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Washington Capitals Fall to Wild 2-1

ByMichael Marzzacco|
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 22: Minnesota Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk (40) gives up a second period goal by Washington Capitals right wing Brett Connolly (10) on March 22, 2019, at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 22: Minnesota Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk (40) gives up a second period goal by Washington Capitals right wing Brett Connolly (10) on March 22, 2019, at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Remember that Washington Capitals game on Wednesday night against the Lightning? That was fun.

Wednesday’s Washington Capitals game against the Lightning was a tough act to follow and Friday night proved that. The Capitals played the Lightning tough and that game might be a playoff preview. The Minnesota Wild, Washington’s opponent Friday night, isn’t even in the same conference but they had more to play for. They came away with a 2-1 win to move into a Western Conference wild card spot.

Jordan Greenway gave the Wild a 1-0 lead at 16:33 in the opening period. After Capitals defenseman Brooks Orpik turned the puck over in center ice, Greenway glided down the ice, steered around Tom Wilson and put the puck past the stick of Braden Holtby.

Shots were even at six in the opening period. The Capitals had a much better second period and they were rewarded thanks to Brett Connolly, who’s been on fire lately. T.J. Oshie flung a pass to Nick Jensen. Jensen shot the puck and Connolly was right in front to deflect it in for his 21st goal of the season.

Connolly’s goal was his fourth goal in his last five games. The second period was easily the Capitals’ best period of the night. They outshot the Wild 15-9.

The Wild took the lead for good at 12:25 in the third period. Zach Parise fed the puck to Luke Kunin ahead of the defense to put it in.

That would be all the Wild needed as they defeated the Capitals 2-1. After the Capitals put up a franchise-record 58 shots in their game Wednesday night against the Lightning, Washington only mustered 22 shots compared to Minnesota’s 27.

Holtby stopped 25 of the 27 shots he faced for a .926 save percentage. Holtby has dropped his last three starts, granted the second one was in overtime. He needs to snap out of this small funk soon before the playoffs. He did last year and I have faith he’ll do so again.

This loss also makes Sunday’s Capitals game against the Flyers very important. The Capitals hope to lock up the Metropolitan Division with the recent slide by the Islanders. They cannot afford to drop three in a row on home ice. The Flyers are fighting for their playoff lives and they’ll be hungry to salvage a game in Washington.

Puck drop on Sunday is at 12:30 p.m. and will be nationally televised on NBC.

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