It took all of three shots and 150 seconds for the roof to come off of Verizon Center. We know the Capitals are an explosive hockey team, but this was a little ridiculous.
A 1-1 game early in the third period quickly turned into a rout on Wednesday night as Shaone Morrisonn, Mike Knuble and Alex Semin scored three goals in a span of 2 minutes, 30 seconds. That effectively ended the competitive portion of a 5-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks.
Washington has won eight games in a row, matching the team’s longest win streak since 1988-89. That’s the third such run in franchise history and trails only the 10-game streak in 1983-84. The Caps improved to 35-12-6 and continue to lead the Eastern Conference with 76 points. That ties Chicago (36-13-4, 76 points) for the second-best record overall and is one victory shy of San Jose (35-10-8, 78 points) for the NHL lead.
For a while it looked like the streak might end thanks to a surprise performance from Anaheim goalie Jean-Sabastien Giguere. The former Conn Smythe winner has been relegated to a backup role with the Ducks behind Jonas Hiller and hadn’t played since. Jan. 3. But he stopped 34 of the first 35 shots Washington fired his way through two periods, including three great chances by Semin in the final 1:17 of that period.
“I don’t think our team was too worried,” said Caps forward Eric Fehr, who himself was robbed by Giguere in the second period. “We knew we would get some chances in the third period if we continued to play our game and we did. We’ve got some guys that can shoot the puck on this team. It’s just a matter of time.”
He was right. Anaheim’s fortune couldn’t last. The Caps came out buzzing to start the third period and Morrisonn’s unassisted goal seemed to deflate Giguere and the Ducks. After all, it was the defenseman’s first goal in 64 games – Feb. 22, 2009 during a 5-2 home win against Pittsburgh.
“You want to contribute,” Morrisonn said. “You want to get that first one out of the way and keep going from there. We need to get more offense from everybody. We can’t just rely on two guys.”
Even before the public address announcer could credit Morrisonn’s goal for a roaring crowd, Knuble deftly knocked down a pass from Alex Ovechkin (goal, two assists) near the crease and punched it home. Just like that it was a 3-1 Caps advantage and Verizon Center was in a frenzy. It only got louder when Semin scored at 4:15 of the period, a clinical backhanded finish after a stretch pass from teammate Brooks Laich. Three shots. Three goals. After that the Ducks were cooked. Semin added one last power-play goal – a 5-on-3 tally at 11:47 to finish the scoring. He now has four two-goal games this month alone, one of many stars clicking for the NHL’s hottest team.
“The guys like what they’re doing right now. They like winning,” said Caps coach Bruce Boudreau. “We talked about it in the dressing room between periods. It’s about going after them. [We’ve] got a good thing going and let’s just take it right to them. And see where it leads.”
