Unbelievable Shutdown: How the Canes Silenced the Caps in a Stunning 4-0 Sweep

You know, there was a fleeting moment early on when I thought, “Hey, maybe this Game 3 between the Washington Capitals and Carolina Hurricanes is shaping up to be something special.” That was, oh, several hours ago, and boy, did the story take a nosedive from there. After a stubborn scoreless opening frame, Carolina’s Andrei Svechnikov darted in with a slick goal right off an offensive-zone faceoff — the kind of play that flips the momentum like a switch. Before the second period ticked away, Jack Roslovic had snuck one past Logan Thompson on the short side, and it was clear the Caps were starting to unravel. Then came Eric Robinson’s third-period rush that made it 3-0, followed by Jackson Blake’s cheeky rebound bank shot into Thompson’s five-hole with just minutes left. Freddie Andersen picking up the shutout? Just the cherry on top of a pretty sour sundae. The Hurricanes now lead the series 2-1, and the Capitals are left nursing both wounds and questions about how to find that spark again. For those who want the full breakdown and all the gritty details — LEARN MORE.

I vaguely remember at one point thinking I was enjoying Game 3 between the Washington Capitals and Carolina Hurricanes. That was hours ago.

After a goal-less first period, Andrei Svechnikov put Carolina ahead with a quick goal after an offensive-zone faceoff. Before the second period was up, Jack Roslovic beat Logan Thompson on the short side.

Early in the third, Eric Robinson made it 3-0 on the rush. With three minutes left, Jackson Blake banked a rebound off into Thompson’s five-hole. 4-0 was the final. Freddie Andersen earned the shutout.

Caps lose. Hurricanes lead the series 2-1.

• Is this good hockey? This is a question philosophers and herbs will debate for eons to come. The very simple answer is that this is good hockey when the Caps are playing well (e.g. first period) and unwatchable dreck when they’re not (e.g. the entire rest of the game). Rod Brind’Amour and Spencer Carbery are playing a tense game of Strategema – a delicate duel of intricate adjustments to matchups and zone-exit schemes – and to me it’s just tedious. I don’t care, man. I just wanna have some fun. This isn’t fun.
• Like I said, the Caps were electric in the first period, playing physical and well. Natural Stat Trick says Washington had eight high-danger chances during five-on-five play compared to just one by Carolina. But they couldn’t beat Andersen.
• John Carlson was on the ice for all four Carolina goals. That erases his entire positive goal differential for the postseason and then some.
• The faceoff off which (that can’t be the best way to say that) Svechnikov scored was just the second Nic Dowd lost in the game. He was 7-1 before losing that one on his opposite side. This is the second most interesting thing Dowd did in the game. The most interesting was this near-own goal from behind the Canes net. At the time it was funny. Now, nothing is funny. I’m gonna watch Grave of the Fireflies after this to cheer myself up.

• Logan Thompson let in two softies. Nothing he could do on the Svech goal, but Robinson and Roslovic got gimmes. This is notable mostly as a man-bites-dog thing; LT had been great until today.
• Taylor Raddysh played in this game.
• Brent Burns, 40, and Alex Ovechkin, 39, got into it a couple times. Game footage:

• First, Burns high-sticked Ovechkin and drew blood – on a followthrough, to be fair. Then Burns dropped Ovechkin, risking a hip injury for a player of such advanced age. Still, I love Brent Burns. He makes no sense. I showed Aileen photos of Burns as a rookie versus now. The second guy looks like the guy who tortured the first guy to death.
• In the second period, Pierre-Luc Dubois no-look cold-cocked Jackson Blake to get matching minors for roughing. PLD was looking directly into the refs eyes as it happened, like “hey, watch this.” I respect the confidence.
• Alex Alexeyev added another bad game to a bad series. I remember seeing him in the offensive zone. Once.

I miss Joe B and Craig Laughlin. I didn’t see them on the pregame, so here’s a somewhat older Joe B Suit of the Night. If you know what Joe was wearing tonight, please let me know in the comments, and I will update my spreadsheet.

That sucked. Teasing us, the Caps looked great for twenty minutes. In an alternate universe they’d have been up 2-0 at the first intermission. But Brind’Amour’s adjustments were better than Carbery’s, or Carolina’s performers were better than Washington’s, or both. So we got two oppressive, plodding periods, punctuated only by occasional icings.

We know the Caps can outplay the Canes. We saw it in Game 2, we saw it in the first period tonight. But they haven’t proved they can sustain. They can try again on Monday.