Washington Capitals Solve Jimmy Howard, Beat Red Wings 3-2 In A Shootout

Jimmy Howard may be sharing his crease with Petr Mrazek, but New York native looked dominant on Tuesday night against Washington. His best, however, wasn’t good enough as the Capitals scored a late goal to send the game to overtime and eventually beat Howard’s Red Wings 3-2 in a shootout.

After Justin Williams scored in the first minute for Washington, Howard grew into the game. Two goals–one each from Tomas Jurco and Henrik Zetterberg–gave Detroit the lead, which they held until the halfway mark of the third period when Alex Ovechkin finally beat Howard.

The game would continue into overtime and eventually a shootout, where the Caps finally solved Howard. He was beaten by both T.J. Oshie and Evgeny Kuznetsov for the loss, but not before making 38 saves on the night.

“I think when you get to overtime, when you get to shootout you’re leaving it to chance a little bit,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “That’s the reality of life sometimes. So I think with [Howard] I’d focus on the fact that he did a great job and I don’t think we get the point if he doesn’t play great.”

Howard’s captain also agreed with the coach’s assessment. “Howie played well tonight. Kept us in the game,” Zetterberg said after the Red Wings were outshot by nearly a two to one ratio. “They had a lot of shots, but I don’t know about scoring chances.”

In the other side of the locker room, Capitals head coach Barry Trotz though the game was the latest demonstration that his goalie is as talented as his scorers. “Everybody talks about the shooters, but we’ve got a pretty good goaltender and we feel confident if we get to that point,” he said.

 

Photo: Jimmy Howard of the Detroit Red Wings during a game against the Vancouver Canucks. Photo by LAX, via Wikimedia Commons