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  4. title => "Braden's blunder, Ovechkin's gimme and two goals for Panik"
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  6. article_body => "<p>With a third period lead, a big turnover by Braden Holtby proved to be the turning point in a 5-4 loss to the Nashville Predators. The Capitals have now lost eight straight against Nashville, who swept the season series for the fourth year in a row.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcsports.com\/washington\/capitals\/capitals-drop-8th-straight-nashville-sloppy-back-and-forth-loss\" target=\"_blank\">Check out a recap of the game here.<\/a><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Observations from the loss<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>This one hurts<\/p>\n<p>When you get two goals handed to you on a silver platter the way the Caps did on Wednesday, especially against a bad team, that's one you need to win. Juuse Saros pretty much put the puck on Alex Ovechkin's stick from behind the net, giving one of the greatest goal-scorers of all-time an empty net to shoot on. Then Nick Bonino tried to pass from behind the net and hit it right off of Saros for the own goal.<\/p>\n<p>And still the Caps lost.<\/p>\n<p>This is a frustrating loss because Nashville tried to give it away and Washington could not take advantage.<\/p>\n<p><strong>3-on-2s<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>On Monday, Jeff Petry scored for the Montreal Canadiens&nbsp;off a misplayed 3-on-2 defense. The two defenders, Dmitry Orlov and T.J. Oshie who was back on defense covering for a pinching Nick Jensen, got too close together in the middle and Petry skated around and behind them on the wing leaving him open&nbsp;for the pass alone in front of the net and the goal.<\/p>\n<p>The exact same thing happened Wednesday against Nashville. The exact same play.<\/p>\n<p>Roman Josi carried the puck up the middle on a 3-on-2 opportunity. Both Michal Kempny and John Carlson bunched to the middle leaving Rocco Grimaldi to skate&nbsp;down the wing and cut in behind the defense. Josi found him with the pass and he was in alone on net for the goal.<\/p>\n<p>Were these just two misplays from the defense or have teams scouted Washington's defense on the rush and found a weakness in the way they play? That's something they have to address.&nbsp;You can't leave forwards alone on net behind the defense.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Remain calm, don't Panik<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Richard Panik scored two goals on Wednesday, statistically his best game as a Capital. Granted, Saros should have stopped Panik's first goal as it was not deflected or off a screen. A goalie has to save that. The second goal was also an own-goal by Bonino that Panik just happened to touch last. Still, with his struggles to start the season, it probably felt great to get into the goal column twice in one game.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Who starts Sunday?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Reirden already said on Tuesday that he planned for Holtby to start against Nashville and Ilya Samsonov to start Friday against the Ottawa Senators. My question now is who starts Sunday against the Pittsburgh Penguins?<\/p>\n<p>This was not a good game for Holtby who stopped only 19 of the 24 shots he faced and who made some pretty glaring errors. I assumed going into this week that Holtby would start Sunday's game against the Penguins, but what if Samsonov has a good performance against Ottawa?<\/p>\n<p>Sunday's game is against the second-place team in the division and a hated rival. That's a game that matters, so it's one you would look to have your No. 1 in net. Who is the No. 1 in Reirden's mind? I think who he starts on Sunday will be very telling of where the goalies stand.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Turning point<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Leading 4-3&nbsp;on a power play in the third period, Washington had a chance to close it out, but after Nashville gifted the Caps two goals, Holtby returned the favor. Off a clear by the Predators, Holtby came out of the net and tried to fire the puck up ice to catch the penalty kill off guard. The outcome of the play was certainly a surprise because he passed the puck directly to Nashville forward Ryan Johansen. Johansen took the puck on net and fired a wrister to beat Holtby blocker-side for the game-tying goal.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just didn\u2019t see him there,\" Holtby said.&nbsp;\"It was just bad awareness there. I was trying to do too much, I guess, trying to get in the play somehow and it\u2019s just a play that can\u2019t happen. It killed us.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Play of the game<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>That's 693 goals and counting for Ovechkin!<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"und\" dir=\"ltr\">693!!!!<br>[<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Lindsay_VW?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@Lindsay_VW<\/a>] <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/dA3X9kCIN3\">pic.twitter.com\/dA3X9kCIN3<\/a><\/p>&mdash; NBC Sports Capitals (@NBCSCapitals) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NBCSCapitals\/status\/1222691781394956290?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 30, 2020<\/a><\/blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n \n<p>The goal moved Ovechkin past Steve Yzerman and into sole possession of ninth place all-time.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Stat of the game<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The stat of the game comes from yours truly and has to do with the power play, which continues to look awful. Despite how bad it looks, it has actually produced a few&nbsp;goals lately...but not enough to make up for the ones it is giving up.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Caps?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Caps<\/a> have scored 5 PP goals and given up 4 shorthanded goals in their last 7 games.<\/p>&mdash; JJ Regan (@JJReganNBCS) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JJReganNBCS\/status\/1222730462256410625?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 30, 2020<\/a><\/blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n \n<h2><strong>Quote of the game<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Todd Reirden was clearly displeased with Holtby's turnover to Johansen. He was asked about it and paused for several seconds before answering.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Goalie playing the puck up on a power play is not part of our system, it's not part of our design of how we break pucks out. That's an unforced error. So that's one of many that we had in the game. I'm sure he'll be the first one to tell you that he'd like to have that play back. That's the way it goes, he made some good saves after, but it's pretty easy to see that error right there.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h2><strong>Fan predictions<\/strong><\/h2>\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/zaronow\/status\/1222664291519795208 \n<p>He got one, but fell seven goals short of your prediction.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Did we forget about Nick Jensen still needing a goal? He will take care of that tonight.<\/p>&mdash; Micah Reed (@reedallab0utit) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/reedallab0utit\/status\/1222668931799953408?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 29, 2020<\/a><\/blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n \n<p>Keep trying, you'll get there.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">PAIN<\/p>&mdash; BetterBeerAuthority (@BetterBeerAuth) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BetterBeerAuth\/status\/1222663256860512259?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 29, 2020<\/a><\/blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n \n<p>Solid Rocky reference.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>MORE CAPITALS NEWS:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Tough Night:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcsports.com\/washington\/capitals\/capitals-drop-8th-straight-nashville-sloppy-back-and-forth-loss\">Sloppy loss to Preds<\/a><\/li>\n<li><strong>What makes Ovi, Ovi?<\/strong>:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcsports.com\/washington\/capitals\/what-makes-alex-ovechkin-so-hard-stop\" target=\"_self\">He can't be stopped<\/a><\/li>\n<li><strong>How They Won:<\/strong>&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcsports.com\/washington\/capitals\/response-game-holtby-butt-pass-and-some-power-power-play\">Caps beat Canadiens<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n"
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Capitals

