Grading Capitals defense against Kraken

After grading the offense of the Washington Capitals from last night’s game let’s take a look at the defense.

Overall the defense played well allowing just one goal which was the first goal of the game and one goal scored by the Seattle Kraken.

The best part was they did this despite losing another defenseman in the game. They lost Alex Alexeyev after a cheap shot to the head by Jamie Oleksiak.

The NHL Department of Player Safety today announced that Oleksiak has been suspended for the Kraken’s next three games. A smart move but he could’ve been suspended longer.

In the game, Oleksiak was assessed a five minute match penally for an illegal check. It gave the Caps a five minute power play and Marcus Johansson made them pay in a 1-1 game to give the Caps the lead for good.

Here’s what the defensive pairs were last night via Tarik El Bashir of The Athletic:

Gustafsson-Carlson
TvR-Jensen
Alexeyev-Irwin

The Caps had 19 hits and 20 blocks. They also held the Kraken power play attack as the visitors went 0 for 2.

Lars Eller spoke on the team effort and trending in the right direction:

"“We’re playing better. We’re putting together better 60-minute efforts. Sometimes we’re not our best but we’re more consistent. …We’re not at our best yet.”"

Marcus Johansson added:

"“Every win gives you a little bit of confidence and it gets the group going. So even though we were down 1-0 tonight, I don’t think it changed anybody’s mindset or anything different within our group, which is good. We kept playing and that’s the way it needs to be.”"

Grade A-: Overall the defense didn’t fold despite losing one of their young studs. They played well and shut down the Kraken which is pretty much what you can ask for. We hope Alexeyev is okay.