Capitals drop a snooze-fest to the Wild 2-1

This one will be quick, because this game happened to be the exact opposite of the Tampa Bay Lightning game from two nights ago. Tonight, the Washington Capitals lost to the Minnesota Wild 2-1.

1st Period

The Wild’s Jordan Greenway opened the scoring for the Wild, scoring a pretty goal, beating Holtby’s right pad on a net drive.

2nd Period

The Capitals tied this game up in the second. A Nick Jensen slapshot from the point was tipped by Brett Connolly on the way, and bested goalie Devan Dubnyk. For those keeping score at home, that’s Connolly’s 13th point in 16 games and his 7th in the last 5. Great stuff from the 3rd line once again.

3rd Period

Off a Matt Niskanen turnover, Minnesota’s Ryan Donato (seriously, why did the Bruins trade this guy) feathered a pass to fellow forward Jordan Greenway, who beat Holtby high blocker.

Quick Thoughts…

  1. Pretty anemic play from the Capitals, who seemed to take the game off after an exhaustively emotional Tampa game on Wednesday.
  2. Brooks Orpik did not play well whatsoever, getting beat like a drum on the first Wild goal. Looked like he was skating through cement.
  3. The first game following Michal Kempny’s unfortunate injury was not promising, although Christian Djoos seemed to fit in well.
  4. The future of Matt Niskanen will be interesting to watch this offseason. Clearly, Niskanen’s game has declined quite a bit, and his turnover in the 3rd period with the game tied was quite brutal. That cap space could be used to keep Hagelin and Burakovsky.
  5. I’d like to see Pheonix Copley in net next game. Holtby, while locked in, could use a bit of rest as this season winds down. Need him fresh come April 10th.
  6. The 3rd line keeps tearing it up. I’d argue it’s the second most dangerous 3rd line in hockey after Tampa’s 3rd line.
  7. The Capitals have 6 20-goal scorers, which is tied for the league lead with Columbus.
  8. Carl Hagelin was missed tonight. Get some fluids, Flash.
  9. That second line was “yikes” tonight. Kuznetsov, Vrana, and Oshie got sunk tonight. Sub-30% possession numbers. Need that line to improve. Quickly.
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Austen Adcock

Freelance writer, alumni of the University of Mississippi, hockey and baseball connoisseur

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