The Washington Capitals coughed up a 2-0 lead due to some unfortunate luck and it resulted in a 3-2 shootout loss on the road to the Minnesota Wild. Despite the loss, Caps goaltender Zach Fucale made NHL history as he set the record for longest streak without allowing a goal to start a career. More on that in a second.
The first period was scoreless as the Caps led in shots 10-9. In the second period the Caps struck first with Connor McMichael deflecting in a shot from Nick Jensen with Conor Sheary picking up the secondary assist at 2:41. McMichael was a healthy scratch in St. Louis the night before and it was his fifth goal of the season. This kid is too bright to be getting the Andre Burakovsky and Jakub Vrana treatment.
The Caps power play dry spell would slightly end thanks to a shot from Evgeny Kuznetsov from the right face off circle right off the draw. The goal came at 5:48 as Lars Eller won the draw and Alex Ovechkin set up Kuzy.
13:55 that’s where the Caps misfortune happened. Carl Hagelin played a puck and unluckily shot it into his own net. The goal was credited to Marcus Foligno. This goal, however, would not count against Fucale who left his net on a delayed penalty call. 2-1 was the score after two with the Caps leading in shots 11-4.
The Wild would tie it with 35 seconds left on a goal from Mats Zuccarello. Chalk that up as the first goal Fucale has allowed. He set the NHL record for the longest streak without allowing a goal to start their career, beating Matt Hackett’s (Minnesota) mark of 102:48 set in 2011.
The Caps outshot the Wild 8-7 in the third period while shots were even at two on three on three. The Caps outshot the Wild overall 31-22. Nobody scored in overtime and the game would get decided in a shootout. The woes continued.
First Zuccarello and Kuznetsov missed. Then Kevin Fiala scored at the other end. Daniel Sprong would get stopped and Frederick Gaudreau would win it for the Wild. The Caps will look to bounce back on Monday night when they return home to face the Boston Bruins.