The hero of game seven. Or, one of them.
Game seven. Gay sev. The most Caps of Caps hockey. Will they lose in a teeth-gnasher or will they lose in a blowout?
THEY WILL DO NEITHER, GOOD SIR. THEY WILL DO NEITHER.
We were nearly forty minutes into a scoreless (and penalty-free) game when Brooks Orpik took a slapper from the blue line. Jaroslav Halak had the shot covered, but Joel Ward was all up on him. A couple vicious taps to a sensitive region and a slow trickle followed: 1-0 Capitals.
The Isles owned the puck early in the third. Frans Nielsen entered the zone and cut to the middle, putting a sneaky shot on Braden Holtby that went five-hole. Tie game with 17 minutes left.
Ten minutes later, Evgeny Kuznetsov was jokes. He moved laterally across the crease, undressing Halak and splaying him on his side. From no angle, Kuzy hit the back of the net.
The Washington Capitals have defeated the New York Islanders.
- The refs put their whistles away. I’m not sure why we even had refs; they called nothing. For either team. Even Alex Ovechkin totally deserved to take a seat for this boarding on Thomas Hickey. Nothing until the 57th minute, when John Carlson got busted for roughing. Baffling, but the Capitals penalty kill remained perfect for the whole damn series.
- The Capitals played 88 games before tonight, but this was their gosh darn best. From midway through the first period until early in the third, the Caps positively carved up the Isles forwards and defenders into delicious bite-sizes that you could skewer and maybe dress with some sesame seeds and a peanut glaze. Check out this shot-attempt timeline from hockeystats.ca; I want to make out with it.
- Yes, they outplayed the Islanders skaters, but there was the small matter of Jaroslav Halak, who threatened to do what he has always done. But then Joel Ward happened. Or, really, it was Brooks Orpik, who sailed a slapper from the blue line. Ward had the net-crashy gumption, but it was Borpik who knew to put the shot on net. Wonderful celebration to boot.
@JohnAlexa @russianmachine @CapsOutsider @CrashingTheNet Joel Ward celly. pic.twitter.com/vXSPFAL558
— Joe C (@j_canales87) April 28, 2015
- All I wanted was a humble little playoff game-winning beagle.jpg. Jaro Halak was out of the crease, and Jay Beagle had the puck on his stick, but I forgot that Jaro is a jedi name. Look at this save. Ugh I want to throw up on it.
- Evgeny Kuznetsov did it again because he is positively jokes. If you were wanna of the people giving us a hard time for getting excited about him before last spring, this would be a wonderful opportunity to apologize and buy a t-shirt. Please mark all apologies ATTN: Ian Oland.
- MFW Halak halak’d:
- MFW Kuzy jokes’d Halak
- Brooks Orpik lost a skate blade late in the third period. He spent a long shift on his knees in the paint as the city guard around him chanted, “Half man! Half man!”
- Braden Holtby faced just eleven shots. He stopped ten. Adam Oates says what?
Joe B suit of the night
So much for the damning history of the Capitals in games seven. The past is not destiny. It’s hardly even prologue. It’s just some stuff that happened before the stuff that matters. What matters tonight: the Washington Capitals played an exemplary hour of hockey to slay one of the best teams in the league. There was no first-round match-up as tough as the one the Capitals pulled, but Barry and the boys bested them decisively.
Farewell, New York Islanders. You’re a damn good team, and you’ll get even better. It was a long series. It was a tough series.
Next up: the New York Rangers, but first:
IS PARTY NOW!
