Kuznetsov had a goal in his first game back from his healthy scratch.
WASHINGTON — Thursday's game with the Dallas Stars weighed heavy on Washington Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov, as his teammates, the coaching staff, fans and critics alike were waiting to see how he responded to his healthy scratch. And he didn't disappoint.
Though the pressure was there early in his 700th career NHL game — and evident in the first 20 minutes of play — Kuznetsov felt all of that weight fade away as he slid the puck past Scott Wedgewood to score in his first game back and show everyone what they were missing.
"I think we was feeling it today," captain Alex Ovechkin said.
After an earlier turnover in the game and bit of a rough first few shifts, Kuznetsov was in command the rest of the night. He was taking good care fo the puck, dominating on zone entries and doing an effective job of moving the play up ice while playing with Hendrix Lapierre and Matthew Phillips.
Ultimately, he finished the game with a breakaway goal and also went 4-for-6 in the faceoff dot while creating a rebound chance and throwing one hit through 16:38 minutes.
"(He was) controlling the puck, speed through the neutral zone, created some chances for everybody," Ovechkin said.
Head coach Spencer Carbery said that, despite the result, it was exactly the game that he wanted to see from No. 92.
"Started off a bit rough... I felt like he was trying to find it, then I thought in the second period, he really turned it on, "Carbery said. "I liked his pace, I thought he was skating better. Had a couple really good entries, he was controlling the puck. Way more noticeable, so that's a positive step in the right direction for him."
Kuznetsov will look to add to that performance and hopes to also get the result on Saturday as the Capitals take on the New York Rangers.