Jacob Chychrun has looked even better than he did last year when he signed his $9M extension. Well, Chychrun hasn't regressed at all, already surpassing his goals and points totals from last year; and he looks more comfortable defensively this season. Any fears people had that the Caps were buying high on an unproven player should be allayed by now.
All three of the Capitals' representatives in Milan are moving on to the semifinals, as Martin Fehervary and Slovakia beat Germany... [NHL, AP, The Athletic ($), THN] ...and Tom Wilson, Logan Thompson, and Team Canada squeaked by Czechia in overtime. [NBC Olympics, NHL, THN] Also moving on in overtime? Team USA, who recovered from a late blown lead to take out Sweden in extra time. [NHL, AP, NBC Olympics]
The US and Canadian women are headed for yet another gold-medal clash, Wilson is beloved by all people far and wide, and more in today's Caps Clips. Your savory breakfast links: The American women defeated Team Sweden 5-0 yesterday, and for the seventh time in Olympic history will face Team Canada in the gold medal game on Thursday. [AP, NPR, Olympics] Meanwhile, after earning first-round byes, the US and Canadian (and Slovakian and Finnish) men will have to wait until the end of today's games to see who they'll face in the quarterfinals. [Olympics]
Jakob Chychrun earned his 20th goal of the season with a snazzy sequence that I won't describe; I'll just embed the video below. Jonathan Marchessault ended the shutout with a lucky bounce. The third period was sick and twisted. Nic Dowd's goal was nullified and then Michael McCarron scored - all within one minute of game clock time. Jakob Chychrun got his second of the night with a nail-in-the-coffin power-play goal. Caps win!
