The Colorado Avalanche and Washington Capitals have faced off twice in less than a week. The last time these two teams met, on Nov. 15, the Capitals blew out the Avalanche in a 5-2 win in Denver. This time, they were in Washington. The significant difference this time is that they were without Alexander Ovechkin, who fractured his fibula. The Avalanche wanted to get their revenge from the last game and capitalize on not having their Hall-of-Fame player with them, leading to a 2-1 victory for Colorado.
Game Recap
Both teams looked to generate chances early and got good looks. The Avalanche got on the power play first to potentially open the scoring, but they were defended well, as they only got two shots on net. The Capitals swarmed Nathan MacKinnon any chance they could when he entered the zone. They would get their opportunity on the power play when Logan O’Conner was called for a trip, but the Avalanche would defend it well. Despite missing Ovechkin, the power play still looked solid; Dylan Strome facilitated the puck well and generated a lot of chances in front of the net.
Pierre Luc Dubois opened the scoring from a great pass by Tom Wilson, who caused Jonathan Drouin and Josh Manson to lose their defender as Wilson went across the crease and tipped the pass in. The Capitals continued their pressure and almost doubled their lead as Aliaksei Protas was left open above the crease, but Alexandar Georgiev stopped his close shot. The first period ended as the Capitals came out stronger than the Avalanche and capitalized on it with the help of some crucial saves from Logan Thompson.
The Avalanche coming out after the break to start the second, looked much more like themselves and could quickly generate many chances, especially with a great saucer pass from MacKinnon to Artturi Lehkonen. Still, Thompson came up big with the save. The Avalanche continued the pressure, but a pass in the center of the ice was broken up and ended up on Dubois’ stick for a breakaway but was saved. The Capitals looked to generate some offense coming out of their offensive zone with an outlet pass to Mangiapane, but it was offside.
That’s when the Capitals turned it up in the middle of the second and started finding their chances. Brandon Duhaime was robbed of his shot from the hash marks, and McMichael had two breakaways denied: one by trying to wait Georgiev out but just putting the shot wide behind him, and the other poke-checked. After a lengthy break to fix the boards, the Avalanche got a power play from McMichael hooking Lehkonen, and they capitalized. A pass from Rantanen going across the crease bounced off Roy’s skate and in between Thompson’s five-hole to tie the game. The rest of the period showed how important both goaltenders were in this game as they both had to make a fleury of saves before the period ended.
Who doesn't love a game of pinball?#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/daXMt0ozM0
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) November 22, 2024
The third period started as the second did, with the Avalanche beginning the period at their own pace. Plenty of chances were generated, but Thompson continued to stand tall until Miles Wood tipped Cale Makar’s shot in front of the net to give them the lead. They almost doubled it up as Makar’s shot nearly beat Thompson five-hole, but he laid on it to blow the play dead.
Both teams got a power play chance, but neither would convert as both goalies continued to show their importance tonight. As the clock ran down, the Capitals showed their desperation to switch from defense to offense in a flash, trying to exit the zone quickly and generate some offense. Thompson was pulled with 2:27 to go, but the Capitals couldn’t do anything with the man advantage. Numerous empty net shots were attempted, and none would go in, but the Avalanche held firm and secured the 2-1 victory.
Both teams are back on the ice on Saturday, Nov. 23, as the Avalanche take on the Florida Panthers and the Capitals take on the New Jersey Devils.
