Caps Fall 3-1 to Jets

Ben Chiarot's shot beat Caps goalie Pheonix Copley on the glove side, snapping a 1-1 tie with 7:09 left in the third period and sealing the Caps' fate, and halting Copley's personal winning streak at three.
"It was deflected and kind of dipped," says Copley of Chiarot's game-winner. "Obviously it was one I would like to have, but an unfortunate break."

Scheduled starter Braden Holtby was a late scratch because of an upper body injury, and he wasn't able to back up either. Local product Gavin McHale suited up as the Caps' emergency backup on short notice, sporting sweater No. 41. Top four defenseman Michal Kempny was unable to go because of illness, and the Caps lost star center Evgeny Kuznetsov to a head hit from Brandon Tanev midway through the first period.
"I was really proud of our guys tonight," says caps coach Todd Reirden. "You lose an elite player like Kuznetsov, and you've got Pheonix Copley playing his first ever back-to-back and Kempny is sick. I really liked our effort."
In the game's final minute, Washington winger T.J. Oshie was on the receiving end of a Josh Morrissey body slam; Oshie got up slowly and his status was in doubt as the Caps move on to Denver for a Friday night date with the Avalanche.
"At the end of the game we lose Oshie for a little bit, too," says Reirden. "So we'll continue to evaluate all of the injuries [Thursday] and hopefully we can be ready for Colorado."

Tanev's hit on Kuznetsov came at 8:52 of the first, putting the Caps on the game's first power play. Kuznetsov stayed on the ice for the start of the power play, but took only one more shift before heading off to the room for evaluation in the midst of the first frame, and ultimately retiring for the night.
That misfortune aside, Washington got off to a virtually perfect start for the second game of back-to-backs on the road, keeping the Jets from setting up camp in their end, and consistently getting sticks and bodies in shooting and passing lanes. By the end of the first, Winnipeg had just two shots on net, and just one at even-strength - a 140-footer from Adam Lowry that actually helped start the play that led to Washington's only goal of the game.
Copley set that Lowry "shot" aside, and Dmitry Orlov took control of the puck behind the Washington net and surveyed. He slid it to partner Madison Bowey along the half wall in Washington ice, and Bowey in turn fed Jakub Vrana in the neutral zone. Vrana carved his way through neutral ice with speed, gaining the Winnipeg zone. The Jets seemed to have it covered - they had bodies back - but from the top of the right circle, Vrana unleashed a laser of a wrist shot to the top far corner, beating Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck for a 1-0 Washington lead at the 10-minute mark.
The Jets' only other shot on net in the game's first 20 minutes was a Kyle Connor shot from virtually no angle on a Jets power play late in the period.
Both goaltenders were at the top of their game in the second, but the Jets pulled even on a Mark Scheifele power-play goal at 5:05 of the period, a mere seven seconds after Alex Ovechkin was seated for an iffy interference call.
Scheifele's goal came just over a minute after Hellebuyck made a good lateral stop to deny Vrana, and seconds before a strong save on Andre Burakovsky. At the other end, Copley made an excellent glove save on a Patrik Laine one-timer during another Winnipeg power play, and he thwarted Scheifele later in the period as well.
Washington had chances to regain the lead in the third. Nicklas Backstrom and Oshie overpassed themselves out of a scoring opportunity early in the frame, and Bowey sprung Backstrom on a breakaway a short time later. Hellebuyck stopped Backstrom's initial shot, and the Caps' center hit the post on a follow-up. The puck then hit Hellebuyck's back and fell to the ice, wobbling right on the goal line until Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien swept it out of harm's way.

Chiarot's goal came just after a long stretch of quick paced play with no whistles, putting the Caps down a goal with just over seven minutes left. Washington had a couple of good late looks from Orlov, but Hellebuyck stopped them both. A two-on-one chance went by the boards when Burakovsky's feed to Brett Connolly rolled off or over the latter's stick blade.

Connor's late empty-netter accounted for the 3-1 final, and the Oshie takedown also occurred late in the game, when Copley was pulled for an extra attacker.
"That first period was outstanding, one of our best periods of the year," says Reirden. "To come into this building and do the things we did, and then obviously Kuznetsov doesn't return for the second. We get shortened numbers on our bench and they're able to take advantage of some tired bodies back-to-back. But I was really happy with the effort of our players.
"Certainly we have not liked our back-to-backs earlier in the season, and there were a lot of good things that can be taken from this. Obviously you want to leave with a win, but I was proud of the character of our guys."