Peter Laviolette doesn’t Jakub Vrana a lot of ice, but on Tuesday, V saved the coach once again.
Vrana scored twice, including the game’s winning goal in overtime, after staying on the bench for almost the entire third period.
This is becoming a story that repeats itself.
Goal 1
Snek scored their first goal in the game in the second period to give the Capitals a 2-0 lead. After a masterful possession by the second row, John Carlson found Vrana wide open in the right wing for an impressive chronometer goal.
Goal 2
After the Capitals gave up the 4-1 lead in the third period, Vrana saved the boys in overtime, receiving a pass from Evgeny Kuznetsov and scoring on the backhand in a semi-escape. 5-4. Capitals win!
In the night, the second row (Vrana, 2g; Sprong, 1g; Kuznetsov, 2a) scored three of the five goals of the capitals in the night. For the PR of the capitals, Vrana had seven points (5g, 2a) in his last six games. Vrana’s 18 points (10g, 8a) tied for third place in the team and his 10 goals are tied with Nicklas Backstrom at the head of the team.
But that is not where the story ends.
Vrana walked on the pine and skated just 1:47 in the third period after Laviolette put him on the bench for the second time in a period of 10 days.
– Peter (good tweets only) (@peterhassett) March 10, 2021
Vrana seems to have captured Laviolette’s ire in a goal in Miles Wood’s third period, which made it 4-2. Kuznetsov and Vrana went on a shift change while the Devils pressed the ice, leaving Richard Panik, who was coming onto the ice, powerless to keep Wood under the wing for a tray.
“We just stopped playing,” said Laviolette. “We left in the third period and we didn’t play with the same zip that we needed that we played in the previous two periods. There were just too many mistakes, to be honest with you, from incorrect handling of the discs, failure to play with the discs, penalties and line changes. Just a lot of things. Some bad defense drew there too. “
But Laviolette did not play Brenden Dillon (he gave up Egor Sharangovich’s goal) or Vitek Vanecek or the fourth row. Laviolette defeated Vrana, Kuznetsov and Daniel Sprong in what appears to be a selective punishment.
That’s what makes Vrana’s reaction after scoring the game’s winning goal in overtime even more interesting. After placing the disc in the network, Vrana did not celebrate. He looked at someone on the bench. Sprong, realizing what was happening, grabbed Vrana by the neck to return his focus to the goal hug.
I’m not sure if there is anything here, but Jakub Vrana looked angry and seemed to be facing someone on the bench while the team celebrated his OTGWG in the center of the ice.
Daniel Sprong grabbed him by the neck so that he would turn his attention to his teammates in the goal hug.
– Ian Oland (@ianoland) March 10, 2021
It is unclear whether this was a joke or a serious one. I don’t know if there’s * something * here on here. You are the judge.
Jakub Vrana…. ssssss’fast !!!! pic.twitter.com/lxsKAYIBx8
– Washington Capitals (@Capitals) March 10, 2021
never in doubt … pic.twitter.com/lHl15qgMLH
– Washington Capitals (@Capitals) March 10, 2021
But it would be understandable if Vrana was frustrated. Throughout his career, Vrana has been cast by coaches in Washington, the Hershey Bears and the Czech National Team. While Vrana ranks fifth in the NHL in goals of uniform strength (10), he is also the first in another not-so-good statistic.
Per @NatStatTrick, Jakub Vrana (15:05 TOI) has the lowest TOI / GP in the entire NHL among players who have 18 points or more.
– KP8 (@ KP8Design) March 10, 2021
What do you think is going on?
RMNB coverage of Caps vs Devils
Screenshot courtesy of NBC Sports Washington