Brooks Orpik became the unlikely hero of Game Two after scoring the game-winning goal 1:48 into sudden death overtime.
While the goal meant a lot to the Capitals — they now carry a 2-0 series lead in their first-round series against the Carolina Hurricanes — watching Orpik score the pivotal goal made it mean even more.
After the game, they shared their thoughts on the veteran defenseman.
AP hockey writer Stephen Whyno asked players about Orpik after the game. Tom Wilson summed up his feelings about the big blueliner with one word.
Tom Wilson is asked what Brooks Orpik means to the Caps. "Everything," he says.
— Stephen Whyno (@SWhyno) April 13, 2019
Holtby seconded Wilson’s statements, saying that he was the happiest to see Orpik score an overtime goal.
Braden Holtby: "I think if you asked anyone on our team who you would be the happiest to see score an overtime goal, it's probably Brooks Orpik."
— Stephen Whyno (@SWhyno) April 13, 2019
The team’s especially raucous postgame celebration on the ice backed that up.
Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin also referred to Orpik as the Capitals “secret weapon.”
Alex Ovechkin: "Orpy is a secret weapon. Any time he's on the ice, when he take a shot, it's always dangerous."
— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) April 13, 2019
Part of that value is Orpik’s leadership on the team. While speaking to Pierre McGuire, Orpik deflected credit on the goal, instead praising Evgeny Kuznetsov, who tallied the primary assist on the play.
“We saw one of their guys lost the stick and Orly and Nisky had just come off,” Orpik said. “Probably the best passer — well, maybe Nicky too — but, Kuzy hiding behind the net there, we have two great playmakers. He made a perfect pass for me. All I had to do was hit the net.”
Over the last few years, Orpik has gone by a different name inside the locker room. Kuznetsov nicknamed Orpik Batya during the teammates’ first year in Washington together. The Russian word means father. When Orpik first did a quick google search, he thought his teammates were calling him old.
“Well, it wasn’t like I just gave him a nickname –we asked him if it was all right for us to call him Batya, and explained what that meant – and now the whole team calls him that,” Kuznetsov said to RMNB in a 2015 Russian language interview. “He likes it! It is not a mocking or offensive nickname at all. It just fits him right. He has so much experience; he is one of the few who got to raise the Cup – we don’t have many other guys like that. He just finds a lot of the right words, and those words are easy to understand even for someone like me who doesn’t speak much English.”
Since then, the nickname has stuck, and now every player on the Capitals lovingly refers to Orpik as their Batya.
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