Caps 3, Tampa Bay 0
Washington wins again after the second regular-season shutout by goalie Semyon Varlamov, who stopped all 26 Tampa Bay shots. Alex Ovechkin added a pair of goals in his first game back from suspension. Tomas Fleischmann and Alex Semin both recorded two assists – though Semin had four or five great scoring chances and just couldn’t finish tonight.
The Caps (19-5-6, 44 points) actually jumped San Jose (19-7-5, 43 points) for most points in the league. They have now won six games in a row – tying their season-high streak – and a franchise-record 12 straight over the Lightning. Bruce Boudreau has still never lost to Tampa Bay. It’s the best start in Caps history through 30 games. This is a group with high expectations and we’re a long way from April. But that’s some pretty heady stuff – especially for a team that’s had its share of injuries.
Varlamov did have two shutouts in the playoffs last spring, too. He is now 12-1 with two losses in overtime/shootout. His goals-against average is 2.21 (10th overall in the NHL) and his save percentage is .924 (11th overall). Those are Calder Trophy numbers – if he keeps it up for another four months. But Varlamov certainly made three or four nice glove saves tonight, kept rebounds to a minimum and just played a solid game in general.
“The world will get to know him as the season progresses,” Caps coach Bruce Boudreau told reporters after the game. “He’s going to be a special athlete.”
Eric Fehr poached goal No. 8. It’s not impossible that the Caps will have nine different players top the 10-goal mark by New Year’s Day – though Mike Knuble (broken finger) would need to get going when he’s finally healthy. He has five goals and is due back at the end of the week. Nicklas Backstrom (8) and Brendan Morrison (9) are right there, too. Defenseman Mike Green (5) can get there with two or three big games and is more than capable. This is the fastest Ovechkin has ever reached the 20-goal mark. It’s taken just 22 games to score that many. He needed 27 games to get there in 2007-08 when he reached a career-best 65 by the end of the season.
I didn’t think Tampa played that poorly. Goalie Mike Smith was solid (31 saves). But they couldn’t sneak one past Varlamov despite some good chances. Star center Vincent Lecavalier is really fighting the puck right now. He has just six goals and couldn’t buy one tonight despite some open looks. He may be playing himself right off the Canadian Olympic team at this point. There are certainly enough options for the Canadians to go in another direction.
