Capitals Vs Ducks 11/19/2008 Review

Nicklas Backstrom scores goal in first period.
November 19, 2008 Photo by Mark J. Terrill / AP

Capitals 6 - Ducks 4

It wasn't the prettiest of games, but the Washington Capitals managed to beat the Anaheim Ducks in a rugged game. Washington did so without three of their key players - Alexander Semin, Sergei Fedorov and Shaone Morrisonn, all of whom are expected to see some action on this four game Western road trip at some point.

Might as well get the dirty "Philadelphia of the West Coast" team out of the way first. The Capitals earned the win by simply playing hard for the full 60 minutes. They even remembered how to score on the power play, which came in real handy. Two of the three PP goals came very early in the first period. A nice redirect of a Mike Green slapper by Tomas Fleischmann at 2:19 and another PP tally at 3:54 compliments of Mike Green. Shortly after Nick Backstrom backhanded the puck into the net, Anaheim's Jonas Hiller was replaced by the Ducks' number one goalie, Jean-Sebastien Giguere. Scoring the fourth and fifth goals of the period, Bobby Ryan and Ryan Getzlaf put two on the scoreboard for the host team.

Looking at the score, it would be hard to believe, but Cap's netminder Jose Theodore actually played well for most of the game. Hiller might not have been too sharp, but Giguere put in a good effort for the Ducks. Alex Ovechkin got his fourth point of the night, when he snapped in a power play goal at 2:43 in the second period. Anaheim's defense left him all alone between the dots, so Giggy had no chance of stopping this one. His other three points came via assists on all three of Washington's first period goals. At 17:48, Matt Bradley made it 5-2, when he scored his second goal of the season with a wrist shot near the goal crease.

David Steckel got his third goal of the season halfway through the third period, when he sent a slapshot into the net. Even though Theodore was particularly sharp in the third, somehow Bobby Ryan and Teemu Salanne each got one by him. Has Salanne ever been held scoreless against the Caps? Washington held on and ended the game in regulation.

Of course there was some rough stuff during this game. After all, it was the Ducks the Caps faced. We lost Mike Green to injury during a high and hard hit that sent Green into the end wall during the second period. It's unknown how bad off his shoulder is at this point. Supposedly, Shaone Morrisonn will replace him in the lineup tonight. The forward lines will remain the same as the Capitals hit Los Angeles for that game.