Capitals Rally Falls Short, Lose To Flames, 4-3 In OT

Posted on October 23, 2021 by Jon Sorensen
Photo: John McCreary/NHLI via Getty Images

The Washington Capitals fell to the Calgary Flames, 4-3 (OT), Saturday afternoon at Capital One Arena. The overtime loss drops the Capitals record to 3-0-2 (8 points) on the season.

The Flames jumped on the Capitals quickly with goals from Andrew Mangiapane and Elias Lindholm in a 92-second span. Elias Lindholm would score a second tally in the first frame to give the Flames at 3-0 lead at the first intermission.

Evgeny Kuztnetsov would close the gap to two goals with a shorthanded tally less than three minutes into the middle frame. Martin Fehervary would close the gap to a goal with his first career NHL goal and Alex Ovechkin would tie the game, 3-3, just before the second intermission.

The third period would go scoreless. The Flames would win it in overtime, 4-3.

GAME STATS

STARTERS

Vitek Vanecek (2-0-1, 1.30 GAA, .946 SV%) got the start between the pipes for the Capitals. Dan Vladar (0-0-0, 0.00 GAA, .000 SV%) got the start in goal for the visiting Flames. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Capitals.

Scratches: Hendrix Lapierre, Dennis Cholowski, Matt Irwin.

FIRST PERIOD

The Flames opened the scoring with a power play goal from Andrew Mangiapane (3) at 9:27 of the first frame. Noah Hanifin (1) and Mikael Backlund (1) had the helpers. The power play came on a questionable roughing call on Garnet Hathaway.

92 seconds later the Flames would make it 2-0 with an even-strength tally from Elias Lindholm (4) at 10:59 of the first period. Johnny Gaudreau (5) had the lone assist.

Elias Lindholm would stretch the Flames lead to 3-0 with a shorthanded goal at 17:18 of the first frame. It was Lindholm’s second goal of the game.

The first period would end with the Flames leading 3-0. The Flames led in shots 14-9 in the first frame. The Capitals led in xGF 67.69% to 32.31%.

SECOND PERIOD

Ilya Samsonov relieved Vitek Vanecek in goal to start the second period.

The Capitals finally got on the scoreboard with a shorthanded goal from Evgeny Kuznetsov (4) at 2:55 of the second period. The goal was unassisted.

The Capitals closed the gap to a single goal with a tally from Martin Fehervary (1) at 7:48 of the second period. Tom Wilson (6) and Alex Ovechkin (5) had the helpers. It was Fehervary’s first career NHL goal.

The Capitals would then tie the game with a goal from Alex Ovechkin (5) at 18:03 of the second period.

The period concluded with the game tied 3-3. The Capitals led in shot attempts 16-11 and led expected goals for percentage 79.6% to 20.4% for the period.

THIRD PERIOD

The final frame would go scoreless. Calgary led in shots 7-5.

OVERTIME

The Flames would win in overtime. Elias Lindholm would score the game-winner. Lindholm would also complete the hat trick for the game.

The Capitals are back in action on Monday when they visit the Senators in Ottawa. Puck drop is just after 7:00 PM.

SHAVINGS

  • Kuznetsov’s first SHG since March 26, 2018 at MSG vs. Rangers, and the third of his career. His first NHL goal was also a shorty.
  • Martin Fehervary scored to cut Calgary’s lead to 3-2, marking Fehervary’s first career goal.
  • Alex Ovechkin tied the game 3-3 with his fifth goal this season in as many games. He’s now seven goals shy of passing Brett Hull (741g) for the fourth-most goals in NHL history.
  • Alex Ovechkin recorded the secondary assist on Fehervary’s goal. He’s now five assists shy of 600 career assists.
  • With Tom Wilson’s assist on Fehervary’s goal, Wilson is currently on a four-game assist streak (6a).

SCENES FROM THE DISTRICT

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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6 Responses to Capitals Rally Falls Short, Lose To Flames, 4-3 In OT

  1. Jon Sorensen says:
    October 23, 2021 at 4:45 pm

    Reply
  2. Anonymous says:
    October 23, 2021 at 5:45 pm

    Good rally for the point. Still no regulation losses.

    Reply
  3. DC Scappeli says:
    October 23, 2021 at 6:08 pm

    1. Felt like the team hung Vanecek out to dry there with sloppy play. The one PPG was a joke since it was a bad penalty call by the refs on Orly, but thems the breaks.

    2. Good come back and fight by the team. I wonder what Lavi said in the intermission.

    3. Fehevary is pretty solid so far, glad to see him get one.

    4. The power play looked kind of mehhh, they had trouble setting up but give credit to CGY’s penalty kill unit too.

    5. Kuzy is on fire! I’ve noticed he’s attacking the net more now; I wonder if Lavi and the coaches told him to be more aggressive and shoot more (something I wish Backstrom would do). I don’t see him curling off as he has as in recent seasons. Game might have been different had Kuzy scored in the first, but alas, it hit the post….

    Reply

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