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WSH 2, VAN 4 - Ovechkin Scores 26th, Penalty Kill Comes Up Short |
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Hello All,
The Washington Capitals lost to the Bruce Boudreau led Vancouver Canucks 4-2 on home ice. This was the second game of the back-to-back over the weekend.
Here are the stats from the game:
Shots on Goal:
WSH – 33
VAN – 32
Shots on Goal (5v5):
WSH – 26
VAN – 27
Corsi For %:
WSH – 46.83%
VAN – 53.17%
Corsi For % (5v5):
WSH – 44.66%
VAN – 55.34%
Power Play:
WSH – 2/2
VAN – 2/4
Hits:
WSH – 25
VAN – 27
Blocks:
WSH – 20
VAN - 16
Scoring Chances For:
WSH – 33
VAN - 39
Scoring Chances For (5v5):
WSH – 25
VAN - 32
High Danger Chances For:
WSH – 13
VAN – 11
High Danger Chances For: (5v5):
WSH – 8
VAN – 9
The Good –Alex Ovechkin scored his 26th goal of the season with a bomb on the power play in the first period. Ovechkin is now tied with Leon Draisaitl for 1st in the league for goals scored. The Caps have played four more games than the Oilers. Ovi’s power play goal today marks his 7th of the season and his 276th of all time, further extending his all-time record for PPG’s. Ovechkin had seven shots on goal today and two blocks. Solid effort from the GOAT. The Capitals power play also went 2-2 today which was a great sign. The Canucks PK is ranked worst in the league so it while it was expected the Caps might get at least one PPG goal today, nothing is guaranteed. The puck movement was solid and diverse. The Caps had a couple good bumper looks for Wilson in the slot and Ovi had plenty of looks from his office as well. A strong effort and day for the struggling PP. Now, lets see them do that consistently against a better PK.
The Bad – Ilya Samsonov didn’t play great, but I wouldn’t say he played poor either. This was a very Ilya Samsonov game. Just…average. Samsonov made 28 saves on 31 shots which is equals a .903 SV%. He stopped all five of the Canucks high danger chances. He stopped all nine of the low danger shots he faced. For medium danger shots against, Samsonov stopped only 13 of 16 shots. To be fair, two of these goals against were on the Canucks Power play where the Capitals players in front of him didn’t really do him any favors. The Capitals play again in a couple days against the Jets. I would guess we are going to see Vanecek out there. Either Vanecek or Samsonov has to consistently step up, otherwise I could see the Caps renting a goalie at the deadline. Fortunately, the deadline is March 21st which is far away. Lets hope the Caps can sort this out by then.
The Ugly –The Caps took a couple costly penalties and the 20th ranked Canucks power play took advantage. The Canucks 2nd PP goal to put them up 3-1 at the end of the 2nd was brutal. The penalties for the Caps were untimely, and the PK was pretty lackadaisical. I expected more from the 9th best PK in the league. Since January 1st, the Caps have given up 4-goals on 15 power plays against. That is good for a 73.3% PK which ranks 25th in the NHL during that span. The Canucks have been short-handed 12 times in 2022 and have given up a goal 5 times. They are really struggling on the PK too. The Caps have a lot of things they need to “work on” right now but special teams might be up there with the most important.
After starting off 7-0 under Bruce Boudreau, the Canunks had lost four of five games entering today’s matchup with the Caps. Considering the state of the Canucks recent play, this feels like a missed opportunity for the Caps but I am not surprised the Canucks came to play today. The Canucks put forth a really solid effort last night against a strong Canes squad and you knew they would bring it today as Boudreau returned back to DC where he used to coach. I still love Bruce Boudreau so I can’t be too mad today. At least Ovechkin scored.
Next Up the Capitals face the Winnipeg Jets on home ice this Tuesday.
Thanks for reading, GO CAPS
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Stats and Facts provided by:
nhl.com/stats
hockey-reference.com
naturalstattrick.com
@CapitalsPR Twitter page
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