The Washington Capitals embarked on the road portion of their opening round series against the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday night. It was among the stranger and uglier games in Capitals postseason history, the Caps dropping a 5-0 decision to leave Washington with a two-games-to-one lead in the series.
First Period
The Caps dominated early, but Carolina took their first lead
of the series mid-way through the period.
It was a self-inflicted wound that started when Christian Djoos took a
pass from Brooks Orpik in the faceoff circle to the right of goalie Braden
Holtby and promptly coughed it up to Warren Foegele. The puck slid off Foegele’s stick behind the Caps’
net where Brock McGinn scooped it up.
McGinn sent the puck to the right point where Justin Faulk one-timed a
shot to the Caps’ net. The puck struck
Foegele, who was battling for position with Djoos. The puck popped up and over Holtby, dropping
behind him and over the goal line before Djoos could scoop it out, and the
Hurricanes were up, 1-0, 9:43 into the period.
Things got interesting about a minute later when Alex
Ovechkin and Andrei Svechnikov squared off.
Ovechkin made short work of Svechnikov, landing three right hands and
sending the rookie to the ice.
Svechnikov was on the ice for some time and was clearly woozy from the
scuffle. The Caps would suffer from
Ovechkin’s absence when they were awarded the game’s first power play. The Caps did get shots from Matt Niskanen and
John Carlson, but they failed to convert.
Carolina did likewise with their lone power play chance late in the
period, and the teams skated off to the first intermission with the Hurricanes
on top, 1-0.
-- Carolina outshot Washington, 15-9, and out-attempted
them, 24-19.
-- Ovechkin had three shots on goal to lead all Caps, and
his five shot attempts led all skaters for both teams.
-- Tom Wilson led all players with three credited hits.
Second Period
It was Carolina’s turn to dominate early, and they had the
Caps back on their heels for the first six minutes. The Hurricanes capitalized on the pressure
they exerted when Foegele scored his second goal of the game. Teivo Teravainen took advantage of two
Capitals – Dmitry Orlov and Brett Connolly – stepping up on him just inside the
Caps’ blue line, and as both Orlov and Connolly fell to the ice, he fed the
puck across the ice to Sebastian Aho in the left wing circle. As Matt Niskanen slid on his stomach to try
and prevent an Aho shot, Aho fed Foegele all alone at the doorstep to put the
puck home at the 6:09 mark to make it 2-0, Carolina.
Less than six minutes later, with Nicklas Backstrom in the
penalty box, Carolina scored a power play goal to extend their lead
further. From the left point, Jaccob
Slavin fed Jordan Stall in the high slot.
Stall slid the puck back to Dougie Hamilton, who leaned into one and
sent the puck under the crossbar at the 11:40 mark to make it 3-0. The Caps avoided further damage, but the
damage at this point might have been sufficient.
-- Washington did not record their first shot on goal until
the 15:13 mark of the period, 23:04 of ice time between shots on goal going
back to the first period.
-- Carolina outshot the Caps, 18-1, in the period and
out-attempted them, 25-9.
-- Ovechkin was the only Capital with more than one shot on
goal through 40 minutes (four).
Third Period
Things did not get better for Washington. By the time the Caps recorded their first
shot on goal in the period, 12:29 into the period, Carolina had added to their
lead on Dougie Hamilton’s second power play goal of the game. Carolina added another, by Brock McGinn,
before adding a few shots on goal to pad an anemic total in what ended as a 5-0
loss.
Other stuff…
-- The 45 shots on goal allowed tied for the most allowed in
a regulation game in Caps postseason history as is the most allowed in a road
game in regulation. The Caps allowed 45
shots in a 2-1 win over the Boston Bruins in Washington in Game 4 of their
opening round series in 2012.
-- This was the first game in Capitals postseason history
that they allowed more than 40 shots on goal and recorded fewer than 20 shots
on goal of their own.
-- John Carlson recorded a shot on goal at 12:09 of the first
period. The Caps would go 23:04 before
their next shot on goal, that by Alex Ovechkin 15:13 into the second
period. They would not get another until
Dmitry Orlov was credited with a shot from 84 feet, from the neutral zone,
12:29 into the third period. That was
one shot on goal in 40:20 between the Carlson and Orlov shots.
-- The shutout was the first time the Caps were blanked in a
postseason game since losing Game 7 of the 2017 Eastern Conference semifinals,
2-0, to the Pittsburgh Penguins. It was
the first time the Caps were shutout on the road since dropping a 1-0 decision
the New York Rangers in Game 6 of the 2013 Eastern Conference quarterfinals.
-- This was only the second time in the Caps’ last 24
postseason games that they allowed more than four goals. They allowed six in a 6-4 loss to the Vegas
Golden Knights in Game 1 of last year’s Stanley Cup final.
-- Carolina out-attempted the Caps, 69-43. Alex Ovechkin had ten of the Caps’ 43
attempts and five of the 18 shots on goal.
-- Five Caps did not have a shot attempt – Nick Jensen,
Jakub Vrana, Chandler Stephenson, Lars Eller, and Nic Dowd. Four others – Matt Niskanen, Christian Djoos,
T.J. Oshie, and Brett Connolly – had one shot attempt.
-- Turning point. At
the 10:59 mark of the first period, Carolina has a 1-0 lead, and shots on goal were
tied, 8-8. Then, Ovechkin and Andrei
Svechnikov had their fight. After that,
Carolina outscored the Caps, 4-0, and out-shot them 37-10, and five of those
Caps shots on goal came in the last minute of the contest.
-- The teams were credited with a combined 86 hits, Carolina
with 52 and the Caps with 34.
-- That was the first time in Braden Hotlby’s postseason career
than he faced more than 40 shots and allowed more than four goals. Before tonight he faced 40 or more shots in
ten postseason games without allowing more than four goals. It was the first time Holtby faced more than
40 shots in a postseason game and took a regulation loss (five
wins, five overtime losses before tonight).
In the end…
Take the tapes, and…
