Game 9: 10-4-2-2 (PTS-W-L-OT)
Thursday October 25, 2018 Washington Capitals @ Edmonton Oilers
Place: Rogers Place
Time: 9:00 p.m. ET
TV: NBCSWA, SN1, SNE, SNO
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, Capitals Radio 24/7
NHL.COM for Live Box Score
Last Game: Mon October 22, Capitals Won 5-2 against Canucks
Next Game: Sat October 27, 4:00pm ET Capitals @ Flames
8-Ovechkin 92-Kuznetsov 25-Smith-Pelly
18-Stephenson 19-Bäckström 77-Oshie
13-Vrana 20-Eller 10-Connolly
65-Burakovsky 26-Dowd 23-Jaskin
9-Orlov 2-Niskanen
6-Kempny 74-Carlson
44-Orpik 29-Djoos
70-Holtby (starter)
1-Copley
-- SCRATCH --
79-Walker
72-Boyd
22-Bowey
-- INJURED RESERVE --
-- SUSPENDED --
43-Wilson (11 games left??)
-- 1st Powerplay Unit --
77-Oshie 19-Bäckström 92-Kuznetsov
8-Ovechkin 74-Carlson
-- 2nd Powerplay Unit --
13-Vrana 10-Connolly 20-Eller
2-Niskanen 9-Orlov
Referees: Marc Joannette (#25), Ian Walsh (#29)
Linesmen: Ryan Gibbons (#58), Steve Barton (#59)
1st Period16:28 Oilers PP GOAL Bouchard, assists Yamamoto & Rieder 1-0 EDM
2nd Period10:06 Oilers SH GOAL Nugent-Hopkins, unassisted 2-0 EDM
12:21 GOAL 65-Burakovsky, assists 26-Dowd & 74-Carlson 2-1 EDM
3rd Period09:16 Oilers GOAL 39-Chaisson, assists Rieder & Larsson 3-1 EDM
18:43 Oilers EN GOAL McDavid, assists Nugent-Hopkins & Talbot 4-1 EDM
FINAL: 4-1 EDM
By Samantha Pell October 25 at 6:30 AM
Evgeny Kuznetsov has become a lethal threat on the Capitals power-play unit
Capitals forward Evgeny Kuznetsov has five power play goals this season, leading the NHL. (Anne-Marie Sorvin/USA Today Sports)
EDMONTON — Washington Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov stood just outside the right circle in the second period of Monday’s game against the Vancouver Canucks and waited. With the Capitals on a power play in a 1-1 tied game, all eyes were on the opposite side of the ice, where captain Alex Ovechkin hovered above the left circle.
But as Capitals defenseman John Carlson corralled a pass at the point from Ovechkin, instead of giving it right back to the team’s star player, he zipped it over to Kuznetsov, who planted and sneaked a blazing one-timer past Canucks goalie Anders Nilsson.
“Sometimes you just have to shoot, and you know, like you guys think I’m telling [expletive], but it’s lucky shot,” Kuznetsov said. “It’s a pretty lucky shot for me.”
Lucky shot or not, it was Kuznetsov’s fifth power-play goal of the season — tops in the NHL— and is illustrative of how dangerous the Capitals' power play, ranked first in the league, can be with Kuznetsov setting up on the opposite side from Ovechkin. With teams' penalty kill focused on Ovechkin’s coveted left circle, it leaves Kuznetsaov free to claim his own “office” on the right.
[The Caps think Evgeny Kuznetsov is one of the NHL’s best, but he just wants to have fun]
The early season success of the duo has been enough for some to draw comparisons with the Tampa Bay Lightning’s tandem of center Steven Stamkos and winger Nikita Kucherov, who both like to one-time it from their respective circles. The Lightning scored 66 power-play goals last season; Stamkos and Kucherov accounted for 23 of them.
But while Tampa’s one-two strategy works for their personnel, Capitals goalie Braden Holtby doesn’t believe Washington will abandon its usual setup. And if Kuznetsov continues to score from the other side, that’s just an added bonus.
“He’s obviously extremely smart and usually every year he finds more and more areas to create goals,” Holtby said. “. . . When teams start cheating, Kuz is going to expose them just like Nick has over the years. To have those two [Ovechkin and Kuznetsov] on the same side, that’s pretty dynamic.”
Last season, Kuznetsov had a 41-game stretch without a power-play goal from late November through February. In his last 40 games, including the playoffs and the last eight regular season games, Kuznetsov has scored 11 power-play goals and has put up twice as many shots on net while on the power play during that span.
“I feel like if you have a guy like Ovi on the power play, I feel like you have to pay more attention to his shot,” Kuznetsov said. “But at the same time, it does open up for us some plays, and if you even have an extra half a second [for the goalie] to make a decision, that is huge.”
When asked if he had made a more concentrated effort to shoot this season, Kuznetsov laughed and replied with a smirking grin: “Ah no, it’s accidental.”
Capitals Coach Todd Reirden said the team’s power-play unit started working on trying to get “a little less predictable” last year during the playoffs and continued that work this summer. With how the power play is set up under Reirden, all the players on the power play are in their usual spots, but in trying to change their methodology, they’ve added different plays and different faceoff situations.
“It’s been a real difference maker for us this year,” Reirden said.
[Capitals’ John Carlson to Alex Ovechkin power-play connection keeps maturing]
Carlson, who has grown accustomed over the years to putting the puck on a tee to Ovechkin on the left side during the power play, says he believes goalies still “don’t respect” Kuznetsov or Nicklas Backstrom as shooters.
“[It’s] because they like to dump it off to [T.J. Oshie] and me and Ovi,” Carlson said. “You know, those are more of the shooters on the power play, but you know if [Kuznetsov] is going to be shooting it like he did in the last year and now into this year, it is big for us to catch goalies leaning back looking for where the puck is going to go next and surprise them a little bit.”
Backstrom and Carlson are tied atop the NHL’s leader board with eight power-play points apiece. Ovechkin is tied for third with seven.
With the Capitals playing against Edmonton on Thursday night at Rogers Place, Kuznetsov will continue to build off his power play production in a faceoff against arguably the league’s best player: Connor McDavid, the Oilers' 21-year-old star. Through seven games, McDavid has five goals and a total of 13 points; Kuznetsov also has 13 points on the season.
In the Oilers' last game, against the Pittsburgh Penguins, McDavid recorded a goal, an assist and eight shots on goal in a 6-5 overtime loss playing opposite Sidney Crosby.
“[McDavid] is one of the best players, if he’s not the best right now,” Kuznetsov said. “It is always nice to see the young guys play well like that and then go one-on-one, it’s so fun to watch. I hope more players do that.”
Read more on the Capitals:Is the Roxy Flu shot? Infamous NHL dive bar seems to have fallen out of players' favor. For NHL goalies, league’s new pad restrictions are a real painOn heels of Canada legalizing marijuana, Orpik, Capitals keeping an open mindJohn Carlson is coming off a career year. What’s next? More awards consideration.
