Photo: Dave Reginek/Getty Images

The Washington Capitals got their three-game road trip off to a great start, defeating the Red Wings 1-0. The game was scoreless through the first 46 minutes until a 2-on-0 breakaway goal by Brett Connolly gave the Capitals all they needed to escape from the Motor City. This was Philipp Grubauer’s third shutout of the season as he stopped all 38 shots he faced.  The Capitals will now head to Montreal to take on the Canadiens on Saturday night. 

CAPITALS LINES
Philipp Grubauer (12-9-3) got the start in between the pipes for the Capitals while the Red Wings countered with Jimmy Howard (19-26-8) in goal.

Forwards
Ovechkin-Backstrom-Wilson
Burakovsky-Eller-Oshie
Connolly-Boyd-Vrana
Stephenson-Beagle-DSP
Defense
Kempny-Carlson
Orlov-Niskanen
Orpik-Djoos

Scratches: Evgeny Kunzetsov (upper-body injury), Alex Chiasson, Jakub Jerabek, Braden Holtby.

FIRST PERIOD
The Capitals and Red Wings each went on the power play in the early going but neither team could cash in. The Red Wings outshot the Capitals 6-1 through the first five minutes.

The Red Wings struck at 10:47 with a goal by Andreas Athanasiou.. or so they thought. Grubauer was frustrated and Trotz challenged the call for goaltending interference. If you look at the video below, it shows Tyler Bertuzzi’s elbow touching Grubauer’s left shoulder on the shot. The goal was waved off and the game remained scoreless.

Tom Wilson got into a scuffle with Evgeny Svechnikov at 13:56 but only Wilson got sent to the box for roughing. While the Caps were on the PK, Alex Ovechkin laid out this hit on Luke Glendening.

.@ovi8 laying the 💥#CapsWings#ALLCAPSpic.twitter.com/p9ifqAHruF

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) March 23, 2018

It was scoreless after one. The Red Wings outshot the Capitals 13-11.

SECOND PERIOD
The Red Wings outshot the Capitals 3-2 through the first six minutes of the period. John Carlson, who headed into Tuesday’s contest with 61 points which leads all NHL defensemen, had a few good scoring chances as did Lars Eller.

At 12:24, the Red Wings got another chance to score the first goal as both T.J. Oshie was called for tripping and Lars Eller was called for high sticking. That put Detroit at a 5-on-3 power play opportunity. It didn’t faze Grubauer as he stopped all three shots on that penalty kill.

The game was still scoreless after 40 minutes with the Red Wings outshooting the Capitals 15-10.

THIRD PERIOD
The Capitals got a power play chance at 1:27 when Darren Helm was called for interference. Carlson was the lone Capital with a scoring chance on their third power play opportunity of the night but once again they came up empty. Shortly after the power play, Grubauer made a nice blocker save on a breakaway by Anthanasiou. The Capitals were outshot 5-0 through the first five minutes of the third.

Skate save, Grubi#CapsWings #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/7GILGDR6yX

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) March 23, 2018

At 6:40, the Capitals capitalized on a turnover by Xavier Ouellet. On a 2-on-0 breakaway with only Howard to beat, Jakub Vrana fed Brett Connolly who buried it to put the Capitals ahead 1-0. It was Connolly’s 15th goal of the season which ties a career high that he set last season in 66 games. Though this time around, it took him 63 games to match it.

The Capitals hung on for the 1-0 win despite being outshot in the third period 11-5 and total 39-26.

NHL box score here.

By Michael Marzzacco
Follow @marswaggo

SCENES FROM LITTLE CAESARS ARENA

#CapsWings @NoVa_Caps @russianmachine @NBCSCapitals @CapsRoadCrew @VogsCaps @Capitals @CapitalsRadio @WaltonCaps @JoeBpXp @RealSmokinAl Fans abound here #ALLCAPS @WCapitalsBR @LCArena_Detroit #BmoreInTheD #Sec103 #MadeInDetroit #PizzaPizza First #LCA experience! #RedVsRed pic.twitter.com/ONmvAEuwkv

— I_BLANK_YOU (@I_Blank_You) March 23, 2018

…#CapsWings #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/8Slz3f152H

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) March 22, 2018