Not bad for a snow day! Bravo, fans.
The Caps lacked Alex Ovechkin for their Thursday night battle with the Minnesota Wild. In a curious coincidence they also lacked offense. It was a punishingly tight game, but the Wild eked out an edge late and now leave our snowy town with two points in hand, leaving none for our Caps.
During a first period power play, Curtis Glencross filled the net with a puck and our tummies with a free roast beef sandwich. From then on– nothing until the Wild scrambled the net for the tying goal. With five minutes left, Mike Green got overconfident in the breakout and surrendered the puck to Pominville, who scored again, darn it.
Meanwhile, Marcus Johansson rang the post twice. Shucks
Wild beat Caps 2-1.
- Whatever happened in the game, it’d be a footnote to the real story: Alex Ovechkin, a likely Richard and Hart winner, missed the game with a lower-body injury. A few times in February, the Caps depended on their captain and star to carry a mediocre team to victory. Without him, well, you saw what happened.
- Brooks Laich, who is apparently a fourth liner now, combined with young human Tom Wilson for a massive hit on Matt Dumba. The following players fell down: everyone except Tom.
- The line with all the Swedes was kinda special. Marcus Johansson, Nick Backstrom, and Andre Burakovsky didn’t exactly drive possession, but every time they gained the offensive zone they were dangerous– including a pair of rung posts by Marcus. Pat wrote about how Burakovsky helps with Johansson’s offense, and tonight was shining evidence of that.
- Did you hear? We’re to raising money to get the Tre Konor line a three-man tandem bicycle. Please contribute and spread the word!
- The tying goal was 50 percent hard work in the paint by Jason Pominville and 50 percent luck. Everyone I know (i.e. me, my dog) expected the play to be blown dead. Still, that goal was a long time coming and well earned by Minny. Pominville is a monster.
- Whenever I hear Mike Yeo’s name, why do I think of this?
- Welcome to the team, Curtis Glencross! The Capitals had but a brief glimpse at a power play before GlenX scored an improbable goal from an unlikely angle. That was Glencross’s first shot at Verizon Center, so let’s bottle up that shooting percentage magic and put a couple drops in our bathtub tomorrow. I like Curtis– particularly how and where he skates on the rush: right to the net. Reminds me a bit of another red 22.
- I don’t know how to discuss Mike Green‘s giveaway before the second Pominville goal. Maybe he was so overjoyed by not having to get rid of the puck right away (per Oates’ rules), he forgot the point of a breakout. He got rebuffed once, so he regrouped and got rebuffed again– except that time he choked up the puck for an instant goal. Just brutal.
Joe B suit of the night
Like I said: a footnote. This is The One Game Ovechkin Missed. It’s a curiosity, a trivia nugget, a memento of that brief, short, and ever-so-fleeting time when Alex Ovechkin was laid up just for a single game and definitely not anymore than that a single game.
Because I’m not totally in love with the Caps without Ovi. They don’t have guys like Perreault and Fleischmann to step up when Ovi’s out anymore. They need the world’s best scorer to be the world’s best scorer.
So let’s hope we get him back for Saturday. If not, that’s okay too. I bet me and my dog could beat Buffalo.
