Capitals 3, Flames 2
Scoresheet - Wash Post
It was exactly what the Capitals needed. A solid win against a team desperate for points too. The Calgary Flames are in the hunt to win their division, which has three teams tied for the top position. The Caps came out of nightmarish weekend and needed some points of their own to keep the playoff hopes alive. The Caps jumped out early, lost the lead then took it back. The only team with an even strength tally won.
Alex Ovechkin got his 55th and 56th goals on the power play. Nick Backstrom had a huge assist early, :53 seconds in. Viktor Kozlov scored his 15th goal snapping his 4 game goalless streak. Olie Kolzig was the big news of the night though, notching his 300th career win. It was very deserved as well.
Tonight was also the OvechKam night. Just as I suspected, it wasn't really that cool to watch when I came home and watched the tape. Seeing Ovie sit through Caps penalties got a little boring, and there wasn't much I was missing there, not to say that I was to begin with. One thing that did annoy me was the constant promotion of it on the regular channel. It seems Joe B and Laucher couldn't stop talking about it. It waned a bit as the game went on, but it was a tad annoying to hear it ever 2 minutes or so.
There were a few collapses tonight by the Caps. Even if the calls were a bit phantom, the Caps did give up two 5 on 3 chances to the Flames. The Caps need to be more disciplined down the stretch. Thankfully the penalties happened early enough for the Caps to rectify the situation.
The crowd was fun and a bit rambunctious. A few chants of "Ref you suck!" substituted the "Let's go Caps!" cheer. I can't remember a time when it has been this fun to be in the stands at a game. To see the building loud and full was pretty fun to be a part of.
Caps face division foe Atlanta at home then they see Boston again. Catching Carolina maybe a much harder route for the Washington squad, but catching Buffalo and Boston is doable. With Buffalo and Philadelphia losing tonight and Boston struggling, the Caps could sneak in 8th. They will have to just keep winning because Florida and Toronto are hot on the Caps heels.
4 comments:
When Olie gave a quick speech after the game about his accomplishment, was he hinting that he is retiring after this season? Even listening this morning to DC101, they brought up the same question.
also, it doesn't help that toronto and florida are still tied, points wise, with the caps but thankfully we have a game in hand!
I don't know if he is retiring or not. But I got the same impression when I saw all the post game interviews too. Saying stuff like, "he's the one thing I will miss." Olie has taken a lot of crap this year, and I think the slow start took a bite out of his steam for the season. But we will see, if they make the playoffs maybe Kolzig will be inspired to sign on for another year.
It is inevitable that in the near future Kolzig will retire. He envisioned playing until age 40 but with the third netminder the Kolzigs have probably discussed long and hard retirement. I have dreaded the thought that the #37 on his back equated to his retirement age but I am thankfuly for the many years I have watched him play. Thanks for the memories, Olie!
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