It wasn’t exactly the finest display of NHL hockey seen at Verizon Center in recent years. The Atlanta Thrashers desperately needed a victory to stay in the Eastern Conference playoff chase. The Caps wanted to get back on track and it was forward Brooks Laich’s first game in the lineup after missing four in a row. But the two teams combined for 44 shots – the lowest total in a Caps game this season – and struggled to generate much of anything on ice hampered by warming temperatures in the District.
That meant the game-winner was likely to come on a play just like the one Matt Bradley made in the third period. He bulled his way past Atlanta defenseman Chris Chelios and punched the puck past goalie Ondrej Pavelec. That made it 2-1 with 9 minutes, 46 seconds to play and lifted the Caps to their 50th win of the season.
Washington will take the victory. Semyon Varlamov wasn’t challenged a ton in goal, but made the saves when he had to and finished with 19. Believe the Thrashers hit a post in the first period, but otherwise managed just the goal by Tim Stapleton at 17:51 of the second. That was a beauty on a quasi give-and-go with teammate Colby Armstrong. Still, Atlanta was devastated afterwards because its playoff chances took a major hit. The Philadelphia Flyers and Boston Bruins both dropped games they shouldn’t have: Boston a 1-0 defeat at home to Florida and the Flyers a 6-4 thrashing at the New York Islanders. But the Thrashers failed to take advantage and sit two precious points back of those two and the Montreal Canadiens with just four games remaining. Atlanta doesn’t hold any tiebreakers either, making its task extra hard.
Big night for Bradley, who hadn’t scored a goal since Jan. 19. He not only notched the game winner, but also tied a career high with his ninth. That seemed like a foregone conclusion 10 weeks ago. Still a nice moment for a veteran who’d been having one of his better years until this recent slow stretch. Bradley also tied his career high with 22 points.
“I felt like I was getting a lot of chances and just not burying them. It’s kind of like a snowball thing. When you don’t score in 10 games you start thinking about it. Then 20 games. Let’s just say it felt good to score tonight. Felt like a little bit of a weight lifted off my shoulders.”
Caps Notes
» The Caps have won 50 games two years in a row. They also accomplished that feat in 1985-86.
» Washington is now 5-0 against Atlanta this season and has won a series-best seven in a row. They see each other one last time next Friday.
» Caps needs just three more points to clinch the franchise’s first President’s Trophy. They have five games remaining.
» Mike Green and Nicklas Backstrom connected for Washington’s first goal of the game at 19:02 of the first period. That was No. 30 for Backstrom. He long ago set a career high in that category. Still a meaningful number for a 22-year-old who seems to get better and better. Also broke out of a little slump – for him. Backstrom last scored a goal on March 16 against Florida. Then again, he had six assists in his previous six games. Yeah, that bar is set kind of high.
» Alex Ovechkin had the secondary assist on Backstrom’s goal. That point makes 102 for the season in 67 games and kept him within three of Vancouver’s Henrik Sedin for the NHL lead.
Notable Quotable
Caps forward Mike Knuble on his team’s recent struggles in the first period. They had been outscored 9-1 since last Thursday.
“It was a mental thing. It’s not like worrying about what’s wrong with our game or anything. We just have to be mentally ready to start the game. Other teams in this league can burn you in the first. You have to be ready.”
Atlanta defenseman Chris Chelios on his team’s playoff chances
“We’re running out of opportunity. We thought we played a good game. We played three pretty solid periods. You’re going to give them chances, but we had ours, too.”
Atlanta coach John Anderson on the Eastern Conference playoff race
“We’re behind and we got to win. It doesn’t mean anything [that the two teams ahead of Atlanta lost]. It just means that they’ve given us another chance. We’ve got to find ways to win and get points. If everything stays the same we’re out of the playoffs. We’ve got to make some hay here.”
