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WASHINGTON — The Capitals seemed to be progressing in their crawl back to normalcy with Tuesday night’s 3-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks.
With a secondary assist on T.J. Oshie’s goal three minutes into the game, Alex Ovechkin passed Sergei Fedorov’s NHL record for most points by a Russian-born player.
In equally important news, this was the first time former Caps forward Jay Beagle came to town after signing with Vancouver in the offseason.
Beagle, who spent a decade contributing a strong work ethic and dominance in the face-off circle, had a tribute video a few minutes after Oshie’s goal. Beagle’s former teammate Alex Ovechkin came over to give misty-eyed “Beags” a hug.
The Capitals held their lead the rest of the first period, but continued allowing troubling giveaways in the second. Thanks to some increasingly acrobatic saves from goaltender Braden Holtby, Washington kept Vancouver scoreless through the entire period.
Despite some promising breakaways, the Capitals’ first line couldn’t score again. At second intermission, the score was still 1-0.
Brett Connolly was next on the board with a deflection from an Evgeny Kuznetsov pass that found its way into the net, making it a 2-0 game.
Vancouver’s Markus Granlund answered just over two minutes later to bring the Canucks back within one.
As the pace picked up, a scramble in front of the Canucks’ net sent the puck to the top of the net, where it bounced and ended up behind goaltender Jacob Markstrom. After a brief kerfuffle over whether or not it counted as a goal, the call on ice stood, and Jakub Vrana was credited with the Caps’ third tally.
Vancouver upped their speed and offensive pressure after pulling their goalie with three minutes left in the game. In a frustrating turn of events, Elias Petterson scored after an extra-man rush to the net, but not without fault — Bo Horvat fell on top of Braden Holtby, pushing him back into the net, and Holtby stayed down in pain.
With one more clock adjustment, the Caps held on for the 3-2 win. Holtby, who saved 30 of 32 shots he faced, nabbed the much-deserved first star of the game.
One thing to take away: Ovi’s milestone left Caps fans with a warm and fuzzy feeling — 1,180 points is no easy feat. On the other hand, some fear for Holtby’s well-being after the last minute shove will linger until we know more.
The highlight you should see:
After review… the goal is good! Vrana is credited with the score, it’s 3-1 Caps. #CapsNucks pic.twitter.com/fb68FV1MkJ
— NBC Sports Capitals (@NBCSCapitals) February 6, 2019
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