Postgame Notebook: Caps 5, Devils 1
Posted on February 23, 2013Eight Helps Topple One Of Top Eight – At this point of this season, any
win for the Washington Capitals is a big win. But this afternoon’s 5-1 triumph
over the New Jersey Devils qualifies in another regard, too. It’s the first win
the Caps have authored this season against a team currently among the top eight
in the Eastern Conference standings.
Alex Ovechkin recorded a hat trick and Braden Holtby made 21
saves to lead the Caps to victory. Washington scored four times in the third
period – including twice on the power play – to break open a sleepy 1-1 game.
“We came out and played our game,” says Caps forward Matt
Hendricks. “We played a full 60 minutes. We talked earlier about being 100
percent committed to the system not only in the defensive zone, but in the
neutral zone and the offensive zone. We played a full game. That’s something we
need to build on.”
The Caps are now 1-8-1 this season against the top eight
teams in the Eastern Conference.
Back On The Beam – For the last handful of games, Ovechkin
has appeared to be on the verge of a big game like the one he authored today.
According to Caps coach Adam Oates, Ovechkin had more touches of the puck through
40 minutes of Washington’s 3-2 loss to the Devils on Thursday than he had in
any previous game in its entirety this season.
“If you are doing the right things it will turn your way at
one point,” says Oates. “You have to believe in that. That’s almost every life
lesson. He’s been getting a lot of chances. He could have had a few [Thursday]
night.
“In New York [last Sunday] he had 14 [attempted] shots,
which means the guys he’s playing with and himself are doing the right things.
He’s getting opportunities. Good things happen sooner or later.”
After totaling just 22 shots on net in his first seven games
this season, Ovechkin now has fired 53 shots on goal in his last 10 games. He
had three breakaway chances in Thursday’s loss to the Devils; he drew a penalty
on two of them but failed to light the lamp.
“The chances are there,” says Ovechkin. “Sometimes I feel
that the puck just doesn’t want to go in. Today, it was that kind of game that
almost every shot goes in, or at least it feels like that. It’s kind of nice.”
Today’s hat trick was Ovechkin’s 11th, putting
him one ahead of Dennis Maruk for third on the Capitals’ all-time list in that
department. Only Peter Bondra (19) and Mike Gartner (13) have had more hat
tricks in a Washington sweater.
Ovechkin’s hat trick was his first since Jan. 22, 2011 and
the Caps’ first since Mathieu Perreault turned the trick against Boston on Jan.
24, 2012.
Today’s Ovechkin hat trick was his first at Verizon Center
since Feb. 7, 2010 against the Penguins.
Since he came into the NHL in 2005-06, only Carolina’s Eric
Staal (13) has more hat tricks than Ovechkin. New Jersey’s Ilya Kovalchuk is
third on that list with 10.
Ovechkin also added an assist on Brouwer’s third-period
goal, giving him his first four-point game since Feb. 4, 2011 when he had a
goal and three assists in a 5-2 win over the Lightning in Tampa. It was his
first four-point game on home ice during the regular season since the
aforementioned Feb. 7, 2010 game against Pittsburgh (three goals, one assist).
Hat Stuff – Ovechkin’s hat trick was the seventh the Caps
have recorded against the Kansas City/Colorado/New Jersey franchise. The late
Garnet “Ace” Bailey, Dennis Maruk and Jean Pronovost all recorded hat tricks
for the Capitals against the Colorado Rockies.
Gartner, Dave Christian and Mike Ridley all turned the trick
against the Devils, with Ridley’s being the most recent until today. Ridley’s
hat trick came at the expense of New Jersey netminder Sean Burke on Dec. 7,
1990.
First Strike – Ovechkin’s first goal of the game at 5:20 of
the second period marked the seventh straight game in which Washington has
notched the game’s first marker. The Caps are 4-3 in those seven games.
Washington raised its record when scoring the game’s first
goal to 4-6 on the season.
Special Delivery – Washington killed all three New Jersey
power plays in the game and scored twice on three extra-man chances of its own.
The Capitals have now scored on 12 of their last 26
power-play chances (46.2%) and have successfully killed 21 of their last 23
(91.3%) shorthanded situations.
