.
After getting behind by two in the second period, the Washington Capitals roared back in the second half of the third, to beat the Atlanta Thrashers. Washington's superstar left wing forward Alex Ovechkin netted goals number 59 and 60 for the season, during his four point game. His linemate, center Nicklas Backstrom had a three point night, including the tying and game winning goals.
.
There wasn't much to cheer about in the first period, for either team. But, Washington's defenseman Steve Eminger did alright in another rare appearance. He managed a couple shots, including one long range slapper that was on goal. Emmy also got a hit on Atlanta's Jim Slater. Caps' Viktor Kozlov got off a few good shots, as well as winning a few draws in the faceoff circle. It was Ovechkin that got the scoring started at 15:18. Kozlov sent an outlet pass to Backstrom. Nicklas carried the puck out of Washington's end and all the way up ice before dropping it off to Alex, after entering the offensive zone. Ovie headed across the ice, then sent a wrister in five hole for his 59th goal of the season. He let out a big yell of excitement and probably relief, as his mates joined him in celebration..
There would be no celebration or even relief for the Cap's in the second period. Sergei Fedorov and the boys did pretty well in the faceoff circle. They outshot the Thrashers 14-10. But, somehow it was Atlanta that ended up doing all the celebrating in the middle period. At 4:11, rookie Tobias Enstrom's snapshot power play goal got things rolling for the Thrash. Less than four minutes later, with the Capitals on the PP, Atlanta's Jim Slater got his first ever shorthanded goal. His breakaway opportunity came about when Eric Perrin picked off a pass from Ovechkin, and sent the puck to Slater. Goalie Cristobal Huet and the Washington defense were able to hold them off for a little while after that. But, Huet wasn't exactly playing at his best. In the Cap's end, it was Perrin getting the puck to Slater again. He bobbled the puck for a moment, but still easily managed to put it past Cris. The multi goal game was another first for Slater. Washington's best chance was a seriously hard and somewhat screened long range slapshot from Mike Green. But, a backward rolling Kari Lehtonen made the glove save.
.
Early in the third period, the Cap's still weren't getting it past Lehtonen. However, a couple shots by Sergei Fedorov and Matt Cooke did hit a goal post. By the midpoint of the third period, Washington started putting a fair amount of pressure on Lehtonen and the Thrashers. They kept a good bit of traffic in front of the net, and sent a lot of shots toward the goal. With about 8 1/2 minutes left in the period, Alex Ovechkin tipped in a Mike Green rebound for goal number 60 on the season. It's been 12 years since anyone has been able to hit that mark. The goal seemed to fire up the Cap's even more. Less than three minutes later, Ovie came very close to getting a hat trick. Kari Lehtonen ended up on his back while making the save. Shortly after, Green brought the puck coast to coast, and casually sent it over to Backstrom. Nickie then roofed a wrister far side, tying up the game with his 13th goal of the season at 16:00. Exactly 32 seconds later, Backstrom tipped in a pass from Alex Ovechkin for his 14th and the game winner. A very pissed off Kari Lehtonen sent equipment flying. Capitals' netminder Olie Kolzig sure knows exactly how frustrated Lehtonen was feeling, with the inconsistent effort by his teammates. With Lehtonen pulled for the extra skater and 7.8 seconds left on the clock, Washington forward Boyd Gordon popped in an empty netter to well and truly put it away..
What an exciting comeback finish. The Cap's haven't managed such a feat since beating this same team after being behind coming into the third period on January 6, 2007. It's a lot to take in really. A four goal third period, a multi point game by Ovechkin (2 goals - #59 and #60, 2 assists) and Backstrom (2 goals, 1 assist). Alex becomes only the second Washington Capital to get 60 goals in a single season. The other being Dennis Maruk, way back in the 1981-1982 season. Of course, nobody in the entire NHL has done it since the 1995-1996 season. Washington outshot Atlanta 45-18 overall, 23-2 in the third period alone. With the victory, they have won one of those "must win" games. At least we can all be in a good mood for a few days before the Cap's road trip lands them in Raleigh, North Carolina to face the Hurricanes on Tuesday, March 25th..
All Game Photos - John Amis / AP
#60 Puck Photo - Getty Images, #60 Graphic - Washington Capitals
No comments:
Post a Comment