Caps Start Slow, Finish Strong in 3-1 Win Over Wings

Their start wasn't strong, but the Caps' finished with a flourish in their Black Friday matinee match against the Detroit Red Wings at Capital One Arena. The end result was Washington's fourth straight win, a 3-1 triumph over the Wings.

"Obviously the first period really wasn't what we wanted," says Caps winger Tom Wilson. "It wasn't a great start, but it's a 60-minuite game and I've seen a lot of good responses from this team when something doesn't go your way early. The last five or six games, we turned it around, and that's what we did tonight."

Washington sleepwalked its way through the first 15 minutes of the game, by which time they were down 1-0 on the scoreboard and 14-1 in shots on net. The Caps took one penalty in the first period, and they successfully killed it off. But Detroit grabbed a 1-0 lead just eight seconds after the completion of that kill.
Thomas Vanek controlled the puck behind the Washington net, and he threw a stealthy reversal pass around the backside to Andreas Athanasiou, who had just enough time to slip a shot through on the short side at 8:46, giving the Red Wings a 1-0 advantage.
With just over five minutes remaining in the first, Detroit winger Gustav Nyquist had a breakaway opportunity, but Caps goalie Braden Holtby shut him down and Washington seemed to awaken thereafter.
The Caps came alive late in the frame, generating a number of chances but not quite finishing any of them. Madison Bowey walked down the middle of the ice and rang iron, Michal Kempny missed a wide open net from in tight, and Wings goalie Jonathan Bernier had the answer for Alex Ovechkin's turnaround shot from the slot.

"I didn't like the first part of our first period. I thought the last five minutes of our first period was good," says Caps coach Todd Reirden. "Our room is pretty good about understanding when we need to improve and hold each other accountable, and we've got great leadership in there. That five minutes we were able to build on, and that carried us through the rest of the game."
Detroit swarmed the Caps as a five-man unit in the middle of the ice whenever Washington gained the Wings' zone, making it difficult to get anything going in the attack zone. The Caps had a pair of power play opportunities early in the second, but couldn't manage to manufacture the equalizer.
The Caps managed to get even on a Tom Wilson goal at 12:13 of the second. Washington broke the puck out of its zone, and from a mini-scrum along the wall near the benches, Ovechkin bumped the puck to NIcklas Backstrom in neutral ice. Backstrom gained the zone and went to Wilson in the high slot, and the big winger whipped a wrist shot past Bernier high on the blocker side to make it a 1-1 game.
"It was a little bit of a role reversal there," notes Wilson. "Ovi made a nice wall play, and then I was able to shoot it. It's fun to play with those guys, and it's going well."

Holtby kept it a 1-1 game with a pair of late saves in the second, first denying Frans Nielsen and then making a huge stop on an Athanasiou breakaway bid. By the end of the second period, the Caps had just 13 shots on net, and only eight of them came at even strength.
In the third, the Caps had to kill off an early penalty on Ovechkin, and once they did, they took control of the contest.
Washington scored the go-ahead goal less than 20 seconds after winning a defensive zone draw. Andre Burakovsky carried into Detroit ice, supported by Devante Smith-Pelly amid four white Red Wings sweaters. Burakovsky dished to an oncoming Travis Boyd high in the zone, and Boyd carried low on the right side before sliding a pass out to Michal Kempny at the left point. With Smith-Pelly blocking out the sun in front of Bernier, Kempny fired a perfectly placed drive that beat Bernier to make it a 2-1 game at 6:38 of the third.
Less than two minutes later, the Caps expanded their advantage on a three-on-two rush, their third rush goal of the game. Wilson carried through neutral ice and dished to Nic Dowd, who took the feed in Detroit ice and immediately attracted the attention of both Detroit defenders. Dowd pulled up and sent a pass to Ovechkin on the weak side, and the Caps captain had all the time and space he needed to beat Bernier from the middle of the right circle to make it a 3-1 game at 8:34.
The Caps were stout in their end the rest of the way, particularly in the final couple of minutes as the Wings - who have authored some recent comeback wins - vied to tighten the score. Holtby continued his strong play, finishing with 31 saves, including 14 in the third period. He earned his eighth victory of the season.
"We did a good job at the end there, five-on-six," says Reirden. "They made a big push and Braden I thought had a really strong game. I thought he controlled the game and he was a huge part of our success tonight."