Caps 4, Montreal Canadiens 2
Just another interesting night in Caps Land. Alex Ovechkin is named the 14th captain in team history before the game and his teammates go out and play their best game in 10 days. Alex Semin scored twice, Tomas Fleischmann looked like a natural center – providing a goal and two assists – and rookie goalie Michal Neuvirth (24 saves) again showed the consistency that has allowed him to start six of the last seven games at the expense of veteran goalie Jose Theodore.
Fleischmann was starting at center for the first time in his NHL career. He produced at the offensive end, of course – including a sweet sequence on Semin’s second goal with 2:02 left that put the game out of reach. Fleischmann actually assisted on both of Semin’s goals. But it was his performance on the defensive side that stood out. He even won 6 of 9 faceoffs after practicing with centers David Steckel and Boyd Gordon on Tuesday morning.
“I thought he played a really good game,” Caps coach Bruce Boudreau said. “Whether it was on the wing or in the middle, he competed so hard tonight. But his positioning I thought was really good for a guy who hadn’t played center.”
Fleischmann felt prepared. And the move may help him in the long run anyway. He will be a key member of the Czech Republic’s Olympic team in Vancouver next month and with that team likely employing a left-wing lock system – according to Fleischmann; my international hockey sources aren’t that good – that ability to move to the middle will help.
“Probably I would say the first five minutes [was the hardest part],” Fleischmann said. “After that, I just got used to it and skated around. It went pretty good…They just want to make sure I can play both positions in case something happens. I enjoyed it.”
Fleischmann made a heads up play on his goal when Montreal defenseman Andrei Markov broke his stick and shuffled a poor clearing attempt with his team down a man. Sensing the open space, Fleischmann drove towards the net hard and flipped the puck past goalie Carey Price. That momentarily tied him for second on the team with Nicklas Backstrom. Then Semin scored twice and passed them both. Fleischmann even scored for Montreal when a shot by Josh Gorges at 14:03 of the second period banged off his stick and deflected past a surprised Neuvirth.
“I got stuck there [in the middle]. I didn’t decide if I was supposed to go to left wing or stay back for [Brooks Laich],” Fleischmann said. “So I just stayed there and the puck hit my stick and went in.” Then he cracked – “Great tape.”
It was a great night for Alex Semin – maybe his best game of the season. He fought hard for the puck consistently, scored twice to break a scoring slump – one goal in nine games – and even took part in a melee after his second-period goal that ended up earning the Caps a power play. For his efforts, the hard hat was sitting in Semin’s locker stall after the game – the first time this season that’s happened. He was that good?
“Well, after the first 10 minutes [he was],” Boudreau said. “The first 10 minutes he was either giving it away or getting a great chance. So I was going ‘Which way is this going to turn?’ And it turned on the positive. When guys aren’t used to being in slumps scoring it’s tough and it’s hard on you. [Semin’s] been in a little bit of a slump so when he scored that first goal it was a real big relief. And he played the way he can play. And [Fleischmann] really helped him today, too.”
