Photo: Capitals Twitter

The Washington Capitals defeated the Vancouver Canucks by a 3-1 final score. Washington was aiming for revenge after the Canucks drubbed the Capitals, 6-2, in Vancouver on October 26 and got it. Tuesday’s game was the final meeting of the season between the two teams. Washington extended their winning streak to a season-high five games and have a 7-1-2 record in their last 10 games. Vancouver was playing their third game of a seven-game road trip. The Capitals won their 10th consecutive win on home ice. Meanwhile, Vancouver was handed its fifth straight loss. 

Capitals’ Lines vs. Vancouver Canucks

#Caps lines vs Canucks:
8-Ovechkin, 19-Backstrom, 25-Smith-Pelly
13-Vrana, 92-Kuznetsov, 43-Wilson
10-Connolly, 20-Eller, 77-Oshie
18-Stephenson, 83-Beagle, 65-Burakovsky

Defensemen
29-Djoos, 74-Carlson
9-Orlov, 2-Niskanen
44-Orpik, 22-Bowey

Grubauer vs Markstrom #CapsNucks

— Mike Vogel (@VogsCaps) January 9, 2018

Philipp Grubauer got the start against the Canucks. He entered tonight having won his only appearance against Vancouver, a 5-2 win at Rogers Arena in October 2016.

First Period

Scoring: Alexander Edler shot one on the point after taking a pass from Henrik Sedin. Daniel Sedin was guarding Grubauer in front of the net and tipped the puck past Grubauer for a 1-0 Vancouver lead. The goal came on a five-on-three man advantage for Vancouver.

John Carlson bombed one from the right side of the blue line. The net lost its pegs but it got placed just in time. Carlson roofed it under the bar to tie the game. Vancouver challenged the call for goalie interference but it overturned. There would be no penalty because it was challenged for goalie interference. Ovechkin tallied his team-leading 46th point of the season.

Looks good to us ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ #CapsNucks #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/kGrTt4YYMd

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 10, 2018

Lars Eller made it 2-1 with 2:08 left, taking the puck through the middle of the ice. He danced around center Nic Dowd shot it through the legs of Canucks defenseman Ben Hutton for his 200th career point and his seventh tally of the season. The Capitals scored their second goal in 2:46.

Is this your homework, Larry?! #CapsNucks #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/u6Ii9qSVbe

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 10, 2018

The Good: The Capitals fought off a slow start and were able to rebound with two quick-strike goals in a span 2:46. They led 10-7 in hits, 8-4 in blocked shots, and won 62% of the faceoffs in the first frame.

The Bad: The Capitals gave the puck away five times in the first period while the Canucks only did so once. The Canucks outshot the Capitals 14-11 through 20 minutes.

The Ugly: The Capitals gave up a power-play goal after getting on the wrong side of a 5-on-3 man advantage.

Second Period

Scoring: Evgeny Kuznetsov made it 3-1 4:57 into the period. After Jacob Markstrom stopped his initial shot, he coughed up a rebound and Canucks defenseman Erik Gudbranson whacked the puck with his hand into the net behind Markstrom for an odd goal. Kuznetsov’s goal was his 13th of the season and his second against Vancouver this year.

Thanks for the helper 4️⃣4️⃣! #CapsNucks #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/INl7IYhADg

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 10, 2018

The Good: The Capitals outshot the Capitals 18-4 in the middle frame and led 29-18 in shots through two. The Capitals won 58% of the faceoffs through two periods. The Capitals led in blocked shots, 13-6, and in hits, 18-17. The Capitals only had one giveaway in the period. Four Capitals’ defenseman got on the score sheet with Carlson scoring and Matt Niskanen, Dmitry Orlov, and Madison Bowey each tallying assists. The Capitals held Vancouver superstars Henrik Sedin and Brock Boeser without a shot through 40 minutes. Evgeny Kuznetsov broke his six-game goalless streak with an insurance tally to make it 3-1.

The Bad: The Capitals may have crushed the Canucks on shots in the second period, but the Capitals fanned and threw away several of grade A scoring chances from up close. The Capitals only had two takeaways through two periods of play. The Caps failed to score on two power plays on the night.

The Ugly: Nothing. The Capitals dominated the Canucks in the second period and spent most of that period in their own zone.

Third Period

Scoring: None.

The Good: The Capitals blocked 22 shots, while the Canucks only blocked 10. The Capitals led 24-21 in hits. The Capitals had 36 shots on the night. The Capitals only held Boeser to two shots tonight, one of which was from a bad angle. The Capitals won 54% of the faceoffs. The Capitals won their season-high fifth straight game and 10th straight on home ice.

The Bad: The Canucks led 8-5 in takeaways. The Capitals had ten giveaways and the Canucks had six. The Capitals gave up 38 shots.

The Ugly: The Canucks came out of the intermission with a jump and outshot the Capitals 20-7 in the third period.

Philipp Grubauer made 37 saves for his third win of the season.

Game Stats

Shots:                        Canucks – 38                  Capitals – 36

Blocked Shots:         Canucks – 22                  Capitals – 10

Hits:                           Canucks – 21                  Capitals – 24

Faceoffs:                   Canucks –  46%              Capitals – 54%

Power Play:              Canucks – 1/3                 Capitals – 0/2

Up Next

The Capitals close out a three-game homestead and begin a set of back-to-backs with the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night at Capital One Arena. The Capitals have won four straight and 13 of the last 16 meetings with Carolina, most recently a 5-4 overtime victory last Tuesday in Raleigh, where they will also play on Friday. The Hurricanes were in Tampa taking on the Lightning tonight and have lost three of their past four tilts entering tonight’s contest in Tampa Bay. Puck drop is at 7 PM on NBC Sports Washington.

By Harrison Brown