Takeaways: Wilson’s grit, goals key as Capitals even series with Hurricanes
Tom Wilson wasn’t going to let the Washington Capitals fall into a bigger hole.
Tom Wilson wasn’t going to let the Washington Capitals fall into a bigger hole.
The Caps were, basically, already in must-win territory after losing Game 1 of their second-round series with the Carolina Hurricanes in overtime on home ice. With the pressure on in Game 2, Wilson made a beautiful play to set up the game-winning goal from John Carlson, then deposited the empty-net dagger to give Washington a 3-1 victory on Thursday night.
In the opening 20 minutes, Game 2 looked a lot like Game 1, which was bad news for the Capitals because Carolina dominated the series opener in terms of creating scoring opportunities. But just 2:16 into the middle frame, Connor McMichael took advantage of a tough break for the Hurricanes to open the scoring.
Standing right on the red line, Carolina defenceman Sean Walker attempted to lift a backhand into the Caps’ zone. The puck, though, struck fellow Canes D-man Shayne Gostisbehere up high, stunning him for a moment and allowing McMichael to burst in alone on Frederik Andersen and beat the goalie with a perfect off-the-bar-and-in shot on the glove side.
It was McMichael’s fourth goal of the spring and provided a huge lift for the Caps.
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After the Canes had 68.42 per cent of the shot attempts in the first period, Washington pushed back and recorded 51.02 per cent of the attempts in the middle frame. Holding a tenuous 1-0 lead after 40 minutes, the Caps went on the power play 92 seconds into the third. It was on that man advantage Wilson made the play of the game, teeing up Carlson for the goal that put Washington up by two.
Positioned at the right hashmark, Wilson accepted a half-wall pass from Dylan Strome. Pivoting 180 degrees to his left, Wilson swept a pass through the slot to Carlson, who’d drifted down low from the point. The defenceman one-timed the puck past a helpless Andersen, and the Capitals suddenly had at least a little breathing room against the relentless Canes.
When Gostisbehere pulled Carolina within one with a power-play goal, the heat was back on. But the Caps hung tough and Wilson — out there defending the six-on-five Carolina attack — helped his team clear the zone and eventually found himself with the puck on his stick in the high slot and no goalie in the Carolina net.
Wilson wired home the ENG, and the Caps could finally exhale for good.
Of course, in addition to his offensive work, Wilson was his usual physical self and was credited with two shot blocks on the defensive side of the puck.
Washington’s punishing right winger was a big part of Game 2, but not the only story from the night. Here’s what else stood out in the Capitals’ series-levelling victory.
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Thompson continues to shine
For a guy who was hurt on the eve of the playoffs and was forced out of a Round 1 game after a collision with a teammate, Logan Thompson is tending a fine goal for the Caps.
Thompson stopped every one of the 24 even-strength shots the Hurricanes fired at him in Game 2. The only puck that got by him came on a bit of a broken play during a Canes man advantage, when a blocked puck kicked over to Gostisbehere and he smashed it home from the right dot for a goal Thompson had no real shot at preventing.
The Caps’ southpaw goalie has been great all post-season and, with a pair of Round 2 games in the books, has the best goals saved above expected/60 minutes (1.490) of any goalie who’s played at least five contests this spring.
Carolina’s top line scuffles
The Canes’ challenge this time of year is always trying to find enough goals. For the second straight game, Carolina managed just a single goal in regulation time. Part of the reason for that — aside from Thompson’s strong play — was the fact the top line of Sebastian Aho between Andrei Svechnikov and Jackson Blake simply did not generate enough top-quality chances.
According to Moneypuck, Carolina’s first line had an expected goals percentage of just 29.7 per cent at five-on-five.
Carolina has three goals in six-plus periods of hockey so far in this series; two of them have come from defencemen (Gostisbehere and Jaccob Slavin) and the other came courtesy the stick of third-liner Logan Stankoven.
If the Hurricanes are ever going to solve this problem of scoring enough in the post-season, the top-of-the-lineup guys have to lead the way.
Let’s see if they can do that when the puck drops for Game 3 on Saturday in Raleigh.
