Photo: Michael Dwyer/AP
The Capitals rallied to win a wild one Saturday night in “Beantown”. Washington would tie the game in the waning moments of regulation, and win the game with an eye-popping move in the fifth round of the shootout.
Trailing 2-1 late in the final frame, the Capitals would rally to tie the game with less than a minute to play in regulation with a 6-on-5 goal from T.J. Oshie:
🙌🙌🙌 @TJOshie77 ties it up pic.twitter.com/aahEQcBE2U
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 17, 2019
Regulation would end with the game tied 2-2.
The overtime period was filled with high-flying, end-to-end action and with decent scoring opportunities for both teams, but the goaltenders, the story of the night, would come up big to send the game to a shootout.
The shootout would be won for the Capitals by a less-than-likely hero. After T.J. Oshie, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin all had their attempts (Oshie had the only goal), Jakub Vrana would take center ice and bring down the curtain in the fifth round.
V. IS. FILTHY. pic.twitter.com/LRDg9sOsQx
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 17, 2019
Vrana spoke about his game-winner following the game. He said he thought he would need to try something different.
Video: @Capitals
Travis Boyd, who was re-called from Hershey earlier in the day on Saturday, and scored the Capitals first goal of the game, was asked about Vrana’s shootout attempt. Boyd would call it “mad nasty”.
Video: @Capitals
Following the game, fans on social media were quick to agree with Capitals announcer Joe Beninati, who immediately likened Vrana’s goal to a goal scored by “The Magic Man”, Pavel Datsyuk. NBC Sports Washington would even prepare a side-by-side comparison of the two #13 goal scorers:
Iconic #13’s @Datsyuk13 @JVranaa pic.twitter.com/1BHXw4cdVo
— NBC Sports Capitals (@NBCSCapitals) November 17, 2019
It’s really somewhat surprising Vrana has always been so far down the lineup for shootouts. He’s demonstrated quality attempts his entire career. He may be most famous for a shootout attempt he made in the 2014 Capitals development camp scrimmage.
This is a classic, but it was on my desoktop, so….Vrana’s shootout in dev. camp a few years back. #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/UNegR8kazi
— NoVa Caps (@NoVa_Caps) November 17, 2019
With the win, the Capitals improved their record to 15-3-4 (34 points) on the season, and maintain a five-point lead over the second place, red-hot New York Islanders in the Metropolitan Division.
The Capitals have the day off on Sunday, before they host the Anaheim Ducks on Monday at Capital One Arena. Puck drop is set for just after 7:00 PM.
The complete shootout:
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