T.J. Oshie, John Carlson Lead Caps To A 5-2 victory Over Rangers, Michal Kempny Scores in Return

Posted on October 18, 2019 by Jon Sorensen
1176664463_slidePatrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images

The Washington Capitals defeated the New York Rangers 5-2 Friday night at Capital One Arena in a game that was preceded by Washington Nationals Max Scherzer and Adam Eaton helping in pregame festivities. The Capitals now hit the road for five-straight games, beginning with a tilt against the Blackhawks in Chicago Sunday night. Puck drop is 8:00 P.M. ET.

GAME STATS

STARTERS

Braden Holtby (1-1-0-2, 4.27 GAA, .846 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the Capitals. Henrik Lundqvist (1-1-0-0, 3.53 GAA, .904 sv%) got the start in goal for the visiting Rangers. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Capitals:

Michal Kempny made his first start since being injured in a regular season game on March 20. Richard Panik was placed on Long Term Injured Reserve (LTIR) on Friday for an injury he sustained in Wednesday night’s game against the Maple Leafs. Travis Boyd and Martin Fehervary were recalled on Friday.

FIRST PERIOD
The Capitals got their first power play of the opportunity of the game early in the game following a drive to the net by T.J. Oshie, who drew a slashing penalty. The Capitals would strike first with 45 seconds left on the man-advantage, with a determined effort by Oshie ending with the puck trickling across the goal-line past Henrik Lundqvist. The goal was unassisted and was Oshie’s fifth of the season.

Things got heated with just over five minutes left when the Rangers’ Brendan Lemieux and Caps’ defenseman Radko Gudas dropped the mitts following a hit to Kempny, who is in his first game action since March of this year. Kempny himself would be sent to the box just moments later for interference, a penalty the Caps would kill off. The Blueshirts would get their second man-advantage just over six minutes later when Nicklas Backstrom was called for tripping. The Rangers would knot the game at 1-1 on a goal from Pavel Buchnevich, on assists from Mika Zibanejad and Jacob Trouba.

In his highly-anticipated return, Kempny put the Capitals ahead by one late in the opening period, picking up the loose puck from a scramble in front of Lundqvist and putting it into the wide open net at the 15:16 mark for his first of the season. The goal was assisted by John Carlson and Alex Ovechkin.

The Caps would receive their second power play opportunity of the game and period courtesy of a tripping penalty by New York’s Chris Kreider. Despite some good pressure in the offensive zone, the Caps weren’t able to solve Lundqvist. The period would end with the home team ahead on the scoreboard 2-1, and behind the Rangers in shots, 12-9.

SECOND PERIOD
The Capitals would strike early in the middle frame on a goal from Nic Dowd, who fired a rebound off a shot from Dmitry Orlov to give the Caps a two-goal lead with his first of the season. John Carlson also picked up another assist on the marker, continuing his hot start to the season.

The Capitals would get a prime opportunity to extend their lead by three when Jakub Vrana was fouled going in alone on Lundqvist and receiving a penalty shot. However, Lundqvist kept his team down by only two with a save on Vrana’s shot. Shortly afterwards, offseason signing Garnet Hathaway was sent down the dressing room tunnel after taking a hit from Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba. However, the Capitals announced that Hathaway would return for the third period.

The Blueshirts would get their third power play chance of the contest thanks to a holding call against Caps defenseman Radko Gudas. However, a strong kill by the Capitals’ special teams thwarted the Rangers’ man-advantage. New York would strike just minutes after the penalty to Gudas expired, on a beautiful give-and-go by Chris Kreider and Artemi Panari, who easily put the puck past Braden Holtby to cut the visitors’ deficit by one. Despite some excellent pressure, the Caps were unable to solve the Rangers’ veteran netminder in the final few minutes of the middle frame. The period would end with the home team on top by one, 3-2, and in shots, 25-18, including 16 in the second period alone.

THIRD PERIOD
The final frame would not see its first whistle until the period was just over eight minutes old, with both teams playing sold hockey. Things would heat back up just over two minutes later, as both Hathaway and Brendan Smith dropped the gloves, with Smith picking up the two minute-minor for cross-checking, giving the Caps their third man-advantage of the game. The Capitals would convert as T.J. Oshie redirected a point shot from Carlson for his second of the night. Carlson picked up his third point and assist of the night on Oshie’s goal.

The Rangers would get their fourth man-advantage of the night on a Carlson slashing penalty. The Caps’ Penalty Kill stood strong once again, however, stifling the Blueshirts’ Special Teams once again. The Capitals received their fourth power play of the game at the 15:29 mark of the final frame, but were in turn thwarted by New York’s penalty kill. Garnet Hathaway would pot his second goal of the season on an empty-night to cement the victory for the home team.

The game would end with the Capitals on top of the Rangers in shots 34-28, converting on two of their four power play opportunities, and outhitting the Rangers 22-19.

SHAVINGS

    • The NHL box score is HERE.
    • John Carlson’s three-assist night is his second consecutive three-point game and his third such game of the season. He entered the season with five games of three points in his career
  • T.J. Oshie’s two-goal performance was his first multi-goal game of the 2019-20 season

SCENES FROM THE DISTRICT

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3x3D3DgecL/

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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8 Responses to T.J. Oshie, John Carlson Lead Caps To A 5-2 victory Over Rangers, Michal Kempny Scores in Return

  1. Anonymous says:
    October 18, 2019 at 9:57 pm

    when did Screech learn to skate?

    Reply

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