Capitals blast past Red Wings to end 2021 with a bang

The Washington Capitals ended 2021 on a high note with a 3-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena. A win like this will make the Caps hot n ready for 2022. OK I’ll stop with the jokes there.

The first period was scoreless as the Caps were outshot 11-5. It looked like they were thinking ahead to the New Years Eve parties then the second period happened.

In that middle frame the Caps led in shots 9-4. A much better effort. Still, the Red Wings were the ones who struck first. It came from Plus Suter at 1:43.

The Caps would even it thanks to one of their most important players of 2021. Someone who had a strong finish to the end of 2021 which was what this team needed the most. At 15:53 it was Evgeny Kuznetsov with a nice glide to the net to put it in for his 11th goal of the season.

Lucas Johansen had the primary assist on that Kuznetsov goal while Matt Irwin had the secondary. For Johansen it was a complete journey as the 2016 first round defenseman finally made his NHL debut. We are losing track of all the players in the Caps organization who made their league debuts this season. 1-1 was the score after two.

The Caps must have read David’s article on the power play being the worst in the league. Maybe even Alex Ovechkin himself. It was the great eight who would end the power play drought as he finally stands alone as the all time power play goals leader. It came at 17:09 and even potted an empty netter 2:51 later.

That first goal was Ovechkin’s 275th power play goal of his career. It passed Dave Andreychuk. Ovechkin’s second goal was the 753rd goal of his career. He’s 13 away from Jaromir Jagr for third all time, 48 away from Gordie Howe, and 141 away from Wayne Gretzky.

Ovechkin, after the game, was very happy to achieve another milestone but like every one that came before last night’s, he’s ready to turn the page. He told NHL.com:

"“It’s a great moment for me, for the team, for the fans and for the game as well. Now it’s over and we can move on.”"

Now the Caps come home to host the New Jersey Devils tomorrow afternoon. Happy New Year Caps fans! See you at the rink.