The Washington Capitals played as gritty a game as they have
ever mustered in the postseason in Game 2 of their series against the Vegas
Golden Knights. They were rewarded for
their effort with a hard-fought 3-2 win over the Knights to bring the series
back to Washington tied at a game apiece.
First Period
Vegas had the shots advantage early, and in the eighth
minute they took the advantage on the scoreboard. Luca Sbisa chipped the puck high out of the
defensive zone from just behind his own blue line. Caps defenseman Dmitry Orlov tried to glove
it down, but he might have been distracted with James Neal poking his stick
into his chest. The puck bounced free
and away from Orlov, Neal picked it up, and a snap shot from the left wing
circle past goalie Braden Holtby later, and it was 1-0, Knights, 7:58 into the
period.
The lead almost lasted to the first intermission. However, with less than three minutes to go
in the opening frame, the scoring play for the Caps started with a gritty
faceoff effort. Lars Eller tied up Erik
Haula, and Andre Burakovsky dug out the loose puck from under them. Burakovsky pulled the puck back from a Vegas
defender and slid it across to Michal Kempny at the top of the left wing
circle. Kempny stepped up and showed “shot,”
but he sent the puck across to Eller in the right wing circle. Eller was left with a wide-open net at which
to shoot, and he did not miss, tying the game at the 17:27 mark.
After a slow start in which the Caps were outshot, 8-3,
early, they finished the period with a 11-10 edge in shots and a 16-14
advantage in shot attempts.
Second Period
The teams traded power plays in the early part of the
period, Brooks Oprik going to the penalty box 2:04 into the period on an illegal
check to the head call, and Alex Tuch heading off on a cross-checking call at
the 5:13 mark. Washington killed the
Orpik penalty; Vegas did not kill the Tuch call. The Caps converted on some deft passing. From the top of the right wing circle, Nicklas
Backstrom slid the puck low to Lars Eller, who one-timed a pass through the
blue paint and under goalie Marc-Andre Fleury’s stick to Alex Ovechkin, who one
timed it into the open side of the net.
The Caps had their first lead, 2-1, 5:38 into the period.
The Caps extended their lead four minutes later, courtesy of
the least likely member of either team to rustle the twine. Lars Eller took a pass from Andre Burakovsky
just outside the Vegas blue line and curled into the offensive zone. As Eller was cutting to the middle, Brooks
Orpik filled in behind him. Eller pulled
a pass across his body to Orpik on his right.
Orpik flicked a shot at the net that hit Vegas’ Alex Tuch in the arm, bounced
off the ice, hit the post, and banked in behind Fleury to make it 3-1, 9:41
into the period.
The two-goal advantage almost lasted through the end of the
period, but T.J. Oshie took an interference call with under three minutes left
in the frame. On the Knights’ power
play, Shea Theodore fired a shot through a maze of players, and the puck snuck
through, eluding goalie Breaden Holtby’s glove to make it 3-2, just 2:13 before
the intermission.
Vegas had the offensive advantage in the period, outshooting
the Caps, 14-9, and out-attempting them, 23-13.
Third Period
If fire wagon hoickey was your thing, the third period had
little for you. If you enjoy the chess
match aspects of the game, you were spellbound.
Vegas outshot the Caps, 15-6, and they enjoyed 1:08 of 5-on-3 power play
time, but they could not pierce the Caps defense or solve Braden Holtby in goal Holtby stopped all 15 shots, and the Caps
held on for the 3-2 win.
Other stuff…
-- May 30, 2018… The franchise’s first Stanley Cup final game
win.
-- Lars Eller’s goal was his sixth of the postseason, setting
a career high. It topped the five goals
he recorded in 17 postseason games for Montreal in 2014. It was his 14th point in this
postseason, tying the career high he set with the Canadiens in that same 2014
season.
-- Evgeny Kuznetsov skated 4:26 on six shifts in the first
period before going off with an injury.
He did not return.
-- Alex Ovechkin scored his first Stanley Cup final goal in
his 118th career postseason game.
It was his 13th of the playoffs, extending his career high
for a single postseason.
-- Orpik’s goal broke a 55-game postseason drought without
one, since he scored in a 4-3 Pittsburgh Penguins win over the Columbus Blue
Jackets in Game 3 of their series in 2014.
The goal was the game-winner, Orpik’s second career game-winning goal
among the three postseason goals he has.
The other game-winner came against the New York Islanders in overtime, a series-clinching
4-3 win for the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 6 of their 2013 series against the
Isles.
-- Eller continued his hot scoring pace. With a goal and two assists he recorded his
third three-point game of this postseason and third in his last 14 games in
this postseason.
-- Andre Burakovsky had his second multi-point game (0-2-2) in
his last three appearances.
-- Braden Holtby stopped the last 16 shots he faced, no save
bigger than a paddle save on an Alex Tuch shot with 1:59 left in regulation and
the Caps nursing that one-goal lead. If
the Caps should win this series, that will be the biggest save in the history
of the franchise.
-- The Caps finished the game with 46 credited hits, three
Caps with six apiece: Lars Eller, Tom Wilson, and Brooks Orpik.
-- T.J. Oshie took a penalty that put the Caps in a bind
late in the second period, one that led to the second Vegas goal, but he also
had four blocked shots to lead the team.
In the end…
What Caps fans saw tonight was what they have seen all too
often in the past, a goalie flat out stealing a game. The odd thing was that it was the Caps goalie
– Braden Holtby – who was committing grand larceny with 37 saves on 39 shots
faced. But it was an all-hands effort,
too. Fourteen skaters had hits, 12 had
blocked shots, and six different players had points. And at the other end, they have made
Marc-Andre Fleury look beatable. He has
allowed three or more goals in consecutive games for the first time since the
San Jose series and in consecutive games in regulation on home ice for the just
second time in these playoffs.
You could say that the Caps have swiped home-ice advantage
in this series as it moves to Capital One Arena for Games 3 and 4, but home ice
seems to matter less in hockey than in any other team sport. It means that the Caps have to maintain their
focus on the details. If they can do
that, home ice will take care of itself.