Jakub Vrana
Something rare happened on Saturday night. Nope I’m not talking about a Capitals loss or even Jakub Vrana scoring another goal. It was the type of goal Vrana scored that was different. For the first time this season and in over a year, Vrana scored on the power play.
After Miles Wood was called for high sticking Richard Panik at 6:17 in the second period, the top unit went on the attack. After some commotion in front of the net, Vrana was there to rebound the puck in the net backhanded style.
It was Vrana’s 20th goal of the season and his fifth goal in his last five games. It was also Vrana’s first power play goal since Jan. 8, 2019 when the Caps beat the Philadelphia Flyers.
Vrana joins Alex Ovechkin as the only other Capital to join the 20-goal club. It took Vrana 46 games to reach 20 goals compared to 70 games last season. 19 of Vrana’s 20 goals have come on even strength, ranking him tied with David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins for third in the league in even strength goals.
V backhand! pic.twitter.com/NvwqDE6rn9
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 12, 2020
Vrana is the only player to have 42 even strength goals over the last two seasons while scoring just two power play goals.