In the first period, the Washington Capitals defense was about as holey as my fifth grade gym socks, which I should really throw out. No worries though; Braden Holtby was on the case.
The Holtbeast made his slickest save of the season, robbing future hall-of-famer Jaromir Jagr from point-blank right at the end of the period.
Don’t look now, but Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin has goals in three straight. Just 34 seconds into the first period, Barry Trotz’s newly configured top line paid dividends. After Troy Brouwer ripped a shot on Cory Schneider, Ovechkin snatched the tasty rebound, skated to the right circle, and wristed the shot stick-side.
This photo is smoldering with sex appeal. (Photo via welshhockeyfan)
A few weeks ago, Mike Ribeiro got in his first NHL fight– against Brad Marchand. It was a site to behold: the teams’ two tiniest players wildly throwing haymakers at — or maybe just near– each other. The bout was more cute than vicious, and on Thursday night we got another adorable dust-up a lot like it.
With a a minute left in the third period and the Caps clutching to a 2-1 lead, John Erskine shoved the living shit out of Eric Staal, just to let him know that he didn’t appreciate the Canes’ captain swinging his stick at him like he was Chris Davis or something. Staal pushed back, and then all 10 players on the ice converged in an sweaty swarm of hockey hate.
Dustin Stevenson and Aaron Schmit settle their differences with their fists. (Video via Suzanne K.)
On Saturday, during the third and final scrimmage of the Caps’ Development Camp, the prospects turned the physicality up notch in front of a capacity crowd at Kettler Capitals Iceplex. There were three fights, each of them featuring a different combatants.
In the first period, 2009 sixth-round draft pick Garrett Mitchell got in his third throw-down of the week, challenging Group B’s Mike Bovin after a rough run. The two traded a few punches before Mitchell lost his balance and were separated by officials.
In the second stanza, Dustin Stevenson — a 6’5” behemoth — got in his second fight of camp and did so with a bit of flair, bending over and chucking his helmet through his legs before engaging Aaron Schmit. Stevenson got the upper-hand of the altercation, despite absorbing several heavy shots from Schmit at center ice.
Finally, in the third, ‘Dirty’ Danick Paquette looked for blood after being hit in open ice by Karl Stollery (video can be seen at 8:17 here). The fight, however, was a hugfest as neither landed any good punches.
Below the jump, check out my photos from all the bouts.
By Chris Gordon 8 years ago
It might have taken a long 34 days, but Matt Cooke has finally paid an exacting price for his gutless hit on Marc Savard. For those who wanted real retribution, tonight you got it in the form of two right crosses from Atlanta’s Evander “Holyfield” Kane that knocked Cooke the fudge out. CLICK CLICK BOOM.
Even though lead NHL Disciplinarian Colin Campbell may not be adequately policing the sport, do know that the Hockey Gods are always willing and able to lend a hand when needed.
If some of you missed it, since nothing happened here except bear hugs and helmet punching, here is the fight between Washington Capitals captain Chris Clark and Edmonton Oilers Defenseman Steve Staios. Who won – minus the PA Annoucer who put on that country song in the middle of the scrap? Well, neither got in a good shot, and when the takedown happened, both players seemingly fell to the ice on their sides at the same time. So we’re going to rule this one a draw, and a total yawn.
Thanks to HockeyFights.com for the video.
