Photo by John McCreary/NHLI via Getty Images
The Washington Capitals fell to the Ottawa Senators by a score of 3-2 in overtime as their losing-streak extended to six games (0-4-2). Washington fell to 36-30-11 (.539 points percentage) this season. Goaltender Charlie Lindgren pitched 18 saves in the loss. Ottawa was already eliminated from postseason contention.
Washington’s Lines
Alex Ovechkin — Dylan Strome — Tom Wilson
Mike Sgarbossa — Connor McMichael — Aliaksei Protas
Max Pacioretty — Hendrix Lapierre — Sonny Milano
Beck Malenstyn — Nic Dowd — Ivan Miroshnichenko
Martin Fehervary — John Carlson
Rasmus Sandin — Nick Jensen
Alexander Alexeyev — Trevor Van Riemsdyk
Lindgren
Darcy Kuemper
Scratched: RW Nicolas Aube-Kubel, D Vinny Iorio
Out: D Ethan Bear (NHLPA players assistance program), C Nicklas Backstrom (hip), RW T.J. Oshie (undisclosed)
Ottawa’s Lines
Brady Tkachuk — Ridley Greig — Claude Giroux
Dominik Kubalik — Shane Pinto — Drake Batherson
Boris Katchouk — Mathieu Joseph — Parker Kelly
Bokondji Imama — Mark Kastelic — Jiri Smejkal
Jake Sanderson — Artem Zub
Thomas Chabot — Erik Brannstrom
Jakob Chychrun — Jacob Bernard-Docker
Joonas Korpisalo
Anton Forsberg
Scratched: N/A
Out: D Travis Hamonic (undisclosed), C Tim Stutzle (upper-body), RW Matthew Highmore (upper-body), RW Zack MacEwen (lower-body), LW Angus Crookshank (lower-body)
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring
4:43, 1-0 Washington: After Sanderson turned the puck over to Milano behind the net, Milano fed Lapierre, who was at the left post and set up Pacioretty, who hammered the one-timer in the slot. Lapierre earned his fifth assist in his last seven games and has two goals and three points in two games vs. Ottawa this season. With his 330th career goal, Pacioretty passing Kevin Stevens for the 20th-most goals by an American-born player in NHL history.
BANG-BANG PATCHES pic.twitter.com/kfsoZAnBC5
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) April 7, 2024
Shots: 5-4 Ottawa
Other Notable Stats: 14-11 Washington in hits, 7-3 Washington in blocked shots
Sunlight was somehow bleeding into Capital One arena and was blinding Joonas Korpisalo 😭 pic.twitter.com/dSM4YS09Tn
— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) April 7, 2024
Screenshots: Natural StatTrick
Sandin got crosschecked at the Ottawa bench and did not return with an upper-body injury.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring
5:40, 1-1: Kastellic executed a give-and-go through the neutral zone with Chychrun and finished the play in front of the goal after deking to the backhand.
Slick backhand Kasty 🤌#GoSensGo pic.twitter.com/UnksmeX0c0
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) April 7, 2024
With 9:24 left, Lindgren sprawled across the crease on a two-on-0 rush to deny Giroux with the right pad at the post.
👨🏻 splits pic.twitter.com/IOy2aDmUIz
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) April 7, 2024
17:10, 2-1 Washington: Protas tapped one into a wide open net in front after Korpisalo swatted away Van Riemsdyk‘s point shot. Protas has recorded four points (two goals) in three career games against Ottawa, which is tied with Columbus for the most points he has registered against a single opponent.
#ALLCAPS 2-1. PROTAS GIVES US THE LEAD. LETS GO pic.twitter.com/zFkm8WOiNL
— Capitals Replays (@capsreplays) April 7, 2024
Shots: 12-11 Washington, including 8-6 in the second
Other Notable Stats: 59% Ottawa on faceoffs, 14-8 Washington in hits, 24-19 Ottawa in hits
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring
12:49, 2-2 (PPG): Grieg ripped a wrist shot that went over the glove of Lindgren with Joseph providing a screen to finish off a triangulation passing play with Pinto and
Honey Badger sighting in Washington 🦡#GoSensGo pic.twitter.com/No6tNHkUUr
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) April 8, 2024
Shots: 21-19 Washington, including 9-8 in the third
Other Notable Stats: 21-12 Washington in blocked shots, 39-24 Ottawa in hits, neither team scored on the power play (Washington: three opportunities, Ottawa: two), Ottawa won 62% of faceoffs
OVERTIME
Scoring
Sanderson regrouped and fired a wrister under the arm of Lindgren after patiently waiting for a screen to develop in front.
Shots: 21-20 Washington, but 1-0 Ottawa in overtime
Jake Sanderson gets it done in OT for the Sens! pic.twitter.com/oSAdAHGwO0
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) April 8, 2024
Standings
Washington tied the Philadelphia Flyers (with a game in hand) and Pittsburgh Penguins (each team has played 77 games) for the third wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference in addition to coming one short of the Detroit Red Wings (77) for the second. The team padded their four- and five-point leads over the Buffalo Sabres (with one) and New Jersey Devils (77), respectively. Washington is also trailing the New York Islanders (77) by a point for third place in the Metropolitan Division.
Next game: Tuesday at Detroit (7 PM ET, ESPN)
By Harrison Brown
Oh man that one hurts
Draft position keeps getting better and better
The Hershey Bears’ 3-2 victory over the Iowa Wild yesterday marks the fourth time in franchise history that the Chocolate and White have reached the 50-win plateau in the regular season. Clay got the win in this second of a back-to-back, stopping 24 of 26. Frank and Strome scored in the shootout. Limoges and Snively scored regular goals. It was HC Nelson’s 700th AHL game.
Clay had stopped 20 of 22 the night before as the Bears beat Iowa 7-2. Day, Limoges, Vecchione, Rybinski, and Frank, Frank, Frank got goals. This was Frank’s third career hat trick and second this year.
Next game Friday.
A very positive note on the Bears. Hope they can win their second consecutive Calder Cup. They have the talent to do it.
I’d say the Caps playoff chances are virtually kaput. Seems like they are a different team sans Oshie, as in a bad team. (I just hope somebody, anybody dumps Pittsburgh. I don’t care who it is at this point.)
we may find post season that players were dealing with a lot of injuries, that no one was playing at 100%. Osh certainly isn’t. But they have not played like a team fighting to make the playoffs.
Down With Pits!
There’s a third wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, as the article reads??? Let me at ‘em! 🤩
Last year Frank got a hat trick on goals 28, 29, and 30. This year it came on goals 26, 27, and 28. But more importantly, it came in front of family and friends. Ethen is from Nebraska and his parents, his sister, and some friends were in the stands to watch him get it.
IMO, the team needs to consider player size in acquiring new players. It seems like we have a small team overall, leading to more injuries perhaps.