The Washington Capitals really should have lost to the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday. And yet, because good men languish and wicked men reign in this sick sad world, the Caps won.
In the final minute of the first period, Pierre-Luc Dubois cleaned up Wilson’s shot with a backhand to put the Caps up 1-0. And in the final minute of the second period, Conor Garland cleaned up Hughes’ shot to restore the tie 1-1. No one scored in the final minute of the third period, nor in the nineteen prior, so we went to overtime.
And that’s where Pierre-Luc Dubois ended it.
Caps win!
- Sloppy, uneven, unpleasant. But enough about my cooking, let’s talk about this hockey game.
- Pierre-Luc Dubois is the star of the night. He’s on a five-game point streak (four assists plus both goals tonight). He’s finally heating up, but the more important development is this bow-and-arrow celebration. I was startled. I was not familiar with his game.
- There was a blowup four minutes into the game. I’ll try to explain it, but the chaos exceeds what my words can tell. Main character Dubois hooked Hughes, then Sherwood hit Dubois, then McMichael went after Sherwood, then I don’t know exactly what Wilson did but he probably did something, then Dubois got one last cheap shot on Hughes. The Canucks got a four-minute power-play as a result, and the more I think about it, the more I think it was fair. PLD did a wicked little bookend of abusing the Nucks MVP.
- But because of the number of guys in the box, poor Quinn Hughes had to stay locked up for a while after the penalty expired, which would be an evil genius move if the Cap had done it deliberately.
- Martin Fehervary delivered this powerful hit on supermassive drama gravitational body JT Miller, ending his first period early. He came back in the second, but it was apparent he was hurting. If he can’t get traded because he’s hurt, that would be a wicked twist on what’s already a Shakespearean tragedy in BC.
- The Caps played well in that weird, penalty-pocked first period, but woof, that second. Shots on goal were 20-4 in Vancouver’s favor. During just five-on-five Vancouver created 76 percent of the expected goals. The Caps had two shots on goal in the third period. Basically, if Hughes was on the ice, the Caps didn’t touch the puck.
- As a result, goalie Logan Thompson was very busy. Natural Stat Trick said he faced 3.12 expected goals int he second period alone. The one he let by was a freak bounce in the opposite direction from what he expected.
- The top line of Ovechkin, Strome, and Protas got dismantled and tossed as parts into a series of alley dumpsters. That combo is not working at all lately, which Carbery himself acknowledged earlier today. Okay, but what is he going to do about it?
- If Elias Pettersson played in this one, I think it would have ben a rout.
While we’re radically reorganizing civil society and government, we should make 7:30 games illegal, subject to deportation to Canada, as long as it remains its own nation. With ten minutes left in regulation I was fading. That’s partially my fault for my poor time management skills, but also – like most problems in my life – the Capitals are mostly to blame. Despite the win, they didn’t have enough offense – not nearly enough. The roster is different, but the numbers felt more like the 2023-24 version of this franchise. That feels like an insult, or maybe it’s just past my bedtime. I do get cranky.
Let’s all get some sleep and then regroup on Friday night for a home game against the Montreal Canadiens, who are supposed to be easy, but check this out: They’re 8-2-0 in their last ten games. Nothing comes easy this time of year. Let’s see how this team will adjust.
