Captains (Photo: Abelimages)
What happens when a stoppable force meets a movable object? That was my question before Saturday’s game between the low-shooting Leafs and please-shoot-moar-pucks-at-our-goalie Capitals.
Well. Now we know. The Capitals dominated possession at evens, and kept the Leafs to minimal offense. David Clarkson tipped in a long bomb on a second-period power play. The Caps couldn’t beat Reimer until Alex Ovechkin got a mean-ass one-timer in the third.
Overtime couldn’t settle it, so let’s do the shootout bullets!
Leafs beat Caps 2-1 (Shootout).
Joe B suit of the night: the intensity on Locker’s face
Tough way to lose, but that’s how the Leafs do things I guess. We’ll see them again on their long journey to the bottom of the conference.
Hey, it’s getting old talking about how good Ovi is.
Ohhhh, he leads the league in goals! Ooooh, his level of production is entirely sustainable and not driven by unstable percentages! La dee da, he’s scoring in new and different ways that reveal the depth of his creativity! *Whistles* This is an unprecedented and entirely unexpected renaissance for our favorite player! Wah wah wah, he may be the best scorer the league has seen in two decades!
Ugh. Booooooooring.
Whatever else is going on with the team, let’s always keep in mind how lucky we are to see Alex Ovechkin work. Let Ovi Be Ovi at last.
I don’t like having Martin Erat out of the lineup, but I very much enjoyed how Oates organized his forwards tonight. For the record, here are those lines again:
Johansson – Backstrom – Ovechkin
Fehr – Grabovski – Brouwer
Chimera – Laich – Ward
Volpatti – Latta – Wilson
The second line has two players who drive play and one who can crash the net. The third line is a rock with two sturdy two-way players and one ice cheetah made of industrial-grade sandpaper.
So when Erat comes back (and he must), where do you fit him in?
Whatever. Despite the loss, that was a good way to spend a Saturday night. The Caps proved they could own the puck against a weaker team, and they kept on challenging a good goalie until he cracked. The losing streak goes to three games, but this was a respectable effort.
P.S. Thanks to Toronto Maple Leafs Hot Stove Hangout for having me on tonight.
RMNB is not associated with the Washington Capitals; Monumental Sports, the NHL, or its properties. Not even a little bit.
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