The Washington Capitals (32-26-7) snapped their three-game losing streak. He scored seven goals in a 7-3 home win over the Calgary Flames (25-31-7) on Monday night.
The Capitals had a dominant performance in the first period with three goals each from Hendricks Lapierre, Tom Wilson and Connor McMichael. This was an early sign that the losing streak would end.
However, leading 3–0, Calgary responded with three unanswered long points in the middle frame. What's worse, the Capitals scored consecutive shorthanded goals on the same power play.
Nevertheless, the Capitals were resilient in the third period. It all started when McMichael again hit the man advantage, followed by Justin Sourdiff's goal just seconds later.
Later the Capitals sealed it with goals from Ethan Frank and Ryan Leonard.
Next, the Capitals take the field for their next two games, starting with Philadelphia on Wednesday, then Buffalo on Thursday.
capitals analysis
Capitals head coach Spencer Carberry once again shook things up after Saturday's crushing 3-1 loss to Boston. The most notable change was the separation of Alex Ovechkin and Dylan Strome.
Ovechkin worked with Sourdiff and Anthony Beauvillier, while Strome was placed between Wilson and Aliaksei Protas. Leonard moved up to the second line with McMichael and Pierre-Luc Dubois, while the fourth line remained the same.
The changes worked in the first period, as Lapierre came forward and buried Martin Fehrvary's rebound. Then, a deflected puck fell to Wilson as he went top shelf from a tough angle for his 24th of the season.
At the end of the period, McMichael scored the first of his two goals and the Capitals went up 3–0.
Unfortunately, the middle frame is when the shutout ended. Matvey Gridin went backdoor and delivered a shot to Logan Thompson to get Calgary on the board.
Then, the Capitals' second power-play opportunity is when things really fell apart. First, Blake Coleman went on a breakaway for a shorthanded goal. A few seconds later, an AA miscue led to Joel Farabee stealing the puck and passing Yegor Sharangovich to tie the score at 3–3.
Thankfully, the third period is when the Capitals regained control. The team went into its third power-play opportunity with a few changes to the top unit.
The Capitals kept the puck in the zone, as McMichael batted in the rebound to make it 4–3. 23 seconds later, Sourdiff fired a shot that hit the foot of Kevin Bahl and made it 5–3.
The Capitals sealed it later when Frank found an empty net and Leonard scored on a breakaway goal.
capitals report card
Team: B+
The Capitals had a strong first period, but fell apart in the second. Fortunately, they showed their resilience by scoring four goals in the third.
Connor McMichael: A
McMichael recorded two goals, including a go-ahead run on the man advantage. The 25-year-old now has 10 goals to his name this season.
Capitals Power Play: C+
Giving up two shorthanded goals on a power play is absolutely unacceptable. The good thing is that McMichael responded to give the Capitals a 4-3 lead.
Ryan Leonard: A
Leonard scored the final goal on a breakaway with 15 seconds remaining. The 20-year-old has extended his point streak to three games.
Hendrix Lapierre: A
Lapierre made another impact on the fourth line with his third inning of the season. He later recorded a secondary assist on Frank's empty-netter.
