Photo: @Capitals/Twitter
The Washington Capitals fell to the Minnesota Wild by a score of 4-2 Tuesday night at Capital One Arena. The loss dropped the Capitals’ record to 24-17-6 and 54 points on the season. Goaltender Charlie Lindgren made 18 saves in the loss.
Lines & Pairs
Alex Ovechkin — Dylan Strome — Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Sonny Milano — Nicklas Backstrom — Tom Wilson
Conor Sheary — Lars Eller — T.J. Oshie
Marcus Johansson — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Garnet Hathaway
Erik Gustafsson — Trevor van Riemsdyk
Dmitry Orlov — Nick Jensen
Matt Irwin — Martin Fehervary
Charlie Lindgren
Darcy Kuemper
Scratches: Right-wing Anthony Mantha and defenseman Alexander Alexeyev
Injuries: Left-wing Carl Hagelin (hip), right-wing Connor Brown (ACL), defenseman John Carlson (upper body), and center Nic Dowd (lower body)
First Period
Fehervary (4) gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead late in the opening frame. Ovechkin (21) and van Riemsdyk (7) assisted.
a saucy give & go to put the @Capitals up 1-0#CapsWild pic.twitter.com/Ti69saxF8Y
— NBC Sports Capitals (@NBCSCapitals) January 18, 2023
Quick Stats
SOG: 13-2 Capitals
Face-Off Win %: 53% (Capitals), 47% (Wild)
Hits: 14-12 Wild
Second Period
Minnesota’s Jared Spurgeon tied the game at 1-1 just fifty seconds into the middle frame.
ALL TIED 🆙#mnwild | #NHL pic.twitter.com/17HwO18rZz
— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) January 18, 2023
At the 5:05 mark, Strome (9) gave the Capitals a 2-1 lead off assists from Fehervary (5) and Ovechkin (22).
dazzling dylan! pic.twitter.com/tcDK1Xbrrg
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 18, 2023
The Wild would get one back with a goal from defenseman Jonas Brodin at the 13:12 mark, tying the game at 2-2.
Skating circles around the Caps… Literally!
Brodin ties things up at 2⃣ #mnwild pic.twitter.com/X2aW4ukyZg
— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) January 18, 2023
Spurgeon would notch his second goal of the evening to give the Wild a 3-2 lead with under two minutes left.
OH CAPTAIN 🫡
Second goal of the night for Jared Spurgeon! #mnwild pic.twitter.com/srl7s2ETvM
— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) January 18, 2023
Quick Stats
Total SOG: 21-14 Capitals
Face-Off Win %: 53% (Capitals), 47% (Wild)
Total Hits: 26-26
Third Period
Minnesota would add an empty net goal for a 4-2 final.
Quick Stats
Total SOG: 35-22 Capitals
Face-Off Win %: 50%-50%
Total Hits: 33-31 Wild
Notes Through the Game
- Tonight marked Johansson’s 800th NHL game.
- Capitals defensemen have combined for 27 goals this season, which is tied for the highest total in the NHL (Carolina Hurricanes: 27; New York Islanders: 27; Florida Panthers: 27).
- van Riemsdyk recorded his 100th career point on the Capitals’ first goal.
- Six of Strome’s nine goals this season have come in the second period.
- Fehervary registered his second career multi-point game.
- Ovechkin has recorded multiple points in 15 of the Capitals’ 47 games.
The Capitals kick off a three-game western road trip on Thursday, clashing with the Arizona Coyotes at Mullett Arena. NBC Sports Washington will have the coverage beginning at 9 PM ET.
By Della Young
So close, and yet so far away.
Tough game. Good team, well rested, Caps, 2nd game in 24 hours.
Old farts can’t play back to back.
No Manta no wins, coincidence?
Did everything well except win tonight.
No puck luck, today. Another game of getting stopped by a hot goalie. (It seems they’ve run into a lot of hot goalies lately.
Were the Washington Capitals’ lines chosen by the following method?
1) Assume Alexander Ovechkin is first left wing.
2) Write down the names of our four centers and put in a pile
3) Write down the names of our remaining three left wings and put in another pile
4) Write down the names of the four right wings to be used and put in another pile
5) Draw one name from each pile.
Voila, you had tonight’s lines! (Given that Kuznetsov was on the fourth line, could that be an explanation or they punishing Kuznetsov by sticking him on the fourth line?)
Caps played well overall. No complaints about the effort.
I don’t expect the Caps to make the playoffs but they could sneak in. I hope they do but if they don’t I’d love the Caps to land a high draft pick. We need young stars.
As this stage, Kuzy is a great 2C. Backstrom and Strome are solid 2C’s. We don’t have a legit 1C. Ovie is an elite 1st liner offensively. Wilson’s game is taking form. Sheary is a godsend with his cheap contract. Milano has shown he can contribute and I wouldn’t mind keeping him around if he’s cheap. He’s probably a 15 goal guy.
NAK can play. Hathaway has been great all year. He’s getting older so not sure what to do with him. Dowd has been good as well.
The D is built to skate and move the puck. They do that well. They’re very short on muscle. The goalies have been good.
It’s a ragtag bunch. They have played as well as I could hope. I don’t see many long-term pieces to build around. Strome is cool if he’ll resign at a reasonable salary and term. He’s a 15 goal, 40 assist guy. What’s that worth? Will McMichael or Lapierre give us that?
The Caps badly need to get younger. They are barely holding together this year. Surely many of these older players will decline sharply in the next year or two.
Here here Lance. I am just enjoying the ride. Hoping they make the playoffs and do well while in, but if they miss, there is upside. With so many free agents, this will really provide the opportunity to reshape the roster whether the Caps make the playoffs or not. As much as I think a legit top center is a priority, if the Caps sign a legit center, then I don’t know what they do with their current crop of centers – Kuzy, Strome, 19, Protas, CMM and LaPierre
Yeah the center position is just so important in the NHL. Backstrom is the best we’ve ever had. Kuzy was the best we’ve ever had in a playoff run. Bengt Gustafsson was fantastic. Fedorov still had some juice left in the tank.
You have to draft those players. Almost always. Strome is a good player and a good signing but he’s never gonna be a 1C. And we are gonna need a 1C.