Darcy Kuemper and Capitals shut out Ducks

Darcy Kuemper stopped all 24 shots he faced for a big shutout win as the Washington Capitals protected home ice. Ethan Bear and Tom Wilson scored for the Caps while Alex Ovechkin missed his third straight game with a lower body injury.

Both goals came in the famous McNugget Minute. Bear scored his first as a member of the Caps at 19:22 which was assisted by T.J. Oshie and Nick Jensen. Wilson got his 12th of the year at 19:02 with an empty net goal. Martin Fehervary and Nic Dowd assisted there.

There was not a lot of offense in this game. The Caps put up nien in the first 11 in the second and eight in the thrid to outshoot the Ducks 28-24. Kuemper stopped three shots in the first, nine in the second and 12 in the third. The Ducks had the edge in face off wins 57.8 percent to 42.2 percent. Anaheim went 0 for 2 on the power play while the Caps went 0 for 1.

The Caps had the edge in penalty minutes 11-9 and in blocked shots 21-11 as the defense was excellent to help out Kuemps. The Ducks led in hits 21-16 gave away the puck more 10 to 8 while both teams had eight takeaways.

The Caps held a practice this morning and Alex Ovechkin was out there continuing to get work before the skate started at MedStar. Carbery told The Sports Junkies on 106.7 The Fan that he expects his captain back soon. Could be the next game or the upcoming road trip.

Ovechkin did get tangled up with Staal in the Carolina game on Jan. 5 but Carbery noted this is a different situation, per Tarik El-Bashir of Monumental Sports Network.

The Caps take on the St. Louis Blues before the big road trip that will start Saturday in St. Louis and conclude in Dallas right before the All Star Break.