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The Washington Capitals good fortune at the end of 2007 carried over into 2008 as they beat the Eastern Conference leading Ottawa Senators again. The score wasn't quite as high as when they beat the Senators in Ottawa on Saturday, but 9 goals makes a total of 23 for these two teams just two games. Thankfully, that just doesn't happen very often. Also thankfully, the Capitals were able to be the victors both times.
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The Caps started off the first period about as flat looking as you possibly could. Immediately, they found themselves in their own end trying with great difficulty to clear the puck. Watching Brooks Laich casually lose the puck twice within seconds had me starting to wonder about their chances in this one. They did clear the puck, but not for very long at all. At 1:54 Chris Neil easily beat out Jeff Schultz and rolled right in, deked once and put it in goal. Then, Brian McGrattan kept his recent promise that any time there's another heavyweight on the ice, he would challenge him. Washington's Donald Brashear obliged. It wasn't much of a fight, but it got the two of them matching major penalties. The Matt Bradley, David Steckel, Matt Pettinger line was much better at helping the defence to keep the puck out of the Cap's end. But, they weren't covering everybody's shift. Ottawa's second goal came at 4:46, when Dean McAmmond sent one over Olie Kolzig's catching glove, while Tom Poti and Milan Jurcina were apparently busy dreaming about whatever they got for Christmas. The Sens were now ahead 2-0. Things weren't looking good at this point.
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But then, a leftover Christmas miracle arrived. For the first time in 23 games and only the fourth time this season, Washington's Viktor Kozlov scored a goal. This, his first goal at home, came off a beautiful pass by Nicklas Backstrom. With this amazing occurrence, my hope began to be restored. Shortly after that, the Caps went on the Power Play when Chris Phillips crosschecked Alexander Semin, sending him face first into the wall. Later on, we would learn that Semin's tailbone was injured. At the time though, he was able to muster enough energy to retaliate, and so it was time for 4 on 4. Somehow, the referees didn't see a reason to give Phillips the extra two minutes he had surely earned. But, then Washington started to take over. At 6:59, Michael Nylander got his tenth of the season when Martin Gerber couldn't get a handle on the puck after making a save. Just 35 seconds later, Mike Green sent a wrist shot over the catching glove of Gerber, making the score Senators 2 - Capitals 3. Gerber was relieved of duty. The Senators' Ray Emery took over, after having only one start in the last nine games..
Still in the first period, things were getting a bit chippy. A delayed penalty was called on Phillips for slashing Tomas Fleischmann. The broken stick that lay on the ice after going across the stick and the leg of Flash, was pretty damning evidence. Emery was much sharper than Gerber and the Capitals would not score on the PP. However, it was soon time for Brooks Laich to redeem himself for his earlier lack of energetic play. There was a lot of traffic in front of Ottawa's net. The puck made it's way across the edge of the crease with Washington's Boyd Gordon and Donald Brashear swatting at it along with goaltender Emery trying to clear it. On his second attempt and on his knees, Brooks backhanded the puck past Emery. Later, with Brashear and Neil getting physical, Sens' Shean Donovan joined the excitement, elbowing Brash. Then, Christoph Schubert high sticked Caps' Alexander Ovechkin at the end of the period.
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The Capitals started the second period with 1:17 left on the PP. They were immediately into the offensive zone. Nylander was in control of the puck, passing it back and forth even when he clearly had good scoring chances, as usual. After 52 seconds of this, Green saw an opening and one timed it for his tenth goal this season. It was the first 5 on 3 PP goal this season for Washington. The Caps were now ahead by three. Ref Dean Warren couldn't seem to get out of the way toward the middle of the game. At one point Ovechkin used him to get around a defender, and later he was knocked on his backside. Was he trying to play defense for Ottawa? This is about the time when it was noticed that Poti was missing from the game. It later turns out that the Washington defenseman had acquired an "upper body injury". Olie Kolzig continued his excellent netminding, making a saves on some well screened shots from the Sens. The period ended Senators 2 - 
Capitals 5.
Capitals 5..
Just over a minute into the third, Andrej Meszaros took a hard pass and sent the puck into the net top shelf. Shortly after that, Ovechkin was smashed into the wall and he headed to the bench. No word on any significant injury, so hopefully he's alright. About the middle of the period, it seemed like it was the Matt Bradley Show. First a nice backcheck, then he cleared the puck, and then Brads almost put Neil into the Caps bench. Again, there were plenty of nice saves by Kolzig. He would not be letting anything through for the rest of the game. With 1:51 left in the game, with Emory pulled for the extra skater, Gordon hit the bullseye from long range.
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The Capitals continue their hold over the Senators as the new year begins. Let's hope they can start to do similarly well against a few other teams. It feels good to be on another win streak. Maybe a longer one than we've seen so far this season.
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