Two evenings ago, Jakub Vrana nearly notched his first career hat trick. On Sunday night, the Washington Capitals left winger would not be denied.
The Washington Capitals defeated the Calgary Flames 4-2 to win their fourth game in a row. Evgeny Kuznetsov assisted on two of Jakub Vrana‘s three goals in the win.
The Flames struck first on Andrew Mangiapane‘s third goal of the season at 5:40. The Caps tied it at 11:01 with Kuznetsov and Vrana using their speed to get ahead of the defense. Kuznetsov fed Vrana, who was charging up the middle, to get things started.
“That’s my bread and butter, you know? That’s all I can say. I see him wide open, and when you have a guy like that hot – he had a couple of goals last game – you’ve just got to give it to him. He will deliver it. As long as he stays hot, we’re in pretty good shape,” Kuznetsov told Mike Vogel of WashingtonCaps.com.
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At 15:08, Vrana notched his second goal of the game with a perfect shot following a turnover with the puck sailing over the head of Calgary goaltender Cam Talbot.
Elias Lindholm tied it at 19:59 or 1.2 seconds left in the first period and 2-2 was the score after 20. The Caps outshot the Flames 10-8 in the opening period.
The Caps took the lead at 15:05 of the second period with Vrana completing the hat trick, the first time he’s achieved it in his career.
Vrana’s form was perfect as he got a pass from Michal Kempny and Kuznetsov, charged down the ice on a breakaway and followed through when he missed his first shot by banging in his own rebound for his ninth goal of the season. It brought down the house and even made the World Series champion Nationals go wild.
HAT TRICK VRANA CANNOT BE TAMED!!!! pic.twitter.com/KGiis4b6Az
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 4, 2019
3-2 was the score heading into the final period with the Caps outshooting the Flames 13-11.
The Capitals capped off the scoring when they went on the power play in the third after Mikael Backlund was called for tripping Nicklas Backstrom 55 seconds in. At 2:20 the goal came with a backdoor snipe from Lars Eller off a pass from Tom Wilson for his fifth goal of the season.
The Caps outshot the Flames 9-8 in the third period and 32-27 overall. Ilya Samsonov got the win stopping 25 of 27 shots for a .926 save percentage. The Capitals penalty kill staved off both Flames power play attacks. The Capitals also killed it on the face-off dot winning the battles 54%-46%.