The boys were back at it again Sunday in the loud and ruckus Bell Centre, and it was filled with penalties galore.
After a back and forth in the first we didn’t see any goals. It was great to see LT back in between the pipes especially after it looking like he couldn’t put any weight on his one leg.
Early in the 2nd the boys got on the board straight out hustling the Habs. Anthony Beauvillier got the puck past two Habs defenders and Dylan Strome was able to corral the puck after the Habs goalie decided not to cover the puck which was costly on his part.
The Canadiens were able to answer after some lazy puck watching defense and Ivan Demidov with a niffy move on the power play got the puck behind the net and was able to find a wide open Juraj Slafkovsky for the easy goal, 1-1 ballgame.
Connor McMichael had a bunch of chances tonight and was robbed of a big one.
The Capitals went on the penalty kill again after a questionable(bullshit) interference call where Ovechkin was turning and a Habs player turned right into him and getting trucked by Ovi.
The youngster Cole Caufield showed his best Ovi impression by ripping a one-timer from the left circle to give the Habs the 2-1 lead.
Then came the third period where Brandon Duhaime got through the legs of the Habs defender whiffing at the puck and then corralling the puck getting it on net and the rebound bounced off the Habs defender with McMichael crashing the net causing chaos in-front and in the end the puck found the back of the net for a HUGE goal. Tie Game! 2-2
Then with less than 4 minutes remaining in regulation Trevor van Riemsdyk had a beautiful outlet pass to Stromer who then dished it to Brandon Duhaime in the center of the ice who then proceeded to whip a wicked wrister past the Habs goalies glove. Caps take the 3-2 lead.
Stromer who we basically got for a bag of pucks when he got here has 7 points this postseason the dude is a GAMER!
Capitals get it done and can win the series with one more win.
As mentioned before LT played solid and stopped 16 of 18 shots including all 9 that he saw in the 3rd.
Now the final score was 5-2 but man was it a nail biter especially with all the penalties and how poor our power-play was tonight which can’t happen going forward. We got away with a win tonight when lets be honest the Habs could have easily stole this one.
The boys were bringing the BOOM again cause that’s what we do. The clip below was the momentum shifter in my opinion, after the hit the boys controlled the majority of the game.
The Capitals have a much needed two days off till they return to Washington where they have the chance to clinch the series and send the Canadiens to the golf course Wednesday night. (Lets hope we see handshakes)
The Morning Skate 