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Caps 1, Rangers 4 - Youthful Rangers Execute Against Capitals |
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Hello All!
The Washington Capitals turned in a pretty lackluster effort today against the youthful New York Rangers team who dictated the game from the start. Before I break it down, here are the stats from the game:
Shots on Goal:
WSH – 27
NYR – 24
Faceoff %:
WSH –57.1
NYR –42.9
Power Play:
WSH – 0/4
NYR – 1/5
Hits:
WSH – 19
NYR – 12
Blocks:
WSH – 13
NYR – 12
Chances For:
WSH – 54
NYR – 46
Chances For (5v5):
WSH – 40
NYR – 34
Scoring Chances For:
WSH – 24
NYR – 27
Scoring Chances For (5v5):
WSH – 21
NYR – 20
High Danger Chances For:
WSH – 4
NYR – 13
High Danger Chances For: (5v5):
WSH – 4
NYR – 7
Takeaways From The Game:
Youth vs Experience – The Washington Capitals are the oldest team in the league and the New York Rangers are the youngest team in the league. Once again against the Rangers, youth has triumphed. The Rangers were clearly the better team today. Not only were they better. The Rangers looked incredibly fast while the Capitals looked slow and flat-footed for a majority of the game. The Rangers executed a solid game plan. They got pucks in deep, they were in the Capitals face all game forcing bad passes, and they stifled a lot of the Capitals zone entries. The Rangers PK did a great job and did not allow the best power play on home-ice to score a goal. Alex Ovechkin had zero shots on goal on four total PP opportunities. Kudos to Dan Quinn and Jacques Martin for developing an effective (and frustrating!) game plan against the Capitals.
End of Second Period – I thought the turning point of this game at the end of the second period. The Rangers scored two goals in a 59 second window to take a commanding 3-0 lead. Prior to these two goals, there was still a little life and hope that the Capitals were going to get back in this thing. Orlov was able to get his first goal of the season 38 seconds later and give the Caps spark before the end of the period. However, the damage was done. The Capitals started the third period off with a penalty and they really didn’t get many quality chances the rest of the period. The Rangers had five “high danger” chances in the third period, the Capitals had zero. Again, the Capitals could not get much going today. They are oldest team in the league and today they looked like the oldest team in the league.
Vanecek vs Shesterkin – Both Vitek Vanecek and Igor Shesterkin are tied together to the 2014 NHL Draft. Vanecek was drafted in the 2nd round with the 9th pick. Shesterkin was drafted in the 4th round with the 28th pick. For the 2020-2021 regular season, Shesterkin has a .922 SV% , 2.23 GAA and a 4-5-1 record. Vanecek has a .907 SV%, 2.92 GAA and a 7-4-2 record. As it relates to today’s game, I thought both goalies played extremely well. Vanecek kept the Capitals in the game for as long as he could. This loss is not on Vanecek. I thought Shesterkin played well but the Capitals didn’t really test him all night. Shesterkin was sharp when he needed to be and he earned first star of the game.
The Capitals have played two games against the Rangers this season and both games the Capitals have looked significantly like the inferior team. The Rangers probably will not change their game plan much the next time these two teams meet. The Capitals MUST be better have some adjustments ready otherwise it will be a lot of the same.
Next up the Capitals face off against the underrated New Jersey Devils team tomorrow at 2pm ET. Both teams played today so both will be playing a back to back. I am interested to see who starts in Net for the Capitals tomorrow. Vanecek deserves a night off. Samsonov is on the Taxi squad at the moment. Will we see Craig Anderson make his Capitals debut? Or will the Capitals elevate Samsonov from the Taxi Squad. Only time will tell.
Thank you for reading and GO CAPS!
Washington Capitals Blogger • 
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