Photo by Jeff Bottari/NHLI via Getty Images
The Washington Capitals fell to the Vegas Golden Knights, 4-3 (OT) Wednesday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The overtime loss drops the Capitals record to 43-23-11 (97 points) on the season.
The Capitals opened the scoring with a an early tally from Evgeny Kuznetsov, but the Knights would answer seven minutes later for a 1-1 tie at the first intermission.
Alex Ovechkin scored his 49th goal of the season, early in the middle frame, to give the Capitals a 2-1 lead at the second break.
The Knights struck quickly in the final frame to tie the game 2-2. Just 49 seconds later Chandler Stephenson would give the Knights their first lead of the game. Alex Ovechkin scored his second of the game and 50th of the season to tie the game 3-3 late in the third period. Regulation would end, tied 3-3.
Shea Theodore would win it for the Knights in overtime.
STATS
STARTERS
Ilya Samsonov (23-10-0-4, 2.97 GAA, .898 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the visiting Capitals. Robin Lehner (23-17-0-2, 2.83 GAA, .907 sv%) got the start in goal for the Knights. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Capitals:
Scratches: Connor McMichael, Axel Jonsson-Fjallby, Matt Irwin and Michal Kempny.
Injured: Carl Hagelin, Joe Snively.
FIRST PERIOD
The Capitals opened the scoring with a gritty rebound goal by Evgeny Kuznetsov (24) at 6:18 of the first frame. Alex Ovechkin (40) and Nick Jensen (15) had the helpers.
The Knights tied the game late in the first frame on a goal from Alex Martinez (2) at 13:51 of the first period. Zach Whitecloud (10) and Mattias Janmark (16) had the assists.
The Capitals appeared to answer two minutes later with a goal from John Carlson but the play was determined to be off sides.
The period would end tied 1-1. The Capitals led in shot attempts 19-16, scoring chances 10-6, high-danger chances, 5-3 and expected goals for, 1.1 to .5 in the first 20 minutes.
SECOND PERIOD
Logan Thompson replaced Robin Lehner in the Vegas crease to start the second period. Lehner stopped 12 of 13 in 20 minutes of work.
The Capitals regained the lead on a shorthanded goal from Alex Ovechkin (49) at 2:57 of the middle frame. Evgeny Kuznetsov (53) and Marcus Johansson (19) had the assists.
With the goal Ovechkin passed Teemu Selanne (48g in 2006-07) for the most goals in a single season by a player aged 36 or older in NHL history.
The period ended with the Capitals holding on to the 2-1 lead. The Knights led in shot attempts 19-17 in the second period. Scoring chances were tied 7-7. The Knights led in high-danger chances, 4-2 and expected goals for 1.07 to .55.
THIRD PERIOD
The Knights struck quickly to tie the game just 2:o5 into the final frame. Evgenii Dadonov (20) notched the tying tally. Shea Theodore (34) had the lone assist.
Just 49 seconds later the Knights would take their first lead of the game on a goal from former Capital Chandler Stephenson (19) at 2:54 of the final frame. Max Pacioretty (16) and Alex Pietrangelo (29) had the helpers.
The Capitals would tie the game on Alex Ovechkin’s second goal of the game and 50th of the season at 13:36 of the final frame. Dmitry Orlov (23) and Conor Sheary (23) had the assists.
Regulation would end with the game tied 3-3.
OVERTIME
Shea Theodore would win it for the Knights in overtime.
The Capitals are back in action on Friday when they visit the Coyotes in Arizona.
SHAVINGS
- The Capitals took a 1-0 lead with a goal from Evgeny Kuznetsov, his 24th of the season, three shy of tying his career high of 27 set in the 2017-18 season.
- Alex Ovechkin and Nick Jensen each picked up the assists on the Kuznetsov goal. Ovechkin has reached the 40 assist mark for the seventh time of his career and first since 2010-11 (53a), while Jensen has reached the 20-point mark for the second time in his career (2018-19: 20 points).
- Alex Ovechkin gave the Caps a 2-1 lead with his 49th goal of the season. He has passed Teemu Selanne (48g in 2006-07) for the most goals in a single season by a player aged 36 or older in NHL history.
- Ovechkin’s goal marks his first ever against goaltender Logan Thompson, the 160th goaltender Ovechkin has scored on in his career. There have been 6,741 skaters in NHL history with 160 or fewer goals scored in their career.
- Evgeny Kuznetsov and Marcus Johansson each picked up assists on Ovechkin’s goal, marking Kuznetsov’s second point of the night (1g, 1a). His 77 points on the season (24g, 53a) are tied for the second-most in a season in his career.
- Alex Ovechkin scored his second goal of the game and his 50th of the season to tie the game 3-3. It marks Ovechkin’s ninth 50-goal season, tying him with Wayne Gretzky and Mike Bossy for the most in NHL history.
- Tonight marked Ovechkin’s 158th career multi-goal game, tying Brett Hull for the second most multi-goal games in NHL history. Ovechkin now trails only Wayne Gretzky (189) for the most in NHL history.
- Ovechkin’s 50th goal of the season marked his 1,410th career point (780g, 630a), moving him past Dale Hawerchuk for the 20th-most points in NHL history.
That point could prove to be very costly. Pens still have tiebreaker.
It was imperative for the Caps to win, but alas, they got the loser point. Had a great chance to move up in the standings with Bos and Pitt playing tonight if they had gotten the 2 points.
It also looks like they are practicing playoff hockey, they were getting pucks deep for the most part and making Vegas play a 200 ft game. The team D looked a little shaky in front of Sammy in the beginning of the game, got better….still, Sammy has to hold onto his stick! Let’s go Caps!!!