Liam O’Brien got his first career goal Sunday night against Vancouver. (Caps Outsider)
Your Washington Capitals (4-2-2, 10 pts) ended their Western Canada road trip with a 4-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks (5-3-0, 10 pts) Sunday night, finishing 1-2 during the trip. Marcus Johansson and Liam O’Brien provided the goals for the Caps. O’Brien’s goal was his first career NHL goal and was assisted by defenseman Mike Green who had two assists in the game. The Caps gave up more than 30 shots for the first time this season under new head coach Barry Trotz.
I was not pleased at all with how the Caps played in this one, especially since I was hoping for a successful end to this three-game swing. The team played sloppy, which led to the five penalties conceded two of which the Canucks converted on. In addition to this, the Caps didn’t have any success on their two power play opportunities failing to score on both; partly because of some stellar saves by Canucks net minder Ryan Miller. I was satisfied by the effort put out by backup goalie Justin Peters (who made 30 saves on 33 shots), he simply just faced a plethora of shots and Vancouver made him pay. Even though they lost, the Caps are still tied for 2nd in the Metropolitan Division with New Jersey two points behind the division leading New York Islanders.
Hopefully the team takes advantage of the time they have off between now and their next game and bounce back from this loss, as they do not play again until Wednesday night against the Detroit Red Wings (4-2-2, 10pts) at the Verizon Center. This Detroit team is also coming off of a 4-2 loss suffered on the road. This game will definitely be hotly contested, as both teams are eager to avoid losing two games in a row. The Red Wings also provide a stern test for the Caps’ power play unit as they have the #1 penalty kill in the NHL at 96.2%. I am confident that this team will be up to the challenge against a solid Red Wings team, being back at home in front of the fans rocking the red.
Three things to watch:
- Can the Caps do damage on the power play against this stout penalty kill unit?
- Will the offense be able to produce enough goals against Detroit to win, as they also have the fifth best goals allowed average in the league at only 2.0?
- Can the Caps come out and play a much cleaner game than the one they played against Vancouver?
LET’S GO CAPS!!!
