Canadiens Vs Capitals 01/31/2008 Review

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Canadiens 4 - Capitals 5 OT

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Alexander Ovechkin overpowered the Montreal Canadiens, and led the Washington Capitals to an amazing overtime win. The Canadiens and their goalie Cristobal Huet won't be able to stop thinking about Alex for a few days. Ovechkin scored 4 goals and 1 assist in the last of the season series against the Habs. He now leads the league in both goals (43) and points (70). He indured a puck to the face, broken nose and a busted lip, and they still couldn't stop him. He's was like the Terminator.

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The game started off with Ovechkin getting accidentally hit in the face by the stick of Alexei Kovalev. He checked his sore jaw and made sure he hadn't lost any more teeth, while on the bench awaiting his next shift. Ovie was obviously fine, as he made a big open ice hit on Steve Begin a little while later. The two teams exchanged a couple minor penalties, including..............Yep, you guessed it........a hooking call on Alexander Semin. Alex Ovechkin and Milan Jurcina exchanged a couple rink wide passes, before Ovie one timed his 40th goal of the season, putting the Cap's on the scoreboard first. Olie Kolzig was looking good and quick in net during the first period, making a few really nice saves.

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About 4 1/2 minutes into the second period, Viktor Kozlov tipped in a pass from Ovechkin. Washington had a 2-0 lead. It was a very physical game. Plenty of hits, and some pushing and shoving throughout. Nobody hitting any better than Ovechkin. However, toward the middle of the game, Francis Bouillon bloodied Alex's nose on a rather hard hit of his own. But, no worries. At 11:54, Ovechkin sent a short side wrister to the back of the net. His second goal of the game, brought the Cap's to their biggest lead of the game. But, just under a minute later, Sergei Kostitsyn finally put the Canadiens on the board, tipping in an oddly deflected pass. Washington's defenceman Mike Green was called for tripping late in the period. With Green still in the penalty box, Andrei Kostitsyn got the Power Play goal, bringing Montreal within one.

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The rough stuff continued in the third, with Ovie putting another big hit on Josh Gorges early on. Then, Alex sent a shot between a defender's legs and over the shoulder of Huet for his 4th career Hat Trick at 12:30. Already leading the league in goals, this one put him on top in points as well. But, about a minute later Guillaume Latendresse put the Canadiens back within one again, scoring his 13th of the season. Netminder Olie Kolzig did his best to keep the lead, as he made a few more excellent saves. However, with less than 33 seconds left and Kolzig (and pretty much everybody else) thinking he had the puck under his body, no whistle! Apparently, the ref on the scene had better eyes than any other ref in history. We all had to see the slow motion overhead taped replay before we could pick it out. But, this guy noticed the puck wasn't quite covered up and let Latendresse poke the puck through and into the net for his second of the game. Tied at 4-4, we would need overtime. .

The crowd sure got their money's worth. At 3:34 in OT, Alexander Ovechkin tipped in a rebound for the game winner. That's four goals and an assist in the game for Alex. It was the second time in his career that he scored four goals in one game, the first time coming earlier this season. It was also his second five point game of this season as well. The only other Cap to ever get 40 or more goals in three consecutive seasons was the great Peter Bondra. I'm pretty sure that Ovechkin will prove to be the greatest Washington Capital of all. There was some good work in this game by Kolzig, Milan Jurcina, Mike Green and others. But as usual, Ovie steals the show.

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All Photos - AP / Manuel Balce Ceneta

Canadiens Vs Capitals 12/20/2007 Review

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Canadiens 5 - Capitals 2

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After going 5-2-1 so far this month , the Washington Capitals seemed ready to claim a couple more points before the Christmas break. Tonight, they hosted the Montreal Canadiens in their first meeting this season.

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The Capitals' forward Donald Brashear had the first scoring chance of the game, but didn't get it past goaltender Cristobal Huet. Although, he may have been trying to pass at the time. No luck either way. At the 10:00 mark, Alexander Semin got hooked, putting the Caps on the Power Play. Less than a minute and a half later, Semin was called for hooking. So we had a little 4 on 4 hockey. Throughout the period, Washington had plenty of chances, but were unable to score. At 18:15, Montreal's Guillaume Latendresse took a pass from Saku Koivu and put the puck in the net. The Capital's had pretty much dominated the period. But at the end of the first, the Habs were ahead 1-0.

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At about six minutes into the second period, Tomas Plekanec bounced the puck off Olie Kolzig and into the net for his eleventh of the season. The Canadiens had a two goal lead. About three minutes later, Washington was on the PP when Nicklas Backstrom backhanded his sixth goal past Huet from a sharp angle. With less than three minutes left, Latendresse got his second of the game when he took a pass from Mathieu Dandenault who received the puck directly from a faceoff in Washington's end. Before the period was over, Christopher Higgins drove to the net and rolled over Kolzig. While they were still down on the ice, Olie gave Higgins a little whack on the helmet. At the end of two, Montreal led 3-1.

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About three or four minutes into the third period, the camera found Condaliza Rice in Ted Leonsis' suite, eating popcorn. What an ugly woman. Does she ever smile? Back on the ice, Cap's Alexander Ovechkin whiffed on a layup. Then Viktor Kozlov had Huet beat, but hit the inside of a post with his shot. With a hook by Shaone Morrisonn and Tom Poti sending the puck over the glass, the Canadiens had a 5 on 3 PP. About one minute later, Montreal's Sergei Kostitsyn deflected a Alex Kovalev shot for his first NHL goal. The Habs were ahead 4-1. Thirty-four seconds later, Semin got his fourth goal of the season, when he sent the puck in top shelf from the faceoff circle. All four of his goals have been scored in the third period. Shortly after, Huet made a nice save on an Ovechkin shot, keeping it at 4-2. Later on, Cap's David Steckel and Canadien's Francis Bouillon did a little pushing and shoving, but didn't get around to dropping the gloves. Near the end of the period, Washington defenceman Mike Green drove through the crease with the puck and ended up on top of the net. This really seemed to excite Green's fans, who were wearing their Gang Green t-shirts. However, Huet wasn't happy about it. With just over a minute left in the third, Montreal's Mark Streit put a Kyle Chipchura rebound past Olie. The Canadiens won 5-2.

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The Capitals outshot the Canadiens 37-21. They had plenty of good chances. But, they couldn't stay out of the penalty box and they just couldn't capitalise on their scoring chances. Another two points left behind.