Hands off Beagle! We’re the only ones who are allowed to give him a hard time!
Low-scoring games suck, and that’s why the hockey gods gave us Ducks vs Caps with two backup goalies. Alex Ovechkin played out of his beautiful Russian skull.
Andrew Cogliano scored first, snatching a– get this– rebound off Justin Peters. Ovechkin wasn’t having any of that, so he tied it up off a faceoff. The Ducks went up again after Corey Perry beat Peters, who was totally screened. Again, Ovi wasn’t having any of that, so he converted an Ovi shot from the Ovi spot.
That all happened in the first twenty minutes. Marcus “Joe Hanson” Johansson got a pretty goal early in the second to give the Caps their first lead of the night. Then the Caps put the Ducks in a two-goal hole as Alex Ovehkin set up Andre Burakovsky for another pretty goal.
In the third, Andrew Cogliano struck again, thanks to Jakob Silfverberg (who I adore), and we headed into the third period with a one-goal game. Yet again, Alex Oveckin wasn’t having any of it. He stole the puck in the defensive zone, carried all the way up the ice, and served it to Andre Burakovsky, giving the rookie his first multi-goal game and securing the win for Washingon.
Caps beat Ducks 5-3! Woo!
- I’m not exactly filled with warm thoughts when Justin Peters gets a start. I’m very much constitutionally opposed to assigning absolute blame to every goal, but I also cannot pretend like Peters is doing well. The Ducks’ second and third goals though smack of team failure (Carlson’s screen, much?) rather than the goalie’s individual failing. It’s not like Peters is a great goalie, but why do the Caps seem to make it so hard for him every time he plays? That’s a rhetorical question since Peters shut the door in the third period despite a decent effort from the Ducks.
- Flashback: So Peters gives up that second goal and the Capitals take a timeout. Alex Ovechkin comes up to the goalie and..
Ovechkin skated from the bench to where Peters stretched during the TO. Stick-tapped his pads, patted his head. Like saying, "I've got you."
— Alex Prewitt (@alex_prewitt) February 16, 2015
- What a great story. Ovi scored on the next shift. That’s some classic captain stuff right there. Once again, he was the best player on the ice– and the lone Capital playing up to his potential for the game’s first twenty minutes. He scored two goals with no help except a face-off win by Backstrom and a set-up pass by Green. He shrugged off a seemingly scary injury. He gave Andre Burakovsky a pair of beautiful rush goals. Just stunning work from the league’s best guy in a four-point night. MVP argument right here.
- The Ducks got beat up. Just one period into this one, they were down two players. Patrick Maroon missed a few shifts in the middle frame too.
- Cross-check to the neck? Corey Perry is a dirty piece of work, though he did get test Justin Peters more than anyone: 10 shots on goal.
- Andre Burakovsky got more than nine minutes of ice time for the first time since the beginning of the month. He combined with Alex Ovechkin to score two rush goals, both of which had all the magic of Semin and Ovechkin in 2009. Just a couple of anecdotes, but there’s enough of a hint of chemistry there to keep “beer-akovsky” in the line-up for a few games, right? Please?
- Joe Beninati is out of commission with laryngitis, so LA radio play-by-play guy Nick Nickson (real name?) filled in. Nickson was very good, but we’re all so used to hearing Beninati call Caps hockey for the last infinity decades. Beninati has always been deliberate in calling games sparingly, letting the video signal deliver most of the information. A radio guy, Nickson was much more active, which is unfamiliar but not bad.
- Plus, he pronounced Marcus Johansson‘s last name like “Joe Hanson,” who is a guy you went to high school with, and sure he did a little time for selling pot, but now he’s got a job working for a beer distributor, and he drives a sweet Camaro, and you guys should totally hang out some time, he can get you a decent deal on a case of Bud Lime.
- After a good night on Saturday, Evgeny Kuznetsov‘s line reverted to their default state of yeesh. That’s a shame, because I really liked the other three lines tonight. This is sort of why there’s no ideal combination for Trotz– no matter what lines he puts together, he’s gonna get some criticism. I guess that makes it BMac’s problem.
No Joe B suit of the night, out of respect, but here’s Robert Beerakovsky’s Polo sweater of the night.
Curious coincidence that Craig wore his snazziest suit of the year on the one night he wasn’t standing next to Joe.
So ends the father’s trip. That was the kind of game coaches hate but Peter loves, and that’s what really matters. Okay, no it’s not, but I had fun tonight.
What really really matters is that Alex Ovechkin is a superstar. Ovi is the sole difference between an encouraging road win and a demoralizing blowout to your former coach in front of your father. Ovi bailed out his beleaguered back-up goalie. Ovi shook off a scary collision. Ovi may have just saved Andre Burakovsky’s season. Ovi could have took a chance at getting an individual achievement with a hat trick, but instead he opted for a better chance of team success by passing. Ovi, Ovi, Ovi. He’s the best.
Sorry, I mean best)))))))))))
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