*Photo from NHL.com*
They were looking for a little progress marker, and they found one. Marcus Johansson scored, Anthony Mantha tallied a goal and an assist, and the Washington Capitals defeated the Seattle Kraken with a 4-1 victory on Friday night in Washington.
Falling behind one goal early, the Capitals turned it up to the tune of 4 unanswered goals to put things away for the win at home. They picked up their 3rd straight win, the first time they've done that this season. They have a 6-3-1 record in their last 10 games, now 6th in the Metropolitan Division.
Washington head coach Peter Laviolette said of the win that "It's been a grind. But I think for the most part, we've been playing pretty good lately. We've been doing better things with the puck and defending a little bit better. I was a little bit concerned coming off that road trip and coming home, and it was that one game that snuck in there, but I thought the guys were on point tonight."
Adam Larsson got the scoring started, marking the only goal of the first period to give the Kraken a 1-0 lead, his 3rd goal of the season. The second period started with Mantha tallying his 7th goal of the season to tie the game up. Johansson then scored on the power play to put the Capitals ahead by a 2-1 score after two periods.
With the goalie pulled and the net empty for the Kraken, Lars Eller padded the lead with an empty net goal, making it a 3-1 game with 1:06 left on the clock, assisted by Mantha. Alex Ovechkin did the same thing with just 4 seconds left, with John Carlson and Evgeny Kuznetsov to make it a 4-1 final score for Washington.
Mantha said of his goal in the second period that "I'm just trying to push it. Matty threw it to the net, and there was a rebound. Trying to push it in and I didn't know if it tipped off Lar or if it went straight in, and on the replay you can see it's just their skate that just hits the puck."
Backup goalie Charlie Lindgren was in the net for the Capitals, thrust into the starters role with Darcy Kuemper injured. He played a strong game, saving all but one of the 26 shots that came his way. That was good for a .962 save percentage as his record improved to 5-3-2 in 9 starts.
It was Philipp Grubauer who got the start for the Kraken, unfortunately being a tough luck loser. Grubauer stopped 34 out of the 36 shots the Capitals sent on goal, recording a .944 save percentage. His record now sits at 2-3-1 following the loss.
Seattle head coach Dave Hakstol said of the loss that "You have stretches where you play well and things go your way. You have tough stretches on the schedule where you’ve got to just step up and go play good hockey. Our group is strong in the dressing room. Remain confident, do better than we did tonight."
Up next, both teams resume their schedules on Sunday. Lindgren is slated to start for the Capitals when they hit the road to face the Winnipeg Jets. Martin Jones is the projected starter as the Kraken take on the Florida Panthers.
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