Sports
Caps win scrap against Rangers, 2-1
By: Brian McNally
Examiner Staff Writer
January 3, 2009
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| Alex Ovechkin his second period goal Saturday night at Verizon Center. The goal came as the Caps were short-handed and became the game-winner in the Caps' 2-1 win over the New York Rangers. (Mitchell Layton/NHLI via Getty Images) |
World-class stickwork. Flashy passes. And the wicked wristshot that gives opposing goalies nightmares. But delivering a couple of haymakers to Rangers defenseman Marc Staal? That one came out of the blue.
But Semin’s third-period fight and subsequent ejection was the most memorable moment of yet another satisfying win for the Caps, who received goals from both Mike Green and Alex Ovechkin in the second period to beat New York for the third time this season, 2-1, before a sell-out crowd at Verizon Center.
Semin played for the first time since Dec. 18 when he injured his back against the St. Louis Blues. He has appeared in just 22 of 40 games this season, yet still has 14 goals and 19 assists. But his unexpected fight with Staal at 4:13 of the third energized the crowd and his own teammates. Semin had his jersey pulled completely off during the scrap, but landed a flurry of shots after the two fell to the ice.
“I’ve seen [Semin] fight once before,” Green said with a smile afterwards. “But I’ve never really seen him do the drumroll on a guy.”
It was an impressive display — even if Semin earned a game misconduct penalty because his shirt wasn’t tied down. Earlier in the night, Semin contributed in a more normal fashion. During a second-period power play, he threaded a perfect pass through three New York defenders to a cutting Green, who beat goalie Stephen Valiquette to tie the game at 1.
“Alex was going for the Gordie Howe [hat trick],” joked Caps coach Bruce Boudreau. “But, hey, listen - he competed. He got a great assist on the power play and he gets into a battle.”
That Green strike came just 79 seconds after a controversial Peter Prucha goal. The Rangers’ forward appeared to be offside as teammate Nikolai Zherdev carried the puck into the offensive zone. But no call was made by the linesman and Prucha planted himself in front of Caps goalie Jose Theodore for a tip-in.
But the big goal came with just 32 seconds left in the second during a New York power play. Ovechkin drove up ice on a pass from David Steckel, faked a shot as Rangers defender Wade Redden stood in his way. That gave Ovechkin an alley to shoot from the right faceoff circle and his shot deflected past Valiquette for the 2-1 advantage.
“It was the end of the shift. I just wanted to shoot the puck,” Ovechkin said. “It was kind of a lucky goal and sometimes you have to need luck.”
The Caps did the job defensively in the third period to maintain that slim lead — although they had to endure a pair of defensive-zone faceoffs with the New York net empty in the final minute. The game may have lacked the drama of last month’s four-goal comeback and overtime win against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden.
“But I think you have to win every which way,” Boudreau said. “You got to win sometimes with just special teams and you have to win five-on-five. Today, especially in the third period, we shut them down real well and our guys worked real hard. And that’s playoff hockey.”
Caps notes
» The Caps improved to 26-11-3 and now have 55 points. That is the organization’s best record through 40 games – a fact that wasn’t lost on coach Bruce Boudreau, who posted that possibility in the team’s dressing room.
“I think records are great to break when you have the opportunity to break them,” Boudreau said. “No matter if it’s a team record or individual record. Anytime you break a record of [34] years the players should be proud of themselves.”
» Eight of defenseman Mike Green’s 10 goals this season have come on the power play.
» Alex Ovechkin scored his first shorthanded goal since his rookie season – March 2, 2006 against Ottawa.
» Alexander Semin had a fight and an assist – the latter extending his point streak to six games dating to Dec. 10.
» The Caps have the best home record in the Eastern Conference at 17-1-1 and have now won a season-best six games in a row. They have won five straight vs. the Rangers.
» New York allowed its league-worst 12th shorthanded goal of the year when Ovechkin scored in the second period.
» Verizon Center was sold out – 18, 277 - for the fifth straight game and ninth time this season. Washington had eight sell-outs all of last season.
» Defenseman Sean Collins earned the hard hat for the first time since his promotion from AHL Hershey last month.
“New York is a real fast team, a lot of firepower up front,” Collins said. “We had to do a really nice job in the neutral zone and as defensemen we couldn’t give their forwards any room to get going because that’s when they’re dangerous.”
