Recap: Washington Capitals @ Winnipeg Jets
What happens when the top team in the Western Conference battles the top team in the Eastern Conference? Well, the Winnipeg Jets & Washington Capitals clashed on Tuesday night at the Canada Life Centre and here is what occurred…..
GAME RECAP
The Jets didn’t start the game off well, with a defensive turnover quickly turning into a dangerous 1 timer…fortunately Dylan Samberg was there to make a big block. When Winnipeg did have a promising rush up the ice, it was broken up quickly and Washington counter-attacked well with a partial breakaway on Connor Hellebuyck. After that the home team settled down and started to play hockey, resulting in Nikolaj Ehlers getting a chance off a rush down the left wing. The True Northers’ top line followed that shift up with a rush of their own, allowing Mark Scheifele to curl up after gaining the offensive zone and then sending the perfect pass that let Josh Morrissey step into a 1 timer to open up the scoring 7 minutes in. WPG 1-0. The league leading Capitals pushed back with a strong forecheck that caused a couple turnovers and forced Bucky to make some stops. The Jets counter punched with a great shift by Cole Perfetti’s line and the youngster set up Nino Niederreiter for a great scoring chance. Late in the frame, defenseman Colin Miller threw a hit directly into the numbers of the opposing forward, drawing the first penalty of the game, but showed some smarts by getting the Cap player to retaliate. Not a whole lot happened at 4 on 4, but Winnipeg got caught when Andrew Mangiapane came out of the box to join a rush that ended with him 1 timing a shot by Hellebuyck. TIE 1-1. A heartbreaker with only 20 seconds left in the 1st, but Washington was the better team (0.78 to 0.36 xG).
The 2nd period started with the squads trading scoring chances before the Capitals got the first powerplay of the game. A very good penalty kill allowed no chances for most of the man-advantage, but Bucky was required to make a couple quick saves just at the end. Despite not scoring, Washington used the momentum to tilt the ice in their favour but Winnipeg did a good job of “bending, but not breaking“. After yet another big bodycheck by Tom Wilson, tough guy Luke Schenn challenged him to a fight but ended up standing alone with his gloves off & an unsportsmanlike penalty for his efforts. After limiting Alex Ovechkin to only 1 time attempt with the powerplay, the Jets top line spent a shift cycling the puck and eventually Kyle Connor got held up when he tried to spin off a defender. Winnipeg’s first PP did a great job of gaining the offensive zone to get set up, allowing them to send 3 shots on the Capitals’ Logan Thompson. Just as it appeared the game was going to the intermission deadlocked, Niederreiter raced up the wing with Perfetti driving the net to open up a passing lane to Mason Appleton for a much-needed go ahead goal. A late icing by the Jets gave the Caps 8 seconds to try and test Hellebuyck and they were successful when Ovechkin unleashed a big shot….but Bucky was there to kick out a pad and take the lead into the final frame.
The 3rd period was a master class by the Winnipeg Jets, they dominated the puck possession and scoring chances…yet despite another PP opportunity, they couldn’t extend their lead. Captain Adam Lowry had a bunch of glorious looks, but the big guy couldn’t jam them home in the scrambles in front of the Capitals’ net. Of course, because the Jets were utterly in control, why wouldn’t Washington score with an Ovechkin 1 timer on one of the few looks they got. TIE 2-2. Not much happened in the remaining 4 minutes of the 3rd, except maybe a nice open ice bodycheck by Perfetti….so off to overtime yet again.
The Capitals won the opening face-off and that allowed them to control the puck for the first minute. They hit a post on their first rush and then Hellebuyck was tested a couple more times, but nothing super dangerous. Winnipeg finally gained the puck when Samberg corralled it behind his own net and both squads began a line change. Fortunately Ehlers opted to stay on the ice, allowing Sammy to send a beautiful pool-like bank pass off the boards and right into the path of the speedy Dane. Fly skated the puck into the right face-off circle before he rifled a quick shot to the far post and erupted the Canada Life Centre into a roaring mass of cheering fans.
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FINAL SCORE: WINNIPEG JETS 3 WASHINGTON CAPITALS 2 (OT)
FINAL STATS
Shots: 29-25 WSH / Hits: 17-15 WSH / Face-Offs: 53.8% WSH / x Goals: 1.74 WSH – 1.69 WPG / MoneyPuck’s Deserve to Win: 52.3% WSH / High-Medium Danger Scoring Chances: 6 to 4 WPG
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SCORING SUMMARY from ESPN
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SHOT CHART from MoneyPuck
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ADVANCED SKATER STATS from MoneyPuck
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GOALIE STATS from ESPN & MoneyPuck
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If you would like to dive deeper into the game’s stats, follow the links below to the game pages:
MoneyPuck: Washington Capitals vs. Winnipeg Jets – Tuesday March 25 2025 – MoneyPuck.com
NaturalStatTrick: Washington Capitals @ Winnipeg Jets, 2025-03-25
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BOJA’s Observations:
A big win for the Winnipeg Jets! First, it officially locked up a playoff spot for the club, then it showed the players could rise to the occasion against a very physical & talented opponent. The True Northers played that frustrating style of defense that limits the dangerous scoring chances against to perfection against the Capitals. The Magic Number is now 8 to lock up the Central!!
Nikolaj Ehlers had 3 shots on net during the game, but none bigger than the overtime winning goal. The speedy Dane was fantastic all evening (0.226 xG for 2nd on WPG), though he wouldn’t have had the chance to play hero if Dylan Samberg didn’t dish a perfect long stretch pass that banked off the boards to put the puck right in the path of the racing Ehlers.
Cole Perfetti is winning more fans over to his side with each gritty performance. The winger picked up another point, but did a lot of other good things that weren’t represented on the scoresheet (good set ups, strong on the forecheck, taking the punishment along the boards to cycle the puck & draw a penalty call against the Caps). Young Fetti is on a bit of a streak with 5 points in his last 5 games.
Connor Hellebuyck made some big stops in the contest, but once again looked a bit shaky in between the pipes and gave up a few unnecessary rebounds that could have ended up costing Winnipeg. Stopping 27 of 29 shots for a .931 save percentage sounds pretty good, but MoneyPuck said that he finished the game with a -0.26 Goals Saved Above Expected rating.
Rough one statistically for the defensive pairing of Dylan Samberg & Luke Schenn, getting only 7.7% of the expected goals while being out-shot 7 to 4 when they were on the ice. However xG stats don’t pick up Sammy’s great OT pass all that well and Schenn’s physicality was very much needed against a large Capitals squad.
Did you know that was Winnipeg’s 11th win this year in extra time? They have had 10 OT wins and one in a shoot-out. That is a great accolade…but the NHL doesn’t play 3 on 3 hockey when the games really matter in the post-season.
A big OT win gives the Winnipeg Jets an 8 point lead on the Dallas Stars and once the Texans play a pair of games in Alberta (EDM/CGY) on Wednesday/Thursday, both franchises will have 10 games left on their schedules. Unfortunately for us, the strengths of the final 10 is not anywhere close to being even, as the Jets will play 7 good teams while the Stars will only have to face 3. So we should have a good idea by Friday what it will take to lock up first in the Central Division. And that is when Winnipeg is back in action playing….
UP NEXT: New Jersey Devils @ Winnipeg Jets – Friday, March 28th @ 7:00 pm CST...
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