After his request for a review, NHL takes away third goal It would have been the first hat trick by a Capitals defenseman in 11 years. It would have been the first of Dennis Wideman’s career.
Instead, a fit of honesty led to a scoring correction a little more than 12 hours after Wideman was credited with his third goal of the game in an eventual 4-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday night at Verizon Center. Wideman had requested that the NHL take a second look at the play, and league officials concurred Saturday morning. So teammate Brooks Laich got the goal, and Wideman settled for two goals and two assists — with those four points still representing a career-best night.
“I never had [a hat trick] before — still haven’t had one,” Wideman insisted after Friday’s win, long before the NHL ruled on the matter.
| Caps notes |
| » Washington forward Matt Hendricks tested his right knee at Saturday morning’s practice at Kettler Iceplex. He had not skated since Monday’s game against the Florida Panthers. |
| » Defenseman Mike Green (right groin strain) did not skate for the second day in a row. He has played just once since Oct. 22. |
| » |
| Alex Ovechkin, who blocked two shots on one shift Friday against Toronto, told reporters Saturday his right arm was fine. Ovechkin left the ice in pain five minutes into the third period but still returned to finish the contest. |
For his part, Laich pleaded the fifth when asked whether he tipped home Wideman’s power-play shot late in the Toronto game. There’s a code at work there — Laich refused to take credit if the goal wasn’t officially his, and Wideman wasn’t going to let the goal stand if he knew his teammate tipped it home. No matter. It was a big night for Wideman and the Caps (15-12-1, 31 points), who won for the third time in four games as they built some momentum heading into next week. They next play Tuesday at home against the Philadelphia Flyers, who entered play Saturday tied atop the Eastern Conference standings.
Wideman chopped home his first goal Saturday at the 12:33 mark of the first period when a shot by Nicklas Backstrom deflected to Mike Knuble, whose own attempt popped into the air and landed on Wideman’s stick. The next goal came at 1:49 of the second period. Toronto goalie James Reimer probably should have stopped that one, but there was traffic in front, and Wideman’s shot from just inside the blueline snuck through.
Later in the second period, Wideman had the puck on his stick with no defender near him. Instead of shooting, he patiently waited for the Maple Leafs to come to him and then fired a pass to Backstrom, who tipped the puck past Reimer. Wideman’s disputed goal came with 1:19 left in the game as his shot clipped Laich’s stick and deflected in for the clincher. All four Washington goals came on the power play.
“After the first intermission … I told him, ‘Don’t stop at one Dennis,’?” Laich said. “And he goes, ‘No, I don’t plan on it.’ And then he gets the second one and then he gets another assist and just kept rolling. So Dennis logs a lot of minutes. He assumes a lot of responsibility with [defenseman] Mike [Green] out of the lineup. But he welcomes it, and he works hard. He was our star.”
