CAPS Week 14: Jan 1 - Jan 6

[Senators2005]

Final at Verizon Center:



Montreal 1[/size]
Washington 5

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Dainius Zubrus and Alexander Semin each scored twice, Alex Ovechkin had three assists, and the Washington Capitals ended their five-game losing streak by beating the Montreal Canadiens 5-1 Thursday night.

Zubrus put Washington ahead 2-1 in the first period with two goals in less than 2 1/2 minutes -- both with help from reigning rookie of the year Ovechkin -- and Lawrence Nycholat and Semin scored 56 seconds apart in the second period.

That was it for Canadiens goalie Cristobal Huet, who was yanked 8:48 into the second period and cracked his stick across his knee after leaving the ice. Huet came into the game leading the NHL with a .930 save percentage, but he allowed four goals on 19 shots before giving way to David Aebischer.

Semin flipped the puck over Aebischer's left shoulder midway through the final period for his 19th goal to close the scoring.

Washington goalie Olie Kolzig allowed Craig Rivet's power-play goal in the first period, and that was it, finishing with 27 saves. Kolzig flipped to his back while making a fantastic reflex stop on Michael Ryder's putback late in the second.

Ovechkin's season-worst goal drought reached five games. Still, he reached the season's midway mark with 54 points, three more than a year ago. As a whole, the Capitals have shown even more improvement, reaching the halfway mark at .500 (17-17-7). A year ago, they were 10 games under .500 through 41 games.

The Capitals had won only three of their 21 previous games this season in which the opponent scored first, and Montreal went ahead on Rivet's fifth goal at the 9:34 mark, off assists from Alex Kovalev and Guillaume Latendresse.

But Washington, which lost to visiting Montreal 4-1 on Dec. 27, tied Thursday's game at the 15:21 mark of the first period on a power play. Ovechkin took a shot that sent Huet sprawling, and Zubrus put in the rebound, then dropped to his knees and raised both arms.

Zubrus' celebration was more muted at 17:43 when he put the hosts ahead 2-1 with a close-range shot while Ovechkin screened Huet. That gave Zubrus 16 goals this season and 200 points with the Capitals, a team he joined in a trade from Montreal during 2000-01.

The Canadiens thought they tied it 7:18 into the second period during a power play, but the apparent goal was waved off because Saku Koivu was whistled for goaltender interference.

Washington padded its lead during the ensuing 4-on-4, when Ovechkin found Nycholat all alone near the left post for a tap-in at the 7:52 mark. As that goal was being announced, the Capitals went up 4-1 when Boyd Gordon's shot was saved by Huet, but the rebound went right to Semin.

[tomterp]

SOCLE BLUR!

 

[Senators2005]

My favorite Cap got two tonight!

[Senators2005]

Best Hits of December:

[Senators2005]

Caps Start the Back 41 Against Atlanta
Jan. 6 vs. Atlanta Thrashers at Verizon Center
Time: 7:00 pm
TV: CSN
Radio:  WTNT 570 AM

Atlanta Thrashers (24-12-6)
Washington Capitals (17-17-7)

Washington starts the second half of a four-game homestand and the second half of the 2006-07 regular season with a Saturday night contest against the Atlanta Thrashers at Verizon Center. The Caps will host their second annual Autism Awareness Night on Saturday. The special evening?s highlights will include a pregame on-ice ceremony honoring goaltender Olie Kolzig, intermission games featuring local special hockey teams and a silent auction to benefit Athletes Against Autism.

The Caps closed out the first half of the season with a convincing 5-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday. Dainius Zubrus and Alexander Semin each had a pair of goals while goaltender Olie Kolzig made 27 saves, including some big saves at key moments of the game. With the win, Washington returned to the .500 level and ended a five-game losing skid.

Although Washington is 10 points ahead of last season?s mid-campaign pace, the Capitals remain three points behind eighth-place Toronto for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference standings.

