Washington Capitals: Evgeny Kuznetsov easily earns MVP against Devils

Evgeny Kuznetsov was due. The Washington Capitals center had been in the middle of a down season and was looking for a spark.

Despite his struggles, he still approached head coach Peter Laviolette to play a more responsible role on the team. He has since risen to the occasion and that was evident last night in Washington’s 4-3 win over the New Jersey Devils. 

Laviolette was one of Washington’s most interesting hires at the helm. One of the things I was most intrigued by was the chance for Laviolette to work with Kuzy and maybe tap into his potential. When he’s on, like he was in the 2018 playoffs, he’s one of the best playmaking centers in the league.

Laviolette said the two had a “pretty honest” conversation about his game. He issued a challenge to Kuznetsov and he since responded. He has three goals and six assists in his last eight games including two in last night’s win being a “difference maker”.

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Laviolette told the media after the game via Samantha Pell of The Washington Post (subscription required):

"“The game has to match the request and what players want. Everybody wants to play in the last five minutes and so the game has to match [what] I’m seeing on the ice … he was looking for opportunity and I gave it to him, but prior to that, his game was in line with deserving of playing those minutes.”"

Kuznetsov second goal of the night turned out to be the game winner just moments after the Devils tied it. Kuznetsov’s goal came on a nice deflection in front of the net. Kuznetsov’s first goal came on a wicked sharp angle shot.

Part of Kuznetsov’s early season struggles came from being out of game action for a while when the Russian four was hit with COVID-19, Ilya Samsonov being the one testing positive. Now that he’s back on the ice, Kuznetsov feels right at home.

"“I need to skate a lot. Since I was a kid, I love to be on the ice for a long time. Those long practices that coach having right now, it’s actually helped me a lot. I like to be on the ice, and that’s my life out there.”"

Now that Kuznetsov is on his game, expect the Caps to start heating up as the regular season is about to wind down. The Caps and Devils are back in action tonight at 7 p.m.