The playoffs began as the playoffs were destined to begin: with a goal by North America’s sweetheart, Tom Wilson. Jake DeBrusk returned fire for Boston, with Vitek Vanecek injuring himself on the play.
Brenden Dillon scored in the second period with Alex Ovechkin running flak in front of Boston goalie Tuukka Rask. Nick Ritchie restored the tie on a power play before the second intermission.
An intense third period gave us no goals, which meant playoff overtime!
why watch overtime playoff hockey when you can simply snort cocaine and ride a motorcycle out of a helicopter
— Jon Bois (@jon_bois) April 17, 2014
Nic Dowd won it early in overtime, tipping in TJ Oshie’s shot! Caps win!
Caps lead the series 1-0.
- Vitek Vanecek faced four shots before he suffered an apparent lower-body injury, leaving the net to Craig Anderson, who played four times this whole season. Then again, he did lead the 2017 Senators to the conference final.
- Anderson stopped 21 of 22 shots. He was great.
- NBC’s analysts and pundits made a big noise about Alex Ovechkin‘s celebration suggesting that the Dillon goal was his. The idea is that he’d cheer harder if he scored the goal than if his teammate did, which is not a well-informed opinion. I’m relieved at least that NBC’s national coverage is circling the drain.
- Nick Ritchie earned his goal, but the penalty that gave him the opportunity was pretty dubious.
I mean, that’s a *tough* icing call. pic.twitter.com/3Aoq81sATs
— Japers’ Rink (@JapersRink) May 16, 2021
- And then Jeremy Lauzon set a pick on TJ Oshie in the third period, putting a forearm into Oshie’s unsuspecting body and knocking off his helmet. No call. Without his helmet, Oshie was required to leave the ice.
- Which is all just to say: meh on these refs. Doubleplus with the overtime offside challenge.
- But beyond that, the Caps played darn well. Way better than I think the pundits would have guessed. The Caps had a negative penalty differential, but they drove even-strength play, especially in the third period. There were too many bright spots to call one out.
No Joe B, so here’s the Caps rink getting loud.
It’s time to Unleash Some Fury!!!! With @WesJohnsonVoice pic.twitter.com/naHZB4kDhT
— Byron J. Hudtloff (@ByronHudtloff) May 16, 2021
One down studs! Nic Dowd is the OT hero.
Screenshot courtesy of NBC Sports
