In the wake of the Alex Ovechkin news, the Washington Capitals still had to play on. But they had to play an angry and desperate Colorado Avalanche team that got embarassed at home a week ago by a final of 2-1.
In the first period at 17:04 things were looking good for the heroes in red. Pierre-Luc Dubois got things going with his second of the season off a beautiful passing sequence from Trevor van Riemsdyk to Tom Wilson. But that was it.
In the second on a power play goal at 14:19 Mikko Rantanen tied it with his 13th of the season. Miles Wood would give them the lead for good early in the third period at 3:29 with his second and the Caps couldn't keep up.
Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said via Harvey Valentine of NHL.com:
"I thought it was just average tonight all the way around. The second (period) hurts a lot. ...They controlled play, and they could've had three or four. They were on us pretty good. "Spencer Carbery
Period by period breakdown of shots were 12-3 in favor of the Caps in the first period but in the second period that shot total cratered as they shot 3 for 12. They would rebound in the third at 14-9 to add it up to 29-27 in favor of Washington but Alexander Georgiev was brilliant in net, stopping 28 of the 29for a .966 save percentage compared to Logan Thompson's .926 save percentage and two goals allowed while stopping 25 shots on 27 chances.
The Caps held the edge in face off percentage at 65.5 percent to 34.5 percent but their power play was 0 for 2 on the night while the Avs connected 1 for 3 for a 33.3 percent rate. Caps were in the penalty box for six minutes while the Avs were in the sin bin for four minutes.
The Caps outhit the Avs 13-8. Blocked shots were 19-17 in favor of the Avs. Colorado had 17 giveaways while Washington had 14. Caps had four takeaways compared to the Avs one.
Next up for the Caps is another rematch. This time with the New Jersey Devils at Capital One Arena at 7 p.m. on Monumental Sports Network.