The Capitals open the season?s second half in the midst of a spirited race for playoff positioning in the Eastern Conference standings. A mere eight points separates 10 teams ranked from fifth to 14th in the East. With 41 points, the Capitals are in a three-way tie for 10th place. Washington has at least one game in hand with seven of the nine other teams with which it is bunched.

The last time the Caps and Thrashers met was on Dec. 15 in Atlanta. Washington ended a four-game losing streak against the Thrashers with a 3-2 overtime win in that one. Alex Ovechkin notched his second career hat trick in that contest, and he finished the feat with the game-winner just six seconds into the extra session. It?s the fastest overtime game-winner in Washington franchise history.

Washington has limited the opposition to fewer than 30 shots on goal three times in its last five games, and it has done so in two straight games for the first time since Mar. 10-12, 2006 a span of 58 games.

?We?re improving every game,? says blueliner Brian Pothier of the Washington defense. ?We?re all learning. If you look at our ages, we?re pretty young including myself. [Steve Eminger, Shaone Morrisonn and Mike Green] are all 24 and under. It?s just a matter of getting the experience and getting the games in, while we get fine-tuned by the coaches.?

The Capitals are 19th in the NHL in power play efficiency with a conversion rate of 16.7%. Washington has not gone consecutive games without a power play goal since Nov. 9-11, a span of 25 games.

Washington is 20th in the league with a penalty killing success rate of 80.8%. The Caps have killed 24 of 28 Atlanta power plays (85.7%) in the five previous meetings between the two teams this season.

Atlanta hits the District on the heels of a disappointing home ice loss to the Phoenix Coyotes on Friday night. The Thrashers squandered a 4-1 third period lead, allowing the Coyotes to roar back with three goals to tie the game in the third. Atlanta missed a chance to get two points on a power play that spanned the final minute of regulation and the first minute of overtime, then surrendered the game-winner on Zbynek Michalek?s home run pass to Yanic Perreault.

Even with Friday night?s loss to Phoenix, Atlanta holds a comfortable nine-point lead over second place Carolina in the Southeast Division standings. Only Buffalo?s 10-point lead over second place Montreal in the Northeast is bigger among NHL division leaders.

Atlanta has lost three of its last four (1-2-1) but won five straight (tying a franchise record) immediately prior to that. Saturday?s game at Verizon Center is the sixth meeting this season between Atlanta and Washington. Four of the previous five meetings were immediately preceded by an Atlanta loss. The only exception was the Oct. 19 game, which was the second of back-to-back games against the Caps for Atlanta. The Thrashers won both of those.

The Thrashers have surrendered five goals in each of their last two games.

Saturday?s game starts a four-game road trip for the Thrashers. Atlanta has won three of its last five on the road and is 7-4-1 in its last dozen games away from Philips Arena.

Atlanta is 14th in the league with a 17.9% power play success rate. The Thrashers are 6-for-45 (13.3%) with the extra man in their last 10 games, a span that includes the team?s five-game winning streak.

The Thrashers are 26th in the league in penalty killing with a 79.5% kill rate. Atlanta has been nicked for at least one power play goal in each of its last five games and has killed 20 of 28 (71.4%) opposing power plays during that span.

Notes: Washington forwards Alex Ovechkin and Matt Pettinger did not practice with their teammates on Friday at the Kettler Capitals Iceplex. Hanlon stated that he expected both players to be in the lineup on Saturday ? Thrashers defenseman Garnet Exelby returned to the lineup on Friday after missing nearly two months of action because of a bout with mononucleosis. Exelby missed 22 games.

[Senators2005]

HE SCORES!!!!

WOO HOO!  FANTASTIC ENDING WITH ONLY 17 SECONDS LEFT IN SUDDEN DEATH OVERTIME!  
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time!

   http://bia2.info/watch/372-Peanut-Butter-Jelly-Time.htm

[sportsfan882]

what a great game..  Beautiful pass by Eminger to Semin to win it.  

