One down…
…one to go.
That’s a “one-at-a-time” reference. The Caps won their first game on their six-game road trip by edging the Nashville Predators 4-2, the final margin coming with only 3.5 seconds left on an empty net eight-ball-in-the-center-pocket bank shot by Alex Ovechkin.
It was quite a night. Fans got three games worth for their money. In the first, the Caps steamrolled the Predators, scoring three goals in less than 15 minutes. But there were hints of what would come to pass when the Caps took two minor penalties in the last five minutes of the period.
In the second “game,” the home fans were treated to a much more energetic Predators team, aided by another minor penalty called on the Caps early in the period. With Tom Poti off, the Predators sliced into the Caps’ lead on a goal by J-P Dumont.
In the third, the fans saw one team hanging on for dear life, the other marshalling their grit and focus to wear down the visitors until they scored a goal mid-way through the period to make things interesting – and very uncomfortable for the guests. However, the Caps were 23-1-2 when leading after two periods. History was on their side. And Ovechkin cemented number-24 when he intercepted a centering pass from Dumont in the high slot in front of Caps goalie Cristobal Huet, and then banked the puck off the boards and down the ice. The puck slid into the net an instant before Nashville’ Marek Zidlicky did the same in an unsuccessful attempt to catch up.
Ovechkin had another first star game with a goal, two assists, two hits, and three blocked shots in almost 21 minutes of ice time. He had help…
Matt Bradley continued a stretch of strong play with a goal, three hits, and two blocked shots.
Mike Green (who hasn’t had a goal in March, by the way) chipped in with an assist, two hits, and three blocked shots.
Brooks Laich might not have had a goal, but he did lead the team with four hits; Sergei Fedorov might not have had his usual winning ways in the faceoff circle (eight wins in 21 draws), but did have four takeaways.
Cristobal Huet stopped 24 of 26 shots to pick up his fourth win in six decisions since coming to the Caps from Montreal.
It was milestone night for Ovechkin…first Cap with two 100-point seasons, fastest player to 300-career points in more than a decade (237 games versus Peter Forsberg, 229 games, 1997). And it was probably no accident Ovechkin was on the ice on the last shift…the seeds of that came in a statistic you find on the right side of the NHL score sheet – three blocked shots, including one he took off his boot that had him limping around (but not enough to keep him from getting some giddyap into the Nashville zone once the puck was freed and passed onto his stick).
Nashville got the effort they needed out of their top players – Jason Arnott and J-P Dumont (their leading scorers) had the goals as well as six shots between them (Arnott had 10 attempts). But the Predators suffered the same problem that the Caps faced early in the year – they couldn’t get much out of the guys who have to provide supplemental scoring support.
It was an odd game in one respect. Neither team lacked for chances, although the Caps did go into a shell after going up by a field goal. Probably 80 percent of the shots came from between the circles and in close. This could have been a 7-5 game had Cristobal Huet and Chris Mason (in relief of starter Dan Ellis, who – had he remained in after giving up three goals on eight shots – might have allowed that seven-spot) not had excellent games.
And in the end, the Caps moved up one rung on the Eastern Conference standings ladder, climbing over Buffalo into ninth place. They kept pace with Philadelphia, which held off Atlanta, 3-2. Take it one game at a time, and one rung at a time.
…one to go.
That’s a “one-at-a-time” reference. The Caps won their first game on their six-game road trip by edging the Nashville Predators 4-2, the final margin coming with only 3.5 seconds left on an empty net eight-ball-in-the-center-pocket bank shot by Alex Ovechkin.
It was quite a night. Fans got three games worth for their money. In the first, the Caps steamrolled the Predators, scoring three goals in less than 15 minutes. But there were hints of what would come to pass when the Caps took two minor penalties in the last five minutes of the period.
In the second “game,” the home fans were treated to a much more energetic Predators team, aided by another minor penalty called on the Caps early in the period. With Tom Poti off, the Predators sliced into the Caps’ lead on a goal by J-P Dumont.
In the third, the fans saw one team hanging on for dear life, the other marshalling their grit and focus to wear down the visitors until they scored a goal mid-way through the period to make things interesting – and very uncomfortable for the guests. However, the Caps were 23-1-2 when leading after two periods. History was on their side. And Ovechkin cemented number-24 when he intercepted a centering pass from Dumont in the high slot in front of Caps goalie Cristobal Huet, and then banked the puck off the boards and down the ice. The puck slid into the net an instant before Nashville’ Marek Zidlicky did the same in an unsuccessful attempt to catch up.
Ovechkin had another first star game with a goal, two assists, two hits, and three blocked shots in almost 21 minutes of ice time. He had help…
Matt Bradley continued a stretch of strong play with a goal, three hits, and two blocked shots.
Mike Green (who hasn’t had a goal in March, by the way) chipped in with an assist, two hits, and three blocked shots.
Brooks Laich might not have had a goal, but he did lead the team with four hits; Sergei Fedorov might not have had his usual winning ways in the faceoff circle (eight wins in 21 draws), but did have four takeaways.
Cristobal Huet stopped 24 of 26 shots to pick up his fourth win in six decisions since coming to the Caps from Montreal.
It was milestone night for Ovechkin…first Cap with two 100-point seasons, fastest player to 300-career points in more than a decade (237 games versus Peter Forsberg, 229 games, 1997). And it was probably no accident Ovechkin was on the ice on the last shift…the seeds of that came in a statistic you find on the right side of the NHL score sheet – three blocked shots, including one he took off his boot that had him limping around (but not enough to keep him from getting some giddyap into the Nashville zone once the puck was freed and passed onto his stick).
Nashville got the effort they needed out of their top players – Jason Arnott and J-P Dumont (their leading scorers) had the goals as well as six shots between them (Arnott had 10 attempts). But the Predators suffered the same problem that the Caps faced early in the year – they couldn’t get much out of the guys who have to provide supplemental scoring support.
It was an odd game in one respect. Neither team lacked for chances, although the Caps did go into a shell after going up by a field goal. Probably 80 percent of the shots came from between the circles and in close. This could have been a 7-5 game had Cristobal Huet and Chris Mason (in relief of starter Dan Ellis, who – had he remained in after giving up three goals on eight shots – might have allowed that seven-spot) not had excellent games.
And in the end, the Caps moved up one rung on the Eastern Conference standings ladder, climbing over Buffalo into ninth place. They kept pace with Philadelphia, which held off Atlanta, 3-2. Take it one game at a time, and one rung at a time.
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