Caps Top Sens in Goal Scoring Affair

Coming into tonight's contest, the Ottawa Senators have finally started to piece together a respectable stretch of hockey. Playoffs are still very, very far out of reach, but the team enters tonight with a record of 10-3-3 in their last 16 and have moved up to 26th in the league in this time. To even have a hope at the playoffs, every point counts. Every single one.

At the other end of the ice is a team sitting just outside the playoff picture, where every point also counts.

On a crisp Monday in DC, we give you the battle of the capitals.

Exactly 6:30 into the first period, it was the Washington Capitals who broke open the scoring after a turnover at their blueline turned into a two-on-one and Aliaksei Protas bagged his fifth of the season.

Shortly thereafter, Jakob Chychrun tossed a puck clear over the glass, giving Washington the first powerplay of the game in which they wasted absolutely no time making the game 2-0.

Just after the halfway mark of the opening stanza, some chaos behind Washington's net resulted in Darcy Kuemper being wildly out of position with the puck in the back of the net, courtesy of Drake Batherson.

The high scoring first period continued, as Shane Pinto batted a puck out of mid air to even things up at 2-2. Immediately waved off by the official for high sticking, an incredibly quick review confirmed the official was incorrect and goal stood. Tie game!

The flurry of first period goals continued on another Washington powerplay, as Max Pacioretty beat Anton Forsberg cleanly of a shot from the top of the circle. On the very next shift, somebody named Beck Malenstyn, definitely a real player we've all heard of, scored to give the Capitals a 4-2 lead heading into the first intermission.

Not a great period if you're a goaltender as Kuemper's .778 was the best performance of the frame. Understandably, it was Joonas Korpisalo leading the Senators onto the ice for the second period.

Early in the second, some excellent defensive work from Pinto cuased a turnover which saw Vladimir Tarasenko and Brady Tkachuk on a two-on-one where the captain buried his 26th of the year.

Almost immediately following, because of course, Hendrix Lapierre re-established Washington's two goal lead. The two teams, at this point, combined for eight goals on 23 shots.

Halfway through the second, Washington gave themselves a three goal lead after Travis Hamonic fanned on a slapshot, leading to a two-on-one and Lapierre getting his second of the night.

The third period was the one where the pucks stopped going on, as the 6-3 score would hold. Not before Brady Tkachuk got ejected for being a pest, of course.

The Sens will look to shake off this loss quickly. They're at Bridgestone Arena to take on the Nashville Predators tomorrow night.

Game Notes

• Anton Forsberg allowed four goals on ten shots in the first period. While he was hung out to dry by the team in front of him quite a bit, at least two of those goals should not have gone in.
• Joonas Korpisalo replaced Forsberg to start the second period and picked up right where Forsberg left off in the worst of ways. A couple quick goals through his first five shots against.
• Jakob Chychrun may have had the worst period of hockey I've ever seen him play in the first 20 tonight. If there was a turnover in the first period, particularly one that led to a goal, there's a decent chance Chychrun was involved.
• Brady Tkachuk's three points tonight bring him to 50 on the season.
• Shane Pinto continues to play at a level that leaves fans everywhere asking "what if"? He's now sitting at 13 points through 15 games.
• The line of Tkachuk, Pinto and Tarasenko dominated tonight, it was a lopsided affair when they were on the ice. The trio combined for two goals, five assists and a 75.86 CF%.
• There were really two lines who showed up tonight, as the trio of Tim Stützle, Claude Giroux and Mathieu Joseph also faired well in the advanced analytics arena. The Senators, however, got caved in when the other half of their forward group was on the ice.

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