Star stops breakaway, later scores against the Wild
The puck bounced on Dennis Wideman and skipped past the horrified defenseman. All that was left between the Capitals and a devastating short-handed goal against was left wing Alex Ovechkin.
Not exactly known for his back-checking wizardry, Washington’s top offensive player skated hard to stop what looked like an easy two-on-one scoring chance for the Minnesota Wild. But Ovechkin timed a dive perfectly and blocked the pass attempt. Just 63 seconds later his team scored a critical goal. Ovechkin later added one of his own for good measure as the Caps earned a 3-0 shutout victory over Minnesota on Sunday evening at Verizon Center.
“It says a lot about your character when you come back like that and make plays like that,” teammate Jason Chimera said. “Not just be relied to score goals but relied upon in every situation.”
Washington coach Dale Hunter made sure of that. He started seven defenseman and just 11 forwards, listing Ovechkin’s name on both the top line and the fourth line on the white board in the team’s locker room. In the end, Ovechkin skated a game-high 26:19. The goal was his 36th in a season that once looked lost, and it was his 10th in the last 12 games.
“Like, two years ago, I have kind of trust in how I play,” Ovechkin said. “I play every third shift almost every game, all game. I feel pretty good. I feel sharp when I wasn’t in the game. I was fresh, and it’s good for me.”
Expect more of the same when the Caps (38-30-8, 84 points) host the Buffalo Sabres (37-29-10, 84 points) on Tuesday night at Verizon Center. The two teams are tied in points for the eighth — and final — spot in the Eastern Conference playoff race. Washington has the advantage because it will own the tiebreaker between the two teams.
But to get there, it needed to take care of the Wild, a team that was on top of the Western Conference as late as Dec. 17 but is now playing out the string because of injuries and inconsistent play. After Chimera tapped home an Alexander Semin pass to finish a two-on-one at 10:09 of the second period, the Caps had their lead. Ovechkin’s diving stop allowed them to finish a power play with a Mathieu Perreault goal at 15:15 of the second. That pass came from Troy Brouwer.
The shutout was the first of the season for goalie Braden Holtby (28 saves) and the third of his career. Washington, mindful of Friday’s blown 3-0 lead in an overtime loss to Winnipeg, kept the third-period mistakes in front of Holtby to a minimum.
“I think collectively we knew we had to be better. I think we were a lot better,” Chimera said. “We got the pucks deep. We took care of the puck. Our [defensemen] made some plays, which was great. That was the key. We weren’t just throwing pucks away.”
