Ovechkin, Fehr each score twice in blowout
It had been so long since the Capitals resembled their explosive teams of the past two seasons it was assumed those days were gone for good. Out was an emphasis on aggressive, offensive hockey. In was a defensive posture that keeps scores low and defensive miscues to a minimum.
Well, the old Caps made a rare one-night appearance at Verizon Center on Wednesday during a decisive 5-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.
Washington scored two power-play goals in a game for the first time since Nov. 26, forwards Alex Ovechkin and Jason Arnott both posted milestones with their 600th and 900thcareer points respectively and rookie goalie Braden Holtby finished with a 22-save shutout.
“It was nice just not to have to worry that it’s a one-goal game,” said Washington coach Bruce Boudreau, whose team had won eight of its previous 10 games all by a single goal. “I can’t remember the last time that’s happened, either.”
It had been a while since the Caps last put together a full 60-minute effort. But they outshot the Oilers, 36-22, killed four penalties and received two goals each from Ovechkin and Eric Fehr.
Ovechkin scored his 26th goal at 5 minutes, 38 seconds of the second period after a pretty cross-ice pass from Arnott. Fehr – the hero of the Winter Classic on Jan. 1 – celebrated his return to the lineup after 22 games out with a shoulder injury. He banged home a rebound of a John Carlson shot at 10:32 of the second period to put Washington ahead, 2-0. Fehr later added a third-period goal when Edmonton goalie Nikolai Khabibulin came way out of his net only to have Jason Chimera chip the puck past him to set up that score.
“I felt good out there tonight,” Fehr said. “Our line got into it early and that helped. That was the first time I’ve scored two goals in a long time. It worked out there for me.”
Ovechkin added his second of the night at 3:10 of the third period and now has 27 goals and 45 assists. His 72 points rank fifth in the NHL during what has generally been considered a down year. Meanwhile, teammate
Alex Semin finished the scoring with his 25th goal.
“It was nice to get a couple of goals and to get to 600 [career points] is kind of a big night,” said Ovechkin, who had his first multi-goal game since recording a hat trick Jan. 22 at Toronto.
Before the game, Washington put defenseman Mike Green on long-term injured reserve thanks to the affects from a puck to the head Feb. 6 vs. Pittsburgh and a hit to the jaw Feb. 25 against the New York Rangers. Green has missed six games in a row now. Retroactive to that game against the Rangers he must sit 10 games and 24 days. That means Green can’t play until March 22 at Philadelphia. Meanwhile, the Caps were also missing center Nicklas Backstrom, still dealing with a fractured left thumb. According to Boudreau, he will miss “one-to-two games”.
