Perfect picture is perfect. (Photo: Graig Abel)
Setting the scene: One of the world’s best scorers in a foreign country on a team that has consistently failed to meet sky-high expectations. After hitting rock bottom in puck possession under their disastrous former coach, they’ve got renewed hopes.
I honestly forget what team I was writing about there, but here’s my recap of Wednesday’s Caps-Leafs game.
The Caps struck first as Evgeny Kuznetsov carved the Toronto defense to set up Marcus Johansson.
The Leafs returned fire in the second period with a tip-in goal by Daniel Winnik. Eric Fehr got a shorthanded goal with the help of Jay Beagle to put the Caps back in the lead, then Brooks Laich scored off an offensive-zone faceoff to make it 3-1. Toronto responded with a rebound goal by Trevor Smith, but Marcus Johansson got his second of the night a couple minutes later.
In the third, Eric Fehr got his second of the night as well. I haven’t seen Bernier stunned like that since the time someone asked him who Nelson Mandela was. Alex Ovechkin got the empty-netter and that was that.
Caps beat Leafs 6-2! Bailamos!
- Eric Fehr is on a five-game point streak (six goals, two assists). His shorthanded goal made the Caps the 27th team in the league to get one. His nail-in-the-coffin in the third made this an Enrique game. He’s okay, I guess.
- Jay Beagle was tremendous on Fehr’s shorthanded goal, but overall he’s 98th out of 113 forwards at shot suppression during the PK. I like the guy, and I can acknowledge that he plays the Right Way, but at some point we have to note that the results– for whatever reason– aren’t there.
- Marcus Johansson‘s renaissance season continues with a two-goal effort at ACC. The secret sauce: shooting a lot. Mojo put 3 on net tonight, and his individual shot rate is still darn near double what it was last year (7.10, up from 4.06 shots per 60 minutes). He was the best player on the ice tonight, and not just because he dented twine twice. His line looked rejuvenated and dangerous for the first time in a fortnight.
- Dion Phaneuf getting testy with Alex Ovechkin will be the last thing I think of before I fall peacefully into my dreams tonight. Beyond that, it was kind of a quiet night for Ovi. I still like the chemistry with Andre Burakovsky on the top line, but it didn’t result in a lot of offense tonight.
- …Though that was true for the whole Caps team, who didn’t seem too interested in challenging Jonathan Bernier, particularly in that low-shooting first period, wherein two of those shots on goal came in the last minute or two.
- I don’t know why Mike Santorelli thought he scored or why the refs blew the whistle or anything. I just want to use this bullet to explain the Santeria Rule, which is the rule that says if you’re walking into a bar as the cover band in the bar is playing “Santeria,” you must not go into that bar. This is a bit like the DC101 game, where you turn on DC101 and if they’re playing the Red Hot Chili Peppers, congrats, you win.
- Brooks Laich got 20-plus goals three years in a row from 2008 to 2010. Having missed a good hunk of this season (and what a hunk he is), I’m dubious he could do it again— but Laich’s on fire right now, and he’s playing pretty damn well to boot. His faceoff goal was precisely the kind Ovechkin scores four or five times a season, so it’s good to see the depth lines matching suit.
- Tom Wilson did take a shift in the third period. Seeing as he had been on a line with Jay Beagle and Jason Chimera, playing Trivia Crack in the locker room probably wasn’t a bad alternative. He got smoked in his sub-7 minutes of ice time.
Joe B suit of the night
Fun, fun, fun game.
The Capitals have one regulation loss in the last month of hockey. Some nights they’re getting the bounces, some nights they’re crushing the competition. Either way, they’re getting the Ws. Everything’s just coming up Capitals.
But if you wanna change momentum, go to Philadelphia. One time my friend got punched in the neck at Tony Luke’s, which totally change the momentum of that blind date. One time my team’s goalie got mugged in Philadelphia by this other team’s bad goalie and then he played crummy for the next 45 days. Philly isn’t a good hockey team right now, but they’re still dangerous– particularly in the second half of a back-to-back on the road.
See you there. Stay warm.
