Welcome to the Capitals Weekly as we look back at the past week for the Washington Capitals as they took on the Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Montreal Canadiens. Plus we take a look at news and storylines that took place during the week of April 10th though April 16th.
- Sunday, April 10th, 2022 – Boston Bruins v. Washington Capitals
- Back at home the Capitals would play host to the Boston Bruins for an early afternoon matinee on TNT, and in the first period the Caps would go shorthanded twice as Nic Dowd and Dmitry Orlov would go to the box. However, on both penalty kills the Caps would hold the B’s at bay. The Bruins would think they would have one early on in the game, but it would be called back after it was determined that the puck was kicked into the net.
- In the second period things would heat up as John Carlson would kick things off as he would net his 14th of the season to give the Caps the 1-0 lead. 36 seconds later Lars Eller would got to the penalty box to put the Bruins on their third powerplay of the game. The B’s wouldn’t convert on the powerplay, but after the extra man advantage expired the Bruins would net a pair of goals in a span of a minute as Curtis Lazar would score to tie the game at one and Erik Haula would strike to take the 2-1 lead. However, later in the period Tom Wilson would net a career high 23rd goal of the season to tie the game at two for the Caps.
- Then in the third period Trevor van Riemsdyk would go to the box for Boston’s fourth straight powerplay, but the Caps would remain perfect on the penalty kill. Moments later Lars Eller would score to give the Caps the 3-2 lead. Then the B’s would take a pair of penalties to give the Caps their lone two powerplays of the game. The Caps would not convert on either one, but with two seconds left in regulation Alex Ovechkin would get the empty netter to get his 45th goal of the season and give the Capitals the 4-2 victory over the Bruins.
- Tuesday, April 12th, 2022 – Philadelphia Flyers v. Washington Capitals
- To end their four game run on network tv, the Capitals would play host to the Philadelphia Flyers, and in the first period it would be goals a plenty as Alex Ovechkin would kick things off six minutes into the game with a crazy shot and bounce that would go into the net for his 46th of the season and to give the Caps the 1-0 lead. Then a little over five minutes later TJ Oshie would be left wide open on the side of the net to bank in his 9th of the season to grow the Caps lead to two. However, James van Riemsdyk would score for the Flyers to cut their deficit back to one, but Martin Fehervary would put on the moves to give the Caps their two goal lead back 1:13 after the Flyers had tallied. After the goal spree Rasmus Ristolainen would get called for hooking to put the Caps on the powerplay, and then Tom Wilson would get called for boarding to the Flyers a powerplay opportunity of their own. Neither team would capitalize on their as the Caps would take the 3-1 lead into the first intermission.
- In the second period the Flyers would put Martin Jones in relief of Carter Hart, who looked like he may have hurt his right leg during the first period. A little over six minutes into the period Lars Eller would strike off of an Anthony Mantha pass to grow the Caps lead to three. Later in the period Conor Sheary would strike for the Caps after he would be left alone in front of the Flyers net and he would deke out Jones to score and grow the Caps lead to four.
- Then in the third period the Caps would not relent as Matt Irwin would net his first as a Capital and of the season to grow the lead to five. Moments later Eller would net his second of the game to give the Caps a commanding six goal lead. Cam York would put the Caps on their second powerplay of the game, but after that penalty expired Garnet Hathaway would display some beautiful hand eye coordination to redirect a point schot by Justin Schultz. After the goal the fireworks would come out as Travis Konecny would be given a misconduct penalty along with Evgeny Kuznetsov. Joel Farabee would be assessed minors for cross checking and hooking as well as a misconduct penalty which would put the Caps on a 4 minute powerplay. A powerplay that would get abbreviated twice due to penalties by Justin Schultz and TJ Oshie, and also give the Flyers some powerplay time too as James van Riemsdyk would net his second of the game to give the Flyers a powerplay goal, but that would put the Caps back on the powerplay due to the existing penalties, and Johan Larsson would score on the powerplay for his first as a Capital and to give the Capitals the dominating 9-2 victory over the Flyers.
- Thursday, April 14th, 2022 – Washington Capitals v. Toronto Maple Leafs
- In Toronto the Capitals would begin a five game road trip as they would take on the Maple Leafs, and in the first period Michael Bunting would strike 4:37 into the game as he would be the beneficiary of a beautiful pass that he would shoot past Ilya Samsonov to give the Leafs the 1-0 lead. Then at the midway point of the period Alex Kerfoot would get called for hooking to give the Caps their first powerplay of the game, but the Leafs would keep the Caps off the board. Then later in the period William Nylander would let off a wicked shot that would beat Samsonov to grow the Leafs lead to two. With less than five minutes in the period Tom Wilson would try to charge to a loose puck behind the net, but he would accidently crash into Jack Campbell to earn a goalie interference penalty and put the Leafs on their first powerplay of the game. After killing the penalty the Caps would go back to the penalty as TJ Oshie would get called for roughing, but the powerplay would be wiped out as Timothy Liljeren would take down Tom Wilson to give the Caps a powerplay to start the second period as the Leafs take the 2-0 lead into the first intermission. The Leafs would outshoot the Caps 13-4 in the first period.
