Washington Capitals: Dmitry Orlov’s Goal Ignites Russia Rally

Washington Capitals defenseman Dmitry Orlov did it again for Team Russia in the IIHF Worlds on Saturday night.

With Team Russia trailing 1-0, Dmitry Orlov tied the game and the team never looked back. Team Russia, featuring other Washington Capitals Evgeny Kuznetsov and Alex Ovechkin, rode a three-goal second period and that was all they needed for a 3-1 win over Latvia. Team Russia remains in first place in Group B.

Oskars Cibulskis put Team Latvia up 1-0 at 10:28 in the first period off a pass from Miks Indrasis. 1-0 would be the lead by Team Latvia after the first 20 minutes. Then the three-goal storm from Team Russia happened.

It started with a pass from Sergei Plotnikov to Ilya Kovalchuk for a one-timer blast. After Elvis Merzlikins made a save with his pads, the puck trickled back to Orlov near the line. That was when Orlov scored his first official goal of the tournament after scoring in preliminary play. The tally came 27 seconds into the second period.

More from International Tournaments

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• Washington Capitals: Three Players Win Bronze with Russia
• Washington Capitals: Five Players Go for the Gold

Minutes later, Team Russia took the lead. On a shot failed shot attempt by Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Evgeni Dadonov fed the loose puck to Nikita Gusev in front of the net to give Team Russia the 2-1 lead.

Later in the period Kucherov received a pass from Artyom Anisimov. Kucherov broke through the defense and scored a breakaway to cap off the scoring.

Team Russia outshot Team Latvia 33-27. Orlov finished with three shots in 32 shifts in 19:22 minutes of ice time and a +1. In five games in the tournament thus far, Orlov has four points (1 goal, 3 assists). Capitals teammates Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov also appeared in the game.

Ovechkin played 19:25 on 22 shifts with two shots. Kuznetsov played 15:59 on 18 shifts while recording a shot. Kuznetsov also committed a roughing penalty at 8:39 in the first period.

Team Russia plays Team Switzerland on Sunday at 2 p.m. eastern. Their finale before quarterfinals begin is on Tuesday against Team Sweden. Tomorrow you can also catch Jakub Vrana and Dmitrij Jaskin with the Czech Republic as they take on Team Austria at 10 a.m.

https://twitter.com/IIHFHockey/status/1129705282228051970

But the following mentioned aren’t the only ones within the Capitals organization on their roster. Mathias Bau who was a standout with the Hershey Bears last season is with Team Denmark, who lost 7-1 to Team USA but scored the game’s lone goal. Denmark will be counting on players like Bau to step up with Lars Eller’s injury.