Colorado Avalanche (22-22-8 52pts) v. Washington Capitals (29-18-6 64pts)
Game Recap:
The Washington Capitals would have a slightly shaky start as the Colorado Avalanche would force Pheonix Copley to make some big saves early, but it would be the Capitals who would get the first goal of the game as TJ Oshie would throw the puck to the net and Andre Burakovsky would tip it in for his seventh of the season. The Capitals would get their first powerplay opportunity when Mikko Rantanen would be called for tripping, and it would look like Nicklas Backstrom would have scored on the power play to get a two goal lead, but the referee would call it no goal as he had already blew the whistle. To end the period the Capitals would be on the penalty kill when Devante Smith-Pelly would be called for high sticking.
To open the second period the Capitals would finish off the penalty kill, but it would be Nathan MacKinnon scoring 35 seconds into the period to tie the game at one. The Capitals would challenge offsides, but would lose the coach’s challenge, which was the right decision as the play was onside, resulting in a delay of game penalty that the Capitals would kill off as well. The Capitals would get another power play opportunity when Ian Cole would be called for tripping Travis Boyd, and this time the Capitals would make it count when Evgeny Kuznetsov would knock it a loose puck in the crease to give the Capitals a 2-1 lead. The Avalanche would not do themselves any favors though as Nikita Zadorov would be called for interference and then after they killed that penalty, MacKinnon would be called for tripping, but the Avalanche would kill off that penalty too.
The Capitals would kick start the third period with a Matt Niskanen goal when he would blast a Jakub Vrana rebound on net, and it would have gone over the net if it were not for hitting Semyon Varlamov’s blocker and dipping into the net. The Capitals would get another power play opportunity when Gabriel Landeskog would be called for holding, but once again the Avalanche would kill the penalty and Landeskog would put in hard work down low to to feed Mikko Rantanen to get the Avalanche within one of the Capitals. Then the fireworks would explode as an unnecessary hit from Ian Cole to Kuznetsov would bring in Tom Wilson as the two would scrap forcing themselves out of the game. However, the Capitals would get a three minute powerplay out of all this.
After the Avalanche killed the three minute powerplay for the Capitals, a horrible play by Lars Eller on an odd man rush would turn the puck over to the Avalanche as Colin Wilson would score a goal Pheonix Copley would love to have back to tie the game and force overtime.
Overtime would be fast paced and almost looked like it was going to go to the shootout, but it would be Alex Ovechkin feeding Evgeny Kuznetsov with the breakaway pass to score the game winner and continue the Capitals new winning ways.
Lineups:
Colorado Avalanche:
Gabriel Landeskog — Nathan MacKinnon — Mikko Rantanen
Matt Nieto — Carl Soderberg — Matt Calvert
Alexander Kerfoot — J.T. Compher — Colin Wilson
Sven Andrighetto — Sheldon Dries — A.J. Greer
Ian Cole — Erik Johnson
Nikita Zadorov — Tyson Barrie
Patrik Nemeth — Samuel Girard
Semyon Varlamov
Philipp Grubauer
Scratched: Anton Lindholm, Gabriel Bourque
Injured: Vladislav Kamenev (shoulder), Mark Barberio (head)
Washington Capitals:
Alex Ovechkin — Nicklas Backstrom — T.J. Oshie
Jakub Vrana — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Tom Wilson
Andre Burakovsky — Lars Eller — Brett Connolly
Chandler Stephenson – Travis Boyd — Devante Smith-Pelly
Michal Kempny — John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov — Matt Niskanen
Brooks Orpik — Madison Bowey
Pheonix Copley
Braden Holtby
Scratched: Nic Dowd, Dmitrij Jaskin, Jonas Siegenthaler
Injured: Christian Djoos (thigh)
First Period:
Capitals Goal – 6:31 – Andre Burakovsky (7) from TJ Oshie (15) and Matt Niskanen (13)
Avalanche Penalty – 13:40 – Mikko Rantanen 2 minutes for Tripping
Capitals Penalty – 18:14 – Devante Smith-Pelly 2 minutes for High Sticking
End of 1st – COL – 0 WAS – 1
Shots 09 12
Faceoffs 11 07
Hits 07 13
PP 0/1 0/1
Second Period:
Avalanche Goal – :35 – Nathan MacKinnon (28) from Tyson Barrie (34) and Gabriel Landeskog (26)
Capitals Penalty – :35 – Bench (Ovechkin) 2 minutes for Delay of Game (Failed Coach’s Challenge)
Avalanche Penalty – 7:06 – Ian Cole 2 minutes for Tipping
Capitals PPG – 8:38 – Evgeny Kuznetsov (11) from Alex Ovechkin (22) and John Carlson (41)
Avalanche Penalty – 13:27 – Nikita Zadorov 2 minutes for Interference
Avalanche Penalty – 16:31 – Nathan MacKinnon 2 minutes for Tripping
End of 2nd – COL – 1 WAS – 2
Shots 25 27
Faceoffs 20 18
Hits 10 24
PP 0/2 1/4
Third Period:
Capitals Goal – :34 – Matt Niskanen (8) from Jakub Vrana (16) and Evgeny Kuznetsov (36)
Avalanche Penalty – 2:40 – Gabriel Landeskog 2 minutes for Hooking
Avalanche Goal – 5:10 – Mikko Rantanen (24) from Gabriel Landeskog (27)
Avalanche Penalty – 11:18 – Ian Cole 5 minute major for Fighting
Capitals Penalty – 11:18 – Tom Wilson 5 minute major for Fighting
Avalanche Penalty – 11:18 – Ian Cole 5 minute major for Interference
Avalanche Penalty – 11:18 – Ian Cole Game Misconduct
Capitals Penalty – 11:18 – Tom Wilson 2 minutes for Instigating
Capitals Penalty – 11:18 – Tom Wilson 10 minute Misconduct
Avalanche Goal – 17:53 – Colin Wilson (10) from Matt Calvert (12)
End of 3rd – COL – 3 WAS – 3
Shots 35 39
Faceoffs 27 26
Hits 18 31
PP 0/2 1/6
OT:
Capitals Goal – 4:12 – Evgeny Kuznetsov (12) from Alex Ovechkin (23)
End of OT – COL – 3 WAS – 4
Shots 37 42
Faceoffs 27 27
Hits 18 33
PP 0/2 1/6
Next Up:
Washington (30-18-6 66pts) v. Florida (22-22-8 52pts)
Colorado (22-22-9 53pts) @ NY Islanders (31-16-6 68pts)
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