This is from a play where Ovi thought he scored. He did not, but it’s a nice thought.
The Washington Capitals looked good enough on their season-opening homestand, but against the miserable Calgary Flames on Tuesday night they looked something otherworldly. A team of destiny, complete and competing. Maybe that’s just because the Flames are a mess though. Hey, let’s recap this thing!
The Flames scored first, but I wouldn’t fret too much over it. A bad clear by Brooks Orpik led to a turnover and an easy goal by the Gaudreau/Monahan duo. But I’m gonna put a paragraph break here to emphasize how much the game changed after that.
Andre Burakovsky tied the game after taking a stupid-good pass from Evgeny Kuznetsov. The second period was all Washington: Alex Ovechkin recorded his 900th NHL point excluding the preseason, postseason, and shootout. Then, within a minute Nick Backstrom and TJ Oshie each scored, thereby chasing Karri Ramo from net.
The Caps got meek in the third, allowing Mark Giordano to get up in Holtby’s grill and score to give the Flames some life. Jason Chimera promptly urinated on that life by scoring a decidedly un-hands-of-stone goal assisted by Jay “The Cornerstone” Beagle. Nick Backstrom hushed the Saddledome with a late goal assisted by Alan May’s new fave, Justin Williams. And that’s how a very good night ended.
Caps beat Flams 6-2. Bailamos!
- Hi, my name is Peter. I’ll be your recapper tonight. Let’s dance.
- Twice in a week, Braden Holtby had his mask knocked off during play. That’s becoming too common. Less common would be Braden’s reaction, wherein the dude, upon losing important face protection, shimmies to block a puck anyway. That behavior is not common at all. Dare I say that’s elite.
- One of two lonely pock marks on Holtby’s stat sheet was that Sean Monahan goal in the first. If you want to play the blame game here, I hope you brought an TI-83. Evgeny Kuznetsov was out of position, limiting Brooks Orpik’s options, so Orpik made a bad pass to John Carlson, who was outmanned and turned the puck over.
- That’s the only negative bullet I’ve got in me. The rest is too good.
- Let’s start with Evgeny Kuznetsov, for whom my pleas for low expectations are beginning to look silly. Kuznetsov seems straight-up at home on the top line. His pass to Burakovsky from Gretzky’s office was a thing I didn’t know could still be done in NHL games. Against the Flames Kuzy got three apples, which contain enough cyanide in their seeds to really make your pets sick, so please be careful with your apples.
- The Caps are 6 percent into the season and TJ Oshie is already 10 percent of the way to hitting 30 goals. Hi, Pat Holden.
- Yeah yeah, Alex Ovechkin scored his 900th career point, but he did it on a rebound so yawnnnnnn. Four goals in four games, plus one good night’s sleep before that one game he missed. Ovi at age 30 doesn’t seem so different from Ovi at 29: i.e. great. Hit me with a fast fact, NHL PR.
.@ovi8 (764 GP) is fastest to hit 900 NHL points since Jagr hit the mark in his 681st game on Nov. 26, 1999. (Elias)https://t.co/jzcnGUX9yB
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) October 21, 2015
- Even Jason Chimera and Jay Beagle got on the scoresheet with a skill play and skill goal, so at this point I’m gonna just throw all my expectations in the garbage and then flush the garbage in the toilet and then set the toilet on fire. This team can do anything right now as far as I can tell.
- Nick Backstrom has five points in two games. I’m looking for proof he is not perfect, but I’ve got nothing.
- Who is this Chorney person? That just sounds like a Normal-type PokeMon.
Joe B suit of the night
That’ll do. For the start of a road trip, this modest 6-2 win will suffice. For a thirty-year-old Russian wing, 900 points by age 30 is sufficient. The other Russian with three assists is alright. The Swede who just got back from hip surgery and already has five points is adequate.
This team is okay. That’s enough for tonight. Don’t jinx it. For tonight let’s just dance.
