Capitals: Top 3 heroes against Avalanche

You missed these right? Well we’re back after another big Washington Capitals win with the top stars of the game.

The Washington Capitals overcame a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Colorado Avalanche with three unanswered goals. Both goals were allowed in the first period and who else but Andre Burakovsky to open up the scoring?

The Caps got on the board with a power play goal from Nicklas Backstrom in the second period. They added two more in the third with Tom Wilson and T.J. Oshie each deflecting in shots to help the Caps steal another road win. Braden Holtby stood tall in net with 32 saves.

They must’ve read our story about them being among the league’s worst power play if they were able to score two power play goals. We still have to wait for Alex Ovechkin to get his 700th goal which could come either in Arizona or Las Vegas.

Holtby had a .941 save percentage last night and improved his record to 21-11-4. It was another good outing that he needed and he’s won two of his last three games.

Winning was a team effort across the board but here are the top 3 heroes from Washington’s 3-2 win over the Avalanche.

Nicklas Backstrom

Nicklas Backstrom started the comeback in the second period. He noted to Rick Sadowski of NHL.com on the first period woes:

“I think it was not acceptable. The way we’ve been playing lately too, it’s not acceptable. We’ve been talking about details and stuff like that, and we’re going out in the first period and we’re not even there, and I think in this League you have to be aware of what you’re doing out there at all times. I think we bounced back pretty good after that and worked ourselves into the game.”

At 10:32 in the second period the Caps got a power play opportunity when Tyson Jost was called for high sticking Nicklas Backstrom. Backstrom made them pay with a good drive to the net. Jakub Vrana threaded the perfect pass from the other side of the boards to Backstrom before he banged it in at 11:37 for his 11th of the season.

That power play goal would be the first of two they would convert on five tries. Again, they must’ve saw the story and thought “oh no we’re a much better power play unit than that.” The key here to this power play execution is Jakub Vrana getting power play time. We’ll see V PPGs soon from the even strength king.

But again this is about Backstrom, who helped finish that play to start the comeback.

Tom Wilson

Tom Wilson earned the third star of the game but he’s the second star in our series. The Caps got a power play at 11:13 in the third period when Andre Burakvosky was called for high sticking T.J. Oshie.

Washington struck at 12:48 for their second power play goal of the night thanks to Tom Wilson redirecting in a shot from John Carlson to tie the game at two. Lars Eller helped set it up and got the secondary assist.

Wilson was all over the ice in 20:28 minutes of play. He won 50 percent of his draws, had three blocks, dished out a hit and had four shots on goal. He now has 17 goals on the season. He not only saw ice time on the power play but on the penalty kill as well and helped the Caps kill off three out of four penalties.

Tom Wilson’s goal was his fourth power play goal of the season which is a new single-season career high. He’s truly evolved in his game from an enforcer to an offensive threat on the top line with Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom.

This was too easy honestly and the top star is none other than the one who had the game winner.