The Washington Capitals, fresh off a 2-1-1 road trip, returned home on Tuesday night to face the Vegas Golden Knights, who brought a four-game winning streak to Washington in the first of a five-game road trip of their own. The Caps twice took a one-goal lead, but they wilted in the third period, allowing a late game-tying goal, then lost in overtime to the visitors, 3-2.
First Period…
Vegas had good chances early, but they went down a man when Brett Howden was sent off for slashing at 3:01 of the period. The Caps made good on the opportunity, Marcus Johansson one-timed a pass by Dylan Strome from below the goal line, the puck deflecting off the stick of Vegas defenseman Alec Martinez and over the left pad of goalie Logan Thompson at the 3:39 mark.
Vegas dominated territory and possession thereafter, and then they got their first power play of the evening when Reilly Smith took a lofted pass behind the Caps’ defense and broke in on goalie Charlie Lindgren. Smith ran out of room though and tried to control the puck as he approached the end boards, but a fast-closing Martin Fehervary ran over Smith from behind, sending Smith flying into the boards. After a review by officials as to whether the ensuring penalty would be a two or a five-minute penalty, Fehervary went to the box with a two minute penalty for boarding at 16:17 of the period. Coincidentally, Jonathan Marchessault was sent off for roughing to put the teams at 4-on-4 for two minutes.
The 4-on-4 expired, but Vegas went to a power play at 18:22 when Erik Gustafsson was penalized for holding. Jack Eichel converted the power play when he circled through the right-wing circle and snapped a shot past Lindgren on the short side to make it 1-1, 18:55 into the period. That would be how the period ended.
-- Vegas out-shot the Caps, 12-6, and out-attempted them, 23-17.
-- No Capital had more than one shot on goal in the period; Conor Sheary had three shot attempts.
-- The Caps out-hit the Golden Knights, 17-10, Alex Ovechkin and Garnet Hathaway with four apiece to lead the team.
-- Washington was charged with just one giveaway in the period (Marcus Johansson).
-- Erik Gustafsson led the team in ice time with 8:10; Beck Malenstyn had 3:42 but left the game after blocking a Nicolas Hague shot in the 13th minute of the period. He did not return in the period.
Second period…
The Caps wasted no time retaking the lead. Barely a minute into the period, Trevor van Riemsdyk circled around the left-wing faceoff circle and wristed a laser that beat Thompson low to the glove side to make it 1-2, Caps, just 1:01 into the period.
The Caps followed up the goal by doing a much better job of limiting Vegas chances to establish flow or momentum than they did in the first period. The Caps played a disciplined, focused game that looked like the sort one would see more of in a road game, and it was good enough to allow them to carry the 2-1 lead to the second intermission.
-- Washington out-shot Vegas, 11-9, in the period and out-attempted them, 25-17.
-- Conor Sheary led the Caps with three shots on goal through 40 minutes; his eight shot attempts also led the team.
-- The Caps had a 22-18 edge on faceoffs through two periods; Evgeny Kuznetsov was 5-for-7 (71.4 percent) to lead the team.
Third period…
The Caps went shorthanded in the second minute of the period when van Riemsdyk was whistled for tripping. The Vegas power play lasted just 50 seconds when the Alex Pietrangelo was given the gate for holding. The Caps went on an abbreviate power play when the 4-on-4 expired, and Alex Ovechkin had three good looks late in the power play, but no sale. The score remained 2-1, Caps.
The Caps seemed content to get the puck our of danger and make the Golden Knights chase it down, and the lack of offensive pressure cost them. William Carrier took a pass from William Karlsson as he was steaming into the offensive zone, and he fired a shot that ticked off the shaft of van Riemsdyk over the glove of Lindgren, and the game was tied, 2-2, 14:04 into the period.
The Caps skated the last five minutes desperately trying to hang on to force overtime, but they had a chance late. Lars Eller and Garnet Hathaway buzzed the net, Eller tried to get off a shot that ended up rattling around at the top of the crease, but Garnet Hathaway was quick to poke the rebound into the net. The trouble was that he did so just after the game clock went to zero, and the goal did not count. The teams went to overtime.
Overtime…
Vegas won it when Jack Eichel put the puck on a string, maneuvered through the defense, and fed Shae Theodore, who snuck behind Alex Ovechkin, to chip a shot past Lindgren’s blocker for the game winner, 3-2.
Other stuff…
-- Vegas out-shot the Caps, 30-21, and out-attempted them, 63-54.
-- Conor Sheary and Dmitry Orlov led the team with three shots apiece; Sheary had nine shot attempts.
-- Alex Ovechkin shot in a bit of bad luck – eight shots attempts, one on goal (five blocked, two misses).
-- Lars Eller and Beck Malenstyn did not have a shot attempt, but Malenstyn missed the last two and a half periods with an injury.
-- Both teams were credited with 27 hits; Garnet Hathaway had eight for the Caps.
-- The Caps had a 33-25 edge in faceoff wins; three Caps were over 50 percent – Evgeny Kuznetsov (7-for-11/63.6 percent), Nic Dowd (10-for-16/62/5 percent), and Dylan Strome (10-for-18/55.6 percent).
-- Fourteen Capitals were credited with at least one blocked shot; four Caps had three – Nick Jensen, Nic Dowd, Matt Irwin, and Erik Gustafsson.
-- Dmitry Orlov led the team with 24:50 in ice time; other than Malenstyn, whose night was limited to 3:42 to injury, Aliaksei Protas had 10:43 in ice time.
-- The loss ended a three-game winning streak at home for the Caps, but the overtime extended their home points streak to four games.
-- Charlie Lindgren stopped 27 of 30 shots in his first home game as a Capital. It was the third time in three games overall he allowed three goals.
In the end…
While the results in the back-to-back were the same, an extra time loss, this one felt more as if it was given away. Sure, the Caps were likely fatigued from a second straight night of hockey and their third game in four nights, but they probably went to far back into a shell in the third period, especially in the last ten minutes. Vegas is too good a team to let them control the puck and get looks in the offensive zone. But it is a standings point banked nonetheless, and now the Caps will look to end their second two-game losing streak of the season when they visit Detroit on Thursday night.
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