Capitals 4, Lightning 1
Well, the Red Out didn't seem to be quite as prominent last night as it was on the first against Carolina, but the Capitals pulled out a win against a frustrated Tampa Bay team and put themselves, for tonight at least, in the Eastern Conference's eight spot.
Even with the two points going to the Capitals, much of the discussion about this game will center on Brooks Laich's disallowed goal in the first period. I'm sure it will be discussed in detail elsewhere, but I'll just say that it was simply a bad call - if the referees were going to rule that Tomas Fleischmann had interfered on the play, he should have received an interference minor. To waive off the goal but not call Fleischmann for a penalty is exactly the kind of indecisive need-to-please-everyone attitude that referees need to avoid.
DMG's 3 Stars
(1) Cristobal Huet - 18 saves on 19 shots (.947 save %)
(2) Alex Ovechkin - 2 goals, 5 shots, 3 hits, +1, 2 blocked shots
(3) Viktor Kozlov - 2 assists, +1, 7 shots
Quick Hits
- As an American hockey fan, it bothers me that John Tortorella is going to coach the U.S. in the World Championships, and his team's pathetic display at the end of last night's game didn't do much to enamor me to him.
- Speaking of which,like any sane Caps fan I love Bruce Boudreau, but he made a big mistake not having Donald Brashear on the ice after Doug Janik's roughing penalty on Fleischmann.
- If not for a combination of Kari Ramo and the Caps missing by inches, it could have been 5-1 by the end of the first.
- Got to love Matt Cooke because even when he's not scoring he makes his presence felt, and he had 6 hits last night.
- On the Lightning side, 5 of their 15 hits were from defenseman Matt Smaby.
2 comments:
The Lightning were baiting Bradley all night long but he was smart enough to avoid taking a penalty until the game was decided. The Caps only gave Tampa Bay three power plays on the night - passing on the temptation to get into a slug-fest with a bad team that had nothing to play for. It would have been nice to have Brashear on the ice at the end to protect the rest of the guys when all the shenanigans started, but Bradley stepped up and the Caps took care of business.
On another note: After sitting in a lower box on the red line with free food and free booze, I don't know how I'll be able to go back to being a commoner in the upper deck.
LET'S GO CAPS!!!
If the Lightning were going after Bradley, he probably instigated it. He's that type of player and there are much more valuable guys to try and take off their game.
And thank you for letting us all know how great your seats were.
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