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In the span of less than a week, the Washington Capitals and the Colorado Avalanche have met twice. The Capitals cruised to a 5-2 victory over the Avalanche in Denver during their previous meeting on November 15th. They were in the nation’s capital at this point.

Alexander Ovechkin’s fibula fracture meant that they were without a key player this time around. Colorado won 2-1 because the Avalanche were out their Hall-of-Fame star and the other team was out for vengeance after their previous game.

Brief Overview of the Match
In the first half, both teams had solid opportunities to score. First, the Avalanche had a power play, which could have opened the scoring, but they were shut down and only managed two attempts on goal. Upon entering the zone, the Capitals surrounded Nathan MacKinnon in each way they could.

The Avalanche would play a strong defense, denying them a power play opportunity when Logan O’Conner was called for a trip. The power play continued to appear strong even without Ovechkin; Dylan Strome did a good job of facilitating the puck and creating numerous scoring opportunities.

Thanks to a fantastic assist from Tom Wilson—who lost Jonathan Drouin and Josh Manson’s defender as he crossed the crease and tapped the ball in—Pierre Luc Dubois scored the first goal. With Aliaksei Protas left unchecked above the penalty area, the Capitals nearly increased their lead, but Alexandar Georgiev made a diving save. By the end of the first period, the Capitals had beaten the Avalanche and were riding high thanks to Logan Thompson’s key saves.

In the second half, the Avalanche returned to their usual self after the intermission and wasted little time creating scoring opportunities, notably thanks to a fantastic saucer pass from MacKinnon to Artturi Lehkonen. Regardless, the save was a huge success for Thompson.

The Avalanche kept up the pressure, but Dubois was able to prevent a breakaway after a pass that was broken up in the middle of the ice landed up on his stick. The Capitals attempted to create offense as they entered the offensive zone by sending an outlet pass to Mangiapane, but the ball was deemed offside.

The Capitals decided to step it up in the second period and started scoring goals at that point. Brandon Duhaime’s shot from the hash markers was thwarted, while McMichael’s two breakaways were also foiled. On one occasion, he attempted to delay Georgiev but missed, and on the other, he was poke-checked.

The Avalanche took advantage of a power play after a long break to repair the boards, thanks to a hook from McMichael that put the puck in Lehkonen’s stick. The game was tied when Rantanen’s cross-crease pass ricocheted off Roy’s skate and went between Thompson’s five-holes. Throughout the remainder of the period, both goaltenders demonstrated their significance to the game by making a barrage of saves.

Playing pinball is fun for everyone.Let the #GoAvsGo celebration begin!

This was tweeted by the Colorado Avalanche on November 22, 2024.

Similar to the second period, the third one got off to a slow start as the Avalanche continued their own tempo. There were several good opportunities, but Thompson held firm until Miles Wood headed Cale Makar’s shot into the back of the net to put them ahead. They were about to double down when Makar hit a shot that was five holes out from Thompson, but the latter blew the play dead by laying on it.

With both goaltenders proving their worth, neither team was able to capitalize on a power play opportunity. The Capitals were desperate to go from defense to offense as the clock ticked down, attempting to get out of their own zone as soon as possible in order to create some offense. With 2 minutes and 27 seconds remaining, the Capitals removed Thompson, but the extra attacker was unable to spark any scoring. Despite several attempts at empty net goals that were unsuccessful, the Avalanche were able to hold on for a 2-1 victory.

On Saturday, November 23, the Washington Capitals will face the New Jersey Devils and the Colorado Avalanche will face the Florida Panthers.