Minnesota Wild (35-31-9 79pts) v. Washington Capitals (43-24-8 94pts)
Game Recap:
The Capitals tonight are playing the second of their four game home stand against the Minnesota Wild. The first period showed this was going to be a tight and defensive game between the two teams as the Wild are desperate to get back into a Wild Card spot in the Western Conference. The Wild struck first at the 16:33 mark on a drive to the net type of goal from Jordan Greenway. The Wild would take a 1-0 lead over the Capitals going into the second period.
The second period saw the same tight defensive period that was featured in the first period. However, the Capitals managed to tie the game at 1-1 on a tip in goal by Brett Connolly off a Nic Jensen shot from the point. Going into the third period, the game would be tied 1-1.
In the third period, the Minnesota Wild took back the lead at the 12:25 mark on a Luke Kunin as he scored the game winning goal to seal the victory. The Capitals continue their home stand tomorrow afternoon for a matinee game against the Philadelphia Flyers. The playoff spot desperate Minnesota Wild take on the Carolina Hurricanes in their second of a back to back games on Saturday night.
Lineups:
Minnesota Wild:
Zach Parise-Eric Staal-Kevin Fiala
Ryan Donato-Luke Kunin-Jordan Greenway
Jason Zucker-Victor Rask-Matt Read
Marcus Foligno- Eric Fehr-J.T. Brown
Defensemen:
Ryan Suter- Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin – Brad Hunt
Anthony Bitetto – Greg Pateryn
Goalies:
Starter- Devon Dubnyk
Backup- Alex Stalock
Scratches: Nick Seeler, Joel Eriksson Ek, Pontus Aberg
Injuries: Miko Koivu, Matt Dumba
Washington Capitals:
Forwrads:
Alex Ovechkin- Nicklas Backstrom- Tom Wilson
Jakub Vrana- Evgeny Kuznetsov- TJ Oshie
Andre Burakovsky- Lars Eller- Brett Connolly
Chandler Stephenson- Nic Dowd- Travis Boyd
Defensemen:
Christian Djoos- John Carlson
Dmitri Orlov- Matt Niskanen
Brooks Orpik- Nic Jensen
Goalies:
Starter-Braden Holtby
Backup- Phoenix Copley
Scratches: Dmitri Jaskin, Carl Hagelin (illness)
Injury: Michal Kempny (Lower Body)
First Period:
Minnesota Penalty-4:52- Kevin Fiala, 2 minutes for high sticking
Minnesota Goal-16:33- Jordan Greenway (12) assisted by Ryan Donato (13) & Devon Dubnyk (2)
Minnesota Penalty-18:46- Marcus Foligno, 2 minutes for tripping
End of 1st – MIN – 1 WAS – 0
Shots 6 6
Faceoffs 10/22 12/22
Hits 3 3
PP 0/0 0/1
Second Period:
Minnesota Penalty-4:18- Brad Hunt, 2 minutes for slashing
Minnesota Penalty-8:00- Jason Zucker, 2 minutes for roughing
Washington Penalty-8:00- Brooks Orpik, 2 minutes for roughing
Washington Goal-10:42- Brett Connolly (21) assisted by Nic Jensen (15) & TJ Oshie (26)
Washington Penalty-19:51- Tom Wilson, 2 minutes for hooking
End of 2nd – MIN – 1 WAS – 1
Shots 21 15
Faceoffs 20/43 24/43
Hits 12 7
PP 0/0 0/3
Third Period:
Minnesota Goal-12:25- Luke Kunin (6) assisted by Zach Parise (33) & Ryan Donato (14)
End of 3rd – MIN – 2 WAS – 1
Shots 27 22
Faceoffs 27/56 29/56
Hits 16 15
PP 0/1 0/3
Next Up:
Washington Capitals (43-24-8 94pts) v.s Philadelphia Flyers (36-30-8 80pts)
Minnesota Wild (35-31-9 79pts) @ Carolina Hurricanes (40-26-7 87pts)
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