Photo credit: Gregg Forwerck

It’s a busy week in the world of the Washington Capitals with the trade deadline coming tomorrow, but there was actual hockey to be played on Tuesday night as the Caps faced off against Alex Semin and his Carolina Hurricanes.  It was like old times at PNC Arena, as the Caps did the thing where goals come in torrents but defense is like eh whatever, maybe if we have time.

As the guy who has been misspelling “score more goals” incorrectly for a few years, I am completely okay with this style of play. The Caps fought back from a deficit and then took a big ol’ lead that wasn’t hard to hold onto when you’ve got Braden Holtby between the pipes. Am I doing run-on sentences tonight? Okay fine, let’s do that.

Caps beat Canes 5-3.

More bullets than Robocop 2. Parental guidance advised.

Sasha in the Sasha box. (Credit: @margaretfogs)

• Jiri Tlusty got two goals in the game’s first 10 minutes, but let’s look a bit closer. The first was probably tipped in by future goat sacrificer Jason Chimera as the entire Caps crew did everything they could to make Jiri feel welcome in the paint.  The second goal was a power play tally that Karl Alzner failed to block… as Alex Semin high-sticked him right before the shot (no whistle, natch). Tlusty had been ice cold for the last two weeks, so it’s nice of the Caps to help him out of the streak.
• Chimera scored his second goal of the year, but chose the wrong net. Pretty sure J.P. called that before the game.
• Tlusty got the hat trick (the first of his career) with a real casual-looking power play goal. Tlusty is fine and all, but Washington treated defense like an abstract concept through 60 minutes.
• The Caps mounted a big ol’ comeback. It started with Alex Ovechkin sending a sick unbelievable red snapper into Dan Ellis‘ net. Ellis eventually got pulled in favor of Justin Peters.
• Then Nick Backstrom set up a goal for Mike Green.
• Then Nick Backstrom set up a goal for Mike Green.
• Not a typo. Green has four goals in the last three games and cares little for your trolly comments, you commenting trolls. And..
• Nick Backstrom had a four-point night– all assists, all primary. In addition to him breaking the 400-point threshold, the night also put him over a point-per-game career pace (402 in 401).
• And if you wanna houserule it, give Backstrom a fifth assist. Joel Ward scored a shorthanded guac assisted by some great threading from Marcus Johansson. Backstrom was serving a penalty at the moment, so it’s kind of like shake and bake and he helped.
• Jeez lotsa bullets tonight. It’s like 2010 up in here. Whatever. Let’s embrace it. Here come some more.
• Alex Ovechkin keeps the scoring streak going– all the way to nine games. He got two tonight, putting him in the league-leader discussion. Whoa. Alex Ovechkin– even past his prime– is still better than pretty much everyone else in this league. I wanna add that he’s not even getting that lucky on the bounces– Ovi is scoring because he’s putting tons of rubber on the net: 6 shots tonight. That’s how Alex became a star in the first place, and he’s got that vibe going again. I love it. RMNB.
• Joni Pitkanen won the icing race against Troy Brouwer to get a whistle, but it cost him some knee ligaments. The crash was awful, with Pitkanen’s legs folding underneath him before his knee collided with the boards. It was too ghastly for a replay, but I have a feeling the board of managers are see it a few more times as the hybrid icing debate continues.
• When the Caps finally did give the Canes a hard time for occupying the crease, John Carlson did it with a crosscheck to Patrick Dwyer. You took it too far, John. You took it too far.
• John Erskine took a shot to his face, but no big deal. The trainer keeps a bucket of nails behind the bench for him to chew on in just such an occasion. He’ll be fine.

Joe B suit of the night

Alright, that was a Joss Whedon movie of a game: fantastically fun but punctuated by some harrowing scares. Even the most vile Cane-hater (as if anyone cared about the Canes enough to hate) would pause at Pitkanen’s injury. Pucks to Ward’s and Erskine’s faces were thankfully not serious (although if Ersk had to rip a tooth out I’d be surprised not even a little bit).

A convincing win in a very big game as the Caps’ playoff hopes are still alive. I’m not up for scoreboard watching, but the tweeple seem encouraged  by it. So… yey?

Wednesday is the trade deadline. The Caps are a .500 team again, so I think it’s really unlikely that the Caps are gonna sell, but I have a feeling McPhee won’t do anything drastic either way. A player or two might depart, but I think we’ll be able to keep our pants on. Wait, what does that even mean?

Good game!

What if the Latisys commercial is like that video from the Ring but it just takes way longer for us all to die?

— RMNB (@russianmachine) April 3, 2013