Bruins Vs Capitals 12/10/2008 Review

Brent Johnson blocks shot by Bruins' Chuck Kobasew.
Photo by Lawrence Jackson / Associated Press.

Bruins 1 - Capitals 3

The Capitals improved their home game record to 11-1-1 last night, beating the top team in the NHL's Eastern Conference. They overpowered the Boston Bruins, with the return of three players from the injured list. The obvious hero of the game for the Capitals was goaltender Brent Johnson, who fought through an aggravated hip injury during his 33 save triumph.

Although the guys who've come up from the AHL to replace injured players have done a great job, it is good to have regulars Tom Poti and Alexander Semin back on the job. Yesterday's callup, Oskar Osala also did well in his first NHL game.

The presence of defenseman Poti was immediately noticeable, as he got right to work, keeping the Bruin's scoring chances down compared to what they would've been without him in the first period. Overall though, Boston did manage 14 shots on goal in the first, but nothing was getting through Johnson. Johnny made some amazing stops, even after having his old hip injury re-aggravated during a couple of particularly dazzling saves. The lone goal of the first period, scored at 3:53, was a nice Caps' power play strike. At the goal line, Viktor Kozlov passed the puck to Alex Ovechkin, high in the slot. Ovechkin sent a hard shot toward the net, and Nicklas Backstom was waiting in front of the crease to deflect it in.

Alexandre Giroux celebrates scoring game winning goal.
Photo by Lawrence Jackson / Associated Press.

Just under five minutes into the second period, Washington increased it's lead with one of the prettiest puck possession plays you'll ever see. Half way through, you just knew they were going to score. Michael Nylander brought the puck into the offensive zone, while under defensive pressure. He hooked off and sent a cross ice pass to Poti, who dropped the puck off to Kozlov. Kozlov immediately sent it to Alexandre Giroux, who lifted the puck over Bruins' sprawling netminder Manny Fernandez. After a few consecutive amazing saves by Brent Johnson toward the middle of the period, Caps fans gave him a much deserved standing ovation. Boston's only goal of the game came with just 34.9 seconds left in the second period. Milan Lucic got the puck past Johnson on a give and go play with Phil Kessel, after a dump in by defenseman Zdeno Chara.

Both teams picked the pace back up in the third, but both Johnson and Fernandez guarded their nets well. One of Fernandez's stops was on an Alexandre Giroux penalty shot, awarded after he was hauled down with a hook by a defender. A defender who remains nameless, nay nonexistant even, if you look at the penalty summary provided by the NHL within the game recap. Summary indeed. Just before the end of the game, Backstrom stripped Lucic of the puck deep in the Capitals end. He got the puck to Semin, who sent an outlet pass to Ovechkin. Ovechkin sped toward the empty Bruins net and deposited the rubber biscuit with just 51.9 seconds left, for the final goal.

The incredible efforts of Brooks Laich in the faceoff circle have to be mentioned, as he won an amazing 11 out of 16 (69%). Tom Poti did very well in his return from injury, fending off the feisty Bruins during his 22:01 total ice time. Brent Johnson may or may not be able to play again tomorrow night against the Ottawa Senators because of that hip injury. If it were up to me, we'd be calling him our number one goalie right now, so I hope he recovers quickly.