Photo: X/@Capitals
The Washington Capitals fell to the Seattle Kraken, 4-1, Thursday night at Capital One Arena in the District. The loss drops the Capitals record to 19-14-6 (44 points) on the season.
The Kraken staked an early 2-o lead after one period of play before Max Pacioretty notched his first tally as a Washington Capital early in the middle frame to cut the Kraken lead to 2-1. However, former Capitals defenseman Justin Schultz reinstated the Kraken’s two-goal lead late in the middle frame. The Kraken put the game away with a goal from Adam Larsson late in the third period.
LINEUP
Darcy Kuemper (10-9-2, 3.24 GAA, .893 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the Capitals. Joey Daccord (11-5-8, 2.28 GAA, .923 sv%) got the start in goal for the visiting Kraken. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the the Capitals:
Alex Ovechkin – Dylan Strome – Max Pacioretty
Hendrix Lapierre – Evgeny Kuznetsov – T.J. Oshie
Aliaksei Protas – Connor McMichael – Anthony Mantha
Beck Malenstyn – Nic Dowd – Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Martin Fehervary – John Carlson
Trevor van Riemsdyk – Nick Jensen
Joel Edmundson – Ethan Bear
Darcy Kuemper
Charlie Lindgren
Scratches: Nicklas Backstrom (lower-body injury), Tom Wilson (upper body injury), Sonny Milano (upper body injury), Rasmus Sandin (upper-body injury), Alex Alexeyev.
FIRST PERIOD
The Kraken opened the scoring with 11:10 to go in the first frame. Tye Kartye (7) notched the game’s first tally with a snipe from the left point that beat Kuemper, blocker side.
Tye Kartye wires McCann’s pass home on the rush to give Seattle the lead midway through the first!#SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/aY1bQWjETJ
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) January 12, 2024
The Kraken stretched their lead to 2-0 on a snap shot by Alex Wennberg (7) with 1:48 remaining in the period.
Wennberg doubles the lead!
Nice play by Tanev to quickly take advantage of the blueline turnover. Wennberg smartly uses Bear as a screen. 2-0 SEA pic.twitter.com/mxLf3UqQ55
— Emerald City Hockey (@EmeraldCityHky) January 12, 2024
The first frame concluded with the Kraken holding the 2-o lead. The Capitals led in shots on goal, 10-6, even-strength shot attempts, 24-21 and expected goals for .95 to .92.
SECOND PERIOD
The Capitals cut the Kraken lead to 2-1 on Max Pacioretty’s first goal as a Washington Capital at 5:47 of the middle frame. The score was assisted by Alex Ovechkin and Trevor van Riemsdyk.
Max Pacioretty’s last goal was on Jan. 10, 2023 and now he’s got one tonight in only his fourth game as a Capital.
Congrats, Patches! pic.twitter.com/fr310Cqjnd
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 12, 2024
The Kraken reinstated their two-goal lead when former Cap Justin Schultz punched in his fourth of the season at 18:20.
SEATTLE
KRAKEN
GOAL!!!A faceoff win and strong net front presence and Yanni Gourde’s rebound is put home by Justin Schultz!
3-1 #SeaKraken
1:40
2nd pic.twitter.com/caIaP3lglH— Davy Jones’ Locker Room (@DavyJonesLR) January 12, 2024
The second period concluded with the Kraken maintaining a two-goal lead, 3-1. The Kraken led in five-on-five shot attempts, 24-20 in the second period. The Kraken led in high-danger chances, 11-6 after two periods.
THIRD PERIOD
The Kraken made it 4-1 with a tally from Adam Larsson at 12:02 of the final frame.
THE BIG CAT ROARS! 😺 🚨
Outstanding 200-foot play by all involved. Dunn wins the battle, Schwartz makes the pass to create a 2-on-1, Turbo makes an unreal saucer pass, and Adam Larsson dekes for the finish.
4-1 #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/5WRgvehNa2
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) January 12, 2024
That would be the final.
SHAVINGS
- Max Pacioretty’s last goal was on Jan. 10, 2023.
- Alex Ovechkin recorded an assist on Pacioretty’s goal and extends his point streak to six games (2g-5a–7p). It marks Ovechkin’s second six-game point streak this season (6 games, 10/18/23-10/29/23: 2g-6a–8p).
