Photo: X/@Capitals
The Washington Capitals gutted another two points out in a narrow 4-3 victory over the Los Angeles Kings, sweeping the season-set. The Capitals snapped a two-game losing streak in dramatic fashion, when John Carlson gave the Caps the lead with 52.9 seconds to play in regulation.
Sunday’s game was eerily similar to the first meeting back in LA. The Kings peppered a plethora of shots on net, ending the game with 41 shots on goal, but Darcy Kuemper lived up to the tak. The Capitals had dropped six out of their last seven games, and Sunday was almost seven out of eight, but the Caps were determined to not let this game slip away.
“You could tell our guys from a compete standpoint, from a focus standpoint, structure, communication on the bench, the talk. This was an important game for our group, and you could feel that at ice level,” Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery said after the game. “Sort of the way that you would script it for our group and how things have gone the whole year, and how we’ve found ways to win games was right on script.”
The Capitals are now tied for the second Wild Card spot with the New Jersey Devils and are two points back of the first spot with the New York Islanders with a game in hand.
Here is what stood out from Sunday’s win.
Fourth Line Clutch
The storyline of the game was the Capitals’ fourth line of Beck Malenstyn, Nic Dowd and Nicolas Aube-Kubel. They have been humming over the last few games and have arguably been Washington’s most effective line. While their main job is to shut down the other team’s top players, by playing a checking style and taking important defensive zone draws.
But because of how well they were playing, Carbery put them out for four offensive zone faceoffs.
“I think ironically, you’re shutting down the best team’s top line when you are contributing offensively. Because then those three guys don’t have the puck and they don’t get to go play in your zone,” Dowd said. “I mean, worst case scenario, you’re tasked with playing defense for 60 minutes, and eventually they’re going to break you down because they’re really good players. So, the longer we can keep the puck out of their hands and make them play defense, I think, you’ll tend to be more successful than if we’re playing in our d-zone.”
The line had five points (two goals, three assists) against the Kings and started the whole sequence on Carlson’s game-winning goal, by chipping the puck deep and winning the board battle, along with taking Cam Talbot’s eyes away.
Darcy Kuemper Solid
Kuemper has had an up and down season so far. When he is on his game, he is terrific. But when he’s not, he really struggles and gives up a lot of soft goals. He faced five high-danger chances in the opening stanza and wasn’t scrambling or panicking when making those saves. Rather, he was square to the play and was sound positionally.
The goals that he gave up were the result of some bad bounces, such as Adrian Kempe’s power-play tally. The puck deflected off the shin pad of Martin Fehervary. He probably would like Kevin Fiala’s first goal back considering he gave up a juicy rebound.
The Capitals netminder finished the game with 38 saves on 41 shots.
Penalty Kill Downfall; D-zone Puck Management Continues To Cause Problems
Washington’s penalty kill continued to struggle on Sunday, giving up two power-play goals. This was the fifth game in a row that the Capitals gave up a power-play tally and have now given up eight goals in the last seven games.
Furthermore, the Caps have to clean up their play in the defensive zone. They struggled with their puck management against the Carolina Hurricanes, and it was the same story on Sunday. Numerous failed clears, careless passes up the middle and struggling on breakouts. Had it not been for Kuemper’s heroics, it could have been another ugly loss for the Caps.
Washington ended the game with 19 giveaways.
Notable Numbers and Observations
- Could the line of Alex Ovechkin, Dylan Strome and Max Pacioretty be the start of something? They scored on their very first shift as a trio and created three scoring chances.
- Max Pacioretty was more noticeable and continues to get stronger with each game. He had his first point as a Washington Capital
- The Caps were 0-for-1 on the man-advantage.
- Washington had 30 hits in the game
- The Caps were outshot 18-11 in the second period
- While the line of Aliaksei Protas, Connor McMichael and Anthony Mantha have gone quiet on the scoresheet, they continue to generate lots of offense. They created 10 scoring chances at 5v5, four of which were high-danger.
The Capitals will be back in action on Thursday, Jan. 11 to take on the Seattle Kraken.
By Jacob Cheris
