The Washington Capitals did everything they needed to do on the road against the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night. Debut Ryan Leonard? Check. Ovi goal? Double check. Regulation win? Just barely. It wasn’t a flawless outing, but it was enough to end a three-game losing streak.
Nic Dowd’s shorthanded goal got us started properly. Then, Alex Ovechkin recorded 891 with a power-play layup to give the Caps a 2-0 lead for the first intermission. The second period was ugly; the Bruins drew even when Vinni Lettieri caught a lucky bounce, then David Pastrnak tied it up on the power play.
With ten minutes left in the third, Dylan Strome caught a mondo rebound off the back boards to restore Washington’s lead. Tom Wilson got an insurance goal, which was good because David Pastrnak responded 30 seconds later. No ENG for Ovi.
Caps win!
- With Nic Dowd‘s, the Washington Capitals now have scored eight shorthanded goals. I feel like it should be more. The Rangers lead the league with 15.
- Alex Ovechkin scored one of the easiest goals in his career for number 891, thanks to Strome’s setup. I think even I could have scored that goal. Not the other 890 though, and I probably wouldn’t have known to get in position like Ovi, and also I don’t like to leave the house after dark these days, but I still think I could have scored that goal.
- If you are one of the many people who said you’d join the entourage as Ovechkin nears the title, you need to be on a flight tomorrow. Gary and Wayne – fine, whatever, I don’t care. But Nicky, Bad Sasha, Caps legend Ilya Kovalchuk – we badly need you in Raleigh on Wednesday.
- Pretty funny, to me, personally, sardonically, darkly, how 8 will pass 99 just as the latter is at what must be his all-time lowest popularity in Canada. They’re calling him quisling.
- The Lettieri goal was a bad break. Charlie Lindgren sent the puck hard around the boards, where it bounced off John Carlson and into traffic. No blame here.
- Ryan Leonard made his NHL debut, like fifteen minutes after finishing playing ultimate on the quad with the guys for the last time. (Probably.) I was shocked he was put into a top-six role – nominally, at least. I feel like the hype levels here are the highest they’ve been since KuzyaWatch. Before helping Strome with the game-winner (albeit without a point), Leonard’s main highlight was this hit:
- We need to have a serious conversation about Leonard’s hockey nickname(s), but now is not the place, and here is not the time.
- David Pastrnak committed two penalties and scored two critical goals, tipping Morgan Geekis’ shot and then answering his hero Tom Wilson’s goal. He’s got three more seasons on Boston’s books – you think he’ll play ’em all there?
- Dylan McIlrath fought Jeffrey Viel for a very long time – more than a minute. Unlike the Ovi goal, I actually don’t think I could have done that fight. I could probably beat them both in Overwatch though.
- In the first, the Caps looked good and played hard against an opponent who might have been easy to overlook. And then, in the second period, they overlooked them. Things got back to normal in the third, but I do worry how the team tends to go on these period-long suck-jags. More than a couple of those later this month could be unfortunate.
Phew. I don’t think I would have dealt well with a four-game losing streak 2.5 weeks out from the postseason. The discourse would have undone me. We need to remain laser-focused right now. We cannot get distracted by ‘is the ceps actually bad?’ in early April. The only thing that matters is loffs, presidents trophy, ovi goals, ryan leonard nicknames, alex semin showing up outta nowhere like the end of avengers endgame, thinking about what pierre mcguire is up to these days, imagining craig and wes doing a pushup contest, and of course protas plus/minus.
Canes tomorrow. Of these final eight games, Carolina will be the toughest opponent in two of them. Everyone else is on an 80-point pace. Let’s lock in.
