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Caps Blow Lead In Season Opener |
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The defense was good, but offense failed the Capitals as they coughed up a one goal lead late the 3rd period and lost in a shootout to the Montreal Canadiens in the season opener tonight.
The Caps did everything right in the first as they were in control on of most of the period, holding the Habs offense to just 2 shots on goal as the they poured 15 shots on backup goalie Dustin Tokarski.
Tokarski stood on his head all night for the Habs as he ended up with 29 saves on 30 Capitals shots on goal.
Holtby played well stopping 23-24 shots, but failed to contain the Habs shooters in the shootout.
The Capitals also lucked out on two goals that were called back in the third period, and the Habs outshot the Caps 9-6.
The Canadiens started to turn things around in the second, outshooting the Caps 12-7, but Washington stood their ground, making it difficult for the Habs to get too much pressure.
Both teams failed to connect on the power play, going 0-5. The Caps penalty kill was solid however, choking the Habs offense by clogging lanes and not giving them much of an opportunity to grab rebounds.
The power play, for Washington, was a little... well... unassuming, as was the rest of their offense.
The Caps had a ton of missed shots tonight. Ovechkin had four shots on goal, but probably took about 50 shots that missed wide. However, he didn't "glide around" all night either. Ovechkin seemed interested in making his coach, and us, know that he was engaged in all aspects of the game. He wanted to score, that's for sure, but it seemed like he thought way too much about being a team player than being Ovechkin. He passed when he shouldn't have and shot after making one-too-many moves, and took two penalties when he shouldn't have.
He kept his feet moving more than he had been last year though, and that bodes well for his attempt at being an all-around player, which I still think is bad idea.
The good news for the Caps tonight were two players that just happened to make the team this season, and one player than they spent a fortune on.
Andre Burakovsky scored the lone goal for the Caps, the first of his young career. He played well with his linemates Troy Brouwer, who assisted on the goal after forechecking a turnover, and Marcus Johansson. The rookie played well, and he seemed to be more comfortable than most of the veterans on the team. It should be interesting to see how he does in the next 10 games while he gets more accustomed to playing center.
Another spark for the Caps tonight was Liam O'Brien. While he only played 2:40, he proved that he wanted to stay by picking a fight with Brandon Prust, after Prust laid into defenseman Jack Hillen. O'Brien is a "sparkplug" type player who, if he tones it down a little bit, will provide the Caps with a lot of grit and sandpaper, something they need more of.
Over the summer, the Caps made quite a stir signing defenseman Brooks Orpik to a 5-year, $27.5M deal - and tonight it showed why he is so important.
The Capitals haven't had a defensive hitter like Orpik since, maybe, Brendan Witt. Almost every time a Canadiens player came across the middle into the Caps zone, Orpik met him with a hard bodycheck that rattled them enough to think twice. Washington has been lacking that for years, and it's nice to finally see it again.
What killed the Caps tonight was their lack of energy in the third period. The Habs were more aggressive and seemed to care more about their attack than the Caps.
Again, there were too many missed shots - too high or too wide - and Tokarski, who gained first star for his solid play, wasn't questioned enough in the third for the Caps to gain an upper hand.
It's only the first game - there are 81 more to go, and hopefully a few more after that.
More to come...
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