Courtesy: dailynewsen.com
If you look at the box score, you might not believe that the Washington Capitals not only held the lead at one point during this hockey game, but that they only fell by a one-goal deficit to the Vancouver Canucks Monday night 3-2.
Washington’s top offensive line was shut out once again by the red-hot Canucks as they are now riding a four-game winning streak behind the efforts of their top line. I bet if I told you who the three stars were you could name them in no particular order:
1st. LW Daniel Sedin 1 goal, 1 assist, +2 rating
2nd. C Ryan Kesler 0 goals, 1 assist, +1 rating
3rd. C Henrik Sedin 0 goals, 1 assist, +2 rating
Shocker right?
These are their horses though and they will always ride and die with them. As good as those guys were, the entire Canucks team dominated Washington in the stat book and it’s amazing it wasn’t worse than it was, especially considering Washington could have won the hockey game.
Here’s the shakedown on the statistics:
– The Capitals didn’t have a period where they registered double-digit shots and were outshot for the game 41-19.
– Washington’s penalty kill was stellar, denying the Canucks on all six of their power play chances, but were unable to cash in on four of their own.
– Vancouver was outhit by the boys from D.C. 18-15, but doubled them up in the face-off circle 34-17 on the draws.
– While the Canucks had more takeaways than the Capitals 13-9, what probably kept Washington alive was Vancouver’s 12 giveaways to the Caps’ six.
It was somewhat surprising to see head coach Adam Oates go to backup goaltender Michael Neuvirth instead of his usual starter Braden Holtby between the pipes, but anytime your netminder can stop 38 shots, you should be in position to win. Of course, when you only take 19 and find a way to only sneak two past Luongo, if you don’t test him, you’re going to lose.
While Capitals captain Alexander Ovechkin and his mates were once again shut out for the second-consecutive game, forward Jason Chimera continues his hot streak with another multi-point performance. Chimera scored his fourth goal of the season off of a deflection as defenseman Mike Green (7) and Nate Schmidt (2) were on the assists. Mikhail Grabovski added his fifth tally of the season to put the Caps ahead briefly in the third period as Chimera (3) and forward Joel Ward contribute to the goal that unfortunately wasn’t enough for the visitors.
Washington’s trip to Canada saw them go 2-2 as they faced a buzzsaw in the Canucks at the end of the trip. Luckily, the Capitals have a few days off before they travel to Philadelphia Friday night to take on their rivals in the Philadelphia Flyers. Â Washington finds themselves now at fifth in the Metropolitan Division at 5-7-0, while the lowly Flyers are tied for last place in the division at 3-7-0.
The team they’re tied with? The New York Rangers… the team who physically dominated the Capitals on rivalry night Oct. 16 at Verizon Center 2-0. Anything is possible in this crazy 2013-14 NHL season.
