Washington lost to St. Louis.
After Washington’s victories over Anaheim and St. Louis, Spencer Carbery’s team moved within striking distance of the playoff zone. The Capitals needed only one won match to return to the top eight of the Eastern Conference. And it looked like the Capitals would do just that, picking up two points in the return match against the Blues.
Moreover, several players returned to the Washington lineup: Bec Malensteen, Joel Edmundson and even Alexander Ovechkin’s best friend, Nicklas Backstrom. True, if the first two ended up in the lineup for the match, then Backstrom simply went with the team for a four-match away series. And, most likely, his role will be limited to moral support of his teammates. But the goalkeeper line of the “capital” team remained unchanged. Carbery decided to test Charlie Lindgren’s strength and left him in the start for the second match in a row.
However, the return of key players to action and moral support from Backstrom did not help Washington: the Capitals lost to St. Louis. Ovechkin couldn’t help the team either. The Russian had a 100% scoring chance, but he was brazenly robbed by the Canadian goalkeeper.
Ovechkin extended his goalless streak
The hosts immediately seized the advantage and looked much more cheerful. “St. Louis” controlled the game so much that in the third minute of the match they scored in the minority. And even in terms of shots, the guests were noticeably inferior: five attempts to score against the opponent’s 12.
After the break, nothing has changed globally. There was even the impression that the repeat match between the teams was a continuation of the past, the players had simply swapped places. In the second 20 minutes, St. Louis continued to carry out the minimum program and again spoiled Lindgren’s statistics. This time, the hosts scored in equal numbers with a delayed penalty, and Russian forward Pavel Buchnevich took part in the scoring attack, recording his 20th assist of the season.
With a two-goal deficit, Carbery began shuffling his lines. First of all, the decision affected Evgeny Kuznetsov, who started the meeting in the fourth line. The Russian spent the remainder of the match connecting with other offensive lines, but Carbery never saw the Russian develop chemistry with anyone. As a result, Kuznetsov played another match without scoring points. Moreover, the center forward left the ice without scoring 17 times over the last 19 meetings.
As for Ovechkin, he had an excellent chance to break the goalless streak, which had already amounted to 6 matches. In one episode, the Capitals captain received a cross pass under the far post and already saw the puck fly into the net. However, the St. Louis goalkeeper managed to roll and, while falling, cope with the Russian’s throw.
Alexander Ovechkin / Photo: © Danny Murphy / Icon Sportswire / imago-images.de / Global Look Press
But St. Louis was doing much better. The hosts lacked a power play goal to complete their collection. The Blues filled this gap at the end of the third period, finally eliminating all questions about the winner. As a result, Washington suffered a dry defeat in the case – 0:3. The inexpressive play of the capital’s players disappointed Carbery, which he shared with reporters after the siren.
— There was not enough activity near the opponent’s goal. The puck play was as bad as it has been all year. It was really difficult tonight just to handle pucks and be able to execute anything offensively. Honestly, we haven’t even come close to that aspect of the game,” Carbery said.
2024-01-21 08:16:12
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