. Capitals 8 - Senators 6
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Like previous games in Canada so far this season, it was a high scoring contest. Really high. Thankfully, it ended up in favor of the Washington Capitals once again. The Ottawa Senators must be totally bewildered as to how the Caps seem to have their number.
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Just 1:01 into the games' first period, Alexander Semin put Washington on the board. He picked off the puck as Ottawa's Martin Gerber misplayed it. Semin quickly wrapped around the net and backhanded the puck in for the first goal. About three minutes later Alexander Ovechkin, with several stitches in one thigh after getting slashed with a skate in Thursday's game vs Pittsburgh, gets his first goal of the game, putting the Caps in front 2-0. Daniel Alfredsson put the Sens within one when he got his first, beating Olie Kolzig. However, Alfie had to wait for confirmation as the goal was reviewed before being awarded. The puck had deflected off one of the Caps on the way in. The period ended 2-1, with the Capitals outshooting the Senators 11-2.
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Less than four minutes into the second period, Washington's Nicklas Backstrom took the puck at the wall in the Capitals end, and sent a long outlet pass up the ice. Ovechkin and Tom Poti did a little give and go, which ended with Ovie putting in his second goal of the game. Soon after play resumed, the referee somehow missed Washington's Tomas Fleischmann being hooked. But, immediately after that, the ref was "Johnny On The Spot", and called Flash for hooking when he returned the favor. Soon after that, the Senators' Mike Fisher took his team off the Power Play by doing a little fishing (hooking) of his own. Time for some four on four hockey. Ovechkin, hopping onto the ice for a shift, immediately took the puck right to the net. But, it wasn't quite time for a "Hat Trick" yet. Less than 30 seconds later, the Capitals' Michael Nylander got his first goal of the month off another nice pass from Nick Backstrom. Caps were now ahead of the Sens 4-1. At this point, the Senators only had five shots on net. The Capitals were dominating in just about every facet possible.
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At about the mid point of the game, the Sens' Alfredsson got a breakaway and hightailed it up the ice. Ovechkin caught up with him and took him down in order to keep him from scoring. However, Alfie got his 24th goal of the season, scoring on the penalty shot. Washington still in the lead 4-2, were still looking good. They spent a lot of time in possession of the puck, with some good cycling. Brian Pothier, who has really been playing well lately, sent a hard slapper toward the net, knocking the stick out of the hands of a defender. His broken thumb doesn't seem to be holding him back any. With less than three minutes left, the Capitals' Mike Green had a hard time getting around Gerber to grab the puck that was squirting away from the netminder. He bumped his knee against Gerber's mask on the way by. Gerber, who had already been bumped by Donald Brashear earlier, was joined by Sens fans in complaining to the ref about the love taps. Seconds later, Ottawa's Chris Neil crushed Backstrom against the side wall. Then, Ovechkin dashed up the ice with the puck and passed it to Viktor Kozlov, who shot it toward the net. Backstrom picked up the rebound and deposited the puck into the net as he skated by with only 2.6 seconds left in the period. Backstrom kept a serious looking expression on his face, while waiting out a fairly long goal review. A great big smile busted through though, as soon as the goal was confirmed. It was rather hilarious watching the replay from above and in slow motion. The goaltender Gerber and two Ottawa defenders swatted at the puck several times in vain as it made it's way across the goal line. I couldn't help but laugh at their pathetic attempts to stop the puck. Just enough time left for a faceoff. Right off the draw, in an attempt to fire up his team and fans, Neal picked a fight with Brashear. Big mistake. Though Donald lost his balance at the end, it was only after getting in several hard unanswered lefts. At the end of two, Capitals still dominating 5-2.
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Backstrom took a hooking penalty as soon as the third period got underway. But, for the third time in the game, Ottawa quickly killed off their own PP, this time by getting caught with too many men on the ice. However, this is about the time where Washington's dominance started to fade just a bit. At about four minutes into the third, Ottawa's Jason Spezza stole the puck from an unsuspecting Backstrom, as the Caps were starting to do a line change. He sent a long range shot in past Olie's stick and outstretched right leg, making it Capitals 5 - Senators 3. About one minute later, it was like watching a replay as Kolzig found himself stopping a similar shot with exactly the same move. At 6:19 the Senators' Wade Redden was caught tripping Semin, putting the Caps on the PP. Just seconds later, Fisher took the puck around Green and sent in a shorthanded goal top shelf. The goal put the Sens within one. A couple minutes later, it didn't go unnoticed when the Caps came very close to having too many men on the ice themselves. Right after that, Nylander got his second goal of the game off a pass from Semin during a two on one. The boos from the Sens fans got much louder then. But then Fisher deflected in a Redden slapper, and the crowd switched from booing to cheering, as the Senators were back within one goal again.
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Still in the third period, at 13:46 Alex Ovechkin sent a hard slapshot in, getting his third career "Hat Trick". That put the Caps in front 7-5. A couple minutes later, the ref couldn't get his skates out of the way of the puck. I guess he was tired from all that pointing at the net. No bother. Then, one of the poor tired refs whistled rather late on an Ottawa offside call, drawing more boos and dirty looks. About a minute later, Fischer got his "Hat Trick" by deflecting a long range shot. With about 1:30 left in regulation, Gerber was pulled from the net for the extra skater. Ovechkin, not quite across the center line, sent in a long shot which barely missed. The puck bounced off the goal mouth edge, and the Caps were called for icing. With 27.6 seconds left in the game, and Gerber still out for the extra skater, Ovechkin got off another long range shot. Bulls eye! Goal number four of the evening for Alex Ovechkin. It's the first four goal game in Alex's career. Final score, Capitals 8 - Senators 6.
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When asked about Ovechkin after the game, Head Coach Bruce Boudreau said, "He played OK. I might give him the day off tomorrow". Then he added, "I was looking for his skate to cut his other thigh, if that's what he's going to do". That's OK coach. I think Alex will do just fine without further injury.
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