On Thursday night the New Jersey Devils were blanked, 1-0, by the Washington Capitals in what may have been the least eventful game I have ever watched; and that's saying something.
If you missed the game, or want to relive all the magic, here are the highlights in their entirety.
Vrana goal pic.twitter.com/tGBOC4dcRF
— steph (@myregularface) March 3, 2017
There, you're all caught up!
But seriously, the Devils came out and actually played a good, although low-event, 1st period. They out-attempted the Caps 16-8 and did seem to have the edge in play, although high-danger chances were 1-1(!!!) in the frame.
Things picked up significantly in the 2nd period. Not only was there a dust-up between Dmitry Orlov and Joseph Blandisi, but there were a combined three high-danger scoring chances at 5v5. Baby steps, baby steps.
Fast forward to the 3rd and (thankfully) final frame. The Caps started to flex their muscles and control play more than they had in the prior two periods. They were rewarded for their efforts when Jakub Vrana, who I really like, potted his 2nd career goal.
That was all the support Braden Holtby would need to take things the rest of the way. It wasn't because he stood on his head, but rather he faced only 15 shots (the Devils had a high of six in the 3rd) and five high-danger looks. That's not enough to make the guy from the corner store sweat, let alone last year's Vezina Trophy winner.
On one hand, it was nice to see a young team, playing for nothing, square up against the league's best team, in their own building no less, and lose by just one goal.
On the other, the Devils had to dull things down so much to give themselves a shot that a root canal sounded more entertaining.
Hopefully, for the sake of us all, they can find a happy medium down the stretch where they don't get destroyed on a nightly basis but the games can actually be considered a form of entertainment.
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