NHL Thursday night Match Analysis: Washington Capitals vs. Winnipeg Jets 1-0
Washington is without a doubt one of the best teams in the National Hockey League (NHL), not in terms of present rankings in the Eastern Conference but in an overall sense in regard to player capabilities and a talent filled roster. They had a tough time against Winnipeg but Alex Ovechkin came up big for the Capitals to win, 1-0, in a shutout, Thursday night, December 15, 2011.
The Jets were on a roll entering the month of December in the 2011-2012 NHL regular season by having won four straight contests with a disruption from the Detroit Red Wings in a huge, 7-1, disappointing loss but Winnipeg managed to bounce back against the top Western Conference team, Minnesota Wild.
With their former coach out of the picture and Dale Hunter in, it looks like Washington is finally beginning to make some progress by having won four of their past six matchups, but in order to do something truly noticeable, the Capitals will need to get consistent and start winning back-to-back.
Having led the Eastern Conference for the past two seasons at the top spot, Washington is now sitting seventh with 33 points and is on the brink of falling down even further since three other teams are also tied with the same amount and could takeover at anytime.
It was a sold out crowd at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and the fans were hoping for a victory by the Jets. Both teams failed to score any goals in the opening 20 minutes while Washington Capitals managed to kill off their penalty midway through the first with Mike Knuble getting penalised for high-sticking.
Winnipeg failed again to capitalise on two straight added man advantages a few minutes apart which could have been the deciding factor of the game. Winnipeg gave their first penalty of the night when Johnny Oduya was booked for slashing at the 17:39 mark, but the Jets did not let Capitals enter their territory to force an intense third period competition.
"It's a bad two points we gave that team," Winnipeg coach Claude Noel said after a close match which they could have won. "We played the way Washington wanted to play. That's the sad part. They lulled us into this game that we thought we could be cute.
Michal Neuvirth and Ondrej Pavelec faced nearly the same amount of shots on their net with the former diverting all 26 on him for a shutout and the Winnipeg goalie falling short on one of 28 total chances.
"It happened. I made a mistake," Pavelec said about the single shot he let go through his net. "It was a pretty good game. Both teams could win. We could win the game. They took advantage in the last minute and made a good play so they scored a goal.
With less than two minutes to go in the third period of regulation, Marcus Johansson had the puck in front of the Winnipeg net and set up Washington captain, Alex Ovechkin, leaving it there and faking to take it with him with Ovechkin coming from behind and firing off the game-winner on a confused Winnipeg goalie for the win at the 18:46 mark.
Washington Capitals have the next against the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday while Winnipeg Jets will be hosting the Anaheim Ducks the same day.
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