Caps 6, Toronto Maple Leafs 1
One of the best games of the season for the Caps. They got a goal from Alex Ovechkin just 49 seconds in and never really looked back. Jose Theodore was very good with 28 saves. Tip of the hat to defenseman John Carlson. The rookie has played at three different levels in the last two weeks – World Juniors in Canada, where he scored the gold-medal winning goal for the United States, the AHL with Hershey and the NHL with the Caps. That’s not easy to do – though Carlson said the level of play in Canada was higher than a normal night in the AHL just because of the stakes. The 20-year-old arrived at Verizon Center at 6:10 p.m. – well after a lot of fans, he pointed out – after a noon recall from Hershey, which was playing in Albany, N.Y. on Friday. Carlson was on the ice for two Caps goals and finished a +2. He also earned the hard hat for his efforts.
The game turned chippy late when Colton Orr cross-checked Caps defenseman Mike Green. Blueline partner Shaone Morrisonn immediately charged Orr and the two squared off. Morrisonn was hit with an instigator penalty, a fighting major and ejected. Minutes later, Jason Chimera was also given an instigator, a fighting major and a game misconduct. Both players could be hearing from the NHL office in a day or two. I believe Chimera would be in the most trouble since his altercation came in the final few minutes and was an instigator. That’s a no-no so games don’t get out of hand during blowouts. Bruce Boudreau would also see a hefty fine in that case. For his part, Orr was simply given an interference penalty and a fighting major. We’ll see what comes of it. All in all though a fine night for the Caps, who are one point behind New Jersey for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. Next up: The Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday afternoon at Verizon Center. I’ll be out at practice at Kettler Iceplex tomorrow. Caps skate at 11 a.m.
Caps Notes
» The Caps scored four or more goals for the sixth game in a row, the longest such streak of the season. They’ve also notched six goals or more eight different times already. That happened just five times last season.
» In the first minute of games this season the Caps have scored three times, including Ovechkin’s goal tonight. They have 10 goals to the opposition’s none in the first minute of all periods.
» The last time Alex Ovechkin had five points in a game was March 3, 2008 when he had three goals and two assists in a 10-2 win at Verizon Center.
» Eric Fehr matched his career-high in goals scored when he hit No. 12 in the first period. He finished last season with 12 as well.
» Mike Knuble now has six goals in his last eight games, including a pair of two-goal nights. He also has 12 goals in 35 games.
» Tomas Fleischmann registered his 16th goal of the season on the power play at 6:47 of the third period. He is just three goals shy of his career high despite missing 11 games with the lingering affects of a blood clot.
» Alex Semin showed no ill affects from a wrist injury that sent him to a specialist on Friday. He was given a clean bill of health – at least as much as possible for an injury that has lingered all season. Semin finished with a pair of assists.
Notable Quotable
Ron Wilson, Maple Leafs coach:
“It just shows their skill level. They scored on just about every chance they had. And we have to get twice as many chances to compete with a team like that. We didn’t. We had about the same number of chances. [Ovechkin] makes things happen. If you play the game with a deer-in-the-headlights kind of mold then you’re probably going to get run over by a car – like a deer would.”
“If you watch the first goal, one guy made a huge mistake and it wasn’t the fault of everybody. we had one guy that wasn’t ready and it’s int he net. That’s about all you can say. That’s a great team. Like 80 percent of the time they’ve come out in the first period with about a 2-0 lead. They have the most goals in the first period of any team. And to think that we’re going to come in here and have the 2-0 lead – we wanted to try and get through the [first] period.
