Caps Shutout the CAN’Tadiens… Again!

DC Sports Nexus ---- Saturday, February 4, 2012


Written By: Amanda Sansone, Caps B-Ball Contributor

For the second time in less than 3 weeks, the Caps flattened the Habs in their own barn and, surprisingly, without the usual referee drama that comes when playing in Quebec aka Diet France. If we completely ignore that fact that our boys played against a team that is 14th in the division and would need to win 92.5% of their remaining games (thank you, Locker) to even make the playoffs, this could be considered an awesome game. However, the Caps only played about 30ish minutes of great hockey, the rest of the time had the Canadiens beating themselves because they are terrible. I mean really awful. And The Vokoun was Epic Awesome. Let’s break it down, shall we?


Zdrastvyute, Ovi!

After 3 Ovechkinless games, we finally saw our favorite Russian back on the ice. No points in this outing for Ovi, but he made his presence known by pestering P.K. Subban as per usual. The most amusing/most d-baggy moment of the game came when Canadien Josh Gorges did his best Sasha Minor impersonation and somehow convinced Ovechkin to pass him the puck in the middle of a net-crashing attempt. Very sneaky. This is why you can’t trust the French.** With or without points, its nice to have a fiery Ovi back in the lineup. He had some nice shot-attempts, so that was fun.

Proof that D2: The Mighty Ducks is the GREATEST Film of All Time

DC got the offense going in the second half of the first period when our All-Star Dennis Wideman got a real-deal, Russ Tyler knuckle puck up high past the glove of Carey Price Alex Auld Peter Budaj (apparently pronounced BOO-DIE). Wides’ laughter-filled reaction was priceless. During his 1st period intermission interview, he said he thought it was embarrassing. Not even, Dennis! Maybe it was a lucky blue-line slapper on an awkwardly rolling puck, but it’s the 1st goal in the 1st period on the road AND it winds up being a spectacular GWG. It’s his 10th of season, making him the 8th Cap to hit double digit goals. Coach Bombay would be so proud!

There was a Second Period. Brouwer Got a Penalty Shot…

…but Budaj, who threw his stick at Brouwer on a breakaway leading to the penalty shot, ultimately won the battle. 36 seconds later Brouwer drew a penalty on Evil Villain Rene Bourque, but Caps couldn’t convert on the PP. You’ll get ‘em next time Troy!

The rest of the period was a waste of time.

Bad Bears Budaj

6:11 into the 3rd, the Laich-Hendricks-Brouwer line struck again this week! Laich crashed the net and Budaj put a juicy rebound right onto the stick of our hero, Matt Hendricks, who gave us the second goal of the afternoon; marking his 3rd of the season.
4 minutes later, Good Sasha Great Sasha Grood Sasha got a breakaway and started zipping up center ice with Kaberle hot on his tail… so hot that he got called for hooking and…. Sasha got a penalty shot. This was the first time in franchise history that the Caps nabbed more than one penalty shot in a single game. While the first PS attempt of the game didn’t work out so well, Semin made sure this one would count with a slapshot at point-blank range. Even the most unhinged, mentally unstable, daredevil goalie would not try to get in the way of that thing. With that blast, the Caps downed the Habs 3-0 (again).  

Joe B. Has ESPN or Something

Before the first puck drop, Joe. B quipped “Tomas be nimble, Tomas be quick, Tomas destroy the remaining shreds of Habs souls with a killer shutout.” Or ya know, something to that effect...

The Vokoun made 30 saves and got his 3rd shutout of the season. It was a nice, much-needed win on the road. Let’s see if we can do the same thing at home tomorrow.


Game Notes
-          Early in the first period, Dmitry Orlov took a serious puck to the face. Fortunately, a broken nose is not enough to keep this kid out of the game. He was back out a few shifts later. His face will be a nice shade of purple tomorrow. 
-          Schultz actually pushed a guy. Improvement?
-          Hershey Bear Keith Aucoin played his first game for the Caps since 2010. He was a little shaky, but made an effort and shows a lot of promise. Let’s see if he suits up for Boston.
-          Rene Bourque is a _______. (I promised not to use foul language, so you can fill it in yourself. Let’s just say our beloved Nicky is still out with no set return date while this guy is getting to play major minutes).
-          Who did the casting for the John Carlson Hadeed commercial?
-          ZOMG WHO IS TELLING THE CAPS NOT TO TAKE SHOTS?!?!?! Only 23 shots tonight. This kind of play does not a Stanley Cup win. Sure, it’s neat to have the best shooting percentage in the league… but obviously this cannot be sustained.  SHOOT THE FREAKIN’ PUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

**According to the Habs site, Gorges is from British Columbia… whatever he’s still a sneaky little mofo….

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