Well, well. The 2026-27 Washington Capitals are here, and they are good. They sprinted to a three-goal lead in the first period, but let the defending champion Carolina Hurricanes stay in the game with unfortunate penalties.
Alex Tuch scored his first as a selection after Pierre-Luc Dubois dominated Canes goalkeeper Brandon Bussi behind his own net. Cole Hutson outlasted Mark Jankowski to make it 2-0, assisted by both Protaes, then Tuch scored his second goal of the match a few minutes later.
Jakob Chychrun’s on-sight puck debuted in the fall to help the Caps convert their first power play. Alas, it couldn’t last forever: Sebastian Aho scored a power play goal after a nice rebound following Tom Wilson’s block. That goal changed everything – oh no matter, Ryan Leonard scored eight seconds later, on a Dylan Strome throw-in.
Midway through the third period, Logan Stankoven – and if you know the joke, share it in the comments – beat Thompson with a nasty outside shot.
The Caps beat Canes 5-2!
- Bullets, bullets, bullets. Okay, you got it, Peter. You’ve done this hundreds of times. Thousands. Just write about the game. Have fun. If you do it correctly, no one will notice that you are a fraudster. Seek the power of positive thinking. Make sure you delete this before posting.
- Alex Tuch scored two goals in his first period in the Washington capital. He could have completed the hat trick shorthanded, but the puck fell on him. We’ll be with this guy for a long time. It was the perfect first chapter.
- After watching that goal, you have to think Tulsky took out his calculator and ran the numbers again on Connor Hellebuyck. (I still think Bussi is doing better, for now).
- The Caps committed six (non-compensatory) penalties, far more than Carolina’s single slashing hit. LT and PK have KO’d in 83.3333333 percent of these shorthanded situations, but that’s still a ridiculous number of penalties in Game 1.
- Cole Hutson was stopped for two of those penalties: an interference and a hold. I was going to say his most notable trait was his relative lack of vastness, but his penalties overshadowed that.
- Based on the Umbrella Corporation scoreboard outside of town, could you imagine a worse start for the Red Wings? “Sell the team” in the home opener!
- I didn’t know what to expect from them, but I really liked the fourth trio of Jenner, Sourdif and Beauvillier. They got typical Washington deployments (i.e. no faceoffs in the offensive zone)
- If you read my cord cutting story or my updated How to Watch guide, you might want to know that the gear icon overlay on the Monumental app is already gone.
It’s time for another great year with my two best friends in my most insane parasocial fixation#joebsuitofthenight
– Good Skeet Pete (@peterhassett.net) 2026-10-02T22:58:58.761Z
The star of the evening was undoubtedly goalkeeper Logan Thompson, who was impossible to catch out of position. However, I must remove my cap in front of the shield of meat set up in front of him. Matt Roy and Marty Fehervary combined for double-digit blocked shots. Their sacrifice and that of the eleven other skaters who positioned themselves in front of the shots counted for a lot as the Canes began to control the puck better late in the game.
I would have been happy to see a thigh-splitting, slapstick, season-opening 8-0 blowout, but watching the Caps face the redoubled Canes thanks to some gutsy play is encouraging in its own way. We’re only 1.19 percent into the season, but we’ve already seen this new team play – score and win – in different ways. Make no mistake though – bury them in washers is always plan A.
I’ll talk to you tomorrow night in Tampa.
Gn sports
