The Edmonton Oilers arrived in Washington with the worst record in the NHL with 54 points. Nicklas Backstrom wasn’t in the lineup for the first time in his career, but that didn’t stop the Caps from having a goal fiesta as I predicted.
The story of the night was the power play for the first time in a while. On the second extra man opportunity of the night Jason Arnott fed Alex Ovechkin for an easy tap in to make it 1-0. Five minutes later it was the return of Eric Fehr that brought the second power play goal of the night. Both of the extra man tallies were in the second period. The two power play goals in one game ended a 43 game drought of not scoring more than one pp goal in a game.
Early in the third period Marcus Johansson and Ovi connected on one of the prettiest goals I’ve seen this season. They exchanged passes back and forth until The Great 8 undressed Khabibulin for his second goal of the night and his 27th of the season. Whoever said Johansson and Ovi didn’t have chemistry didn’t know what they were talking about.
This scoring exhibition had only just begun as The Carpenters used to say. Eric Fehr wasn’t finished making his mark when he logged his second goal of the night making it 4-0. This goal happened when Khabibulin was caught out of his net and Jason Chimera unselfishly found Fehr for the tap in. The final goal of the night just seemed routine for this sniper for his play as of late. Yes you guessed it Caps fans ALEX SEMIN! Marco Sturm picked up his first point in a red sweater when he sealed the contest with a pass to Semin for goal number five.
Braden Holtby made 22 saves and recorded his first career NHL shutout. I can’t say how impressed I am by the composure of this youngster in the crease. Washington is in trouble because they have three outstanding goaltenders. That is a good problem to have if you are George McPhee. Alex Ovechkin also picked up his 600th point in his three point performance tonight. This win makes it a six game winning streak which ties their season high. The Caps will take on the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday in DC to continue their streak. Puck drops at 7. Rock the Red!
Player of the Game: Alex Ovechkin (2 goals, 1 assist)
Stat of the Game: 1st NHL shutout (Braden Holtby)
Unsung Hero: Eric Fehr
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