Caps defenseman has 13 points since Dec. 30
It is a reaction as reliable as rain when Caps defenseman Tom Poti visits Madison Square Garden.
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Poti skates behind his own goal to pick up the puck and start a breakout up ice and New York Rangers fans let him have it. Profanities. Insults. Jokes. Even four years after he left their team, Rangers fans still voice their disapproval of Poti, who arrived in New York as a highly-touted offensive defenseman in a 2002 trade, but at times struggled under the bright lights of Broadway.
Poti long ago learned to shrug off the boos when he plays at the Garden. Spending a year with the hated New York Islanders helped fuel the wrath of Rangers fans. Their passion has lessened in recent years — but listen close when Poti grabs the puck and you can still hear it.
It wasn’t any different on Thursday night during a 6-5 Caps’ victory. No player has a better game-day smirk than the 32-year-old Worcester, Mass. native. And Poti unleashed it in all its glory after floating a wrist shot past New York goalie Henrik Lundqvist for the tying goal early in the third period. Nicklas Backstrom later added a power-play goal as Washington earned the victory despite trailing 5-3 late in the second period.
“That’s the thing about us — we have such a high-powered offense we know we’re never out of game,” Poti said. “Whether we’re down two or down three we know we still have a chance to win and that’s huge for our morale.”
Poti signed with the Caps as a free agent during the summer of 2007. He’s been a steady player the first two seasons with the team, eating up minutes, anchoring the penalty kill and finishing with a positive +/- rating. About the only negative is that his offensive numbers haven’t matched previous levels. Poti twice had over 30 points as a young player in Edmonton. Once each with the Rangers and Islanders he topped 40 points.
But in Washington Poti had 29 during his first season and nagging groin injuries limited him to 52 games and 13 points in 2008-09. It was the lowest total of his 11-year career. With better health, his offensive game has returned though. Poti has three goals and 17 assists through 49 games and 13 of those 20 points have come since Dec. 30 as Caps coach Bruce Boudreau has encouraged Poti to be more aggressive.
