Green powers Caps past Islanders, 5-3
By: Brian McNally
Examiner Staff Writer
April 2, 2009
 |
| Capitals defenseman Mike Green reacts after his second goal in the third period during Wednesday night's 5-3 victory over the Islanders at Verizon Center. (Alex Brandon/AP) |
It was just a casual conversation before the game, two longtime friends from across North America catching up with each other by phone.
It pays to have access, apparently. Kyle Lieske grew up with Capitals defenseman Mike Green in Calgary, Alberta, and played youth hockey with the future NHL star.
So when Lieske’s fantasy hockey team needed a little boost, he went right to the source. Green obliged with a pair of power-play goals and an assist against the New York Islanders on Wednesday night, lifting the Caps to a come-from-behind 5-3 victory.
Green continued his remarkable season, becoming the first defenseman in the NHL to register 30 goals since Washington’s Kevin Hatcher had 34 in 1992-93. In the process, Green also snapped the franchise record for power-play goals by a defenseman in a single season previously held by Scott Stevens. And, of course, he helped a friend in the process.
“I promised [Lieske] so those ones were for him. Just a real good buddy of mine who I played hockey with when I was young,” a bemused Green said. “I promised him I’d get the two tonight, so ... . His fantasy pool was struggling.”
Green now has 18 goals with the extra man on the season, leaving him tied with teammate Alex Ovechkin for third among all NHL players. The pair trails only Buffalo’s Thomas Vanek and Calgary’s Mike Cammalleri (19). And to think – Green has missed 15 games.
“I don’t want to put too much pressure on him. But he’s got the capabilities,” said Caps coach Bruce Boudreau. “He’s only 23 years old and he’s played [15] less games than any of the other defenseman in the league that are up in the scoring. So I can only imagine if he was playing 80 games he’s got the potential to get 40.”
Green is just the eighth defenseman in NHL history to reach 30 goals. Those players combined to reach that feat 17 different times. His 70 points are the most for an NHL defenseman since Nicklas Lidstrom and Sergei Zubov reached that mark in 2005-06.
The two power-play goals came 1 minute, 23 seconds apart midway through the third period and turned a 3-2 deficit into a 4-3 Caps advantage. The first was yet another backdoor play on a beautiful spin pass from teammate Alex Semin. The second was a shot from the blueline that slipped past Islanders goalie Joey MacDonald, who was screened in front by Tomas Fleischmann.
“I didn’t see much, but that’s what [Green] does,” MacDonald said. “That’s why he’s so good. That’s why he’s probably going to win the Norris Trophy this year.”
Green’s night overshadowed Ovechkin’s 54th goal of the season and a nice game by center Keith Aucoin, who registered his first goal with the Caps and became the fifth call-up from AHL Hershey to do so this season. Nicklas Backstrom added the empty-net goal with 56 seconds left. They all helped erase a 2-0 Islanders lead.
“It’s incredible. Sometimes it just seems like [Green] shoots it and it has eyes and it goes in,” said Caps defenseman Jeff Schultz. “And other times he’s just so good at finding that open spot. We have the talent up front for the guys to find him. Thirty goals is amazing by a forward. But for a defenseman – it’s unheard of.”
Caps notes
» The Caps (47-23-7, 101 points) moved three points ahead of the New Jersey Devils for second-place in the Eastern Conference with just five games left in the regular season. New Jersey (47-26-4, 98 points) was drubbed by the Pittsburgh Penguins, 6-1.
» Washington surpassed the 100-point mark for just the fourth time in franchise history and is now just six points shy of tying the club record set in 1985-86 (107 points).
» Center Keith Aucoin on his first goal as a Cap and winning the hard hat, awarded by teammate and fellow Massachusetts native Brian Pothier as player of the game: “The last three or four games I thought I played really well and had a lot of good opportunities to score and the puck just didn’t go in. Tonight I just capitalized on my opportunity. Hopefully they keep coming.”
» Good news if the Caps happen to face an Atlantic Division team in the Stanley Cup playoffs: They are 14-2-4 vs. the five Atlantic teams and have finished the season series with each.
» Caps defenseman Jeff Schultz takes his share of abuse from fans for not playing as physical as they think a 6-foot-6, 215-pound player should. But he did get into his first NHL fight on Wednesday during a scrum with Islanders forward Tim Jackman.
“My plan wasn’t to fight there, but just kind of stick up for Mike. It led to whatever happened. I think the guys got excited because it was me. I’m one of those guys that you don’t think to expect that would ever happen to. So it’s part of the game and you got to stick up for your teammates.”
» Caps coach Bruce Boudreau on his team’s play over the entire 60 minutes. “Bad. Okay. Good. Bad. Good. [Laughter from the assembled media]. What do you want me to say? We were horrid in the first 35 minutes. Again, it all comes down to emotion. The Islanders were playing really hard and we knew they would be playing really hard. And we didn’t match it until we got physically involved and everybody was involved in the game.”
» Goalie Jose Theodore notched his 30th win of the season, the third time he’s accomplished that feat in his career.
» Nicklas Backstrom tied the team-high for faceoff wins in a game this year with 16. He lost eight.
» Caps defenseman Mike Green extended his point-scoring streak to seven games.
» Verizon Center hosted its 27th sellout of the season. The Caps will break the all-time record for total attendance when they play the Buffalo Sabres on Friday.
» Washington swept the season series against the Islanders – although two of those wins came in overtime.
» When scoring five or more goals, the Caps are 19-0-1.