The Caps are now 5-2 when they face three or fewer
shorthanded situations in a game and 1-8-1 when they face four or more.
Washington is now 6-1 when it does not allow a power-play goal and 0-9-1 when
it does.
Short Stuff – Prior to the 2012-13 season, Caps winger Eric
Fehr had skated a grand total of one minutes and 37 seconds of shorthanded ice
time during an NHL career that spanned 265 games.
In a Feb. 12 game against the Panthers in Florida, Fehr got
his first taste of NHL shorthanded duty in two seasons, skating 1:14 while the
Caps were a man down in a 6-5 overtime win over the Cats.
Since that night, Fehr has been a semi-regular on the kill,
and in today’s game against the Devils he notched Washington’s first
shorthanded goal of the season and the first of his NHL career.
Special Differential – Washington’s minus-15 special teams
differential is the worst figure in the Eastern Conference by far (Buffalo and
Boston are next, both at minus-8) and the third worst in the league. The Caps
came out even in that number on Saturday, being tasked with three
penalty-killing missions and getting three power-play chances.
Close Shaves – Today’s 5-1 win gave the Caps a reprieve from
the tight contests they’ve been involved in of late. Prior to this afternoon, the
Capitals had been involved in one-goal affairs in each of their previous four
games and 10 of their last 13.
Penalty Shot – Holtby successfully snuffed out the first
penalty shot opportunity in a Washington game this season, stopping New
Jersey’s Steve Bernier midway through the second period to preserve a 1-0
Washington lead at the time.
Holtby has now faced two penalty shot bids in his NHL
career, both of them coming against New Jersey. The Devils’ Mattias Tedenby
beat Holtby on a penalty shot in a 5-0 win in Newark on Nov. 22, 2010.
Six Pack – Holtby has now started six straight games for
Washington, becoming the first Caps goaltender to do so in the regular season
since Michal Neuvirth drew six straight starting assignments from Feb. 24
through March 6, 2012.
Holtby is 4-2 in those six starts with a shutout, a 2.33 GAA
and a .926 save pct.
Bounceback – The Caps were stymied offensively through much
of the game’s middle frame. New Jersey attempted 18 shots to just eight for the
Caps in the second period.
After Ovechkin’s first goal of the game at 5:20 of the
second, the Caps were only able to get one more shot on goal for the rest of
the period, and they attempted just three. Washington had a full two-minute
power play chance during that span, too.
When Jason Chimera put a shot on net early in the third, it
ended a span of 12 minutes and 40 seconds without a shot on net. Just 23
seconds later, Ovechkin scored his second goal of the game to give the Caps a
lead they would not relinquish.
Washington attempted 21 shots on net in the third to 14 for
New Jersey.
Down On The Farm – On Friday night in Binghamton, the AHL
Hershey Bears came back from a two-goal deficit in the third period to salvage
a point before falling to the Baby Sens in the shootout, 5-4.
Jeff Taffe scored twice (his 11th and 12th
of the season) and Peter LeBlanc (fifth) and Jon DiSalvatore (14th)
added singles to account for the Bears’ scoring on the night. Each of Hershey’s
last two tallies came on the power play. Defenseman Patrick McNeill had three
assists for the Bears.
Dany Sabourin started in net for Hershey, stopping 35 of the
39 shots he faced on the night.
The Bears are back in action on Saturday night when they
host the Adirondack Phantoms at Giant Center.
Down a level, the ECHL Reading Royals are in action in a
home-and-home set with the Trenton Titans this weekend. The two teams go
head-to-head in Trenton tonight and in Reading on Sunday afternoon.
By The Numbers – John Carlson led the Caps in ice time at
22:42 … Ovechkin’s seven shots on net paced Washington … Matt Hendricks led the
Caps with six hits and also collected his first helper of the season, on
Ovechkin’s second goal … Tom Poti led the Caps with three blocked shots … The
Caps won more than half of their face-offs (59%) for the sixth straight game …
Mathieu Perreault won eight of 10 (80%) and Jay Beagle won eight of 11 (73%) to
pace the Capitals … Kovalchuk led the Devils with five shots on net … Devils
center Andrei Loktionov lost all 10 of his draws on the day.
