It’s time once again for us to relive five goals and another victory on home ice for the team we like most of all. The Caps beat the Carolina Hurricanes because that’s just what they do.
From the Ovi Spot came an Ovi Shot, to the back of the net after a detour through Eddie Lack’s glove. The third line added heat with a Brett Connolly goal, making it 2-0 Washington before the first intermission. After a scoreless second, Lars Eller scored his 10th of the year with a mean short-side slapper and Evgeny Kuznetsov made it 4-0 with a quick one-timer. Marcus Johansson cleaned up a rebound to make it yet another Bailamos game.
At the other end of the ice: nothing. So Braden Holtby has recorded his 7th shutout.
Caps beat Canes 5-0! This is incredible!
CRASH THE NET / SOOOOOOO… 5 GOALS?
— RMNB (@russianmachine) February 8, 2017
Take it to #thebank, friends. Here’s some radio remix Ricky Church.
- Goals, yeah, whatever, seen it a million times. But what about Braden Holtby?! He’s playing out of his perfectly shaped skull. SEVEN SHUTOUTS. SEVEN. I DON’T HAVE THE ADJECTIVES. HE IS INCREDI– HE’S SPECTACU– HE IS PERPENDICULAR!
- Alex Ovechkin has passed Joe Sakic in the all-time powerplay goal list. Seems like every goal is a milestone lately. It’s easy to get casual about it, but we mustn’t. This is too precious.
- The third line has elevated to beyond white hot supernova nuclear fiyahhh. They’ve got twenty goals in the last fifteen games. Their secret stuff is Lars Eller, who is bacon bits. Tonight they did so without possession domination, which is odd.
So Connolly-Eller-Burakovsky line has combined for 20 goals over past 15 games — 7 apiece for Connolly and Eller and 6 for Burakovsky.
— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) February 8, 2017
- Evgeny Kuznetsov had a scare late in the first, absorbing a monster slash that sent him running to the tunnel for a look-see. He returned for the second period and scored in the third. He’s got seven goals in the last 10 games. So I think he’s alright.
- When the Caps wrapped up the second period without scoring a goal or three, I was distraught. I had been made to expect a five-goal scoring pace. If that had kept up, I’d have demanded to speak to the supervisor. What a relief to have three goals in the third period. Almost had a crisis.
- The goal deluge of the third period led to this moment with in-arena announcer and wonderful human, Wes Johnson:
This is what happens to @WesJohnsonVoice when the Caps score back to back goals! #CapsCanes pic.twitter.com/HklwVz7A8r
— Byron J. Hudtloff (@ByronHudtloff) February 8, 2017
- The Canes allowed an end-to-end exchange, which made for good-looking hockey, even if it wasn’t paired with top-shelf talent. It also might not have been tactically wise for Carolina, who couldn’t keep up with the Caps and deflated noticeably in the third.
- Meanwhile, ex-Cap Joel Ward wrapped his stick in pride tape today. Good on him. I would like the Capitals to step it up on this front. Why haven’t we had an official pride night yet? It’s freaking DC.
Joe B suit of the night
We’re watching something amazing, guys. This level of offense happens rarely. This level of offense paired with a nigh-perfect defense — it just doesn’t happen. Thanks to inhuman goaltending, the Caps are stingy in their own end, but on offense they keep giving and giving until their foes collapse under pucks. I don’t know how to get philosophical about it. I just wanna shout from the rooftops: This is really special.
Happy birthday to Peter Bondra!
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