Capitals 2, Canucks 1 – OT
The game began with good speed and some anger. Vancouver ended up with a four-minute power play just 4:19 into the 1st period when Pierre-Luc Dubois couldn’t keep his hands off Canucks captain Quinn Hughes. A melee ensued and the elongated man advantage followed.
The Canucks failed to click. Capitals goalie Logan Thompson made one great save on Jake DeBrusk; otherwise Vancouver couldn’t establish an O-zone set-up.
Long after Washington failed on its only PP of the period that came at 10:41, newly-crowned Canucks enemy-number-one Dubois scored the game’s opening goal in the final minute of the period. He controlled a bouncing puck in front and swatted it in behind goalie Kevin Lankinen with 33 seconds remaining.
Fast and feisty hockey is always welcome.
Vancouver took the play to Washington in the 2nd period. After generating just three shots-on-goal in the 1st, the Canucks piled up twenty more. The only sustained pressure from the Capitals came at the midway point when they had the Canucks pinned in their own zone for close to two minutes.
Finally, with less than a minute remaining in the period, Conor Garland tied the game 1-1 on the power play. He ripped home a rebound from the right wing circle off a point shot from Hughes. Capitals D-man Jakob Chychrun was off for hooking.
The home team mustered just five shots in the 2nd stanza, giving them a total of 11 to the Canucks 23.
In the final period Vancouver picked up another power play in the first minute. They failed to land a shot-on-goal with Chychrun in the penalty box again, this time for delay-of-game.
Things tightened up and the Capitals earned their second power play of the night when Phil Di Giuseppe went off for tripping at 6:38. Nothing doing, despite plenty of O-zone time. Alexander Ovechkin hovered, but never had a chance to get a shot off. ‘The Great 8’, with 872 goals, remains 22 behind Wayne Gretzky for the most all-time.
For the third time in the last five games and an NHL-high 14th time this season, Vancouver went to overtime. Not a good formula. They’re 3-9 in OT this season, with two of the games moving on to a shoot-out.
Dubois picked up the game winner, roofing one over Lankinen while skating in alone.
The Canucks are in Carolina to take on the Hurricanes on Friday night and then in Toronto to play the Maple Leafs 24 hours later.
