Capitals Win 4th Straight, Pluck Canucks 3-0

Posted on December 11, 2016 by Jon Sorensen
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Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images

The Capitals beat the Vancouver Canucks 3-0 Sunday afternoon at Verizon Center. The win raised the Capitals record to 17-7-3. The Capitals next travel to Brooklyn to take on the Islanders at Barclays Center on Tuesday night. Puck drop is 7:00PM. 

canucks-at-capitalsBraden Holtby got the start in goal for the Capitals. Jacob Markstrom got the start in goal for the Canucks.

Taylor Chorney and Brett Connolly were the healthy scratches for this contest. Aaron Ness was re-assigned to Hershey this morning.

Matt Niskanen returned to the lineup after missing the last game, due to an upper body injury he sustained against the Bruins.

QUICK TAKES

  • This was the second game of a back-to-back set for the Canucks, having played the Panthers in Florida last night.
  • Alex Ovechkin notched his 200th power play goal in the first period.
  • The Capitals now have 5 power play goals in their last 4 games + 1 period after netting 5 PPGs over previous 12 games combined.
  • The Capitals returned to old ways, getting called for far too many penalties in the contest.
  • The Capitals penalty kill was too strong for Vancouver on this night. The Capitals allowed 0 shots on each of the first three power plays for the Canucks.
  • Dmitry Orlov had a sub-par game, and was called for two penalties in the second period.

FIRST PERIOD
The Capitals came out of the gate firing on all cylinders, with plenty of offensive zone time. The Canucks were recipients of the game’s first power play at the 7:40 mark when Marcus Johansson was called for hooking, but the Capitals were able to stifle the Nuck’s man-advantage, without yielding a shot. The Capitals would head to the man-advantage at the 12:17 mark, and the Capitals power play would be historic. Alex Ovechkin notched his 200th career power play goal to give the Capitals at 1-0 lead at 13:46.

The Capitals would return to the power play two more times, but both of the man advantages would come up dry for the Capitals. The period ended with the Capitals leading 1-0.  The Caps led 11-9 in shots on goal for the opening frame.

SECOND PERIOD
Jakub Vrana was called for interference at 4:55, giving the Canucks their second power play of the game. The Capitals penalty kill was too strong for Vancouver, as the Canucks did very little in the way of generating scoring chances, and we’re once again held to 0 shots for the man advantage. Dmitry Orlov was called for holding at 9:47 and again the Capitals shut down the Canucks power play allowing 0 shots. Dmitry Orlov was penalized again, this time for tripping at the 16:25 mark. The Caps would again stifle the man advantage. The period would end with the Capitals holding on to the 1-0 lead. The Caps led in shots on goal 2-12 through two periods.

THIRD PERIOD
Justin Williams would stretch the Capitals lead to 2-0 on the end of a nifty feed from Evgeny Kuznetsov at 5:06 of the third period.

The Capitals would return to the penalty kill, their 5th of the game. This time Andre Burakovsky was called for high-sticking at 6:57 of the final frame. Tom Wilson would add an empty net goal at 19:08 of the final frame to seal the victory for the Capitals.

 

By Jon Sorensen

SCENES FROM VERIZON CENTER

https://www.instagram.com/p/BN5RwOvFM9o/

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About Jon Sorensen

Jon has been a Caps fan since day one, attending his first game at the Capital Centre in 1974. His interest in the Caps has grown over the decades and included time as a season ticket holder. He has been a journalist covering the team for 10+ years, primarily focusing on analysis, analytics and prospect development.
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