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Washington Capitals vs Vancouver Canucks Post Game Recap: A Capital Sized Defeat
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Cole Marton
Oct 23, 2018, 02:14 EDT
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The Rundown

After a gritty effort in their win against the Boston Bruins a few nights ago, the Vancouver Canucks had to host another top-tier team from the Eastern Conference this evening as the defending Stanley Cup champions came into Vancouver. The Washington Capitals were another tough test for a team off to a surprisingly strong start to the season, and another opportunity to showcase themselves around the league.

1st Period

Right away, there was some feistiness with Antoine Roussel getting into a little tilt with Michal Kempny just under a minute into the period. Both players would receive roughing minors on the play, sending the teams to 4 on 4 early in the game. A little over a minute later, Troy Stecher would get burned on a pinch in the Capitals zone, and Jacob Vrana received a pass and came in on a 2 on 1 opportunity. After taking a quick look, he sent the puck to a streaking John Carlson who tipped it past Anders Nilsson to give the Capitals a 1-0 lead.
The Canucks didn’t relent pressure after the goal and nearly tied the game when Nikolay Goldobin made a nifty move and fed Bo Horvat the puck in the offensive zone. Horvat would proceed to make a power move to the net only to be stopped by Braden Holtby on the doorstep. The Canucks kept up the pressure, and shortly after the Horvat chance, Brooks Orpik would stick his leg out and collide with Markus Granlund. Orpik would be given a penalty on the play, which sent the Canucks to their first power-play opportunity in 2 games. The Canucks power-play was strong, but the only shot by Brock Boeser was kicked out by Holtby. No goal would be scored with the man advantage.
The 1st period would continue along without much to it. A few good chances from the Capitals would put the Canucks on their heels, with none better than a TJ Oshie shot that rung off the crossbar, but no change in the score.
The next notable event of the period would come with 5 minutes left, as Horvat was forced to take down Oshie while he cut through the slot towards the Vancouver goal, which allowed the league’s best power-play to go to work. A great save by Nilsson 30 seconds into the man advantage wouldn’t allow the Capitals to extend their lead, and the Vancouver penalty kill would complete the task at hand and killed the remainder of the penalty. The period would come to a close with the Canucks trailing the Capitals 1-0.

2nd Period

The 2nd period saw both teams try to break the other’s will early, and would see the Canucks Adam Gaudette driving to the net which drew a tripping minor against Carlson around 3 minutes into the period. On the Canucks 2nd power-play of the evening, they didn’t look as strong as earlier and would fail to capitalize. The Canucks would then see Goldobin again setting up Horvat, and just like before Holtby was there to shut the door.
Holtby wouldn’t make every save tonight, and it’d be a weird deflection to put the Canucks on the board. Just under 8 minutes in, it’d be Stecher sending a shot towards the goal. The puck would bounce off former Canuck Nick Dowd’s glove and past Holtby to tie the game at 1!
The next minute and a half would be all Capitals, with the end result of their efforts being another power-play opportunity when Erik Gudbranson would be called for a cross-checking minor. On the Capitals 2nd chance with the man advantage, they’d make no mistake. Only 30 seconds into their power-play, the puck would be worked to Evgeny Kuznetsov who’d rifle a one-timer under the arm of Nilsson to help the Caps retake the lead.
More back and forth play would follow, as the Canucks struggled to break through and find an answer to the skill of this Capitals team. One of the highlights of the period came off the ice though, with one of the merchants in the stands catching a puck while he was making his trip down the isles.
Wouldn’t be the only fancy handiwork in the building, as after a great chance goes by the wayside for Vancouver, the Capitals would come back down the ice, and it’d take a great glove save from Nilsson to keep this game at only a 1 goal deficit.
Unfortunately, the Capitals would strike again in the last minute of the second period. After a rebound got away from Nilsson, Ovechkin would crash the crease, only to have the puck bounce off his leg to give the Capitals a 3-1 lead. Brandon Sutter would draw a late penalty on Nicholas Backstrom, but the Canucks would trail by 2 heading into the 3rd period.

3rd Period

It’d only take 20 seconds for the Canucks to strike on their 3rd power-play of the evening. A Boeser slap shot was too much for Holtby to handle, and the rebound would land right on the stick of Sven Baertschi, who’d deposit the puck into the yawning cage to make it 3-2 with basically a full period to play.
A minute and a half later, it looked like Boeser was going to have a great opportunity to tie the game, but Edler would get called for an interference penalty, and the Capitals would be given their 3rd power-play to regain their 2 goal advantage. The Canucks would stand tall and be up to the challenge, keeping it a 1 goal game as they killed off the penalty, but after the Edler penalty expires, Stecher would immediately take a tripping minor and the Capitals would be sent right back to the power-play.
Vancouver could only play with fire so many times, and they’d be burned for a second time tonight while down a man. This time, it’d be Alex Ovechkin doing what he does best and blasting a one-timer from his spot just above the left circle. 4-2 Washington…
The rest of the 3rd period would see the Canucks unable to mount any sort of offensive pressure against the reigning cup champs, and Ovechkin would cap off a 4 point night by setting up Oshie for an empty net goal to give the Capitals the 5-2 win. Sven Baertschi would take a late penalty but nothing would come off the abbreviated power-play chance for Washington.

Advanced Stats

Both photos courtesy of naturalstattrick.com

Wrap Up

The Canucks have been a surprising team this year. They’ve pulled out some wins against some tough competition while on the road, and then pulled out a gutsy win over Boston. Tonight, the Canucks just couldn’t find that extra gear needed to propel them over the Capitals. A couple of missed opportunities right in front of Holtby, some misfortune with pucks bouncing over sticks, and too many penalties all led to the Canuck’s downfall.
There weren’t any truly awful performances, but in that same breath nobody stood out tonight. It was a game in which the Canucks were outclassed by a better opponent, and they just didn’t have an answer to the speed and skill Washington possessed. While Nilsson made some good saves, he struggled with his rebound control for a majority of the game, and couldn’t bail the overall team defense on a couple of key opportunities. Both goals on the power-play for Washington were absolute lasers from their star Russians, but the 3rd goal was one Nilsson probably wishes he had back. While Stecher was able to score a goal tonight, he was caught up the ice on the 1st Washington goal and was in the box when Ovechkin ripped home the Caps 4th goal. No one really stood out on offense tonight, and the Canucks couldn’t capitalize on a number of quality scoring chances other than the Baertschi rebound goal. 
All in all, a game Canucks fan shouldn’t be surprised at; the better team won tonight.

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