Caps 6, Thrashers 4
Well, we’ve seen our share of those kind of games around these parts before. Blown leads. Sloppy defensive work. A killer soft goal that turns the momentum. It’s so hard to kill the Caps – at least until April, I guess – because so often they win these games anyway. What, I’m going to sit here and rip a team that’s 13-4-1, has 27 points, is 9-1 at home and leads the entire NHL? Check out the game story for all the details, including a nice night for defensive pairing John Erskine and Tyler Sloan. Also, check out the fight between Erskine and Atlanta’s Eric Boulton in the second period. It was as good as I’ve seen all year.
I think Marcus Johansson had a higher Q-rating among Caps fans than those two and he’s been on the team for 10 minutes. But they do have a combined nine points in their last six games. Last season? They had 12 points total. So, yeah…they deserve a little attention. They’re also part of a blueline that has 31 points, including 11 goals, in its last eight games. No one offered a real good theory from where all of this offense is coming from – though Mike Green (five goals, six assists in his last eight games) is just on a normal hot streak.
The Caps (13-4-1, 27 points) have won seven of their last eight games – the lone loss in overtime Saturday at Buffalo and worth one standings point anyway. Alex Ovechkin registered his 10th goal of the season just 90 seconds into the game. Green added his fifth later in the first period. He has 12 points in his last nine games. Overall, a defenseman has scored a goal in each of Washington’s last eight games. Of the seven regulars, only Jeff Schultz has yet to score. But even he has three assists during that stretch.
“Oh, trust me we’ll give him a hard time about that,” Sloan said.
Meanwhile, Alex Semin has points in eight straight games and his beauty of a second-period goal gave him a team-high 13. League-wide, only Tampa’s Steven Stamkos has more. Matt Hendricks and David Steckel also scored for Washington.
Credit Steckel, also, for his 19 faceoff wins in 23 attempts. That’s on top of the 20 he won Thursday against Tampa. Steckel built on that 63-percent faceoff percentage he entered the night with. That also ranked second in the NHL.
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