[Nat of the Living Dead]

Good to hear they are getting back on track.

[Senators2005]

Final at Verizon Center

Atlanta 2
Washington 3



Caps nip Thrashers in OT behind Semin, Ovechkin
 
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Alexander Semin scored his second goal of the game with 17.7 seconds remaining in overtime, lifting the Washington Capitals over the Atlanta Thrashers 3-2 on Saturday night.

Semin took a spinning backhanded feed from Steve Eminger, skated down the slot and put a high shot over goalie Kari Lehtonen's right shoulder, giving the Capitals their second straight victory with his 21st goal.

Ilya Kovalchuk and Glen Metropolit scored for Atlanta, which has lost three straight and four of five. It was the Thrashers' second overtime loss in two nights.

Alex Ovechkin had a goal and an assist for Washington.

The Thrashers wasted two early power-play opportunities, then needed only 13 seconds of their third advantage to take a 1-0 lead. Kovalchuk drove past Boyd Gordon inside the blue line and beat Olie Kolzig with a wrist shot for his 23rd goal 15:50 into the game.

Semin tied it 41 seconds into the second with the Capitals a man up, taking Ovechkin's pass, faking defenseman Niclas Havelid to his knees and flipping a backhanded shot by Lehtonen.

Metropolit restored Atlanta's lead at 16:23, converting a left-side rebound. The Thrashers appeared poised to go ahead by two goals when J.P. Vigier was awarded a penalty shot after being wrestled down from behind by defenseman Jamie Heward on a breakaway.

Vigier collided with Kolzig near the left post, leaving the goalie shaken. He remained face-down on the ice for two minutes before being helped to his feet. Kolzig stayed in the game to face Vigier's penalty shot attempt, and Vigier squeezed the puck between his pads only to have it carom off the right post.

Ovechkin's team-high 26th goal made it 2-2 with 7:42 left in regulation. With the Capitals enjoying a 5-on-3 advantage, Ovechkin pinched into the left circle and scored on a slap shot.

[UMDNats]

what an amazing game

[2k6nats]

So now the Caps are 17-17-8.  Great win, but still, all things considered, you can't be too happy with that record.

I mean, not to downplay the great win against a great team, but how bout we start on one of those rolls again?

[sportsfan882]

So now the Caps are 17-17-8.  Great win, but still, all things considered, you can't be too happy with that record.

I mean, not to downplay the great win against a great team, but how bout we start on one of those rolls again?

Our record is now 18-17-7, not 17-17-8.  We've beat two great teams in a row (Montreal and Atlanta) and are still playing without a few significant players.  I'm more than happy with our record with all of the young players that we are playing with.  We also just went through a rough period mainly due to the fact that half our team was either injured or sick.  This team will fight for the #7-8 spot all the way to the end.

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

That was a SUPERB win...Tarik's implication the other day that Alex Semin is a slacker just seems so...wrong!

Big group of DC United fans going to cheer on the Caps on Tuesday, so should be loud...

[2k6nats]

So now the Caps are 17-17-8.  Great win, but still, all things considered, you can't be too happy with that record.

I mean, not to downplay the great win against a great team, but how bout we start on one of those rolls again?

Our record is now 18-17-7, not 17-17-8.  We've beat two great teams in a row (Montreal and Atlanta) and are still playing without a few significant players.  I'm more than happy with our record with all of the young players that we are playing with.  We also just went through a rough period mainly due to the fact that half our team was either injured or sick.  This team will fight for the #7-8 spot all the way to the end.

Oh yeah, I forgot that OT wins count as a win, and OT losses count as the third category.  My bad.

I'm not saying we're playing bad now, but if you look at our record a couple weeks ago, it was significantly better.  But now it seems like we're turning it around!

[UMDNats]

Condsidering we were over 10 games below .500 last year at this point and the fact that we have the lowest payroll in the league, I'd say I'm extremely happy with our record.