Capitals survive second period scare against Senators in NHL 20 simulation

The Washington Capitals squandered a 3-0 lead in the second period but answered in the third thanks to Evgeny Kuznetsov in today’s NHL 20 simulation.

In this virtual NHL 20 game, we got our first look at rookie Washington Capitals netminder Ilya Samsonov and he had an impressive glove save early to keep the game scoreless. He only faced four shots in the opening 20 minutes with the Capitals outshooting the Senators 11-4.

T.J. Oshie thought he had a goal with 3:06 left in the first as he rebounded in a shot but ran into the blockers of Ottawa goalie Craig Anderson and the goal was waved off due to goaltender interference.

Oshie would later redeem himself putting the Caps up 1-0 with 6.2 seconds left before the first intermission. This time it was a rebound off a loose puck as Anderson was unable to corral it. Oshie was five feet away so this one counted.

More from Capitals News

• Breaking down the Rookie Camp roster
• Hear what Magic Johnson said about Alex Ovechkin
• Capitals announce Rookie Camp schedule
• Breaking down the 2023-24 Capitals national TV schedule
• Capitals Alumni Weekend is coming back

A celebrity guest was in the period as the broadcast team interviewed Snoop Dogg. Before he could finish answering his first question Oshie got his second goal of the game.

Oshie’s shot came from the right face-off circle for his 20th goal of the season. Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov had the helpers and the goal came 90 seconds into the second period.

Ovechkin made it 3-0 at 2:08 with a brilliant play in front of the net for his 37th of the season in this game and his 51st in our hearts. John Carlson and Kuznetsov had the helpers and it looked like the Caps were going to cruise to a win.

But the Senators would come back and rock the rookie with three unanswered goals to end the second period tied at 3-3. First, it was Chris Tierney at the seven-minute mark off a pass from Nikita Zaitsev. It was a nice shot top shelf right corner over the glove of Samsonov.

The Sens would close the deficit to within one at 12:05 on a shot from Mikkel Boedker that trickled right through Samsonov’s pads. 46 seconds later it was a tie game thanks to Vladislav Namestnikov for reasons I don’t understand since he plays on the Colorado Avalanche in the real world. He was dealt at the deadline.

3-3 was the score after two periods with the Caps having the edge in shots overall 18-12.

In the third Kuznetsov was called for hooking putting the Sens on their lone power play but the Caps killed it off. That was the game’s only penalty. Kuznetsov would redeem himself burying a pass from Ovechkin past Anderson at 14:09 to give the Caps the eventual win.

Check back here tomorrow to see how the Caps fare in our NHL 20 simulation against the Pittsburgh Penguins.