Capitals

With a third period lead, a big turnover by Braden Holtby proved to be the turning point in a 5-4 loss to the Nashville Predators. The Capitals have now lost eight straight against Nashville, who swept the season series for the fourth year in a row.

Check out a recap of the game here.

Observations from the loss

This one hurts

When you get two goals handed to you on a silver platter the way the Caps did on Wednesday, especially against a bad team, that's one you need to win. Juuse Saros pretty much put the puck on Alex Ovechkin's stick from behind the net, giving one of the greatest goal-scorers of all-time an empty net to shoot on. Then Nick Bonino tried to pass from behind the net and hit it right off of Saros for the own goal.

And still the Caps lost.

This is a frustrating loss because Nashville tried to give it away and Washington could not take advantage.

3-on-2s

On Monday, Jeff Petry scored for the Montreal Canadiens off a misplayed 3-on-2 defense. The two defenders, Dmitry Orlov and T.J. Oshie who was back on defense covering for a pinching Nick Jensen, got too close together in the middle and Petry skated around and behind them on the wing leaving him open for the pass alone in front of the net and the goal.

The exact same thing happened Wednesday against Nashville. The exact same play.

 

Roman Josi carried the puck up the middle on a 3-on-2 opportunity. Both Michal Kempny and John Carlson bunched to the middle leaving Rocco Grimaldi to skate down the wing and cut in behind the defense. Josi found him with the pass and he was in alone on net for the goal.

Were these just two misplays from the defense or have teams scouted Washington's defense on the rush and found a weakness in the way they play? That's something they have to address. You can't leave forwards alone on net behind the defense.

Remain calm, don't Panik

Richard Panik scored two goals on Wednesday, statistically his best game as a Capital. Granted, Saros should have stopped Panik's first goal as it was not deflected or off a screen. A goalie has to save that. The second goal was also an own-goal by Bonino that Panik just happened to touch last. Still, with his struggles to start the season, it probably felt great to get into the goal column twice in one game.

Who starts Sunday?

Reirden already said on Tuesday that he planned for Holtby to start against Nashville and Ilya Samsonov to start Friday against the Ottawa Senators. My question now is who starts Sunday against the Pittsburgh Penguins?

This was not a good game for Holtby who stopped only 19 of the 24 shots he faced and who made some pretty glaring errors. I assumed going into this week that Holtby would start Sunday's game against the Penguins, but what if Samsonov has a good performance against Ottawa?

Sunday's game is against the second-place team in the division and a hated rival. That's a game that matters, so it's one you would look to have your No. 1 in net. Who is the No. 1 in Reirden's mind? I think who he starts on Sunday will be very telling of where the goalies stand.

Turning point

Leading 4-3 on a power play in the third period, Washington had a chance to close it out, but after Nashville gifted the Caps two goals, Holtby returned the favor. Off a clear by the Predators, Holtby came out of the net and tried to fire the puck up ice to catch the penalty kill off guard. The outcome of the play was certainly a surprise because he passed the puck directly to Nashville forward Ryan Johansen. Johansen took the puck on net and fired a wrister to beat Holtby blocker-side for the game-tying goal.

“I just didn’t see him there," Holtby said. "It was just bad awareness there. I was trying to do too much, I guess, trying to get in the play somehow and it’s just a play that can’t happen. It killed us.”

Play of the game

That's 693 goals and counting for Ovechkin!

The goal moved Ovechkin past Steve Yzerman and into sole possession of ninth place all-time.

Stat of the game

The stat of the game comes from yours truly and has to do with the power play, which continues to look awful. Despite how bad it looks, it has actually produced a few goals lately...but not enough to make up for the ones it is giving up.

 

Quote of the game

Todd Reirden was clearly displeased with Holtby's turnover to Johansen. He was asked about it and paused for several seconds before answering.

Goalie playing the puck up on a power play is not part of our system, it's not part of our design of how we break pucks out. That's an unforced error. So that's one of many that we had in the game. I'm sure he'll be the first one to tell you that he'd like to have that play back. That's the way it goes, he made some good saves after, but it's pretty easy to see that error right there.

Fan predictions

https://twitter.com/zaronow/status/1222664291519795208

He got one, but fell seven goals short of your prediction.

Keep trying, you'll get there.

Solid Rocky reference.

MORE CAPITALS NEWS: