![\"WSH](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/caps-canes-drkat.jpg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ud83d\udcf8: Kat, PhD\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ud83d\udcf8: Kat, PhD\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
The Washington Capitals were two minutes from beating the Carolina Hurricanes and claiming undisputed first place in the Eastern Conference, then they blew it.<\/p>\n
The first period belonged to the Canes \u2013 in the possesion game if not on the scoreboard. In the second, Connor McMichael broke the tedium by beating Brandon Bussi backhand to make it 1-0, but Nik Ehlers tied it up with a lucky bounce before the period was up.<\/p>\n
Halfway into the third, and to cap off a strong forechecking shift, Nic Dowd redirected Rasmus Sandin\u2019s flawless pass to give the Caps the lead. Just as the Canes pulled Bussi, Stankoven \u2013 which I remind you is the worst kind of oven \u2013 scored after a turnover by Sandin.<\/p>\n
Overtime couldn\u2019t render a decision, so here come\u00a0shootout bullets!<\/p>\n
Beauvillier did not put the biscuit in the basket.
\nJarvis put the biscuit in the basket.
\nStrome did not put the biscuit in the basket.
\nSvechnikov did not put the biscuit in the basket.
\nMilano did not put the biscuit in the basket.<\/p>\n
Caps lose.<\/p>\n
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More Info<\/a><\/p>\n The league\u2019s best five-on-five possession team (them) took on the league\u2019s third best five-on-five possession team (teh ceps) and trounced them. This is the kind of shot differential you\u2019d see in a 2009 Caps-Thrashers game. Except those games were thrilling. This one felt like punishment for something you did wrong. Not me. You. Confess in the comments. Nikolaj Ehlers, who should of been a Cap, must have been Carolina\u2019s best player. He had a few well-earned looks before his not-very-earned goal.<\/p>\n Martin Fehervary, off whose stick the Ehlers goal came, missed some shifts early in the third period but returned for the conclusion. Sandin giveth, Sandin goofeth up. His turnover with two minutes left made the tying goal possible. Biggest game of the month #joebsuitofthenight<\/p>\n \u2014 RMNB (@rmnb.bsky.social)<\/a> 2025-12-11T23:57:23.789Z<\/a><\/p>\n The way the Carolina Hurricanes play hockey is toxic. It\u2019s like a nerve agent bioweapon from Metal Gear Solid designed to ruin the sport. (Also, probably enable a post-state, mercenary-led global hegemony.)<\/p>\n Rod Brind\u2019Amour is a villian, obviously; we can all agree on that. But GM Eric Tulsky is the heavy, and he\u2019s the reason stat bloggers should not be allowed in front offices. Our particular personality disorders don\u2019t make for entertaining hockey. We need manic GMs, who court chaos and make fun trades.<\/p>\n But I don\u2019t want to watch games like this anymore.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\ud83d\udcf8: Kat, PhD The Washington Capitals were two minutes from beating the Carolina Hurricanes and claiming undisputed first…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":343602,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-343601","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-nhl","9":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=343601"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343601\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/343602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=343601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=343601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=343601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nAt some point in the third period, the Canes had three times as many attempts as the Caps \u2013 though the home team narrowed the gap near the end. If not for goaltending, this would have been a crushing blowout. When the Canes finally beat Logan Thompson, his save percentage tumbled to .956. But Brandon Bussi, because the Caps couldn\u2019t reach the rear of the Canes zone, bottomed out at .857 when he allowed the McMichael goal \u2013 just Washington\u2019s 7th on-goal shot of the night.<\/p>\n
\nConnor MicMichael scored his first goal since November 28, a brilliant rush set up by Alex Ovechkin\u2018s stretch pass. I don\u2019t know how you\u2019re supposed to tilt the ice against the Canes. Maybe \u201cskip the neutral zone\u201d is the meta play.
\nTo start the third period, Nic Dowd fought Jordan Martinook, probably about something. I don\u2019t know if anyone connected, which is fine with me. Dowd\u2019s been back for just four games, and I want him to stay in the lineup so he can do stuff like that go-ahead goal. Though he\u2019d insist credit go to Rasmus Sandin.<\/p>\n
\nI don\u2019t know what they\u2019re doing with Hendrix Lapierre. Not even five minutes \u2013 even less than what he had in Anaheim. Last time I checked he spent the entire third period on the bench. My butt\u2019d get numb. I\u2019d ask to be excused so I could play Hades 2 in the locker room.
\nWebsites that are wrong and bad might have listed the Caps are first in the conference before this game. They were not; they had just played more games. Now they\u2019re tied in the childrens\u2019 version of the standings, and the Canes lead among discerning adults.<\/p>\n