Caps Postgame
By: Brian McNally
Examiner Staff Writer
10/29/09 9:56 PM EDT
Caps 4, Thrashers 3?
Well, that one got interesting - again. Caps were up 3-0 and had to hold on in the final two minutes. Thrashers added a goal at the buzzer by defenseman Zach Bogosian that appears to have counted. Literally beat goalie Semyon Varlamov with a half-second to go - or even less. Brooks Laich had a nice night with three assists. He was just on Comcast SportsNet with Al Koken and Alan May for a postgame interview and wanted to go with the "a win is a win" theme.
I guess you can't quibble with a victory on the road against a rested team. But the Caps really are playing with fire here. They were up 3-0 and had a couple golden chances to blow the game open. Instead, they had to expend a ton of energy holding off Atlanta and have another game Friday night and a third on Sunday. Maybe it doesn't matter in the end. In March - if the Caps are fighting for one of the top spots in the Eastern Conference, as expected - no one is going to remember they struggled to put teams away in October. But it still has to be a concern - especially since they just went through this routine last Thursday in a 5-4 win over the Thrashers.
Jose Theodore was the man on Tuesday night against Philadelphia. This time it was Varlamov, who was excellent in the third period. The Thrashers outshot Washington 20-11 in the third and Varlamov made a number of sparkling saves to keep the Caps' lead safe. He stopped 38 of 41 shots, but was under pressure almost the entire 20 minutes. Atlanta really controlled this game for the final 30 minutes as the Caps turned sloppy midway through the second period.
Alex Ovechkin scored twice in the first period, including a power-play goal. He again leads the NHL in goals (13) and points (22). It was his sixth multi-goal game of the season in 12 games. Bogosian had a pair of goals for Atlanta in the third period. Newbies Brendan Morrison and Mike Knuble also scored for the Caps. Forward Tomas Fleischmann finished with 12 minutes, 28 seconds of ice time in his first game. Flash even generated a couple good scoring chances and was robbed once in the third by Thrashers goalie Ondrej Pavelec (28 saves).
For all the questions about the Caps' inability to play a full 60 minutes - we can safely count just two such performances so far in wins over San Jose and Boston - they are 8-2-2 with 18 points and have already opened a healthy lead in the Southeast Division. They've also now won six games in a row. Only the Penguins (10-2, 20 points) have more points in the Eastern Conference. The Islanders are up next on Friday night in a rematch of last weekend's 3-2 overtime win on Long Island.
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