Caps 7, Florida Panthers 3
Alex Ovechkin didn’t play. Neither did Florida’s defensemen, apparently. The Caps cruised in this one in Sunrise. Brendan Morrison returned to the lineup with a goal and two assists. His linemates Jason Chimera and Eric Fehr each scored as well and the Caps chased Panthers goalie Tomas Vokoun in the second period. He allowed five goals on just 21 shots.
Washington is now 2-0 on its four-game road trip. The record improved to 47-14-9 with 103 standings points. That’s just five shy of the franchise record set last season (108) and there are still 12 games left in the regular season. The Caps are also up 16 points on Pittsburgh for home-ice advantage throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs. Six more wins – at most – and that’s wrapped up, too. President’s Trophy can’t be far behind.
Washington outscored Florida 24-10 this year in four games without Ovechkin. It also swept the six-game season series and pretty much ended the Panther’s chances of making a late postseason push. Florida could have climbed within four points of the No. 8 seed with a win. Instead, it didn’t show up at all and fell eight points behind Boston. The Caps, by the way, are 7-2 without Ovechkin this season. Good times.
Morrison has a pair of three-point games this season – both against the Panthers. And granted, it was against a disaster of a blueline. But that third line looked pretty solid overall tonight. Morrison has been scratched twice since the Olympic break, including Sunday against Chicago. Don’t see that happening again soon.
Brooks Laich set a career high with goals No. 23 and 24. Also added an assist and set his career high in points, too, with 54. The 26-year-old is one of many Caps topping his career numbers. Want another one? Fehr. The 24-year-old – a first-round pick in 2003 whom Caps fans have long hoped would develop – is now just one goal away from 20 on the season. He scored in the second period to make it 4-1 and pretty much put the game out of reach.
Lost in the Ovechkin hoopla the last two days was that goalie Jose Theodore earned his second start in a row from coach Bruce Boudreau. That’s the first time he’s strayed from alternating Theodore with rookie Semyon Varlamov since the Olympic break ended. Theodore stopped 34 shots and made a handful of quality saves in the first and second periods to keep Florida at bay. Defense left him out to dry on the Steven Reinprecht goal. The last one from Michael Repik came in garbage time with about 90 seconds left. But Theodore certainly didn’t do anything to hurt his chances of starting for Washington in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Caps are in a good situation now. Varlamov will get his chances over the next 10 days and knows he has to play at a high level. At least for now he’s not a default option because Theodore is playing poorly. Wins are about as useful for judging a hockey goalie as they are for a pitcher in baseball. But Theodore last lost a game in regulation on Jan. 13. Just saying. He’s allowed 10 goals in five games since the break. No inside info here, but I’d expect Varlamov to get another chance this Thursday against Carolina.
About the only bad news tonight was the injury to forward Boyd Gordon. He played just two shifts on the fourth line in the first period – all of 1 minute, 5 seconds. Looks like Gordon’s balky back is acting up at exactly the wrong time of year. Caps aren’t short of options, though, if Gordon has to miss some time. David Steckel will be back in the lineup regardless on Thursday after sitting against the Panthers. He was outstanding against Chicago, after all. Scott Walker is available, too, after consecutive scratches.
Caps Notes
» Special teams were a plus for the Caps tonight, Converted 2 of their 4 chances a man up and killed all three Florida power plays. In all, the PK unit has killed 10 of the last 12. And at least for tonight that was without Gordon – or Steckel, for that matter.
» Forward Quintin Laing played for the first time since Feb. 13. He had been a healthy scratch in every game since the NHL returned from the Winter Olympics break.
» Rookie defenseman John Carlson has an assist in each of his last three games and he broke out some Mike Green-style moves in the third period in a serious bid for his first NHL goal.
» Center Nicklas Backstrom had a goal and an assist. He has 29 goals and 56 assists now as he vies for his first 100-point season.
» Alexander Semin also scored. His goal was No. 32.
» Seriously – Kamil Kreps always scores against the Caps. He has 17 goals in his career. Five of them are against Washington. He also has five assists. I understand the Caps and Panthers play all the time. But c’mon. It’s 20 games overall.
» Green hit the 70-point mark for the second year in a row with his second-period assist. Only 12 other defensemen in NHL history have accomplished that. Pretty impressive stuff. Fellow defenseman Shaone Morrisonn had two assists. Carlson, Joe Corvo and Tyler Sloan – playing for just the second time since the Olympic break – all added one assist.
» Washington has taken 39 shots on goal or more in four of the eight games since the Olympic break. The two teams combined for 76 on Tuesday night.
