By Bud L. Ellis
Alex Ovechkin didn’t light the lamp, but he put the Washington Capitals in position to bounce back from a rare loss on home ice.
Ovechkin, fighting Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby for the NHL scoring title, did not score but dished out two assists Wednesday, and Tomas Fleischmann netted the game-winner in overtime as the Caps knocked off Carolina 4-3 at Verizon Center.
The win gave Washington 99 points on the season, tops in the NHL and good for a 14-point lead in the Eastern Conference. The win came two days after a shootout loss to Dallas snapped a 13-game home winning streak for the Caps (45-13-9).
Against Carolina, the last team to beat the Caps at home in regulation (on Dec. 28), Alexander Semin scored on a breakaway in the first period to make it 1-0. Mike Green netted the first of his two goals to make it 2-0. Carolina fought back to tie it 2-2 before Green scored his second of the game.
The Hurricanes tied it and forced overtime, but Fleischmann – who didn’t play Monday as the Caps begin resting some of their regulars for the playoffs – came through in extra time.
Jose Theodore earned the win in goal for Washington, which plays host to Tampa Bay Friday night. The Caps have earned at least one point in 15 straight home games.
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Friday, March 12, 2010 at 9:08 pm by bud
Tags: Alexander Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, Carolina Hurricanes, Dallas Stars, Jose Theodore, Mike Green, National Hockey League, Sidney Crosby, Tampa Bay Lightning, Tomas Fleischmann, Washington Capitals
By Bud L. Ellis
The Washington Capitals’ historic win streak reached a whole new level Friday night: even Mother Nature is powerless against the hottest team in the NHL.
With a blizzard swirling outside the Verizon Center, the Caps continued to bury the competition. Down early 1-0 against the Atlanta Thrashers, the Caps once again cranked up their high-octane offense and pulled away, extending their franchise-record win streak to 13 with a 5-2 victory.
Washington (40-12-6, 86 points) continues to win at a historic pace, extending the NHL’s longest win streak since the New Jersey Devils won 13 in a row in the 2000-01 season. A win against Pittsburgh at home Sunday would give the Caps the league’s longest streak since the 1992-93 Penguins reeled off 17 straight wins.
The victory keeps Washington 12 points ahead of the Devils in the Eastern Conference. Ironically, Friday marked the Devils’ first game with Ilya Kovalchuk, the star winger traded from Atlanta to the Devils the day before.
Perhaps boosted by the departure of the constant Kovalchuk rumors, the Thrashers came out shooting and swinging against the Caps. But Michal Neuvirth, recalled from Hershey earlier in the day, was equal to the task, making 43 saves.
And, per the script they’ve rolled out time and time again during the win streak, the Caps got plenty of offense. Alex Ovechkin tied the game at 1-1 at the 13:41 mark of the first period, his league-leading 39th goal of the season. Washington took the lead for keeps on Nicklas Backstrom’s 25th of the season at 4:31 of the second period.
The Caps then put it away early in the third. Brooks Laich fed Alexander Semin on a two-on-one off an Atlanta turnover at the 3:52 mark to make it 3-1. Another Atlanta turnover led to another Washington goal 68 seconds later, Jason Chimera finished a three-on-one breakaway for a 4-1 lead.
Mike Green, playing for the first time since returning from a three-game suspension, added an empty netter to close the scoring.
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Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 8:38 am by bud
Tags: Alex Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, Atlanta Thrashers, Brooks Laich, Ilya Kovalchuk, Jason Chimera, Michal Neuvirth, Mike Green, National Hockey League, New Jersey Devils, Nicklas Backstrom, Pittsburgh Penguins, Verizon Center, Washington Capitals
