Photo: Mike Munden
Ever notice how awful and awesome share the same root? Same with terrible and terrific. There’s some cosmic link between being great and being the opposite of great, which the Capitals illustrated brilliantly in their game against the Blue Jackets on Thursday.
The Caps started off well enough, scoring two in the first period. Joel Ward struck first, getting a sharp-angle goal for the third 2b line. Before the first intermission, Michael Latta got a great pass to Jason Chimera, who sweeped in an easy goal to give a comfy two-goal lead.
And then they blew it. The Caps gave up two power-play goals in the second period– first to Jack Johnson and then to Nick Foligno. Penalties pocked the rest of the middle frame, and we left it tied.
Foligno scored one minute into the third to give Lumbus the lead, but Karl Alzner tied it up seven minutes later, tying his career high for goal-scoring (two). Michael Chaput scored his first NHL goal with four and a half minutes left in rego, taking a rebound while wide open. Troy Brouwer drove to the net to kick in (legally) Mike Green’s wizardly pass and force overtime.
Mike Green set up Eric Fehr to finish ’em off in a flurry in overtime. Bacon bits!
Caps beat Blue Jackets 5-4 in overtime!
- The third line is the second line. I loved Joel Ward‘s goal and Eric Fehr‘s assistance in making it happen. They carved non-Euclidean shapes in the Lumbus zone before Ward got an impossible goal from an improbable angle. They weren’t great overall on Thursday, but that line has been my favorite of the last few weeks.
- I loved that first period. It was solid Caps hockey– with the good team outshooting the other team 15 to 4 going into intermission. After that, well, that was horrendous. They should write you an apology note.
- I hated that second period. The Ovi slash was sucka soft, but so was the Caps penalty killing, particularly by John Carlson, who was on ice for both (plus a 5v5 CBJ goal in the third period). Then the Caps descended into post-whistle thuggery. It did not work at all. It actually played right into Columbus’ hands; the Caps went 11 minutes without a single shot attempt, which is pathetic.
- After surrendering their millionth goal to Foligno in the first minute of the third period, the Capitals regained the composure. It’s like– at the end of the first period– someone got the Capitals wet or fed them after midnight or something, but they came back to their senses. Even when they went down late, the Caps seemed to have it together.
- John Carlson was lucky to get just a two-minute roughing penalty for a dirty retaliatory hit to the back of a Jackets’ player’s head. I think this hit sucks, and Carlson is too good to play this stupid.
- What pisses me off even more about the second period is how good the Caps were playing up until that point. Even having surrendered a two-goal lead, the team looked great. Alex Ovechkin was destroying at 5v5 with 85 percent of the on-ice shot attempts belonging to his team and four individual shots on goal. Then the Caps abandoned what was working with them to punch and pout and complain– much like what a shitty hockey team might do.
- Nick Foligno steals Braden Holtby‘s lunch money every day. Holtby’s friends have turned to hiding Snack Packs in their Jansports and sneaking them to Braden so he doesn’t go hungry. Not the best night for Holts, but let’s not be greedy.
- That’s two goals for Karl Alzner, just 38 percent into this season– tying his career single-season high. Pack it up, Karl. You hit your quota.
- Alex Ovechkin got busted for one of the softest slashes I’ve seen this season. Then, in the third period, he got positively smashed in the hand. No whistle. Poor Ovi.
- With two goals, the fourth line, with Beagle and Chimera, soundly outperformed the second (2a) line. What’s the salary disparity there?
- Hell yeah, Troy Brouwer‘s kick was a good goal, but let’s not allow the legal dispute to drown out the magisterial beauty of Mike Green’s drive into the offensive zone and funnel to the net. Crash the Bob indeed.
Joe B suit of the night
If you want evidence of how playing dirty hockey doesn’t win games, check out how Washington’s shot attempts— the blue line– go flat in the second period.
Maybe there’s a way to play scrappy, fighty hockey and not be positively awful, but the Caps don’t know how and shouldn’t try. They’re a pretty good team when it comes to shooting and scoring and winning, but they’re not good at whatever the hell this was.
I’d link to think of this game as instructive. It’s a lesson to the Capitals on how to not have a hissyfit when things don’t go precisely your way in a generally good hockey game. When the Caps got back to playing that original style of hockey– with the shooting and scoring– they did just fine.
The point streak continues for Washington. I like that this team can be stale urine soup for twenty minutes of hockey and still win. Climb the standings!
