If you thought Monday’s late start would shake the Caps of their first period misery, you were wrong. The Caps trail 1-0 after twenty minutes, and it could have been far worse if not for Mike Weber’s stout defense against the Anaheim Ducks’ 4-on-1 rush.
That’s lovely, but how did the Caps allow a FOUR ON ONE rush to happen in the first place?
The play starts with the puck on Washington’s sticks. Evgeny Kuznetsov carries through neutral and passes to Williams to cross the blue line. Williams gets as far as the top of the faceoff circles when he runs into a wall named Josh Manson.
Andre Burakovsky, already surging forward, tries to recover the loose puck but instead collides with Williams and Kuznetsov.
Nate Schmidt is way out of the play. He’s two towns over waiting for an Uber during surge pricing.
So three Caps are doing some improvisational hugging as Corey Perry enters the Caps zone. Here’s where Weber uses that big ol’ hockey brain. He doesn’t overcommit– he limits the passing option but stays with Perry, ultimately defusing the shot attempt with his skate.
It’s a one-goal game.
