A TWO point night: Caps 5 - Rangers 4 (OT)

The Peerless thinks the Rangers and Capitals are still exchanging shots, saves, and goals in the hallway under the stands at Verizon Center.

It was that kind of night.

In a game of “last to score wins,” the Caps got the last score – a goal by Mike Green with 1:19 left in overtime – to give the Caps an improbable 5-4 win over the New York Rangers.

Let’s get right to it…

Watching Donald Brashear in the pre-game warm-up* gave The Peerless a hankerin’ for a Wendy’s double with cheese, pickles, onions, and ketchup. We’re not going to say that too loudly on remembering that Brashear pounded the Rangers’ Colton Orr to the ice in the game’s third minute.

How many folks thought the Caps were toast after Marty Straka buried a cross-ice feed from uber-mullet Jaromir Jagr to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead with seven minutes left in the first period?

The Peerless has one word…Motzko!

The Verizon Center ice should have gotten the third star. Brendan Shanahan blew a tire on that mess, leading to Mike Green’s game-winner. Then again, the Caps had a goal waved off when the puck hit a snow bank on the goal line behind Ranger goalie Henrik Lundqvist, giving the Rangers the extra split second to sweep the puck away before it could completely cross the goal line.

Speaking of Lundqvist, he looked rather ordinary tonight, but then again, he’s been doing that lately. After 18 straight games without allowing more than three goals, he’s now done it three times in his last four games. Tonight’s five goals tied his worst goals-against for the season (Atlanta, October 18).

Is it me, or did Jagr look old out there? We don’t think we’ve seen him pushed off the puck that many times in a month’s worth of games.

And don’t think it didn’t have anything to do with Shaone Morrisonn, either. He seems to save some of his best games for those in which he competes against Jagr. Morrisonn was a +3 tonight.

It was another goal for Paul Coffey Jeff Schultz – that’s three in three games – but he was out there for every Ranger goal, including one by Scott Gomez on which he had no business giving Gomez a free pass down the middle to the net.

Joe Motzko might have scored the first goal, but without Donald Brashear throwing Daniel Girardi off the puck in the deep left wing corner, it doesn’t happen.

The second one was all Motzko, though, with that little dipsy-do around Brandon Dubinsky and that snapper past Lundqvist's glove.

What did you think of Lundqvist’s heel-of-the-skate-from-behind-his-head save, while on his stomach, on David Steckel?

...and what about Lundqvist pulling a Bill Ranford and taking an Ovechkin drive right in the safe deposit box...eeeeeyouch!

Monday, it was a two-point night for John Erskine…tonight a two-point night for Donald Brashear. We know we’ve been harping about other guys stepping up, but this – and Jeff Schultz’ Al MacInnis impersonation the last three games…that’s not exactly what we were expecting.

That was the first time this year the Rangers scored at least four goals in a game and lost. It was the first time this year the Caps gave up at least four goals and won.

Nicklas Backstrom might have a reputation as a quiet guy, but he sure looked to be yapping at the ref on his way to the penalty box after being whistled for a holding penalty in the second period. How do you say “in your ear” in Swedish?

Um…did Chris Drury dress tonight?

Mike Green is starting to get that “bring the fans to the edge of their seats” look when he’s weaving up ice on a rush. Has he come a long way in a year, and perhaps no one has benefited more from the coaching change…that “Unleash the Fury” video they play during a break in action?...you might say it applies to Green’s game.

The Peerless always has had a soft spot for Brendan Shanahan, and we’ll give you an example of why. Shanahan was trailing Ovechkin down the left side, and Ovechkin was about to collect the puck in the corner. He was in a potentially vulnerable position. Lesser players would have taken advantage of that opportunity, perhaps causing injury. But Shanahan used his positional leverage on the play, kept his hand on Ovechkin’s back, and merely finished his check to allow a Ranger to pick up the puck behind the Ranger net...Shanahan is one of the toughest SOB’s in the league who will take crap from no one. But that is the kind of professional play – respect for an opponent – that makes him a solid citizen on the ice, too. We just wish it could have been someone like Sean Avery blowing a tire to allow Brooks Laich and Mike Green to take off on the winning rush.

OK…here’s a question. What will Larry Brooks whine about in tomorrow morning’s New York Post:

- The bad ice?
- The sparse crowd (12,553 announced) that doesn’t deserve an Alex Ovechkin?
- The officiating, for allowing Jagr to be checked?

Don’t look now, but the Caps are only six points out of a playoff spot…The Peerless said, “don’t look!”

* Courtesy of CapsChick at "A View from the Cheap Seats"