indifferent (or
incapable) Ranger defense. Nicklas
Backstrom fired a cross-ice dump in from the center red stripe that bounced
hard out of the corner to Lundqvist’s left.
Oshie beat Marc Staal to the puck, cut to the middle, and before Dylan
McIlrath could get his stick in Oshie’s path backhanded the puck past
Lundqvist.
Four minutes later the Caps took the lead they would not
relinquish. With Chris Summers in the
penalty box, the Caps worked the puck around the perimeter smartly on the
ensuing power play. Then, in an instant,
they broke down the Rangers defense down low.
John Carlson fed Nicklas Backstrom in the right wing circle. Backstrom took a step deeper and fed Marcus
Johansson at the goal line. Johansson
snapped a pass through the crease to Alex Ovechkin at the left wing faceoff
dot, and Ovechkin did the rest, firing a shot over Lundqvist’s glove high on
the far side to make it 4-3.
The Caps were not done with the second period or with
Lundqvist. With the period winding down
and the Caps on another power play, the Caps worked the triangle play to
perfection – Backstrom from the right wing down to Johansson at the goal line
and out to Williams in the slot for a one-timer that close the second period
scoring and Lundqvist’s night.
The third period began with Magnus Hellberg coming in to
make his NHL debut, but he fared no better than Lundqvist. The Caps scored on their first two shots on
goal, the first a shorthanded goal by Jason Chimera when he took a loose puck
chipped out of the defensive zone by Tom Wilson and beat Hellberg on a
breakaway. The second came two minutes
later when Evgeny Kuznetsov took advantage of some loose play by Summer behind
the Ranger net to pilfer the puck and feed Marcus Johansson all alone in front
for the seventh and final goal of the evening.
Other stuff…
-- The Caps scored seven goals. It was the first time they did that at
Madison Square Garden since beating the Rangers, 7-4, on November 11,
1992. Their plus-4 goal differential
ties the best ever for the Caps on Ranger ice.
They did it twice before – April 1, 1987 in a 5-1 win and March 16, 1988
in an 8-4 win.
-- The Caps had two power play goals, giving them five in
seven power play chances over their last two games.
-- Kuznetsov and Williams scored their tenth goals of the
season, respectively, in this game. That
gives the Caps five skaters with ten or more goals, most in the league.
-- Nicklas Backstrom recorded three assists, the 28th
time he hit that mark in his career.
Since he came into the league in 2007-2008, only Sidney Crosby has
recorded three or more assists in more games (29).
-- Going back to the third period of the game against the Tampa
Bay Lightning, the Caps have scored 11 goals on their last 35 shots (31.4
percent).
-- Give Braden Holtby some credit. He was left largely to his own wits in the
first period as the Caps team defense resembled less a hockey team and more a
group that was strolling on 5th Avenue doing some window
shopping. After suffering three goals on
16 shots in the first period, not to mention nine scoring chances, he turned
away all 21 he faced thereafter.
-- There were 11 different Capitals with points, five with
multi-point games. The latter was not a
season high. Washington had seven
multi-point scorers in their 7-4 win over Edmonton on October 23rd.
-- If Tom Wilson is shaving the rough edges off his game in
the wake of the match penalty/rescinded match penalty against Ottawa last week,
it doesn’t show. He took three minor
penalties – an unsportsmanlike conduct and a double minor for roughing – and had
four hits to tie for the team lead in this game.
-- Marcus Johansson had his first three-point game of the
season and his first since October 3, 2013, in a 5-4 win over the Calgary
Flames.
-- On the other side of the ice, the play of Henrik
Lundqvist has to be a concern to the Rangers and their capacity to overtake the
Caps. In his last 13 appearances he is
5-6-1 (one no-decision), 3.53, .899. The
Rangers can’t compete if that level of performance continues.
In the end…
No, the Caps are not going to come back from 3-0 and 3-1
deficits in consecutive games to win with any regularity, but it sure is nice
to see them able to do it. Sure, falling
behind by multiple goals early in games and the possession numbers overall are
problems that need to be corrected, but if there is a takeaway from these last
two games, it is that the Caps have found a way to maintain their composure in
the face of difficulty. The fact that
they have so many weapons at the offensive end of the ice and a goaltender at
the other end who can shake off those still infrequent stretches of leaky play
is a comfort to Caps fans, even when things look bleak. And when they comeback like they did against
a team that has caused them so much misery the past few seasons, it makes for a
warm glow this holiday season.