If you stayed up late to watch the Washington Capitals begin their Canadian journey, you’ve been rewarded with one of the best performances of the season. The Calgary Flames are a damn good team, and the Caps did a great job.
Elias Lindholm scored the first real goal of the game with a great pass from Johnny Gaudreau. Andrew Mangiapane gave Adam Ruzicka a 2-0 lead, but the Caps responded with a strike, first with Conor Sheary and then Alex Ovechkin.
In the third period, Oliver Cylington eluded Vitek Vanechek’s vision and restored Calgary’s lead. Anthony Manta tied the knot again with a genius shot. After a strong powerplay, Nick Dowd gave the Caps the lead with eight minutes remaining in regulation. Ovi got an empty net to make a deal (and tie Jagr). Lindholm got another one in the trash, but the Caps held on.
Caps win!
- I really, really liked the way Washington played this time. They got shot out, but the Caps found ways to apply neutral pressure, which I haven’t seen this season. They were able to withstand the pressure for several shifts, forcing the Flame to make mistakes. They had a good game as long as the goaltender saw the puck.
- Calgary canceled a goal in the first period. I’m sure the Caps players were relieved when the game was revealed to be out of the game, but Peter Laviolette couldn’t be happier that the skaters forfeited that game.
- Alexey Ovechkintwo goals tie him with human legend Jaromir Jagr for all-time goals. I don’t know if I’ve shared my personal evolution on JJ here, but now I can’t help but love him. He had some bad times when he was Cap, but this is just a tiny flare in a long career. Jagr forever. (Ovie now.)
- Niklas Backstrom and Ovechkin played their thousandth game together. True, in this match they did not really share the ice – only about two minutes, and mostly during the power play.
- Washington’s best front line by a mile was Shiri-Eller-McMichael. Conor Shiri in particular, he has been crying lately after scoring four goals in his last four games. I will add that McMichael had a shift with about four minutes left, which is quite important for him.
- Anthony Manta You must have heard that Jakub Vrana scored in his rookie season for Detroit. Manta played obsessively, missing a bunch of chances before finally converting a third.
Here @JoeBpXp getting ready for the late night #joebsuitofthenight pic.twitter.com/9hkmIJLwe0
— Nice tweet, Pete 🌮 (@peterhassett) March 9, 2022
As I said above, it was a very good game. These weren’t just two points of difficulty from From Software; it was a performance that the team could and should develop.
I hope it was a great ending for all of our international women. And to all our international men, consider telling your female colleagues how much you get paid at your job. This may be useful information.
See you tomorrow at the game in Edmonton!
Header photo: KP/RMNB