Photo courtesy of the Washington Capitals
After a pretty brutal road trip (that at least had a decent ending), the NHL schedulers didn’t give the Caps any breaks, hitting them with a Saturday night bout against the Carolina Hurricanes as a “welcome home” present. That’s a tough task on any night; on this night, the Caps went into it minus both their goalies, half of their top-four defensemen, and Connor McMichael.
All of that makes the gutsy performance they put together this evening all that much more impressive, despite a few bad miscues that ended up in their own net early.
Plus: Erasing a three-goal deficit = good. Erasing a three-goal deficit against the hated ‘Canes? De-freaking-lightful. Absolutely love to see the fight out of the boys.
Minus: Regardless of the fact that the Caps largely outplayed Carolina early in this one, it didn’t keep the ‘Canes from putting two quick goals on the board late in the first period – and that’s not what you want to see against one of the NHL’s more potent offenses (and stingier defenses). Already missing key players, the Caps put themselves in a tough situation, largely as a result of preventable mistakes.
Caps Player of the Game: Jakob Chychrun picked up an assist on the goal that made it 3-2 and then leveled a typical Chych-bomb for the all-important game-tying goal late in the third…but shout-out to Tom Wilson with yet another massive hit leading to a goal, and Clay Stevenson for a very solid effort in net.
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