Caps beat Sabers 3-1 … but for Vanecek there is still no exclusion

Caps beat Sabers 3-1 … but for Vanecek there is still no exclusion

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The Washington Capitals maintained their winning streak on Thursday night with a convincing yet sloppy victory over the Buffalo Sabers.

After Alex Ovechkin swung a few times against Buffalo goalkeeper Linus Ullmark, Nicklas Backstrom said ‘bro i got this’ and did it himself. Tom Wilson extended the lead in the second period with a very welcome quick-shooting goal. In the third, Conor Sheary cleared a rebound on a big rushing game. But then Victor Olofsson ended the exclusion with a power goal that clipped on top of Vancouver’s net.

Pette won!

  • Tom Wilson had a great game, which gave the Caps the first time of the season. And it’s good that he did, because he got another golden opportunity a few minutes later. Wilson had a free pass in the slot, but instead of taking the shot, he made a fall pass. This is the core of Wilson.
  • Wait, no it’s not. That’s not at all Wilson’s core. This is the core of, like, Alexander Semin or someone. Anyway, there are no more drops passing by. Caps forward: please let me know as soon as you receive this memo.
  • Rookie goalkeeper Vitek Vanecek had another near-exclusion until the Orlov penalty in the third. But VV had to be pretty lucky to be close at all. The Sabers picked the post twice in the first period, and VV’s skaters had to clear quite a few major setbacks from him. I still think he’s making progress, especially since the defense is right in front of him.

  • Buffalo goalkeeper Linus Ullmark has come to the top line with the big save above, but goalkeepers usually make wild saves like this when they are out of position. In our disagreement, I said it was reminiscent of Varlamov’s playoff games in 2009; Nathan calls it Fleurying. I think Nathan said it better.

Screenshot courtesy of Sportsnet

  • The Sabers are actually a pretty good team. It would seem that they are just having excessive difficulty in turning their good play into real goals, especially during five to five games. RIP their season or whatever, but the Caps are built differently.
  • The first coach who found a bunch of minutes for Jakub Vrana will look like a genius. Great move from NBCSW.
  • The Eller line did not have an almost perfect game as against Pittsburgh, but they still scored an excellent rushing goal by Conor Sheary. It’s a lot of fun to watch.

Two wins in a row? This is officially a trend. There’s been a respected game lately, dating back to the last loss against Pittsburgh, if you ask me. But this weekend’s glove will be a real test. Then meet you here.

RMNB coverage of caps against sabers

Screenshot thanks to NBC Sports Washington

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