The Washington Capitals downed the Seattle Kraken, 4-2, Sunday afternoon at Capital One Arena in the District. The victory improves the Capitals’ record to 42-14-8 (92 points) on the season.
LINEUP
Charlie Lindgren (14-10-3, 2.66 GAA, .897 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the Capitals. Joey Daccord (21-17-11, 2.64 GAA, .911 sv%) got the start in goal for the visiting Kraken. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Capitals:
Alex Ovechkin — Dylan Strome — Tom Wilson
Connor McMichael — Pierre-Luc Dubois — Aliaksei Protas
Andrew Mangiapane – Lars Eller — Taylor Raddysh
Brandon Duhaime — Nic Dowd — Anthony Beauvillier
Rasmus Sandin — John Carlson
Martin Fehervary — Matt Roy
Jakob Chychrun — Trevor Van Riemsdyk
Charlie Lindgren
Logan Thompson
Scratched: Ethan Frank, Alex Alexeyev, Dylan McIlrath.
Injured: Sonny Milano (upper-body), Nicklas Backstrom (hip), T.J. Oshie (back).
Roster moves: Jakub Vrana was waived by the team this week and claimed by the Nashville Predators. Anthony Beauvillier was acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins for a second-round draft pick on Friday.
1ST PERIOD
The Kraken opened the scoring with a tally from Shane Wright (15) at 12:57 of the opening stanza. Andre Burakovsky (18) and A. Larsson (14) had the helpers.
And that was it for the first period. Another slow start for the Capitals, with the Kraken leading in five-on-five shot attempts, 24-10, and expected goals for, 1.23 to 0.59.
2ND PERIOD
The Capitals tied the contest 35 seconds into the middle frame on a snipe from Martin Fehervary (4). Aliaksei Protas (30) and Connor McMichael (27) had the assists.
Fehervary has recorded seven points (3g, 4a) in his last 12 games. With the goal, Fehervary (4g-14a–18p in 64 GP) has established a new single-season career high in points (previously 2021-22: 8g-9a–17p in 79 GP). It was Connor McMichael’s 100th NHL point.
The Capitals took their first lead of the afternoon on a blast from downtown by Dylan Strome (19) at 2:51. This was Strome’s 500th career NHL game. Rasmus Sandin (20) and John Carlson (37) had the assists. Dylan Strome rifles home Sandin’s pass, putting the Capitals up 2-1!
Strome has registered four points (1g, 3a) in five games since March 1. March has been the most productive calendar month of his career, with Strome recording 79 points (26g, 53a) in 80 career games in March.
The Kraken tied the game with a tally from Jordan Eberle (7) at 7:23 of the middle frame. Chandler Stephenson (32) made a beautiful feed for the setup. E. Tolvanen (11) had the other assist.
The period concluded with the game remaining tied, 2-2. The Kraken led in five-on-five shot attempts, 21-14, and expected goals for, 0.74 to 0.29.
3RD PERIOD
The Capitals regained the lead late in the final frame on a redirect by Connor McMichael (23) at 15:44.
Alex Ovechkin added an empty net goal for the 4-2 final. It was Ovechkin’s 886th career goal and 1,600th career point.
Ovechkin is now the 11th player in NHL history to reach the 1,600-point mark and seventh to do so with a single franchise. Ovechkin’s 886 goals are the most in NHL history by a player at the time of their 1,600th point.
Ovechkin scored his 157th career goal in the month of March and tied Wayne Gretzky (157 in December) for the most in any calendar month.
With their 4-2 victory today vs. Seattle, the Capitals (42-14-8, 92 points) eclipsed their point total from last season (40-31-11, 91 points).
