Vancouver Canucks (24-23-6 54pts) v. Washington Capitals (28-18-6 62pts)
Game Recap:
The Washington Capitals would start off hot as they would force the play in the Vancouver Canucks zone early as TJ Oshie would charge the net for the Nicklas Backstrom rebound to get the Capitals the first goal of the game. The goal would also be assisted on by Alex Ovechkin who would be come the highest scoring Russian player in NHL history.
However, 39 seconds later Evgeny Kuznetsov would be called for hooking, but the Capitals would kill of the penalty. The Capitals would get a powerplay opportunity as well, but could not convert on it. The Capitals would dominate the period which featured them out shooting the Canucks 18 to 5.
This was a lackluster period. Not a whole lot really to talk about this period outside of the penalty shot opportunity for Bo Horvat, but Braden Holtby was up to the task to shut Horvat down to keep the 1-0 lead.
The Capitals would start off the third period the same way they way started the game by crashing the net, this time with Brett Connolly banking in the shot to give the Capitals a 2-0 lead. However, the Canucks would respond with their first goal of the game when Markus Granlund would tip in a Antoine Roussel pass past Holtby. But the Capitals would respond in kind as the Capitals would create more chaos in front of the Canucks net to get the puck past Jacob Markstrom to make it a 3-1 lead. The Canucks would dispute the goal claiming it was hit with a high stick, but the referees declared it a good goal by Jakub Vrana after further review. Elias Pettersson would score with 8 seconds left in the game with the goalie pulled, but it would be too little too late for the Canucks as the Capitals hold on to win 3-2.
Lineups:
Vancouver Canucks:
Tim Schaller — Bo Horvat — Josh Leivo
Nikolay Goldobin — Elias Pettersson — Brock Boeser
Antoine Roussel — Brandon Sutter — Jake Virtanen
Loui Eriksson — Jay Beagle — Tyler Motte
Alex Biega — Christopher Tanev
Ben Hutton — Troy Stecher
Derrick Pouliot — Erik Gudbranson
Jacob Markstrom
Michael DiPietro
Scratched: Markus Granlund
Injured: Alexander Edler (face), Sven Baertschi (illness), Thatcher Demko (lower body)
Washington Capitals:
Alex Ovechkin — Nicklas Backstrom — T.J. Oshie
Jakub Vrana — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Tom Wilson
Dmitrij Jaskin — Travis Boyd — Brett Connolly
Andre Burakovsky — Nic Dowd — Devante Smith-Pelly
Dmitry Orlov — John Carlson
Michal Kempny — Matt Niskanen
Brooks Orpik — Jonas Siegenthaler
Braden Holtby
Pheonix Copley
Scratched: Chandler Stephenson, Madison Bowey
Injured: Christian Djoos (thigh), Lars Eller (lower body)
First Period:
Capitals Goal – 3:00 – TJ Oshie (16) from Nicklas Backstrom (40) and Alex Ovechkin (21)
Capitals Penalty – 3:39 – Evgeny Kuznetsov 2 minutes for Hooking
Canucks Penalty – 11:59 – Nikolay Goldobin 2 minutes for Goaltender Interference
End of 1st – VAN – 0 WAS – 1
Shots 05 18
Faceoffs 11 11
Hits 07 07
PP 0/1 0/1
Second Period:
Capitals Penalty – 3:45 – Michal Kempny 2 minutes for Hooking
Canucks Penalty Shot – 12:53 – Bo Horvat – Save (Jonas Siegenthaler – Hooking)
End of 2nd – VAN – 0 WAS – 1
Shots 18 22
Faceoffs 18 19
Hits 16 13
PP 0/2 0/1
Third Period:
Capitals Goal – 5:47 – Brett Connolly (10) from Evgeny Kuznetsov (34) and Jakub Vrana (15)
Canucks Goal – 8:02 – Markus Granlund (9) from Antoine Roussel (16) and Ben Hutton (13)
Capitals Goal – 12:13 Jakub Vrana (16) from Evgeny Kuznetsov (35) and Tom Wilson (11)
Canucks Goal – 19:52 – Elias Pettersson (24) from unassisted
End of 3rd – VAN – 2 WAS – 3
Shots 32 31
Faceoffs 25 28
Hits 23 20
PP 0/2 0/1
Next Up:
Washington (29-18-6 64pts) v. Colorado (22-22-8 52pts)
Vancouver (24-24-6 54pts) @ Chicago (21-24-9 51pts)
