It's once and always Stanley Cup Champion Washington Capitals hockey, all day, all night, all the time . . . or when I get around to it
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Pep Talk, Bettman Style
With apologies to Knute Rockne and Bruce Bennett of Getty Images, who took this inspirational photograph.
A ONE-point night -- Game 2: Senators 3 - Capitals 2 (OT/SO)
Quick on the heels of last night’s Opening Night win against the New Jersey Devils, the Caps took to the road to face the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Place. It was the home opener for the Senators, but it was the Capitals who came out and started fast. It was early pressure that gave Washington the early lead. With the Caps pinning the Senators in their own end, Erik Karlsson tried to pass the puck against the grain from behind his own net, but did not see Brooks Laich stepping in front of Milan Michalek in the left wing faceoff circle. Laich found Joel Ward in the high slot, and Ward wasted no time snapping the puck past goalie Craig Anderson for the game’s first goal at 1:55.
The Caps took a two-goal lead on the next shift when Mike
Green floated a wrist shot from the right point that sailed past a clot of
bodies in front of Anderson and past the goalie’s left shoulder. Senators head coach Paul MacLean called his
time out to settle his team down and change the game’s rhythm, which was to the
Caps’ liking to that point. The Senators
had a chance to reverse the momentum when Wojtek Wolski took a high-sticking
penalty at the eight minute mark of the period, but the Senators failed to
record a shot on goal on the power play.
The Caps had a chance to put the Senators in a deep hole as
the Wolski penalty expired, Nicklas Backstrom corralling a loose puck along the
boards and sending a pass out to Wolski as he was breaking from the penalty
box. Wolski skated in alone on Anderson,
but the goalie stretched his right pad to foil an attempt by Wolski to stuff
the puck inside the post. That concluded
the scoring chances for the first period, the Caps skating off after 20 minutes
with a 12-7 advantage in shots and a 2-0 lead on the scoreboard.
The second period featured a lot of back and forth action,
but little by way of scoring chances.
Ottawa received its second power play when Alex Ovechkin was whistled
off for charging on defenseman Sergei Gonchar.
Ottawa could not convert on the opportunity, though, and gave it back
when Colin Greening went off for tripping Wolski at 12:55 of the period. The Capitals were as ineffective on their
power play as Ottawa was on its, and the clubs skated to the locker rooms at
the second intermission with the Capitals still holding a 2-0 lead.
The third period got underway with the Caps getting another
opportunity to put the Senators in a bind.
From the right wing faceoff dot Mike Ribeiro found Jason Chimera all
alone on the far post for what should have been a tap-in goal, but Chimera’s
redirect hit the post and rebounded under the pads of Anderson.
It was the momentum changer the Senators were looking for as
they started to press the Caps harder in their own end. Despite the heavy pressure, though, Michal
Neuvirth kept the score sheet clean, foiling Eric Condra with a fine glove
save off a wrist shot and keeping his frame square to the shot as Milan
Michalek redirected an Erik Karlsson shot down and into Neuvirth’s pads.
The Senators looked as if they would remain snakebit in
their home opener when the antidote presented itself in the form of Jason
Spezza. With the game clock under five
minutes Karlsson faked a shot from the top of the offensive zone and sent a
drive to Neuvirth’s right. Spezza
redirected the puck up and over Neuvirth’s right pad to halve the lead with
4:32 to play.
Ottawa pulled Anderson for an extra attacker with 1:22 left in
regulation. The strategy does not work
often, but it did for the Senators in the dying seconds. Chris Phillips sent the puck to the net where
it ricocheted off legs in front. From
amid the pile of bodies in front fighting for the puck, Daniel Alfredsson
backhanded the puck through Neuvirth’s pads with six seconds left to tie the
game for the Senators.
Overtime opened cautiously for both teams, neither wanting
to make a mistake with the added open ice at 4-on-4. Ovechkin had an opportunity skating in on
Phillips, who was giving ground to the onrushing winger, but the wrist shot
Ovechkin took skimmed the near post and went wide. The Senators had a chance when a Gonchar shot
hit a body in front and skittered onto the stick of Greening, but his shot was
hurried and sailed wide. Overtime ended
with both teams putting three shots on goal, but none of them in the net.
It was left to the Gimmick to settle things. Ottawa shot first with their captain Daniel
Alfredsson taking the turn. Alfredsson
skated in slowly, faked pulling the puck to his backhand and stuffed it under
Neuvirth for a goal. Matt Hendricks
opened for the Caps. Last year’s darling
of the fifth period did not disappoint.
Skating deliberately toward Anderson, Hendricks reached the hash marks
and feinted left, went right, and backhanded the puck over Anderson to tie
things up.
Jason Spezza took the next turn for the Senators. Spezza went simple, going wide trying to get
Neuvirth’s feet moving as he cut back across the middle. Neuvirth left just enough of an opening for
Spezza to go five-hole, and the Senators had the advantage again. Wojtek Wolski took his turn skating directly
at Anderson. He froze Anderson by edging
the puck to his backhand, then pulling it back to his forehand as Anderson bit
on the move. Wolski tucked the puck in
to tie things up again.
Milan Michalek took the top of the third round for
Ottawa. He wasted no time with many
moves. He skated in, and perhaps Neuvirth was expecting something tricky, but
he was unprepared for Michalek’s snapping a shot off the post past Neuvirth’s
blocker and in. That left it up to Alex
Ovechkin for the Capitals. He took a
page from Michalek’s book and skated smartly toward Anderson in the Ottawa
net. He pulled a move out of yesterday,
the leg pump as he hit the hash marks.
His snap shot beat Anderson, but it rang off the post and out. The Senators took the trick shot competition
and the game, 3-2.
Senators 3 – Capitals 2
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