Washington Capitals Hockey
Saturday, March 15, 2008
When Everything Goes Right
The Washington Capitals played like a desperate team,
and it was pretty darn impressive. On a day that saw the Eastern
Conference standings bunch together considerably, the Capitals inched
closer to Southeast Division leader Carolina with a dominant 4-1
victory over Atlanta.
The Capitals, who are officially in control of their own
destiny again (though it won't be easy,) moved to within five points of
the Hurricanes while maintaining their game in hand in addition to a
pair of looming head-to-head matchups. The 'Canes were defeated 7-1 by
Buffalo, suffering their second worst loss of the season. Their worst
loss this year, by the way, was an earlier shelling by the same Sabres
team when they
were creamed 8-1 a few months back..
With their win, the Sabres maintain their one point
margin over the Capitals and Florida, who beat the Rangers to keep
pace. All three teams sit within three points of idle Philadelphia for
the
conference's final playoff spot.
Washington avoided another speed bump in their quest for
the postseason
by turning in arguably their most complete performance in
years. Anytime your fourth line is able to set the tone of the game,
even without figuring in the scoring, your opponent is in for a long
night. And that's just what Boyd Gordon,
Matt Bradley, and Donald Brashear brought to the table. Their cycling
and puck control down low was reminiscent of the days when Steve
Konowalchuk, Ulf Dahlen, and Jeff Halpern ruled the Verizon Center end
boards.
The Capitals outshot Atlanta 37-12, the biggest
differential in Washington's favor this season. The shot discrepancy
was slightly better than the last time these teams faced each other at
VC, when Washington outshot the Thrash 36-13 but lost 2-0. Just for
shucks and giggles, take a gander at the game's shot chart (note that
three of Atlanta's shots came from center ice and none anywhere near
the slot!)
What an embarrassing
night to be wearing Georgia's state bird on your chest. But it was a
rough day for Atlantans all the way around as a tornado
swept through downtown.
A FEW NOTES FROM THE GAME:
- The Capitals fired more shots on Kari Lehtonen than
the Thrashers even tried. Atlanta had 12 reach net, 10 were blocked,
and 9 missed their target -- a total of 31. Compare that to Washington
who sent 37 on Kari Lehtonen, had 18 blocked, and fired 17 wide (or off
posts/crossbars) -- a total of 72.
- Matt Cooke potted the Capitals' first shorthanded
goal since Boyd Gordon scored a man down on November 24th, Bruce
Boudreau's second game behind an NHL bench. Sergei Fedorov set up Matt
Bradley for another splendid chance later on that same penalty kill,
showing an offensive-minded PK the District has not seen in quite some
time.
- Sami Lepisto, fresh off his third recall of the
season, filled up the stat sheet for the first time in his young
career. He picked up his first NHL point with an assist, and just
missed his first goal moments later when he pinged one off the pipe. He
was a +1 on the night with a hit and a takeaway.
- With a goal and an assist, Alex Ovechkin has
distanced himself a bit more from Evgeni Malkin for the points lead (99
to 93) and from Ilya Kovalchuk for the goals lead (57 to 48.) Ovechkin
hit a crossbar and a post, preventing him from finishing the day just
one shy
of the magic 60.
- Brooks Laich may just end the season as the
Capitals' second leading goal scorer. His pair against the Thrash gives
him a career high 19, just two behind Alexander Semin for second fiddle.
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