Caps 5, Anaheim Ducks 1
It’s hard to describe how dominant the Caps have been during this eight-game winning streak. But this stat tells the story pretty well. They’ve outscored the opposition 41-18 in those eight games. Do I need to continue? Other than a 5-4 win over Florida – a game they trailed 4-1 – and a 3-2 win over Detroit – a game they were outshot 46-23 – Washington has clearly been the better team every night and has won 11 of its last 12. Only one of those games went past regulation.
The Caps have 203 goals on the season and lead the NHL. No other team has more than 175 – not including shootout tallies. They have scored at least one power-play goal in seven straight games. During that stretch they are a lethal 10-for-26 (38.5 %). Overall, Washington has the league’s best power play (26.1 %).
One night after Alex Ovechkin was a demon all over the ice against the Islanders and registered 10 shots – yet zero points – he came back with a goal and two assists. I guarantee he won’t have an easier goal this season with a goalie actually on the ice. Anaheim’s Jean-Sebastien Giguere was playing a shot from defenseman Mike Green and in no position to recover when Mike Knuble tipped it to Ovechkin. He had time to settle the puck, wait a beat and then casually flip it into the empty net. It was Giguere’s only mistake through two periods and came just 36 seconds into the game. Ovechkin has 34 goals now and is back in second place overall. His 73 points trail only Vancouver’s Henrik Sedin. Ovechkin also assisted on goals by Knuble and Semin.
Nicklas Backstrom also had himself a game. He forced the turnover along the boards in the first period that led to Mike Green’s keep-in and eventually Ovechkin’s easy goal. Backstrom finished with four shots and was a +2 with one assist. Tip of the hat to Shaone Morrisonn for his first goal since Feb. 22, 2009. He also added an assist and recorded his second two-point night of the season. Morrisonn has five points over his last five games and earned the hard hat for his troubles.
Can’t finish without an update on the scorching hot Alex Semin. Every time he scores I think of the commercial with Peyton Manning and Justin Timberlake playing ping pong. I’d tell Semin to do the “It’s on fire” routine with his stick after his next goal, but that didn’t work out so well for Ovechkin when he tried it. It’d be funny though. Semin had two goals tonight and now has 11 goals and 10 assists in his last 12 games.
Caps Notes
» Longest win streak in franchise history – a 10-game stretch in 1983-84. The Caps last won eight in a row in 1988-89.
» Caps posted a season-high 49 shots against the Ducks. They were up 15-2 in shots after 10 minutes and never really looked back. That’s the most since Washington had 50 on March 16, 2009 at Atlanta.
» Washington leads the Southeast Division by 21 points after Wednesday’s action. That’s the largest division lead in franchise history.
» Brooks Laich assisted on Semin’s first goal and now has points in three straight games.
» The Caps can’t ask much more from forward Mike Knuble. He has nine goals in his last 11 games.
» Caps rookie goalie Michal Neuvirth has seemingly recovered from his rough patch down in Florida earlier this month when he was pulled in consecutive games and thought his career “was over.” He played well against Phoenix on Saturday and stopped 30 of 31 Anaheim shots on Wednesday in place of the injured Jose Theodore (lower-body injury)
» After the New York Rangers dropped their fourth in a row on Wednesday, that leaves the Caps as the only NHL team without a four-game regulation losing streak since Thanksgiving, 2007 – the day Bruce Boudreau took over behind the bench.
» Rookie Dan Sexton scored the lone goal for Anaheim, slamming a rebound past Neuvirth at 11:23 of the second period to tie the game at 1. It was the surprising Sexton’s ninth goal of the season.
» Washington won 41 of 65 faceoffs on the night (63 percent). Brendan Morrison won 10 of 15 chances in the circle.
» The Caps penalty kill continues to get the job done. The Ducks were 0-for-2 on the night. Washington’s PK has killed off 20 of its last 21 shorthanded situations.
Notable Quotable
Ducks coach Randy Carlyle on the Caps…
“The explosiveness they have is that they have skilled players that want to play with the puck and the best way to defend them is to [not] let them have the puck as much as they’d liked to have it.”
Anaheim goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere on his team’s poor third period…
“It’s a little frustrating because after that first goal in the third period it seems like we went flat. It felt like everybody just quit. We were still in it. It was an unfortunate bounce off of [defenseman Steve Eminger’s] skate and these things are going to happen. It would have been important for us to come back and reestablish our game, but for some reason we didn’t seem to have the energy anymore to fight it off.”
Caps coach Bruce Boudreau on the play of center Nicklas Backstrom…
I thought [Backstrom] was by far the best player on the ice and he just didn’t get rewarded for it. But he was spectacular. But you’ve got weapons on every line that can score and it was again the third line that got it generated…It’s a good feeling to have because what happens then is when you’re behind, you always know you have a chance to catch up.”
Giguere on the Caps’ eight-game winning streak…
“They have a good team. They’re playing well at home. Their best player, [Alex Ovechkin] is often every night their best player. They’re getting some good goaltending. Often, other teams probably give them too much respect and tonight we gave them a little too much respect. You can’t watch them play, you have to play with them and hope for the best.”
Boudreau talks about what a big hit can do for a team – sort of…
“A hit a lot of times can be such a crowd-getter-into-er. [Pause] That’s not even English. You know what I’m talking about.”
