Caps 3, Canadiens 0
One night they look like the underachieving bunch that got their coach fired. They don’t generate enough shots. They take bad penalties. They get pinned in their own zone too often. The next night they score early, frustrate their opponent with solid two-way play and get great goaltending. Hard to know what to expect from these Capitals sometimes.
One night after a 3-0 loss to the Islanders, Washington began a tough stretch of road games with a nice win at Montreal. Matt Hendricks stepped in early and fought Rene Bourque, who just over two weeks ago – while still with the Calgary Flames – elbowed Caps center Nicklas Backstrom in the jaw. Bourque won the fight handily, but Hendricks did what he needed to. Somewhere, Brian Burke was smiling.
No fireworks after that. Any thought that defenseman John Erskine was back in the lineup after four games to also dole out some punishment was squelched when he spent much of his time in the penalty box. Erskine took a triple minor on one play early in the third period. Could have spelled disaster if Montreal didn’t have the sport’s worst power play. The Canadiens helped by taking a minor penalty of their own during that stretch. But somehow I can’t see Erskine getting a sweater on Friday night against Carolina. We’ll see. Can’t be easy playing after a long layoff.
Caps seemed lucky to escape without serious injury. Hendricks took a knee-on-knee hit from big winger Erik Cole late in the second period. He was in pain for a while, but shook it off and returned for the third. On a power play in the final period, Marcus Johansson collided with Canadiens defenseman Josh Gorges. Johansson looked like he was in serious pain – and given Washington’s center situation with Backstrom out so were a lot of teammates, coaches, front-office personnel and fans – but told reporters after the game he was fine. I have family members who would drop “Fine, fine, fine” as an answer after their house burned down. So color me a little skeptical until we see Johansson on the ice for the morning skate on Friday in Raleigh. Certainly didn’t look good.
Can’t forget Michal Neuvirth, obviously. The goalie finished with his sixth career shutout on 31 saves. He hadn’t started a game since Dec. 26 – allowing three goals on six shots before getting the Showtime at the Apollo hook – and had played one period (Jan. 9 vs. Los Angeles) since then. But Neuvirth looked sharp on Wednesday, flashing his glove hand several times. Maybe a chat with goalie coach Dave Prior beforehand did him some good. That’s a good sign for the Caps, who for once probably can’t be faulted for so few shots (16) given their 11 minutes, 59 seconds spent shorthanded. But they need more on Friday against Carolina.
Drummondville, Quebec native Mathieu Perreault scored an early goal – his first since scoring twice Oct. 22 at home against the Detroit Red Wings. Alex Ovechkin added No. 19 later. Johansson also scored, showing some sweet hands as he broke in on Habs goalie Carey Price.
At 25-18-2 and with 52 standings points, Washington is in a tie for first place in the Southeast Division with the Florida Panthers, who – stop me if you’ve heard this one before – lost in overtime and so gained one point. Florida (21-14-10, 52 points) is technically in eighth place in the Eastern Conference thanks to four fewer regulation wins. The Caps are technically the No. 3 seed through 45 games.
Last year through 45 games? They had 55 points, but the exact same number of goals (128). They have also allowed seven more goals (127) this season than they did through 45 games last year (120). Don’t see this club as constituted running off a hot second half to win the conference as it did in 2010-11. And even the division may be a dogfight this time. But it’s all there in front of them still even with all the drama from earlier in the season. For now, there are three games left until the NHL All-Star break and a much-needed rest after what will have been 10 games in 18 days.
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