Welcome to the Capitals Weekly as we look back at the past week for the Washington Capitals as they took on the Los Angeles Kings, Philadelphia Flyers (postponed), and New York Islanders (postponed). Plus we take a look at news and storylines that took place during the week of December 19th though 25th.
- Sunday, December 19th, 2021 – Los Angeles Kings v. Washington Capitals
- At home for a cup of coffee, the Capitals would begin the week with a battle against the Los Angeles Kings, and in the first period the Caps would just dominate the period as they would outshoot the Kings 14-5, and it would be a great tic-tac-toe play between the debuting Herndon, VA native Joe Snively and fellow rookie Connor McMichael as they would pair up for the first goal of the game as McMichael would score to take the 1-0 lead. In the second period the Caps would be gifted with five powerplay opportunities and they wouldn’t do squat with any of them. After a four minute powerplay Justin Schultz would score to grow the Caps lead to two, but later on another Caps powerplay it would Blake Lizotte with a shorthanded tally to get eh Kings back within one. After 40 minutes of hockey both teams would combine for 9 (3 for LA and 6 for WAS) powerplays, and none of them would be scored on be either team. Theni n the third period Christian Wolanin would score his first of the season to tie the game at two, and then minutes later Adrian Kempe would get a very fluky goal that was a very unfortunate break for Vitek Vanecek to give the Kings the 3-2 lead. Can’t fault that one on Vanecek as the defender let Kempe come in cleanly, and then the puck took a really weird bounce that just I can’t explain because just seeing it was hard to believe it actually happened. Just a very lucky bounce and break for the Kings as they would go one to take the 3-2 victory over the Capitals.
- Tuesday, December 21st, 2021 – Washington Capitals v. Philadelphia Flyers
- Postponed due to COVID-19
- Thursday, December 23rd, 2021 – Washington Capitals v. New York Islanders
- Postponed due to COVID-19
News and Notes
- Due to COVID the Caps week was cut short as they only played one of their three scheduled games, and their first game coming back from the Holiday break has already been postponed… so far.
Storylines
- The storyline for the lone game of the week was the Capitals non-existent powerplay. The Caps had six powerplays against the Kings, and five of them were in the second period. It was outright pathetic with how uninspired their powerplay performed and there is definite changes that need to be made and it starts at the top with Blaine Forsythe needing be relieved of his duties and putting a fresh new voice and vision in charge of the Caps powerplay. Forsythe has been with the team for 16 seasons and 13 behind the bench and has somehow survived through multiple coaching changes. It’s just time to finally move on from Forsythe and shake things up for the Caps powerplay.
Upcoming Schedule
Monday, December 27th, 2021 – v. Ottawa Senators – PPD
TV: SN1, NBCSWA, RDS
Wednesday, December 29th, 2021 – v. Nashville Predators – 7p ET
TV: NBCSWA, BSSO
Friday, December 31st, 2021 – @ Detroit Red Wings – 730p ET
TV: NBCSWA, BSDET
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