The Washington Capitals returned to the ice in what turned out to be a sloppy season-opener. They fell to the
The Washington Capitals returned to the ice in what turned out to be a sloppy season-opener. They fell to the Boston Bruins 3-1.
The Capitals may have finished with the top record in the Eastern Conference last year. However, that same team just didn’t show up on Wednesday night. The team just lacked energy and chemistry for a majority of the contest.
The visitors struck first in the second period when David Pastrnak fired a wrist shot from the blue line past Logan Thompson.
The one bright spot is Tom Wilson scoring the lone Washington goal in the third period. That tally tied it up at 1-1.
However, the Caps had to go on the penalty kill soon after, and gave up a Bruins power play goal courtesy of Elias Lindholm. Boston eventually sealed it with a Morgan Geekie empty-netter.
Washington was also no match against Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman for the most part. He stopped 35 of the Caps’ 36 shots that went his way.
This was the first win for Boston’s new head coach, former franchise player Marco Sturm. It’s clear that Sturm had the coaching advantage over Spencer Carbery on the evening.
Capitals Analysis
The Capitals went 0-for-5 on the power play, as the team just looked very disjointed and lacked chemistry. Problems on the man advantage involved clean entries, maintaining possession, and getting high-quality chances.
Alex Ovechkin has been a highlight on the power play for his whole career. But tonight he only spent a full two minutes on one opportunity. He got off the ice with the rest of the first unit when it was time for a change.
“I thought there were some decent looks on the power play,” said Carbery. “Obviously we need our power play to capitalize there. We need something from our power play in that game, especially when you get that many early in the game, that you need to assert yourself in those moments and grab a lead, and we didn’t.”
But it wasn’t just the power play, Washington also struggled on the 5-on-5. The team struggled on chances as they held on to the puck too long or tried to make the perfect play.
Things were so bad to the point where Carbery had to adjust forward lines in the third period. Here is what they looked like:
Connor McMichael-Dylan Strome-Alex Ovechkin
Aliaksei Protas-Pierre-Luc Dubois-Tom Wilson
Anthony Beauvillier-Hendrix Lapierre-Justin Sourdif
Brandon Duhaime-Nic Dowd-Ryan Leonard
Carbery highlighted postgame how poor puck play in the neutral zone led to turnovers early on.
“I started to move things around, because you can tell guys are off early in the game,” said Carbery. “I can tell it right away with the first couple shifts. You want guys to be able to work their way through it. As it moves, now I’m looking for chemistry. Now I’m looking for guys that are going and trying to get them together to try to score.”
Luckily, the second line generated a goal in the third, thanks to Wilson. But it just wasn’t enough, as Lindholm’s power play goal and Geekie’s empty-netter sealed it.
On the bright side, it’s only the first of 82 games in an NHL season. The Capitals still have time to get it together.
Capitals Report Card
Team: D
The team in general looked sloppy both at even strength and on special teams. Going 0-for-5 on the power play is inexcusable, while giving up the go-ahead tally on the penalty kill just hurts.
Tom Wilson: A
Wilson scored the game-tying goal in the third period, as he sniped a top corner shot past Swayman from the right circle. He was also physical and played a strong two-way game. The 31-year-old looks to be back on track for another stellar season.
Logan Thompson: B
Thompson was the man between the pipes for the Caps on Wednesday night. He did all he could by making 16 saves, but gave up two costly goals. However, he made some highlight saves like when Viktor Arvidsson went on the breakaway.
Needs Improvement
Alex Ovechkin, who just turned 40, looked rusty with the puck in the first game of his 21st season. Let’s just hope he’s just getting back into the swing of things before he reaches 900.
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