Washington Capitals Playoffs: Overcoming adversity against Boston

All season long the Washington Capitals had to overcome adversity. From COVID to injuries to everything in between while playing hockey amid a pandemic. On Saturday night more adversity hit them as rookie netminder Vitek Vanecek suffered an injury after allowing a goal.

Vanecek left the game and in came 39 year old Craig Anderson who the TV broadcast of NBC kept saying was almost 40. Anderson made just four appearances this season while spending a majority of it on the taxi squad while mentoring two rookie netminders.

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Before we get to that, let’s break down the game’s first goal. At 6:22 in the opening period T.J. Oshie and Tom Wilson entered the zone passing the puck to each other back and fourth before Wilson finished it off right in front of the net. Daniel Sprong had the secondary assist for his first playoff point.

Jake DeBrusk would tie it at 13:10. As he tied the game, Vanecek was in some serious pain and left the game. In came Anderson for the rest of the way, his first playoff appearance since nearly guiding the Ottawa Senators past the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Stanley Cup Final in 2017.

1-1 was the score after one. The Caps led in shots 11-7.

The Caps retook the lead at 8:44 in the second. Off the face off draw, Brenden Dillon shot the puck from way downtown to give the Caps the 2-1 lead. Anthony Mantha and Alex Ovechkin had the helpers.

Nick Ritchie would tie it on the power play with a goal at 16:38. 2-2 would be the score after two. The Caps led in shots in the second period 11-9. In the third the Caps got several chances including a good look by Lars Eller that rang the top of the post. The Caps led in shots 9-8 and the score was tied at two entering overtime.

In the overtime, Nic Dowd deflected in a shot by Oshie at 4:41 to win the game. Nobody was more excited after the goal than fellow podcast bro Garnet Hathaway. Wilson had the secondary assist. The Caps outshot the Bruins 32-26 overall. Anderson finished his night with 21 saves on 22 shots.

The Caps won this game because they weren’t phased in the slightest not only by Vanecek leaving the game but being without Evgeny Kuznetsov and Ilya Samsonov due to COVID protocols. Alex Ovechkin talked about how there’s a next man up mentality within the locker room in an article by Samantha Pell of The Washington Post (subscription required).

"“Right now in this time of year, it doesn’t matter what happened — somebody get hurt, somebody didn’t have a game right — we have to find a way. Everybody understands that. It is time for us to step up, and you can see [backup goalie Craig Anderson] come out and play solid game. He makes big saves and gives us a chance to win.”"

Game 2 between the Caps and Bruins will take place Monday night at 7:30 p.m. from Capital One Arena.