Hockey
A nightmare match for Ovechkin in the NHL. Without his goals, Washington was simply crushed
The Capitals couldn’t handle the Red Wings at home.
Washington slept through the start of the match with Detroit, which ultimately affected the result. The Capitals looked less active for most of the game and were slower than their opponents. At the same time, the capital club had a chance for a comeback, but the referees canceled the puck against the Red Wings due to the actions of Alexei Protas.
Alexander Ovechkin was unable to change the course of the meeting either. Moreover, he has never had worse matches this season!
Miroshnichenko returned to the squad
Having achieved a shutout victory over Toronto in the last meeting, Washington broke a three-game losing streak, during which the capital club conceded 13 goals and scored only three goals. Despite the successful result with the Leafs, head coach Spencer Carbery decided to make changes to the lineup.
Before a home game with Detroit, which leads the Atlantic Division, Carbery sent forward Bogdan Trineev, who had recently made his NHL debut, back to the farm club. In two matches, the 23-year-old Russian did not score any effective actions. Instead of Trineev, Ivan Miroshnichenko was called up to the starting lineup. In the current regular season, Miroshnichenko has not yet appeared on the ice in a Washington jersey: Ivan began the season in Hershey, where he played 12 meetings and scored 9 points (4+5).
“By sending Trineev back and calling Miro, we solved two problems at once. Miro has done a great job in Hershey this year. We’ve been keeping an eye on him, and based on feedback from the coaches, he’s been training very hard and his game is getting better. He started the season great. We monitored his progress, looked for an opportunity to call Ivan and include him in the lineup,” Carbery said before the match.
The head coach also added that Trineev’s return to the farm club is a necessary measure. Now Carbery will be able to bring Ryan Leonard back into the lineup when he fully recovers and comes off the injured list. Miroshnichenko went to the fourth line of attack with Nic Dowd and Brandon Duhaime. But the striking combination did not change; Alexander Ovechkin was preparing to play with Dylan Strome and Anthony Beauvillier.
The Capitals slept through the start of the match.
Washington got off to a terrible start in the first period. In the second minute, Simon Edvinsson rushed into the zone at speed from the flank and fired at the goal, goalkeeper Logan Thompson coped with the shot, but deflected the puck in front of him. Teammates were unable to back up Thompson and allowed 27-year-old John Leonard to finish the game – 1:0. For older brother Ryan Leonard, this is the sixth goal in his NHL career and the first this season.
The missed goal did not wake up the hosts. Moreover, during the remainder of the period, Detroit was much closer to scoring. This was well reflected in the shot statistics – eight shots on target versus 17. And after the break, the Red Wings managed to increase their lead. At the same time, in the second period of the game, the guests upset Thompson three more times.
James Van Riemsdyk scored first: the American striker was the first to react to the rebound from the boards and fired into the empty corner at point-blank range. Soon Elmer Söderblom played the finishing touch after Marco Kasper’s long throw. And after a few shifts, Washington failed defensively: Moritz Seider took the puck from Anthony Beauvillier and organized a 2-on-0. Seider took control of the game and chose to shoot instead of passing, which turned out to be the right decision – 4:0.
The Red Wings made a serious bid for victory and practically killed the intrigue, but Belarusian forward Alexei Protas reduced the gap before the second break. In the 31st minute, Protas beautifully beat defender Axel Sandin-Pellikk, rolled into a killer position and hit the goal with a wrist shot.
In the third period, Washington made every effort to equalize, and in the middle of the game, Martin Fegervar upset John Gibson. Less than two minutes later, defender Jacob Chickran reduced the gap to a minimum! However, the referees canceled the goal due to interference with the goalkeeper: Protas crashed into Gibson before scoring. Due to a failed coaching call, the Capitals received a two-minute penalty.
The hosts survived in the minority, and then unsuccessfully began to try to equalize the score. At the end of normal time, Carbery replaced Thompson with the sixth field player, but the final assault failed: almost three minutes before the siren, Dylan Larkin hit the empty net and put an end to the match – 5:2.
Alexander Ovechkin could not help either: the Russian forward spent a little more than 18 minutes on the ice, earning a negative utility indicator of “-3” during this time. In this component, he repeated the anti-record of this season: in the match against the Islanders, Ovechkin also scored -3.
Washington has four defeats in its last five meetings, and Detroit overtook the capital club in the standings and now ranks second in the East. The Capitals’ next game will be on the road against the Red Wings.
Source: Sportbox
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