The Minnesota Wild dominated the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night. Quinn Hughes made history in his second game with the franchise, as the Wild took a 2-0 lead in the second period. After allowing three goals in the third, the Caps fell 5-0. After the game, Dylan Stome was honest about the beatdown.
“We just couldn't create any momentum,” Strome lamented after the game. “Obviously we get down early, but I thought we played okay. But they get one early, and we just weren't able to bounce back from that. Obviously, we’ve all got to be better; we leave Chucky out to dry on a couple in the third there. We’ve just got to be better.”
The Wild struck early to take the lead, as Vladimir Tarasenko scored just 2:09 into the game. The Caps were still in the game after allowing a second-period powerplay goal to Kirill Kaprizov, assisted by Hughes. They could not get the offense going in the third, though, as the team never found momentum. Head coach Spencer Carbery spoke of that momentum getting away from them.
“I didn't mind the start at all, other than that shift, third shift into the game with [Dylan Strome’s] line, where we just get a little bit loose there, coming back into the [defensive] zone,” the coach said. “But other than that one sequence, I thought we did a lot of good things in the first period, so we're right there. And then just not able to get that game or get that first goal. So, you start to grip it a little bit, and [we] just couldn't find a way to get on the board. And then it sort of snowballs once it gets to two, okay, we're still fine; we can still find a way. But when they get that third [goal] early in the third period, it was a backbreaker.”
The Wild have been on fire as of late, winning five straight games. The third period has been huge for the Wild. In the five-game winning streak, they have scored 13 goals in the third period. Meanwhile, the Caps are struggling to find the back of the net, having lost four of their last five games. They have scored just eight goals in five games.
The Capitals are 18-11-4 on the year, which places them tied for third in the Metropolitan Division. They return home from a quick two-game road trip to host Auston Matthews and the Toronto Maple Leafs.
