Caps stay hot, beat Kraken to pull record back over .500 originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
WASHINGTON — Playing in their first home game since Thanksgiving weekend, the Capitals came out aggressive Friday against the Seattle Kraken and held on for a 4-1 win that pushed their record over .500 for the first time since Nov. 1.
The Capitals (13-12-4) played the Kraken only eight games prior, losing the game in stunning fashion with Seattle tying it up the final three minutes before scoring the winning goal seven seconds into overtime. They enacted their revenge in dominant fashion, controlling the puck for most of the game and outshooting them 37-24.
Goaltender Charlie Lindgren let up a goal in the first period but settled in from there to clinch his third consecutive victory starting in the place of Darcy Kuemper, who remains day-to-day with an upper-body injury. With the win, Lindgren pushed his record on the season up to 5-3-2 to go with a .907 save percentage and 2.87 goals against average.
Trailing 1-0 after the first period, the Capitals pushed the tempo by raining pucks down on Kraken goalie Philipp Grubauer. They did it enough to push one through when Anthony Mantha flicked a shot up in front of the crease that deflected off a Seattle player’s skate and into the goal.
Washington maintained momentum for most of the period but was dealt a blow midway through the frame when Kraken defenseman Jamie Oleksiak hit Alex Alexeyev up high with his elbow. Alexeyev, who had just recorded his first career NHL point with an assist on the Mantha goal, stayed down for a few minutes and had to be helped off the ice.
Alexeyev went straight to the locker room and didn’t return. The Capitals ruled him out during the second intermission.
Oleksiak was ejected for an illegal check to the head, giving the Capitals a five-minute power play on the match penalty. They took advantage three and a half minutes in when Sonny Milano set up former Kraken Marcus Johansson for the goal. Alex Ovechkin skated for 4:57 of the power play and earned the secondary assist.
The Capitals’ power play has come alive of late with the team scoring at least one goal on the man advantage in eight of their last nine games. In turn, they’ve gone a robust 6-2-1 over that stretch despite Kuemper, defenseman Martin Fehervary and now Alexeyev suffering injuries.
The Capitals clung onto their lead for the rest of the game, finally icing it with 66 seconds left when Lars Eller scored an empty netter. Ovechkin scored another to make it 4-1, his third empty-net goal in his last two games.
Washington will look to stay hot as it goes right back on the road, facing the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday and Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday before coming back for a three-game home stand.
