Weird bounces, Long goal reviews & Floating Pucks. What a fun night. (Photos by Nick Wass)

Funny isn’t it that the Capitals and Bruins will meet twice in the last week of the regular season before playing one another in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. If tonight’s game sets a precedence for next week, we’re due for some entertaining hockey.

Tonight’s victory over Boston saw goals from fan favorites Nicky Backstrom, Mike Knuble and Books Laich, who secured the overtime gamewinner. Despite the everpresent physicality of Zdeno Chara’s bleeding nose and the dynamism of Patrice Bergeron, the Caps emerged victorious. Three games or bust.

• Tonight’s line up merits comment. Mike Green deserved his well-earned rest, while Scott Walker returned to active play. Brendan Morrison remains MIA, but we’re in no rush to have him return.
• Actually, nevermind. His replacement at 2nd-line center, Tomas Fleischmann, won a dismal 33% on the faceoff dot. I love the guy, but Flash needs to get his groove back, and it will not be found at center. Or will it?
• Nick Backstrom got three points tonight– a goal and two assists. I mention this not because I’m surprised, but because I am now certain that Nicky is deserving of fame far exceeding that which he is currently granted.
• Is there a player on the Caps roster who plays with more consistent oomph than Brooks “You Can Just Get Lost In His Eyes” Laich? His overtime in-your-face-goal is just another exhibit in the mountain of evidence that Brooks wants to win more than any other player out there. Maybe the Caps were coasting without Brooks, but when he’s around, they go to the net.
• More on that Laich character. We can’t get over the full cage he’s wearing to protect that beautiful chiseled face of man. So when we prompted the ladies if Brooks Laich in a full cage was cute or simply the cutest ever, we got some hilarious responses. Some of our favorites were “more like cant wait for him to get it off to see his face again“, “ADORABLE. he looks like a babyyy“, “Cute, but without it is cutest ever“, “I would say that Laich has trumped Michelangelo’s David…even with the busted face“, “it makes me think of the cone a dog wears so it doesn’t chew its stitches” & “ew“. Awesome.
• John Erskine and Tyler Sloan are mighty fine gentlemen, and I think that I would enjoy a frosty draught with either one, but give me Milan Jurcina or John Carlson any day.
• Ian has repeatedly said that players like David Steckel are crucial to a prosperous postseason.  Judging by Davey’s PK effort tonight, we agree.  On the other hand, Stecks was just as bad as Flash on the faceoff (33%).
• Wouldn’t tomorrow night be wonderfully exciting if “Crazy Legs” Braden Holtby started in net?
• RMNB mathman Neil Greenberg was at the game tonight, but who wasn’t?  How about President Barack Obama, whose first pitch at the Nats game sailed so far wide left that I can already imagine the next batch of Tea Party protest signs.  NO POLITICS, PEOPLE! THIS IS HOCKEY!

Well, we are now down to felt as they say. Three games separate the Washington Capitals from what should be a historic post-season. And don’t say “an historic”– that’s stupid.   While I’m a proponent of the “win everything” philosophy, I’m willing to concede that Bruce Boudreau’s hockey savvy exceeds my own.  Let’s just establish a bit of the big Mo’ before next week. A 10-0 shutout of the Penguins in Braden Holtby’s NHL debut would suffice.