The Capitals were able to leave with a point on Super Bowl Sunday after a 3-2 OT loss.
WASHINGTON — After putting on a show in Boston, the Washington Capitals returned home to Capital One Arena eager to keep the momentum going and hope alive against another Conference-leading opponent in the Vancouver Canucks — and they were able to take away an important point.
Alex Ovechkin stayed hot and the Capitals put together a solid three periods, but ultimately, a miscue led to a 3-2 loss in OT.
Here are all the takeaways from the defeat:
Capitals Get Off To Strong Start, Carry Over Effort From Boston For Well-Earned Point; Mistake Leads To Loss
The biggest takeaway from Saturday's showing was consistency, and they were able to carry that over into Super Bowl Sunday with another strong 60 minutes against Vancouver.
Nic Dowd got things going just 1:08 into the game, as he got to the front of the net and redirected a nice feed past Nicolas Aube-Kubel past Thatcher Demko to make it a 1-0 game. It marked Dowd's eighth goal of the season and gave D.C. a boost as the team put up a good fight.
The Capitals ultimately led in scoring chances and high-danger opportunities while also limiting Quinn Hughes and Vancouver's time and space in the defensive zone. Over 60 minutes, Washington spent a lot of time on the forecheck and didn't give the high-flying Canucks all that much to work with as the team managed another consistent, convincing effort.
Ultimately, a turnover by Connor McMichael on a bad attempted pass led to an OT loss as J.T. Miller scored with four seconds left in the 3-on-3 period. Washington also led at two different points, but miscues resulted in game-tying tallies for Conor Garland and Nils Hoglander.
Alex Ovechkin Continues Resurgence
After a rough start to the 2023-24 campaign, Alex Ovechkin has rediscovered his touch, and he kept his hot streak going against Vancouver with another standout showing.
Ovechkin's pass intended for Oshie ended up sneaking past Demko, giving him his 13th goal of the season and fifth straight game with a goal.
The 38-year-old is now up to 835 goals in his career and needs just 60 more goals to pass Wayne Gretzky for the most in NHL history.
Penalty Kill Comes Up Big
The Capitals played a mostly consistent game, and ultimately, the penalty kill made a big difference.
Washington went 3-for-3 on the PK and also killed off a critical late penalty against Beck Malenstyn to eventually force OT.
Top Shelf Takes
- Dylan Strome picked up an assist and now has points in five of his last six outings.
- Rasmus Sandin also had a helper and has found the scoresheet in four of his last five.
- T.J. Oshie has helpers in back-to-back games.
- John Carlson led all skaters with 30:32 minutes of ice time.