Washington wins second game in a row after breaking eight-game losing skid
After two-and-a-half weeks of blown leads and far too many one-and-two goal losses the Capitals finally put a stop to an eight-game losing streak over the weekend. On Tuesday night at Verizon Center, Washington built on that effort and in the process resembled its old self.
The Caps scored three times during a 6 minute, 31 second stretch of the second period as they blasted the New Jersey Devils, 5-1. It was by far their most complete game since a six-goal victory on Nov. 26 against Tampa Bay.
Andrew Gordon recorded his first NHL goal and later added an assist. His fellow Hershey Bears call-up Jay Beagle also scored for Washington and defenseman John Carlson produced a goal and an assist.
“We’ve been playing good bits and pieces of some games and then Boston and Ottawa [last weekend] pretty much the whole game.” said Carlson, who finished with a plus-four rating. “So I think that carried over and those little things finally started going our way.”
| Caps notes |
| » Washington improved to 20-12-4 with 44 standings points. The Caps again jumped Atlanta (19-12-5, 42 points) to regain first place in the Southeast Division. |
| » The last 19 times the Caps have snapped a losing streak of two or more games they have responded with a winning streak of at least two games. |
| » Forward Matt Bradley missed the final 29 minutes, 4 seconds of the game after taking a jarring hit in the second period. |
Gordon recorded his first NHL goal against future Hall-of-Famer Martin Brodeur (22 saves, 27 shots), driving the net hard as teammate Marcus Johansson used his speed to chase the puck down on the left wing and whipped a wonderful pass across the ice for a tap in. That gave Washington a 1-0 lead at 16:41 of the first period.
“I didn’t have any speed to go the corner to fist pump or anything so I just sort of stood there and enjoyed that moment where I figured everyone was looking at me for once instead of Ovi,” Gordon said. “That was a special moment and I’ll probably be mulling it over in my head all night. Probably not going to sleep much tonight.”
New Jersey tied it early in the second period when – thanks in part to a screen by former Cap Dainius Zubrus – a Patrik Elias shot at 4:56 beat Washington goalie Michal Neuvirth for a power-play tally.
It didn’t take long for the Caps to respond. Beagle banged home a stuff attempt by David Steckel at the 10:00 mark of the second. Just 2:39 later Jason Chimera was in the process of being hooked on a breakaway by New Jersey defenseman Mark Fayne and simply beat Brodeur anyway.
Less than four minutes after that Alex Ovechkin drove into the offensive zone and had the puck poked deftly away by New Jersey defenseman Colin White. Unfortunately for the Devils the puck landed right on the blade of Carlson. Brodeur had no chance to stop a wicked slap shot that made it 4-1 Washington.
“I was just about to turn to the bench and he poke checked so I said ‘Oh, wow. This looks good,’” said Carlson, who last scored during that 6-0 win over Tampa Bay. “So I really got to step into it. Felt pretty good to finally score. It’s been a while now.”
Mike Knuble’s third-period goal put the game out of reach. The Caps have now won two games in a row after snapping an eight-game losing streak with a win on Sunday at Ottawa. That’s good timing considering next up are the rival Pittsburgh Penguins, who visit Verizon Center on Thursday in a preview of the Winter Classic outdoor game on New Year’s Day.
“I think winning rejuvenates guys, too” said Caps coach Bruce Boudreau. “It’s been a much happier locker room the last couple of games so that’s good.”
