Washington Capitals win season opener on Jakub Vrana’s clutch OT goal

Wow. What a start to the season Washington Capitals fans. Rallying from 2-0, the team completed an epic comeback capped off by a game-winner in overtime from Jakub Vrana.

In a night that was celebrated by St. Louis Blues fans for their recent Stanley Cup championship, the Washington Capitals crashed the party and left the Lou with a 3-2 win thanks to Jakub Vrana and a comeback effort by a band of brothers on a mission to reclaim Lord Stanley’s Chalice.

The Caps found themselves in an early hole when Sammy Blais lit the lamp 53 seconds in.

At 6:40, Jonas Siegenthaler headed to the box for slashing Alex Pietrangelo putting the penalty kill to the test for the first time. Pietrangelo struck to double their lead.

Alex Ovechkin got the Capitals on the board later in the period with a wicked fake and slight deke before firing the puck in the net.

The second period looked much more like Capitals hockey. They outshot the Blues 15-8 in the middle stanza and squared the game at two apiece on a blast from downtown by Dmitry Orlov on the power play.

The third period was scoreless and the game headed to overtime. In the extra session, Jakub Vrana rebounded from a missed attempt and Jake the Snake slithered around and his shot trickled through to win the game.

Vrana told Samantha Pell of The Washington Post after the game:

“Like, I just tried to do what I can do best and I don’t really … he make some saves, you’re right, you’re right, but the last one he didn’t.”

Braden Holtby stood tall in his season debut. He stopped 20-of-22 shots for a .909 save percentage.

Inside the locker room, the Caps are doing a tradition this season where they give out a hard hat to the hero of the game. Ovechkin presented the hat to Martin Fehervary, the 19-year old rookie who made his NHL debut. He played 13:35 had two shots and recorded his first NHL hit. The defenseman is getting an opportunity until Michal Kempny is 100% ready.

The hard hat is actually a Washington Nationals batting helmet which is perfect as the ballclub tries to chase a World Series. They had quite the win themselves Tuesday night.

The Capitals will head to the Island to take on Barry Trotz and the New York Islanders in a Friday night showdown. We’ll get to see the debut of 2015 first round pick Ilya Samsonov.