Washington Capitals: Top 5 rivalry games over the last 5 years
The best Washington Capitals rivalry games in the last 5 years.
Rivalries are what makes the game of hockey fun. Luckily for us Washington Capitals fans, we’ve gotten to take part in some epic rivalry games over the last four decades. We’ll narrow this down and look at the best of the best in the last five years.
There was a lot to choose from and ultimately it came down to some matchups between both New York teams as well as some contests with the Pittsburgh Penguins. These games saw many different players rise to the occasion and deliver clutch goals as well as made key saves.
For the year range we’ll go back to 2015 on some games and take it all the way to present day looking at the best games. Hopefully this will spark a healthy debate as well as a trip down memory lane relving these games.
These games made us believe anything was possible. There’s no better feeling than beating your rival and apologies to the Canes fans but Caps vs. Canes isn’t a rivalry like it is with Caps vs. Pens. You can try to make it like that down in North Carolina but here in D.C. the hate is real for the Pens.
#5 Kuzy coming up clutch in Game 7
In the spring of 2015 the Capitals were locked into an intense first round series with the New York Islanders. It was a series that would stretch seven games and fans were nervous about Game 7s past heading into that night.
The first period would be scoreless but not without some close plays from Joel Ward and Mike Green. Jason Chimera also had a good look in front of the net but was stopped. Making things more nerve wracking was the Islanders turned to playoff villain Jaroslav Halak, who was known infamously around these streets after what he did with Montreal.
The Caps would finally break through with about 90 seconds to go in the second period with Ward deflecting in a shot from Brooks Orpik. The Islanders would make things interesting in the third by tying things up as Braden Holtby was unable to corral the puck between his legs. Frans Nielsen had the goal.
With under 14 minutes left and a tie game, Jay Beagle had an opportunity with the puck bouncing off the boards to him but alas he got “Halak’d”. Thankfully, the Caps would redeem themselves later on.
With just over seven minutes to go, Evgeny Kuznetsov had the game on his stick and he held onto his shot before firing the puck past Halak. Holtby held it down on the other end and the Caps hung on for a 3-2 win.
#4 Don’t mess with the Oshbabe
On Nov. 7, 2018, two years ago to the day, the Capitals hosted the Penguins for the first time since the playoffs. T.J. Oshie was hit twice, both times being taken into the trainer’s room, but that didn’t stop him from making an impact later in the game.
Sidney Crosby put the Penguins on the board at 12:16 in the first period. In the second, Alex Ovechkin tied it on a power play goal from his office. It set the stage for an entertaining third period.
Early in the period, Evgeni Malkin laid out a hit on Oshie that was gruesome but despite that wasn’t punished by the league. At least it was enough to earn him a game misconduct to eject him from the game.
At 18:46 or 1:14 left in the game, Oshie came back in and delivered the game winning goal to send the Caps fans home happy. Oshie wasn’t the only hero in this game as Braden Holtby played out of his mind making key saves. Holtby made 41 saves off 42 shots for a .976 save percentage.
Like we mentioned earlier, there were many games to choose from and this is the only regular season game on this list.
#3 A buzzer beater at the Garden
Nope we aren’t talking about a game between the Wizards and Knicks. A buzzer beater actually happened on ice at the Garden and at the time it stunned New York Rangers fans and it gave the Caps an early jolt in a big second round series.
The Caps would sadly go on to lose that series but this game and this win was important to put them up early in front of a hostile New York crowd. Alex Ovechkin got the Caps up late in the second period with a power play goal on a shot from just outside the Ovi office.
1-0 would stand until the third period when the Rangers tied it with a goal from Jesper Fast. It seemed like momentum was on their side and it looked like overtime would be inevitable but that’s when Wardo came through.
In a scramble around the net with the clock ticking, Ovechkin stole the puck along the boards and fed Joel Ward a quick pass in front of the net. Ward scored and the buzzer sounded giving the Caps a Game 1 win.
How are we doing so far? That’s been three fun games to look back at and now there’s two more.
#2 It’s OK to believe
The Pittsburgh Penguins have spoiled the Caps chances at a Stanley Cup for a long time. Two years in a row, they sent Ovechkin and company packing. Not in 2018. That Caps team was different and they showed the heart that they needed to carry them into the rest of the playoffs. This Game 5 was critical after the Penguins tied the series.
The first period was back and fourth. Jamie Oleksiak put the Penguins up 1-0 in the early going. The Caps tied it late in the first period with a power play goal from John Carlson and took the lead 33 seconds later with a goal from Brett Connolly.
In the second period the momentum shifted toward the Penguins as there was a series of bad calls, not a lot of offense from the Caps and two power play goals. First it was Sidney Crosby and then Patrick Hornqvist just over three minutes later.
Trotz must’ve said something that lit a fire under that team because the Caps came out a completely different team in that third period. Evgeny Kuznetsov tied the game. Then Alex Ovechkin made a perfect pass to Jakub Vrana to give the Caps the lead.
The Caps added two empty net goals to seal the win from T.J. Oshie and Lars Eller and Caps fans celebrated by storming the steps of the National Portrait Gallery across the street from Capital One Arena. It was a place that Penguins fans originally liked to gather at but we took it back!
#1 Slaying the Penguins once and for all
#1 was an obvious choice for many reasons. It was this win that gave the Caps franchise a spark and they took that momentum all the way to the Stanley Cup. The fact it was done in Pittsburgh on their ice was even sweeter knowing they ended our season on our home ice a year prior.
This was a low scoring chess match and the Caps were poised as they had a golden opportunity after winning Game 5 the way they did. The first period was scoreless but the Caps would take an early lead in the second period thanks to the Aussie.
Nathan Walker had a huge assist as he brought the puck along the boards and fed it to Alex Chiasson to put the Caps up 1-0 at 2:13. The Penguins would tie it at 11:52 thanks to Kris Letang. Nobody scored in the third period and the game would head to overtime with a different plot twist. This time it was Penguins fans who were worried.
And in that overtime we all know what happened next. Alex Ovechkin stripped the puck from Sidney Crosby, found a charging Evgeny Kuznetsov for the breakaway and he scored. Caps fans back in Washington were going crazy and Ovechkin looked to the skies relieved that he finally took down his rival.
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Those were the top 5 rivalry games over the last five years. Which rivalry games were your favorite Caps fans?