Capitals Crushed By Avalanche, 6-2; Dylan Strome Scores Two Goals


Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images

The Washington Capitals fell 6-2 to the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday at Ball Arena. After a very strong first period, a late short-handed goal from Cale Makar turned the tables for the rest of the game. Nathan MacKinnon had four goals, including a natural hat-trick in the second, and five points on the night.

Washington falls to 22-18-6 and has now lost three straight games, along with four straight on the road. Charlie Lindgren made 27 saves on 33 shots.

Here is how it went down.

LINES AND PAIRINGS

Alex Ovechkin – Dylan Strome – Max Pacioretty
Aliaksei Protas – Connor McMichael – T.J. Oshie
Anthony Mantha – Evgeny Kuznetsov – Tom Wilson
Beck Malenstyn – Nic Dowd – Nicolas Aube-Kubel

Rasmus Sandin – John Carlson
Martin Fehervary – Ethan Bear
Joel Edmundson – Nick Jensen

Charlie Lindgren
Darcy Kuemper

Scratched: Trevor van Riemsdyk, Matthew Phillips, Alex Alexeyev, Sonny Milano (upper), Nicklas Backstrom (hip)

PERIOD 1

The Capitals controlled play for the majority of the first period, but could not dent the twine against Avalanche goaltender Alexander Georgiev. The Caps had two power plays in the period and continued to be snakebitten.

On Washington’s second power play, Cale Makar took advantage of Evgeny Kuznetsov’s neutral zone turnover and rifled a wrist shot past Charlie Lindgren to give the Avalanche a 1-0 lead. Andrew Cogliano had the only assist at 19:23. It was the fourth short-handed goal the Capitals allowed all season and Makar’s tally was the second in the last three games.

The shots were dead even at nine a piece.

PERIOD 2

Nicolas Aube-Kubel was knicked for a hold which sent the Avalanche to their first power play of the game. Nathan MacKinnon doubled Colorado’s lead on a backdoor one-timer at 2:39. Mikko Rantanen and Makar had the helpers.

The Capitals were once again put a man-down thanks to Ethan Bear taking a delay of game penalty. MacKinnon scored in similar fashion to make it 3-0 for the home team. It was MacKinnon’s 25th straight point at home. Makar and Rantanen had the apples at the 7:00 mark.

MacKinnon was not done as he completed the natural hat-trick on a two-on-one rush making it 4-0 Avalanche. Rantanen had the only helper at the 9:16 mark.

The Capitals had a good push at the end of the period, but Georgiev was once again excellent. The Avalanche outshot the Capitals 12-9 in the middle frame.

PERIOD 3

Dylan Strome ended Georgiev’s shutout at the 7:26 mark of the third on a rebound. Max Pacioretty and Alex Ovechkin had the assists. Wednesday also marked Strome’s 400th career NHL game. It was Strome’s team-leading 17th goal of the season.

Rantanen made it 5-1 Avs after batting the puck out of mid-air past Lindgren. Jonathan Drouin and MacKinnon had the assists at the 10:20 mark.

MacKinnon got his fourth goal of the game during four-on-four play to make it 6-1 Avalanche at 16:14. It was his 30th goal of the season. Rantanen and Ross Colton had the helpers.

Strome got his second goal of the game, and 18th of the season, at 17:37. Tom Wilson and Ethan Bear had the assists.

Up Next

The Capitals will close out their western road trip with a matinee showdown with the Dallas Stars.

By Jacob Cheris

About Jon Sorensen

Jon has been a Caps fan since day one, attending his first game at the Capital Centre in 1974. His interest in the Caps has grown over the decades and included time as a season ticket holder. He has been a journalist covering the team for 10+ years, primarily focusing on analysis, analytics and prospect development.





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