Caps 7, Ducks 6
Remember that 2-1 Anaheim victory at Verizon Center on Dec. 15? Yeah – this was the opposite of that. The two teams combined for 13 goals. The last time a Caps game had more was an 8-6 win at Ottawa on Dec. 29, 2007.
They trailed 1-0 early, gave up two killer goals late in the first period, were down 4-2, 5-4 and 6-5 and yet somehow found a way to win it anyway. Huge two points for Washington, which jumped back into the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference playoff chase and is now 10 points up on No. 9 seed Buffalo. Just in case you were really worried about this latest slide.
Big night for Alex Semin, who scored for the first time since Nov. 28. That was “only” a 17-game drought thanks to a groin injury. Not a shock that he couldn’t just pot one. No, Semin posted his fourth hat trick of the season, including the game winner with 1 minute, 47 seconds to go in the third period. Alex Ovechkin opened the scoring for Washington with a ridiculous goal or else Semin would have tied him for the team lead. That’s now 22 for Ovechkin and 21 for Semin. Not what the Caps expected before the season from those two, but if they both make a run at 30 over these final weeks they’ll take it.
Washington will be more than happy to avoid the Ducks until next season. The top line of Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Bobby Ryan has terrorized the Caps in two games. Few units in the NHL cycle the puck better than this group. Getzlaf and Perry each had a goal and three assists. Ryan added one of each for a 10-point night for Anaheim’s top line.
Washington defenseman Karl Alzner had three assists – the second multi-point game of his career and the first since Dec. 6, 2008, which was just his sixth NHL game. He was a +3 for the night. Meanwhile, defensive partner John Carlson was a +4 despite being on the ice for three Ducks goals.
Ugly sequence in the second period when Anaheim defenseman Andy Sutton hit Caps forward Matt Hendricks from behind and knocked him head first into the boards behind the Washington goal. Hendricks left the ice under his own power and appears okay. But it wasn’t a smart play by Sutton, who soon found himself on the business end of a few John Erskine haymakers. That led to an instigator penalty for Erskine and a 10-minute misconduct penalty, but it probably had to happen. Sutton certainly has a history of earning fines and suspensions from the NHL. Erskine, by the way, received the hard hat for his efforts. Shows you what his teammates thought if that move tops a hat trick.
Not a great night for any of the goalies. Semyon Varlamov gave up three goals on nine shots and hit the showers after the first period. Michal Neuvirth stopped just nine of 12 in relief. At least the Caps had someone to turn to. Curtis McElhinney gave up seven goals on 31 shots for the Ducks. Anaheim starter Jonas Hiller had been placed on injured reserve before the game with a head injury and will miss at least three games. That left things entirely on McElhinney’s shoulders and he just wasn’t able to respond.
Caps get right back in the saddle with a game against San Jose tonight. They’ll try to avenge last week’s 2-0 loss to the Sharks at Verizon Center. Unless you’re naturally a night owl, you might want to get all jacked up on Mountain Dew during the day Thursday. It’s a 10:30 p.m. start for the third and final West Coast game of the trip.
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