The Caps called on their superstar to deliver on Saturday night, and in keeping his torrid scoring pace, he managed to just that. Ovie scored his trademark goal on "The Play" (a la backdoor pass to make the goalie stretch) on the power play, and then found himself all alone on Dan Ellis a short while later. Those two weren't enough, because the defense and Varly couldn't hold out. After a soft goal by J.P. Dumont late in the second period, the two teams played to a shootout, where Ovechkin dazzled fans with a nasty deke that put Ellis on his belly before Ovi flipped the puck in the net. A few observations from the box score:- -1 for Backstrom with 33% in the dot? Not such a good night. I think Nicky misses his line buddy no. 8.
- Tom Poti skated 23+ minutes at a +1? Nice. Better than he's shown early on in the young season.
- Only four minors taken throughout the night...we've been much worse lately. Overall the Caps are moving in the right direction with regards to the penalty box.
Alex Ovechkin of course. He now leads the league in goals (9), points (16), and is second in +/- (9). Not a bad start, considering he's also averaging 2.00 points per game. That extra training over the summer seems to be paying off. He's several weeks ahead of last years pace, and that's bad for the rest of the Eastern Conference, especially that he's doing it 5-on-5.
Next Up: @ Atlanta
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