Hey, it’s the very first game between the Washington Capitals and the Vegas Golden Knights! Hey, it’s a total disaster!
The Capitals, who played last night, looked disheveled in the first period, so the Knights, who hadn’t played since the late 80s, dominated play. Alex Tuch, Oscar Lindberg, and William Karlsson all scored in the first frame, and all as a result of defensive breakdowns by Washington. The second and third periods were silent in scoring.
Knights beat Caps 3-0.
- I mean, wow. I am astonished at how bad the Caps were in the first period. Especially in the first fifteen minutes, the Caps could not manage a meaningful attack and meanwhile allowed half a dozen odd-man breaks and scoring chances. It was a bloodletting, with Braden Holtby fending off 16 scoring chances according to Natural Stat Trick.
- To that point, here’s a near-final 5-on-5 heatmap, which really tells the story. Even when the Knights turtled in the third, the Caps couldn’t get to the jugular.
- When the Caps finally got their act together for a short period in the second period, it was Jay Beagle who drove traffic to the net best. He’s always a faculty for that, ol’ reliable grinder.
- This is a bullet for Nate Schmidt. No commentary, certainly not about his 5-on-5 on-ice shot-attempt differential.
— Peter Hassett (@peterhassett) December 24, 2017
- Bryce Harper, native Las Vegasian (Vegasite? Vegasaur?) and future Yankee (they’re all future Yankees to an paranoid Os fan like me), dropped the ceremonial puck. Polite golf clap for how he navigated his split loyalties by way of his outfit. Please note that he wore a Tuch jersey, and then Tuch scored 157 seconds into the game.
- Late in the second period, Deryk Engelland hit Evgeny Kuznetsov in the face with a followthrough. Alex Ovechkin did not like it, but Kuzy was okay after intermission.
- Happy 31st birthday to Tallulah Jawbone Oshie. Three shots on goal for the dude.
- Marc-Andre Fleury shut out the Caps for the second time in a row, which is, um, well this is my hell, to be frank.
#JoeBSuitOfTheNight #CapsKnights The Caps first game ever in Las Vegas pic.twitter.com/uv8SpOum0M
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) December 24, 2017
So yeah, this was not a good game, despite our high hopes and the horde of Caps fans making the trip. The Caps were sluggish from the drop and didn’t get too much better at any point. That’s back-to-back road losses before the team goes on Christmas break. One of those losses was against maybe the worst team in the league; the other against a team that is surprising hockey fans on a nightly basis. The Vegas Golden Knights are the real deal.
Hey everyone, have a merry Christmas and happy holidays, however you celebrate. Next year all our troubles will be out of sight.
Full RMNB Coverage of Caps at Golden Knights
Headline photo: David Becker
