Early goals from Backstrom, Johansson enough in 2-1 win over Ottawa It is still October so the perfect hockey game can remain an elusive goal for the Capitals. They have yet to play a complete 60 minutes. There remain miscommunications with new goalie Tomas Vokoun and too many stretches where they lapse into sloppy habits.
But four games into the season a work-in-progress isn’t the worst thing in the world. For now, Washington will take the standings points after a 2-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators at Verizon Center on Saturday night that kept its record perfect.
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“It’s October. That’s not going to float — you’re not going to want to see that in February, March, April,” said Caps forward Mike Knuble. “In October it’s fine. You work on it and we’ll be better Tuesday [against Florida].”
Nicklas Backstrom and Marcus Johansson each scored a goal in the first period and the Caps held off the Senators for the final 52 minutes, 1 seconds of play. Only Peter Regin’s tally with 36 seconds left in the first period dented goalie Tomas Vokoun’s net. Washington improved to 4-0 with the win – though players weren’t exactly celebrating afterwards. Only the Detroit Red Wings – who visit Verizon Center next Saturday night – have also won their first four games.
“It means they’re not satisfied and that’s great,” Caps coach Bruce Boudreau said. “If we thought we were king of the world right now then it’d probably be a little bit more difficult…It’s a tough league.”
Vokoun finished with 33 saves on 34 shots, including a third-period stop on a breakaway by Ottawa forward Milan Michalek – the result of a miscommunication between Brooks Laich and a teammate at the offensive blueline. But in the end, the effort was good enough against a rebuilding Senators team that was coming off an embarrassing 7-1 loss to Colorado and is now 1-4 overall.
“It was the same as last game [against Pittsburgh on Thursday], I think,” Backstrom said. “We had a couple good things out there. But a lot of things can get better. We keep talking about it in the locker room and after games.”
The Caps, according to Backstrom, want quicker puck movement, a better forecheck to generate turnovers and create offensive chances and more effort on backchecks in the defen It is still October so the perfect hockey game can remain an elusive goal for the Capitals. They have yet to play a complete 60 minutes. There remain miscommunications with new goalie Tomas Vokoun and too many stretches where they lapse into sloppy habits.
But four games into the season a work-in-progress isn’t the worst thing in the world. For now, Washington will take the standings points after a 2-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators at Verizon Center on Saturday night that kept its record perfect.
“It’s October. That’s not going to float — you’re not going to want to see that in February, March, April,” said Caps forward Mike Knuble. “In October it’s fine. You work on it and we’ll be better Tuesday [against Florida].”
Nicklas Backstrom and Marcus Johansson each scored a goal in the first period and the Caps held off the Senators for the final 52 minutes, 1 seconds of play. Only Peter Regin’s tally with 36 seconds left in the first period dented goalie Tomas Vokoun’s net. Washington improved to 4-0 with the win – though players weren’t exactly celebrating afterwards. Only the Detroit Red Wings – who visit Verizon Center next Saturday night – have also won their first four games.
“It means they’re not satisfied and that’s great,” Caps coach Bruce Boudreau said. “If we thought we were king of the world right now then it’d probably be a little bit more difficult…It’s a tough league.”
Vokoun finished with 33 saves on 34 shots, including a third-period stop on a breakaway by Ottawa forward Milan Michalek – the result of a miscommunication between Brooks Laich and a teammate at the offensive blueline. But in the end, the effort was good enough against a rebuilding Senators team that was coming off an embarrassing 7-1 loss to Colorado and is now 1-4 overall.
“It was the same as last game [against Pittsburgh on Thursday], I think,” Backstrom said. “We had a couple good things out there. But a lot of things can get better. We keep talking about it in the locker room and after games.”
The Caps, according to Backstrom, want quicker puck movement, a better forecheck to generate turnovers and create offensive chances and more effort on backchecks in the defensive zone. Regin’s goal left them frustrated coming so late in the first period. That cut the lead to 2-1 and gave a struggling team some much-needed life going into the second period. From there it was rough sledding for Washington, which was outshot 12-4 in the second period and 34-26 overall after a strong start.
“Definitely made them believe they were in the game,” Vokoun said. “Obviously, when it’s a one-goal game, anything can happen – one break. I suspected it was going to be really tough game. I’ve been on that [losing] side before what they were going through and you know you’re coming back and you’re angry and the coaches are angry – they’re yelling at the players. So I think everybody comes out and at least gives their best effort.”
sive zone. Regin’s goal left them frustrated coming so late in the first period. That cut the lead to 2-1 and gave a struggling team some much-needed life going into the second period. From there it was rough sledding for Washington, which was outshot 12-4 in the second period and 34-26 overall after a strong start.
“Definitely made them believe they were in the game,” Vokoun said. “Obviously, when it’s a one-goal game, anything can happen – one break. I suspected it was going to be really tough game. I’ve been on that [losing] side before what they were going through and you know you’re coming back and you’re angry and the coaches are angry – they’re yelling at the players. So I think everybody comes out and at least gives their best effort.”
