Photo: Patrick McDermott
Early in the second period of Game Two, with his team clinging to a 1-0 advantage, Jason Chimera stepped onto the ice, determined to give his team a two-goal lead. What followed was an impact shift, ending in a no-doubt-about-it goal from the Ice Cheetah, sending Verizon Center into a frenzy.
This snipe was so beautiful that it’s no doubt the most replayed goal from NHL action on Saturday night. On top of the highlight-reel quality of the goal, it also put Chimera in special company among Caps’ playoff goal scorers:
Jason Chimera scored his 6th career playoff GWG, tying Peter Bondra for first place on the #Caps postseason game-winning goals list.
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) April 17, 2016
Let’s take a look at the Xs and Os of the game-winning goal.
The play starts to develop on the stick of Karl Alzner. Chimera has gotten all of the spotlight for this goal, but Alzner’s absolute beauty of a pass shouldn’t be overlooked here.
Alzner finds Chimera, through traffic, in a prime scoring area. Below you’ll see Chimera gathering in the pass, surely with eyes as big as the moon given the quality of the scoring chance he sees developing.
Below you can see, in picture form, the definition of paying the price for a goal. Chimera took himself to a high-traffic area and paid the price to make the play. This is playoff hockey at its finest.
Next, you’ll see a helpless Steve Mason. It’s really hard to blame Mason here, as there wasn’t a teammate within 60-plus feet of him to help him deal with this play as it developed.
Here’s a look at the entire play:
lol Mason pic.twitter.com/UNSzfqnuMu
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) April 17, 2016
This impressive snipe from Chimera, off an apple from Alzner, turned out to be the difference maker. This is another example of what makes the Caps so tough to beat. You can keep Evgeny Kuznetsov off the score sheet and minimize Alex Ovechkin’s impact at 5-on-5, but there are other contributors like Chimera who are dangerous enough to stash a goal like this one.
The Caps will look to extend their series lead on Monday in Philadelphia.
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