With each passing game the Capitals creep towards history.
Forward Mike Knuble scored two goals and defenseman Jeff Schultz added a rare one of his own in the third period as Washington pulled away for a 4-1 victory over the Florida Panthers at Verizon Center on Friday night.
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That’s nine straight wins for the Caps, who are now just one shy of tying the franchise record set in 1983-84. They will get that chance on Sunday afternoon at home when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The win appeared to come at a cost at 16 minutes, 51 seconds of the second period when defenseman Mike Green had a knee-on-knee and shoulder-on-shoulder collision with Florida defenseman Dmitry Kulikov. Green stayed on the ice for several minutes and couldn’t put any weight on his right knee as he was helped to the dressing room. But after the game Caps coach Bruce Boudreau said that Green was dealing with only a bruised thigh. It was painful, for sure. But he could still play on Sunday against the Lightning, according to Boudreau.
“Pretty clean [hit]. I think I tried to jump out of the way a little bit because I seen him coming,” Green said. “And [Kulikov] kind of caught my knee area…I can’t really tell right now. It’s not serious, but we’ll see.”
The Caps shook off Green’s absence as best they could. Much like the Anaheim game on Wednesday night, they turned a tight contest into a laugher in the third period. Defenseman Jeff Schultz struck first with his first goal in 42 games — that one the fluky 100-plus foot shot on Oct. 22 in Atlanta. Tomas Fleischmann won the offensive-zone faceoff, sent it to Alex Semin who found Shultz. His point shot was screened in front by Brooks Laich among others and slid by Panthers goalie Tomas Vokoun (36 saves). That made it 3-1 at 4:46. Just 2 minutes, 39 seconds later Knuble scored his second goal of the night — this time actually more than two feet away from the net with a wrister from the right faceoff circle. Backstrom assisted on that one. Just like that it was 4-1 and another win was in hand.
Knuble now has 18 goals in just 42 games — he missed 12 with a broken pinkie in November and December. But he has 11 goals in the month of January alone, matching the best scoring month of his 13-year career. Friday’s game was the fourth time Knuble has scored two goals in a game this season. He has 11 points (eight goals, three assists) in his last eight games.
“We were joking that every time [Knuble] scores it’s like he passes it to the goalies’ pads and then he goes and just pushes the goalie into the net and that’s how he scores a goal,” said Caps defenseman Brian Pothier. “He drop passes the puck in the net — that’s how he does it. He’s been doing that for 15 years now and he’s the best in the league at it — him and [Detroit forward] Tomas Holmstrom do it better than anybody. And that’s something that we didn’t have last season.”
The last time these two teams met — in Sunrise, Fla. on Jan. 13 — Caps rookie goalie Michal Neuvirth hit the showers by the middle of the second period after the Panthers took a 4-1 lead. The Caps rallied to win that one 5-4 in a shootout. But after sitting out the ensuing four games, Neuvirth jokingly said he thought “my career was over” before getting back in the lineup against Phoenix last Saturday. He’s been outstanding since then. Neuvirth finished with 35 saves on 36 shots Friday. He stopped all 11 in relief of the injured Jose Theodore on Tuesday against the Islanders and 30 of 31 against the Ducks the following night. Neuvirth made save after NHL save, knowing when to smother the puck in scramble situations and when to flash a dramatic glove save – that one on Kulikov at 6:24 of the third period with the lead still at 3-1.
“He’s an NHL-type goalie,” Boudreau said. “I think that’s the 15th game [Neuvirth’s] played and out of the last 12 he’s had one off night. I’ve seen Martin Brodeur have an off night a time or two. So it’s nothing new.”
