Colorado Avalanche

Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt: Caps Top Avs 7-3

Photo: Patrick McDermott

It’s a Saturday night and all of you get free Egg McMuffins in the morning. That’s what happens when you play the Colorado Avalanche. Let’s go wild.

The scoring started just three minutes into the pre-holiday tilt when Jason Chimera fed the puck to Justin Williams from behind the net just after an Avs penalty expired, suggesting that Chimmer, despite previous evidence to the contrary, may in fact have motor skills.

Then, just over four minutes later, Nicklas Backstrom made another slick pass from behind the net, as Alex Ovechkin put home the one-timer for his 485th career tally.

Not to be outdone, Evgeny Kuznetsov decided to make his own awesome pass from below the red line, giving John Carlson his first point in seven games.

Then… unabashed glory. With 43 seconds left in the opening frame, Nate Schmidt, your favorite hockey player and also the best hockey player, scored, firing home an unassisted tally that was pure fake money. What a period.

The Caps jumped on the struggle bus in the second as Cody McLeod and Nathan MacKinnon cut the lead in half.

In the third, the Caps got back to doing their thang, with Kuznetsov giving the fans some free wings to go with their McDonald’s breakfast item. Dmitry Orlov chipped in with the world’s most ridiculous goal, before the Avs got one back on a deflection. Karl Alzner then added the cherry to your hockey game sundae. Ten goals, four by Washington defensemen, three by Russians. Fourteen Caps had points. Fun night! Caps top Avs 7-3!

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By Chris Gordon 5 years ago

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Caps vs Avalanche Pregame: The Avs Suck So Beat Them!

Photo: Amanda Bowen

Saturday! Caps hockey! Against a terrible hockey team!

I mean, seriously, look how bad the Colorado Avalanche are. The Y axis only goes up to 46 percent for shot-attempt percentage!

This isn’t to say that the Caps are assured victory. Hockey can be really random. It’s a game of probabilities and isn’t deterministic in nature. So, maybe the Caps will lose. But, when you’re playing a bad team at home, it’s obviously best to grab two points.

Team	Record	Possession	PDO	Power Play	Penalty Kill
Washington Capitals	12-5-1	54.0%	99.7	21.8%	86%
Colorado Avalanche	7-11-1	44.4%	101.3	18.7%	76.9%

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By Patrick Holden 5 years ago

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Caps beat Avs 2-1, Ovi Takes Franchise Record for Game-Winning Goals

Photo: Nick Wass

The Washington Capitals played exactly the right kind of game against Patrick Roy’s Avalanche on Monday. They had the puck a ton, they crashed the net for a depth goal, and they made the visitors pay for losing their temper. Would’ve been even better if the Caps didn’t hit the post eighty three times.

Jay Beagle, yes, Jay Beagle scored first– knocking in Tom Wilson’s rebound. Alex Tanguay got a beneficial bounce during a second-period power play to tie it up, but Alex Ovechkin gave the Caps back the lead with a power-play marker.

Caps beat Avs 2-1! The Caps are finally hot at home.

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By Peter Hassett 6 years ago

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Caps vs Avalanche Pregame: Schmidtuation’s Changed

Last year’s surprise superstars, the Colorado Avalanche, are now fifth in the Central Division. I expect the Dallas Stars to pass them this month, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Minnesota Wild turn things around, so the Avs might be in the division basement by season’s end. Bummer.

That said, they’re on a 3-game winning streak right now and have a hot goalie. The Capitals have the opportunity to run the Avs down tonight at Verizon Center. This upcoming weekend on the road is looking tough, so it’d be good to get out ahead tonight.

Puck drops at 7 PM on CSN-DC.

Team	Record	Possession	PDO	Power Play	Penalty Kill
Washington Capitals	22-11-8	50.6%	100.8	23.8%	79.4%
Colorado Avalanche	18-16-8	44.3%	101.2	14.2%	85.4%

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By Peter Hassett 6 years ago

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Ovi in the Hero Unit: Caps beat Avs 3-2!

Righteous photo (Photo: Doug Pensinger)

The Washington Capitals are bad with the lead. They demonstrated as much on Thursday night when their conservative play caused two blown one-goal leads. The Colorado Avalanche, who are really bad, genuinely outplayed the Capitals as soon as the Caps took the lead– a continuation of a pattern we’ve seen since week two of the season.

But when the Caps are scrappin’, they’re one of the best in the league. Blowing two leads just made Alex Ovechkin more dangerous on Thursday night. Here’s how it went down.

Ovechkin made some nasty moves in the second period to find Nick Backstrom, which was a weird reversal of roles for the Caps’ first goal. The Avs tied it up promptly after as Nate MacKinnon beat Nate Schmidt and Evgeny Kuznetsov failed to mark the trailing Danny Briere– freaking Danny Briere— who tied it up. No worries though, as Jason Chimera restored the Washington lead with a dart to the top corner.

The Caps played bad hockey in the third period until Tyson Barrie beat a fumbling Capitals defense to tie it. That woke the Caps up. Alex Ovechkin went Rambo style into the Colorado zone, scoring solo on his own rebound during 4-on-4 hockey. The Caps withstood a late attack and took the win in rego.

Caps beat Avs 3-2!

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By Peter Hassett 6 years ago

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Caps at Avalanche Pregame: The Return of Bailamos?