- In the second period the Caps would get good zone time on the powerplay, but they wouldn’t generate much, and after the powerplay ended Garnet Hathaway would go to the box for roughing to put the Leafs back on the powerplay. After the powerplay would end Matt Irwin and Pierre Engvall would both get called for roughing, and with the 4 on 4 action we would see three goals get scored which would get started with a John Carlson tally as he would get around Campbell to bury the puck to get the Caps on the board. But the Leafs would come alive as Ilya Lyubushkin and William Nylander would score seconds apart to chase Samsonov from the net and force the Caps to bring Vitek Vanecek off the bench and between the pipes. After the goalie change Tom Wilson and Kyle Clifford would drop the gloves in a solid tilt, but the Leafs would not be deterred as Ilya Mikheyev and Michael Bunting would score to give the Leafs six goals. Jake Muzzin would go to the box for slashing to give the Caps the powerplay, but Justin Schultz would got to the box to give us some more 4 on 4 hockey. While both teams were short a man Tom Wilson would strike to cut the Caps deficit to four.
- Then in the third period the Leafs would start the period with an abbreviated powerplay, but after the powerplay expired Ilya Mikheyev would net his second of the game to give the Leafs the 7-2 lead. The Caps would go back on the powerplay thanks to a Mark Giordano tripping call, but the Leafs would be all over the Caps to kill off the penalty. The game would calm down a bit, but with a little over eight minutes left in the game Nic Dowd would score to give the Caps their third goal of the game. Nicklas Backstrom would go to the box to put the Leafs on their fifth powerplay of the game, but the Caps would kill it off as they would fall to the Maple Leafs 7-3.
- Saturday, April 16th, 2022 – Washington Capitals v. Montreal Canadiens
- Coming off a catastrophic defeat in Toronto the Capitals would look to turn things around in Montreal as they would take on the Canadiens, and in the first period it would be a rather quiet period, but a little after the half way point of the period David Savard would go to the box for holding as the Caps would get the first powerplay of the game. The Caps wouldn’t do much with the powerplay, but after it expired Nic Dowd would deflect a Dmitry Orlov point shot to give the Caps the 1-0 lead. After the goal the Caps would go shorthanded as Johan Larsson would go to the box for hooking. While on the powerplay it would look like the Habs would score to tie the game, but it would be ruled as no goal due to Rem Pitlick kicking the puck into the net.
- In the second period a little before the two minute mark of the period Jake Evans would blast a shot past Vitek Vanecek to tie the game at one for the Habs. Later in the period Vanecek would make some solid saves to keep the game tied at one, and then Nicklas Backstrom and Josh Anderson would both go to the box for coincidental minors to give us some 4 on 4 action. 15 seconds into the 4 on 4 action Anthony Mantha would tuck one home to regain the lead for the Caps, and then he would do it again as Mantha would strike 34 seconds later to grow the Caps lead to two. However, seconds later Ryan Poehling would go uncontested to the net for the layup on the Jeff Petry pass to bring the Habs back within one. Mike Hoffman would go to the box to give the Caps the 4 on 3 man advantage for 30 seconds, and after the coincidental minors would expire the Habs would get called for too many men on the ice, and give the Caps the two man advantage. The Caps would get some great looks while on the extended powerplay, but Sam Montembeault would be up to the task to kill off the penalties and keep the Caps ahead by only one goal. With less than five minutes left in the period Alex Ovechkin would go top shelf for his 47th of the season to give the Caps their two goal lead back. Then Josh Anderson would go to the box for roughing to give the Caps their fourth powerplay, but it would be shortlived as TJ Oshie would get called for hooking to give the Habs a shortened powerplay opportunity to finish off the period.
- Then in the third period a little over two minutes into the period Poehling would net his second of the game as he would take advantage of the chaos in the Caps crease thanks to a great rush by Tyler Pitlick. However, the Caps would respond as Garnet Hathaway would bat the puck into the net from the slot to retake the two goal lead for the Caps. Then at the 4:30 mark Dmitry Orlov would snipe the puck from the top of the circles to grow the Caps lead to three. Later in the period Ovechkin would get a breakaway, but he would get fouled with a slash to the hands by Joel Edmundson which would put the Caps on their fifth powerplay of the game. On the powerplay Justin Schultz would snipe the puck off of David Savard’s stick and past Montembeault to give the Caps a commanding four goal lead. Nick Suzuki would go top shelf on Vanecek for his 20th of the season with about five minutes left in regulation the get the Habs back within three. In final five minutes of the game Michael Pezzetta would get called for an illegal check to the head to put the Caps back on the powerplay, and the Caps would make them pay as Evgeny Kuznetsov would shot it off of TJ Oshie’s foot to give the Capitals the 8-4 victory over the Canadiens.
News and Notes
- The NHL announced on Monday that John Carlson was named the Second Star of the Week.
- In four games played for the Caps Carlson would record 3 goals and 5 assists for 8 points to earn the honor.
Storylines
- The week the Caps had would be one they needed. They would complete their four game streak of being on network tv as they would go a perfect 4-0-0, and they would cap it off with a 9-2 drumming over the lowly Philadelphia Flyers. Karma would bit them a little bit as they would be out played by Toronto in a 7-3 loss, but their recovery was really good as they pounced on the Montreal Canadiens with an 8-4 victory. The week put the Caps in great position to clinch a playoff berth as the magic number for them is 2.
Upcoming Schedule
Monday, April 18th, 2022 – @ Colorado Avalanche – 9p ET
TV: NBCSWA, Altitude, TVAS
Wednesday, April 20th, 2022 – @ Vegas Golden Knights – 10p ET
TV: NBCSWA, ATTSN-RM
Friday, April 22nd, 2022 – @ Arizona Coyotes – 1030p ET
TV: NBCSWA, BSAZX
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