Caps fail to finish against Detroit, lose third straight
The injury riddled Washington Capitals traveled to Detroit and fell to the Red Wings after a hard fought effort. Washington dominated the shot total with 34 for the game but could only manage one goal from Alex Ovechkin. The Red Wings would fall behind early but stayed competitive due to their superior board play particularly in the last 9 minutes of the game.
After an uneventful first period, Ovechkin potted the first goal, his sixth of the season in the second period. He took a pass from across the slot area from Evgeny Kuznetsov, juggled the puck from his skate to his stick and buried a snap shot past Ville Husso at 7:11.
Later in the period Lars Eller would be called for slashing, giving Detroit a power play. The usually reliable Washington penalty kill failed to pick up on several attempts on a back door play. Lucas Raymond eventually put in a wrister to tie the game at 14:58. In the third period the Caps would continue earning chances to score but failed to finish. Eventually Andrew Copp would tap in a shot from in front of the slot that would elude Darcy Kuemper. The goal, scored at 16:10 of the third period would put the Red Wings ahead for good.
The Capitals frustrations continued on the power play as they failed to convert on four chances. Their earlier chances featured a few good looks but as the game wore on the unit looked confused and disorganized and failed to sustain possession in the offensive zone even with the man advantage. Their final chance proved the most infuriating as they allowed Detroit to control the board battle which would effectively kill of their final try.
Dylan Larkin scored an empty netter at 19:32 to effectively end the game. The loss puts the Caps at .500 for the season. Ovechkin’s goal was his 786th of his career. It also ties him with Detroit legend Gordie Howe for most goals with one franchise. Washington begins a four game home stand Saturday night against the Arizona Coyotes. Face off time is scheduled for 7 PM ET.
