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 The Capitals beat the Ducks 5-3 as Ovechkin scored two goals and
added two assists, bringing his total to 14 points in five career
games at Honda Center.
"Everybody knows who he is and how he plays. When he's on, he's hard
to stop and when you give him two goals early, he's going to feel it
for the rest of game," said Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau, who coached
Ovechkin for the better part of five seasons in Washington.
Left winger Andre Burakovsky also scored twice for Washington
(30-17-10), and left winger Marcus Johansson netted a goal.
Left winger Andrew Cogliano contributed two goals and right winger
Corey Perry scored once for Anaheim (35-15-7).
Both teams went with their second options in net. Washington's
Justin Peters earned the win by stopping 30 of 33 shots, while
Anaheim's John Gibson turned aside 23 of 28 bids.
"I think that was a huge game for (Peters). On the first shift they
scored right away, so we had to bounce back," Ovechkin said.
Just 3:27 into the second period, Washington broke a 2-2 tie and
moved in front for good. A sloppy line change left Johansson and
right winger Joel Ward on a two-on-zero break. Johansson finished
the play himself with a wrist shot for his 14th goal of the season.
 The Capitals extended their advantage at 9:04 as Ovechkin drew two
defenders on the rush before dishing the puck to an uncovered
Burakovsky, who wristed in his eighth goal this season.
"Obviously, he is a skilled guy. Of course he doesn't have that kind
of experience yet, but he's going to be one of our leaders,"
Ovechkin said of the 20-year-old rookie Burakovsky.
Cogliano halved Washington's lead 12:13 into the second stanza.
Right winger Jakob Silfverberg collected a shot off the end boards
and threaded the puck through the crease for a Cogliano tap-in. It
was Cogliano's eighth goal of the season and second of the game.
The Ducks would draw no closer, and, fittingly, Ovechkin sealed the
victory for the Capitals. He picked defenseman Clayton Stoner's
pocket and pushed the puck through three zones, ultimately finding
Burakovsky open for his second goal of the game and his ninth of the
campaign with 10:18 left to play.
"It was a really important goal, we were just up by one and they
were putting pressure on us," Burakovsky said.
The Ducks darted out to a 1-0 lead 66 seconds into the game when
Cogliano swept in a rebound generated by defenseman Francois
Beauchemin's slap shot. It was Cogliano's seventh goal of 2014-15.
[to top of second column] |
It took the Capitals a mere 16 seconds to knot the score. Center
Nicklas Backstrom won an offensive-zone faceoff cleanly to Ovechkin,
who played the puck off his skate and onto his forehand for a
slap-shot goal.
Anaheim's top scorer, Perry, regained the edge for his team 5:33
into the first period. He received the puck from left winger Devante
Smith-Pelly in the right slot, then fired a wrist shot against the
grain and past Peters on the stick side. The goal was the 24th of
Perry's campaign.
Ovechkin struck again, tying the game and taking the league lead in
goals with his 36th on a power play 10:26 into the game. He wound
and fired another slap shot past Gibson on the far side.
The Capitals' captain Ovechkin has now scored his team's first two
goals in five of their last 14 contests.
"He's been really good this season and lately his shot is
incredible," Burakovsky said. "When he plays good, the team plays
good."
NOTES: Anaheim LW Matt Beleskey (upper body) and D Sami Vatanen
(lower body) each sustained injuries in the first period and did not
return. ... Ducks G Frederik Andersen missed his third consecutive
game after sustaining a neck injury against Tampa Bay on Feb. 8.
John Gibson got his second straight start in Andersen's stead. ...
Ducks C Ryan Getzlaf (lower body) missed practice Saturday but
played Sunday. ... The Capitals were without D Nate Schmidt
(scapular fracture), D Dmitry Orlov (wrist) and D John Erskine (neck
surgery). Schmidt has been out since Jan. 8, while neither Orlov nor
Erskine has competed this season. ... Washington LW Andre Burakovsky
was reinserted into the lineup in place of LW Aaron Volpatti.
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