A TWO-point night: Caps 3 - Flames 2

Daddy?

“yes, son…”

I thought we were going to see a hockey game tonight.

“We did…the Caps and the Flames”

That was hockey?...all they did was whack each other’s sticks, take penalties, and skate around the middle of the ice.

“Well, son…that’s called ‘Keenan hockey.’”

It’s boring.

“Yes, son, it is.”

Boring or not – and the Caps did their level best to lift the excitement level on “Back to the ‘90’s” night – the good guys skated off with a 3-2 win to keep their flickering playoff hopes alive and give Olaf Kolzig his 300^th career win, all as a member of the Capitals. So bore away, Flames, bore away.

On the other hand, Alex Ovechkin – the subject of his own personal camera following him around – had two goals, including the game-winner, 11 shots, more than 24 minutes of ice time…we’re guessing fans got their money’s worth following him around.

The story, though, was Kolzig. He looked very rusty in the first ten minutes, allowing rebounds on shots he would normally swallow up or steer out of trouble. But once he had his legs under him, he was superb. Calgary managed goals only on 5-on-3 power plays (ok, technically the second one just expired when the Flames scored). True, the Flames were essentially a one-line club (Jarome Iginla, Kristian Huselius, and Daymond Langkow combined for 11 of the Flames’ 26 shots, had both goals, and had all three points tallied by forwards). But Kolzig was up to the task when called upon, especially in that first period, when Calgary was launching shots from everywhere (17 in all in the first).

There were some pretty funky numbers in this one, as well as good news elsewhere…

Calgary registered 12 blocked shots in the first period – the Caps, none. Thing is, though, the Flames finished with 17, the Caps 15.

John Erskine skated eight shifts for the night – three of them ended in penalties…he had two of them. Erskine skated only one shift in the second period, taking a penalty.

The minutes Erskine relinquished were picked up by Mike Green, who finished with 30:58. His even strength time alone (18:53) was more than the total time of 12 skaters. His 11:33 of power play time was more than the total for four other skaters.

If the Caps come up short in the stretch drive, it won’t be because Ovechkin failed to deliver. In six March games, he is now 8-6-14, +7. This was his 11^th multi-goal game of the year and his 27^th multi-point game.

Kolzig is now 6-3-2, 2.18, .923 since February 1^st. Anyone think he’s been the problem?

Speaking of problem, how many chances did the Caps have tonight that they didn’t bury…Alexander Semin had Kiprusoff down and an open net and couldn’t get a backhand past the fallen goalie. Matt Bradley sent a puck behind Kiprusoff and through the crease. Ditto Tomas Fleischmann (who had his two chances, which coach Bruce Boudreau says he gets every game…he really needs to bury these). Eric Fehr had a chance from in close that Kiprusoff snatched with his glove. Ditto Ovechkin, who was left to gaze into the rafters.

In the points watch…Ovechkin needs four goals for 60, three points for 100, and he has two home games coming up. There seems to be a convergence taking place – the Caps remaining playoff chances might hinge on his hitting both this weekend.

Sergei Fedorov had perhaps his best game as a Cap. He didn’t register anything on the score sheet, but he was more dominant in the offensive zone than he has been in earlier games, and he was very good in the circle (winning 12 of 21 draws).

Perhaps it was a bad night for them, but it was painful to watch any other group than Calgary’s first line try to do anything with the puck. It is not an especially adept passing team, at least it wasn’t on this night. They looked a lot like the Caps of the early season – that is not a compliment.

This was only the sixth one-goal loss in regulation for Calgary in 34 one-goal games.

Ninth straight 17,000+ home crowd.

The Caps caught a break tonight, as both teams in front of them – Buffalo and Philadelphia – lost in regulation. They kept pace with Carolina, which won in Chicago this evening. The Caps remain seven points behind Carolina with one game in hand and two games remaining against the Hurricanes. They need all six of those points to have any chance at all of winning the Southeast.

Five points out…11 games to play. Philly still has three games against the Penguins, two against the Devils, two against the Rangers. Buffalo still has Ottawa twice, Montreal twice, and Carolina. Of course, the Caps still have that six-game road trip coming.

This could yet be an interesting finish.