Photo: Dennis Wierzbicki
On Saturday, Caps fans stared into a space trying to figure what Brian MacLellan was doing. Twenty-four later, our brains were unscrambled as his team took to the ice against the Chicago Blackhawks. Sunday NBC Game of the Week actually turned out to be the game of the week, with the enhanced defending champions taking on the NHL’s best team in a possible Stanley Cup Final preview.
Things got off to a great start for the Caps as the third line pounded the Blackhawks zone before Marcus Johansson whacked a line drive past Corey Crawford on the power play. On the next shift, however, the Capitals were too eager to exit the defensive zone and the Blackhawks jumped right on them, forcing Justin Williams to turn the puck over. Patrick Kane, the NHL’s leading point scorer, was alone in front of Braden Holtby to tie the game. The Capitals unleashed a torrent of shots on Crawford in the remaining minutes of the frame, but couldn’t regain the lead.
In the second, the script got flipped. The Blackhawks outshot the Capitals 14-4. Holtby stood tall for most of the period, but a late tripping call on Taylor Chorney gave the Blackhawks a power play. They converted when an excellent cross-ice pass from Teuvo Tervainen fooled the Capitals defense, leading to a wide open net for Jonathan Toews.
The third was a slow period, but Chicago was able to stretch their lead to two. After the Hawks took two penalties and Barry Trotz pulled Holtby, Evgeny Kuznetsov put the Caps within one on a six-on-three with almost a full power play remaining afterwards. They couldn’t convert. Blackhawks beat Caps 3-2.
- The Capitals have struggled in the first period lately, a problem that seems to be more mental than anything. Playing on network television against perhaps their biggest impediment to a Cup this season seemed to fix things. The Capitals completely dominated the first period, holding a 17-6 lead in shots on goal and a 27-12 lead in shot attempts after 20.
- Meanwhile, the second period was a disaster.
- Anyway, third line was particularly excellent in the first. Marcus Johansson and Tom Wilson were not on the ice for a single Hawks even-strength shot attempts. Jason Chimera was pathetic, however, allowing the Blackhawks to fire one shot towards the net. The line was fantastic all afternoon, seemingly constantly in Chicago’s zone. The microfiber soft Johansson, who led the Caps in shot attempts, scored Washington’s lone goal in front, but bad news came midway through the third period when Johansson took an elbow in the head from Jonathan Towes. He went down face first on the ice and stayed there for a couple minutes. Johansson was back a few minutes later. Concussion protocol? Please, we’re trying to win a sports contest.
- Brooks Orpik has been great since returning, scoring six points in six games and not being a total possession disaster. Sunday afternoon, Orpik and his defensive partner Dmitry Orlov were Washington’s worst pair. Orpik looked horrible on Chicago’s second goal, merely spinning around a bit as he watched Blackhawks passed their way to the lead.
- Alex Ovechkin was oddly quiet. He had just five shot attempts, one of his lowest totals of the season, all on goal.
- After a couple have weak games, Braden Holtby was better. He had little help against two of league’s best offensive players on the first two goals against, but made a number of fantastic saves to keep the Capitals in the game.
- Don’t look now, but Evengy Kuznetsov has 19 goals in additional to a million assists.
- The Blackhawks are good.
- But their third goal was off an icing.
This was an entertaining heavyweight bout, but the Capitals came up just short. The title match may be coming later this spring.