The Capitals aren’t scoring much lately. Alex Ovechkin, the mustache guy above, hasn’t scored since [checks watch] the late 80s. Actually 11/11. Tonight the Caps will be guests of the totally bad hot mess Colorado Avalanche.

Tonight should… SHOULD… herald the return of Bailamos. 9 PM on CSN. Do it.

Team	Record	Possession	PDO	Power Play	Penalty Kill
Washington Capitals	8-7-3	52.19%	98.69	24.6%	82.0%
Colorado Avalanche	6-8-5	44.13%	99.65	13.4%	88.2%

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By Peter Hassett 6 years ago

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Avalanche beat Caps 4-1, Alex Ovechkin Fine After Bad Hit, But Probably a Bit Grumpy

This guy. (Photo: Doug Pensinger)

The Capitals kind of blew it on Saturday night. Easing off the metaphorical gas in the third period, they gave the Coyotes the opportunity to tie the game and end Washington’s winning streak. That was a disappointment and perhaps reason to lower expectations for Sunday night’s date with the Colorado Avalanche. The back half of back-to-back games, following an overtime loss, played in a city where it’s apparently hard to breathe or something: those are the excuses we might sling around to explain the Caps’ performance. Regardless, they definitely weren’t the better team on Sunday, and despite a good rally in the third period, this was pretty much all Avalanche, all the time.

Cody McLeod chipped up the puck up high to beat Braden Holtby in the first. Joel Ward crashed the net to tie it up in the second, but Nick Holden was like nu-uh and tied it back up 30 seconds later. The Capitals couldn’t score on a longer power play, and then P.A. Parenteau put the Avs up 3-1. Gabriel Landeskog got the dagger with under two minutes left.

Avalanche beat Caps 4-1.

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By Peter Hassett 7 years ago

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Varly’s Revenge: Semyon Varlamov Shines In Return to Washington, Thanks Caps Fans

Varly’s teammates congratulate him on the win. (Photo credit: Nick Wass)

Photo credit: Patrick Smith

In April 2009, a young Russian goalie by the name of Simeon Varlamov started game two of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals after number one netminder Jose Theodore’s poor game one. The 21-year-old didn’t speak passible English, sported a unibrow, and soon became the talk of the NHL.

Varlamov allowed one goal in his first game and posted a shutout the next. In six games versus the New York Rangers, Varlamov allowed a mere seven goals. Though the Caps would eventually lose to the Penguins in game seven of the semifinals, it appeared that Washington had found their goalie of the future. But two years later, Varlamov (with the spelling of his name now changed to Semyon) was unceremoniously sent to the Colorado Avalanche for a pair of draft picks.

Varly had become Washington’s main goalie after Theodore departure, but after battling groin injuries as an explosive, athletic goaltender, he struggled to get back in the crease when healthy. Bruce Boudreau, the Caps coach at the time, seemed to favor fellow 2006 draft pick Michal Neuvirth. With his contract up at the end of the 2011-12 season, Varly wanted to be assured of starting spot. The Caps weren’t interested in that. On July 1, Varlamov was sent to Colorado. He signed a three-year contract with the team the next day.

Now, three years later, Varly was back in Washington to face Neuvirth for the first time. At least in the first round, he came out on top.

“I was so nervous,” Varlamov said in much improved English, as his teammates cheered him on in the background. “Lots of memories to play here. That was my first game since I left Washington, that’s why I think I’m too nervous in warmup. My legs were shaking. All of the first period, my legs shaking.”

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By Chris Gordon 7 years ago

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Disaster Game: Avs beat Caps By a Lot

Photo: Patrick Smith

Disaster game. The Capitals had just one win going into Saturday’s thing with Colorado, a shootout win over a reliable bottom-5 team. Despite that and the team’s myriad weaknesses, we had good feelings going into this one.

Nope.

John Carlson started the game off with an own-goal, tipping in a centering pass from Alex Tanguay past Michal Neuvirth. Matt Duchene made it 2-0 for the Avs a few minutes later, roofing the puck after a duel with Karl Alzner.

Human baby Nate McKinnon scored his first NHL goal while the Caps were being penalized for being too manly.

Tanguay got a shorty early in the third period as the game descended into burn-the-tape territory, but soon after that Eric Fehr finally beat Varlamov with a quick shot set up by Jason Chimera. The glimmer of hope lasted all of 20 seconds before Jamie McGinn made it 5-1 for Colorado. That’s how it ended.

Avs beat Caps 5-1.

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By Peter Hassett 7 years ago

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Trade: Steve Downie Somehow Turns Into a First-Round Pick

If we had entitled this “Steve Downie Involved in Three-Way”, you never would have clicked on it, but that’s exactly what happened this afternoon. According to TSN’s Bob McKenzie, Tampa Bay has traded Steve Downie to the Colorado Avalanche for defenseman Kyle Quincey, and then traded Kyle Quincey to the Detroit Red Wings for a first-round draft pick and prospect Sebastien Piche.

Steve Downie has a cap hit of $1,850,000 and will bring with him his charming personality and 121 season penalty minutes, while the Detroit has acquired Quincey and his $3,125,000 cap hit, who they originally drafted in 2003, and lost on waivers in 2008.

We’re obviously very broken up about Steve Downie leaving the division and will deeply miss seeing his face six times a year. We’ll make it through this somehow. The real question is, who’s going to tell Semyon Varlamov about his new teammate?

By 9 years ago

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