Can someone explain to me if Russian superstars Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin are friends or not? First, they were doods. Then they were enemies. Then Ovi punched Malkin’s agent in the face and things got super awkward. Then they were cool again. When we last re-visited their on-again-off-again whatever-it-is-they-have, they were totally BFF.
Photo credit: Gene J. Puskar
Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin has had an unbelievable year. It’s not just how many goals he scored; it’s how he’s been scoring them.
On Tueday, Ovi scored from an impossible angle. On Wednesday, the Russian machine scored on Pittsburgh just seconds after those dastardly Pens slashed his stick away.
Photo: Gregory Shamus
I pity people who can’t get up for a Penguins-Capitals game. I know intellectually that these games last just as long as a normal game and they have all the same rules and stuff, but it always feels to me like more happens when the Pens and the Caps face off. Maybe I’m just saying that because I didn’t have to watch the last one live or recap it. And maybe that’s why I was so optimistic heading into Thursday’s faceoff in Pittsburgh. The Capitals seemed to have mended their game during five-on-five, and it’s not like Oates gives his fourth line and bottom D-pair enough ice time to ruin games.
Oh wait.
Brooks Laich puts some hard work in to a hang a shorty on the Penguins in the first period. Kris Letang tied it up at the halfway point with a four-on-two rush that deflected off Carlson’s and Backstrom’s sticks. Jason Chimera took the lead back by finishing off a great tic-tac-toe from Orlov and Johansson. Taylor Pyatt snapped us back to a tie a minute and a half later.
Alex Ovechkin exploited some chaos during four-on-four to rip home his 34th, but this game was incapable of being easy so Jussi Jokinen got a tap-in from the back door. The Penguins confounded the Caps in their own zone to get the lead with under two minutes left courtesy of Olli Maata. Ovi broke all of the sticks and it was over.
Pens beat Caps 4-3.
By Peter Hassett 10 years ago
The Capitals lost to the Sharks and we are sad.
But here is Alex Ovechkin’s dad fighting his iPhone and we are happy.
By Peter Hassett 10 years ago
Photo credit: Rob Carr
Washington Capitals head coach Adam Oates has been searching for five-on-five production all season. While Alex Ovechkin has thrived, other members of top six have been less consistent. After the first period on Tuesday, Oates had a new iteration for the first two lines: Eric Fehr-Nicklas Backstrom-Troy Brouwer and Brooks Laich-Mikahil Grabovksi-Alex Ovechkin.
“We haven’t scored a lot of goals the last couple games and he’s looking for a spark,” Laich told me of Oates’s change. “Our line had a couple of good chances.”
By Chris Gordon 10 years ago
Photo credit: Rob Carr
After Brooks Laich shanked a beautiful slap pass from Karl Alzner in the first period, it didn’t seem like it would be Karl’s night. But the defensive defenseman’s never-ending quest for Assist Number Nine was not over yet.
Alzner brought out his mighty excalibur again in the second period and, lo, he hooked up with Alex Ovechkin for one of the Russian Machine’s more beautiful — and unlikely — goals of the year.
Roust the smallfolk. Sir Karl has unearthed a ruby apple!
Photo: Rob Carr
Gone are the days of the Sabres and Leafs. The Washington Capitals hosted the actually good San Jose Sharks on Tuesday to a fast-moving, low-scoring affair. The Caps came out of the gates strong, but the Sharks pushed back. We were treated to a tightly played, evenly matched game played mostly at five-on-five. Lucky us. It went to the shootout again. Less lucky us.
The Capitals owned the game’s first ten minutes, but the Sharks stole control back after that and Tyler Kennedy scored. Alex Ovechkin tied it up in the second with a zero-angle one-timer. The Sharks thought they got the lead back before the second intermission, but the buzzer went off a fraction of a second earlier. The third period was a back-and-forth affair but neither team was able to deposit the disc in the drapery. OT couldn’t make up its mind either, so…
Shootout recap!
Sharks beat Caps 2-1 (Shootout)
By Peter Hassett 10 years ago
If you’ve been to a Washington Capitals home game in the last 4-5 years, you’ve probably seen it. Since the 2009-2010 season, I’ve been bringing my Unleash the Fury signs to Caps games. It’s the project that really got me interested in making illustrations of hockey players (with a twist), and it also got me working here at RMNB. But in the years since I started making art for the blog, I’ve never really gone into detail about how I started making these signs and my process behind the artwork itself.
So we’re gonna take a little look back into the past, and also reveal my brand new Russian Machine sign for 2014.
By Rachel Cohen 10 years ago
Johansson (red) laughs during the preseason Capitals Alumni Game. (Photo: Chris Gordon)
The Washington Capitals’ defense allows the second most shots per game in the NHL. They’ve put perhaps their best defensive prospect, Dmitry Orlov, through recall-scratch-repeat hell. Now that Orlov is finally playing, he’s paired with a guy who has a similar skill set, Mike Green.
Then there’s the frequent shuffling of the Caps blue line deck. Due to injuries, on-ice struggles, waiver pickups, and call-ups from the minors, Washington has used twelve different defenseman this season. Just about every blue liner in the organization has gotten a shot as part of the 2013-14 Caps D corps.
As we head towards the stretch run, the Caps seemed to have settled on a lineup for now: John Carlson, Karl Alzner, Mike Green, Dmitry Orlov, John Erskine, and Connor Carrick. Though Washington’s defense has been its biggest flaw, its recent improvement may also their best chance at making — and succeeding — in the playoffs.
A few weeks ago, I spoke with assistant coach Calle Johansson, the man who runs the Caps’ blue line, and asked him about some of his decisions, including some of the positives from this season.
The full transcript is below.
Washington Capitals top prospect Evengy Kuznetsov posted an updated family photo on Twitter Monday. It featured him, his wife Nastia, and his adorable new pug. The caption reads Simply Belyash, which means Simply a Meat Pie. That doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but it’s still awesome. I have so many questions. Like what is the name of Kuznetsov’s new pug? Why does the pup look so sad? And most importantly, why is Kuznetsov wearing a hat that says “homies?”
