Caps 5, Senators 3
The Caps needed that one. Alex Ovechkin needed that one. On a night where Washington entered the third period down a goal on the road, it scored three times in a stretch of 4 minutes, 20 seconds, including Ovechkin’s goal at 13:50, to pull off the victory at Ottawa.
Ovechkin looked like Road Runner on the goal, roaring up ice, powering wide around the net and then slamming on the breaks as Ottawa defenseman Erik Karlsson kept right on going. Ovechin faked a shot to avoid the block and then rifled the puck past Senators goalie Craig Anderson.
Pretty good stuff. And you could see the relief on Ovechkin’s face. It was just his ninth goal of the season in 27 games. That’s a pace below 30 goals so he still has work to do to put together the kind of season he expects.
Wonder if Ovechkin will hear from Brendan Shanahan about his questionable stick work on. Considering it came just after Neil popped him in the corner it’s a little too much of a coincidence that Ovechkin’s stick just happened to catch Neil in the midsection on the way up ice. Not that Neil will garner much sympathy as one of the most-penalized players going right now in the NHL. But the diving penalty was a little harsh. Guessing a fine for Ovechkin there – though I figured the same for John Carlson’s head shot to Pittsburgh’s Matt Cooke last week and nothing happened so who knows.
Alex Semin returned after two games out with a shoulder injury. Had one shot on goal so not exactly what Washington was looking for. See if he shook off the rust with the Maple Leafs coming into Verizon Center on Friday night.
Troy Brouwer picked himself up the old Gordie Howe hat trick with a goal, an assist and a fight. That’s an eventful night for anyone. The goal was the most important one, though. It came just 15 seconds after Ovechkin had put Washington up 3-2. Perfect pass from Marcus Johansson to Brouwer, who has seen a few like that this season. They teamed up for a similar goal in Carolina. Considering the Senators scored on a power play with 3:52 left in the game, Brouwer’s tally proved crucial.
The Caps posted a season-high 44 shots on goal. I know those aren’t everything, but after totaling 36 shots in Hunter’s first two games as coach, Washington has 111 in the last three. That’s its best three-game stretch of the season and a good sign going forward.
They got a power-play goal finally after a nice feed on the rush from Brooks Laich to Nicklas Backstrom. That tied the game at 2-2 at 9:45 of the third period. But that simply makes the Caps 3-for-54 on the power play since scoring early in a game against Dallas on Nov. 8. That’s beyond abysmal and it didn’t help that they wasted 1:47 of a 5-on-3 advantage in the first period. Can’t be doing that in scoreless games on the road. Having said that – looked like there was better puck movement all around when a man up. Moments before Backstrom’s goal, Jason Chimera had Mike Knuble wide open for a tap-in as Washington broke down Ottawa’s penalty killers. Only a nice recovery by a defenseman managed to spoil the play.
Speaking of Backstrom, he should enjoy his visit to Ottawa as the Caps’ All-Star representative next month. Maybe Ovechkin makes it, too. But no one on this team deserves it more than the 24-year-old Swede. He now has 10 goals and 19 assists – and that’s without elite production from Ovechkin on his wing.
Defenseman Jeff Schultz saw just 3:55 of ice time and Hunter said ominously afterwards that this was a game where Schultz didn’t “fit”. Will have to get some clarification Thursday at practice because I’m not sure what that means. Schultz was never on the ice more than 50 seconds and had three of four, 15 and 16 seconds. He wasn’t on for any early goals and didn’t take any penalties. So either he was hurt and the team was trying to get through the game – Hunter didn’t cop to that on his postgame press conference broadcast on CSN – or the plan even before the game was to primarily use five defensemen and work Schultz in only to get the others’ limited rest.
Stick tap to Jeff Halpern for his second goal of the year – and nice whack at a rebound as he and Johansson drove into the slot to pressure on Anderson. Halpern also won 12 of 15 faceoffs, which is slightly stellar. Also, while Tomas Vokoun (31 saves) overcommitted more than a few times in this one, it seemed, he made some nice saves down the stretch, too, to keep the game close and give his team a chance to win it.
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