The Washington Capitals missed Alex Ovechkin’s offense as they fell to the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night in DC.
Matt Roy had a long bomb to give the Caps the initial lead, but Tomas Tatar responded a few minutes later by cleaning up a loose puck near the goal line. In the second period, Brenden Dillon banked one off John Carlson’s errant stick, and Dougie Hamilton’s power-play goal from the slot put the Caps in a two-goal hole after two periods.
On a third-period power play, John Carlson wired a pass to Connor McMichael to bring the Caps within one, but they couldn’t close the gap.
Caps lose. Their first time losing two in a row this season.
- The Capitals just couldn’t get enough shots on Jake Allen‘s net. They had the puck a lot – honestly, they were great at dictating play – but if you don’t turn that possession into chances, it don’t mean much.
- For example, Ivan Miroshnichenko made his season debut playing on Dylan Strome’s left wing in light minutes. In part-time deployments, that line got outplayed not one bit, but they also didn’t put a single shot on net.
- Connor McMichael didn’t have one either until Carlson found him on that third-period power play. As ridiculous as it sounds, the Caps now depend on that infant child for offense with Ovi out.
- Stealth assist to ex-Cap and current Devils D Brenden Dillon, who got taken down by Tom Wilson and just sorta gave up before the McMichael goal.
- There might have been some statistical shenanigans about the McMichael goal, which might have taken away Carlson’s assist. I’d be surprised if that stands.
- John Carlson really didn’t need to put his stick on Dillon’s shot. He could have just marked Paul Cotter instead.
- I have officially returned Pierre-Luc Dubois to snakebitten status. He had two very good chances in this one that would have hit twine in a fair universe.
- Nic Dowd committed two penalties – the 8th and 9th of his season. His penalty-taking has been his biggest problem this season, though the second penalty was a sham. He got whistled for a high-sticking that not high and dubiously a sticking. Still, losing five-on-five time hurt.
- Jake Allen is good, and he makes the Devils much better as a whole.
- I haven’t had occasion to write about this elsewhere, so I’ll do it here: Ovechkin having a minor fracture of the tibia is close to a best-case scenario in my mind. He’ll be back soon(er than scheduled) and he’ll be 100 percent. Just gotta make like Master and Commander: Far Side of the World and hold fast until then.
- This marks twenty games for the Capitals. That’s my threshold for judging who the Caps really are, and this year more than usual I’m glad I waited that long. Check back tomorrow and I’ll have some long-winded analysis.
For the first time this season, the Capitals have lost back-to-back games. Long ago, in the early days of RMNB, there was a running gag about how the Caps always seemed to win when Ovechkin was out, how someone else would always step up and score big goals – guys like Jason Chimera and Mathieu Perreault. The Ovi-less Caps of November 2024 still seem to have their heads-on straight, but they need some big goals while the big guy is out.
Maybe they’ll find it in Florida this week, as the Caps bring their mentors along for road games in Tampa and Sunrise. Those two games are all that stands between us and Thanksgiving, which I mention only in case you have not begun your preparations for side dishes.
