Olie Kolzig got his 300th career NHL win for the Washington Capitals, as they beat the Calgary Flames. Olie was amazing in net, while getting plenty of help from Alex Ovechkin and the rest of his mates. Calgary's netminder Miikka Kiprusoff was amazing as well, while getting plenty of help from his teammates and the referees.
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The Capitals flew out of the starting gate, immediately getting a few shots on Kiprusoff. Just 53 seconds into the first period, Viktor Kozlov deflected in a Nicklas Backstrom shot. Shortly after, Kolzig got busy at the other end, making multiple awesome saves. His teammate Alexander Semin made things interesting for a moment, by trying to get the puck out of the zone via the slot in front of his net. But, Olie stayed sharp and quick. Then, it got interesting at the other end. As Kiprusoff came over to one side to guard his net against Cap's forward Matt Bradley. A muffled shot skittered through the crease to the other side, and Kiprusoff ended up getting called for hooking. The Cap's spent most of the power play in the Flames zone, but without any success. Toward the end of the period, Mike Green put a big hit on Calgary's Eric Godard. Green ended up going down to the ice. Since the clueless ref's didn't seem to notice Green was getting punched out while laying flat on his back, John Erskine skated over to rectify the situation. Both, Godard and Erskine were hit with matching five minute majors. Just over a minute later, Bradley went to the penalty box for interference. Exactly one minute after that, Washington's Milan Jurcina high sticked Calgary's Jarome Iginla. The Capitals haven't been doing very well when on the short end of a 5 on 3 power play. With 45 seconds left in the first, Iginla sent a screened slapshot off of Caps' Boyd Gordon. When the puck hit Gordon, it ramped upward and past Kolzig for Iginla's 42nd goal of the season. The period ended tied at 1-1.
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Washington spent a good bit of the second period's first six minutes in the offensive zone. They made some beautiful plays, especially Alex Semin and Sergei Fedorov. But, they didn't get anything by Kiprusoff. Then the referees increased their attempts to help the Flames. Erskine was called for tripping at 6:57, on what looked very much like a dive by Calgary's Craig Conroy. Then another Cap's defenseman, Shaone Morrisonn went to the box for an unbelievable dive by Owen Nolan. Another 5 on 3 situation. So of course, another PP goal by the Flames. This time, it was a snap shot by Kristian Huselius, putting Calgary ahead 2-1. Another overlooked Flames infraction came at about 12:25, when Bradley was clothes lined while reaching for the puck in the neutral zone. It was just impossible to not see this, yet no whistle was blown. I guess we're supposed to believe Brad's body violently flinging upward and backward was due to a rut in the ice. No hit, or anything else showed up on the play by play list. The officials did call four penalties on the Flames during period two, but they let several others go unpunished. Finally, at 17:21 Huselius went to the box for hooking Backstrom. Just 24 seconds later, Alex Ovechkin curled around a defender and sent number 55 on the season into the net. Another bright spot at the end of the period, was a massive hit on Calgary's Dion Phaneuf by Jurcina. Phaneuf was quite shaky as he headed to the Flames' bench.
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The third period was much the same. More inconsistent officiating, and more hard fought scoring chances by the Capitals. Iginla seemed to be offended by Mike Green when he was slashed by Huselius. Was it Green's fault Huselius slammed his stick across Mike's hand? Jarome even took a swipe at Green, while being "held back" by a ref. Owen Nolan was called for a high stick on Brooks Laich at 16:31, the Flames' eighth called penalty of the game. With Laich screening the Kiprusoff, Ovechkin's long range slapper went in for his league leading 20th PP goal of the season. The goal was also brings Ovechkin's goal total to 56 and point total to 97, both also tops in the NHL. After a Flames' time out, there was 1:03 left on the clock and an empty net in the Flames end. With just 24 seconds left in the game, Ovie went down while driving to the net and being covered by Phaneuff. He was about one step away from getting yet another hat trick.
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The Cap's played another wonderful game. This time, they didn't let the crappy ref's ruin it for them. They didn't let penalties destroy their chance of winning just before time ran out. Olie Kolzig and his Washington Capitals were not to be denied. Hopefully this kind of effort continues for their last 11 games.
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All Photos - Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP
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