Peter Laviolette does not give Jakub Vrana lots of ice time, but on Tuesday, V coach rescued again.
Vrana has passed twice, including the overtime match, after being predicted for almost the entire third period.
It becomes a story that repeats itself.
Goal 1
The Snek scored its first goal of the game in the second period to give the Capitals a 2-0 lead. After a masterful pass through the second line, John Carlson found Vrana wide open on the right wing for a beautiful one-off goal.
Goal 2
After giving the Capitals a 4-1 lead in the third period, Vrana saved the boys in overtime, by taking a pass from Evgeny Kuznetsov and on his backhand in a semi-breakaway. 5-4. The capitals win!
That night, the second line (Vrana, 2g; Jump, 1g; Kuznetsov, 2a) scored three of the Capitals’ five goals on the night. According to the PR of the capitals, Vrana has scored seven points (5g, 2a) in his last six games. Vrana’s 18 points (10g, 8a) are third in the team and his ten goals are tied with Nicklas Backstrom for the team’s lead.
But that’s not where this story ends.
Vrana rode on the pines in the third period and ran only 1:47 after Laviolette fielded him for the second time in a ten-day long time.
– Peter (good tweets only) (@peterhassett) 10 March 2021
It looks like Vrana caught Laviolette’s anger on a third period goal by Miles Wood, who made it 4-2. Kuznetsov and Vrana changed for a while while the Devils pushed the ice up, leaving Richard Panik, who would get on the ice, helpless to protect Wood in the wing for an essay.
“We just stopped playing,” Laviolette said. ‘We went out in the third period and did not play with the same zipper we needed as in the previous two periods. It was just a bunch of mistakes to be honest with you from the wrong handling of pucks, to not performing with pucks, to penalties, to line changes. Just a bunch of stuff. There was also a bad defense. ‘
But Laviolette did not sit for Brenden Dillon (Egor Sharangovich goal given up) or Vitek Vanecek or the fourth line. Laviolette put Vrana, Kuznetsov and Daniel Sprong in a selective penalty.
This is what makes Vrana’s reaction, after scoring the match overtime goal, all the more interesting. After Vrana put the bag in the net, he did not celebrate. He stares at someone on the couch. Jump, observing what was happening, grabbed Vrana by his neck to turn his focus to the goal hug.
Not sure if there is anything here, but Jakub Vrana looked angry and looked at someone on the bench while the team celebrated his OTGWG at the center.
Daniel Sprong grabs him by the neck, drawing his attention to his teammates in the goal kick.
– Ian Oland (@ianoland) 10 March 2021
It is unclear if this was a joke or serious. I do not know if there is * something * here here. You are the judge.
Jakub Vrana…. ssssss’fast !!!! pic.twitter.com/lxsKAYIBx8
– Washington Capitals (@Capitals) 10 March 2021
more doubt … pic.twitter.com/lHl15qgMLH
– Washington Capitals (@Capitals) 10 March 2021
But it will be understandable if Vrana is frustrated. During his career, Vrana has been named by coaches in Washington, the Hershey Bears and the Czech national team. While Vrana ranks fifth in the NHL in equally strong goals (10), he is also first in another not-so-big-state.
Per @NatStatTrickJakub Vrana (15:05 TOI) has the lowest TOI / GP in the entire NHL among players with 18 points or more.
– KP8 (@ KP8Design) 10 March 2021
What do you think is going on?
RMNB coverage of caps against devils
Screenshot thanks to NBC Sports Washington