Caps Ground Jets, 5-2

In mid-December of last year, a depleted Capitals team came into Winnipeg and got a terrific goaltending performance, some strong play from some unsung members of the team and a late empty-net goal from Alex Ovechkin to get out of Manitoba's capital city with a 5-2 win.

When a formula works, you stick with it. The Caps again arrived in Winnipeg with a depleted lineup in mid-December of this year, and again they got brilliant goaltending, this time from Charlie Lindgren on Sunday night at Canada Life Centre. Riding a four-goal outburst in the middle period, the Caps depart Winnipeg with another 5-2 victory, again punctuated with an Ovechkin empty-netter.
Sunday's victory is Washington's fourth in a row, its longest winning run of the season.
During last December's visit to Winnipeg, it was Washington's forward corps that was especially banged up; the Caps were missing seven players - a single-game high for the season to that point - and six of them were regular forwards. This time around, the Caps were again missing a single-game season high of nine players, but it was the blueline that was suddenly in flux, missing three defensemen, and with another one - Dmitry Orlov - stepping back in after an absence of 16 straight games.
Erik Gustafsson abruptly departed the morning skate and was unable to play on Sunday, and Lucas Johansen stepped into his third career NHL game after the Caps lost Alex Alexeyev to an upper body injury in Washington's previous game. Matt Irwin, who took some shifts on the wing here last season as the Caps were forced to dress a lineup with just 11 forwards, suited up for the 20th time in the last 21 games after playing in a total of 17 games all last season.
"We had guys jumping in," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette. "And the guys that have been there on the back end have done really well. Guys jumping in like Orly, playing over 20 minutes tonight after missing a whole bunch of games; he played a real solid game. And Lucas jumping up and giving us some minutes. I think Matt Irwin has been excellent, just really steady game after game here. We need that when we've got guys out of the lineup."
Following a fairly even first frame that included a few good chances and a few good saves on each side, the Caps erupted for four goals in a span of just under a dozen minutes the middle period to take control of the contest.
Trevor van Riemsdyk got the Caps on the board first at 3:25 of the second. Working a 1-on-2 situation in the left circle during an offensive zone sequence, Nic Dowd curled up the half wall and van Riemsdyk made a good read and activated, jumping into the slot for the impending feed from Dowd. From there, the defenseman put a well-placed wrist shot bar down behind Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck.
The Caps went on a power play in the front half of the second, and it quickly became a two-man advantage for a span of 57 seconds when the Jets took another minor. Following the expiration of the 5-on-3 power play, Washington scored with the extra man for the ninth time in the last 10 games when Evgeny Kuznetsov found a soft spot down low, and John Carlson found him. From just above the paint, Kuznetsov shoveled a backhander to the shelf to double the Caps' cushion to 2-0 at 8:21.
"They have a good goalie, and we have to go screen him," recounts Kuznetsov. "I saw that Johnny got the puck and I know that they're going to probably both guys go to the big man [Ovechkin] and I just had to get open on that back door, and I knew that Johnny was going to pass it for sure."
Less than a minute later, Lars Eller was incarcerated for four minutes for hi-sticking. But it was the Caps that added to their lead, doing so on a rare shorthanded penalty shot. Marcus Johansson was awarded the shorthanded attempt, and he carried in with purpose, getting Hellebuyck to bite on a move and then tucking a backhander to the glove side corner, making it 3-0 at 9:55.
"I don't have many moves, so I had to go with that," says Johansson.
After Eller's release from the box, he followed up an Anthony Mantha shot from the slot, potting the rebound to make it 4-0 at 15:24.
Late in the period, Lindgren made a series of strong stops to keep the Jets from cutting the Caps' cushion prior to intermission. Winnipeg coach Rick Bowness even pulled Hellebuyck for a sixth attacker after the Caps were guilty of a third straight icing call with 10.2 seconds left, but Washington was able to get that 4-0 lead to the room.
The Jets picked up where they left off, coming out with some verve in the third and solving Lindgren in the first minute of the final frame when Adam Lowry put back a rebound of a Josh Morrissey shot just 35 seconds into the third.
Minutes later, Pierre-Luc Dubois - who was robbed in a 1-on-1 situation with Lindgren with the game still 0-0 in the first - cut the lead to 4-2 at 3:29, prompting Laviolette to call timeout in an effort to settle the troops.
"We were back on our heels just a little bit," says Laviolette. "We weren't moving the puck quick enough up ice. [The timeout was] just to just to kind of stop time, snap the fence just real quick, talk about it, the things we needed to do better. I thought after that, we were pretty good."
They were, and that's especially true of Lindgren, who won his fourth start in a span of seven nights. Lindgren made 29 saves to improve to 6-3-2 on the season. In each of the first three starts of his current streak, all 180 minutes was played with the score tied or within a goal either way. On Sunday night, Lindgren found himself with the luxury of a multi-goal lead for the first time since Nov. 7.
"Oh yeah, I love that," says Lindgren. "It was good to see. We had a pretty solid first period, and then our power play came up big and obviously Jojo with the big penalty shot goal. To score four goals, as a goalie you love it.
"Credit to our guys again for competing tonight, working hard, putting the puck in the net. Winnipeg pushed back towards the end of the second and pushed in the third, but we hung tough. It was a good win for us."
"We didn't have our legs early, it was clear," says Jets coach Rick Bowness. "And they were jumping on us.
"Clearly, the coverage on their first goal was a complete breakdown for us. The power play hurt us, giving up that breakaway and the penalty shot, and it just kind of sets you on your heels a little bit against a veteran hockey club. They know how to play."