|
 The Capitals' 29-year-old captain broke a tie late in the second
period with his 22nd goal of the season, propelling the Capitals to
a 2-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche Monday night at the Verizon
Center.
Ovechkin's goal was his 74th career game-winner for the Capitals,
giving him the franchise lead over former Capitals great Peter
Bondra.
"I didn't think Ovi was particularly good for Ovi's standards,"
Capitals coach Barry Trotz said. "He was missing the net and
fumbling pucks and all that. But who scores the winning goal? Alex
Ovechkin. When you need that guy who finds ways to score, he does."
Washington goaltender Braden Holtby stopped 31 of 32 shots,
including a season-high 18 in the final period, improving his record
to 21-8-7.
"Everyone knows a huge save can change a game and he made a lot of
them in the third period," said Capitals center Jay Beagle, who gave
Washington an early lead with his sixth goal of the season. "He's
been playing great all year and we're feeding off it and trying to
keep it rolling."
The Capitals are now 13-1-4 in their last 18 games and have moved
into third place in the Metropolitan Division standings, two points
behind the second-place Pittsburgh Penguins and three behind the
first-place New York Islanders.
The Avalanche, whose only goal came from left winger Alex Tanguay,
lost for the first time since Jan. 4, snapping a three-game win
streak. They remain in fifth place in the Central Division, six
points behind the Winnipeg Jets.
"I thought our effort was there in the third," Colorado coach
Patrick Roy said. "Obviously, we couldn't find a way to score that
big goal to tie the game, but we had a lot of good chances and their
goalie made some good saves."
The Capitals carried a 2-1 lead into the third period on goals by
Beagle and Ovechkin, and neither team scored in the final period.
Beagle opened the scoring 7:34 into the game when he won a faceoff
by kicking the puck back to defenseman Mike Green, then crashed the
net to deposit a rebound off the leg of Capitals left winger Jason
Chimera. The goal was Beagle's sixth of the season, two more than
his previous career high.
The Avalanche tied the score 10:58 into the second period when, with
Capitals right wing Joel Ward in the penalty box for tripping left
winger Gabriel Landeskog, 37-year-old veteran right wing Jarome
Iginla set up 35-year-old Tanguay for his team-leading 13th goal of
the season and first on the power play.
[to top of second column] |
The Capitals dominated Colorado in the first two periods with a
32-14 shot advantage, but they didn't regain the lead until Ovechkin
ripped a power-play shot between the pads of goaltender Semyon
Varlamov with 2:14 remaining in the second period.
"He was in a good position," said Varlamov, who played with Ovechkin
when the two were teammates in Washington at the start of Varlamov's
career. "We all know he's got a great shot, and that was a perfect
shot right between my legs."
Ovechkin created space for himself by moving from his normal
shooting spot in the left circle.
"Teams right now put one guy on me," Ovechkin said. "I just went to
the front of the net to create more space up top and we just have to
use it."
The goal was Ovechkin's 10th on the power play and came on a nice
set-up by right winger Troy Brouwer and center Nicklas Backstrom.
The Avalanche did everything within their power to tie the score,
pelting Holtby with 18 shots in the third period before skating away
with their first loss in four games.
NOTES: Capitals G Braden Holtby made his 19th consecutive start and
his 25th consecutive appearance. He has not taken a game off since
Nov. 15. ... Colorado RW Jarome Iginla began the game needing one
goal to tie Mike Bossy for 20th on the NHL's all-time list at 573
goals. Iginla got an assist but no goals Monday. ... The Capitals
learned Monday that they will be without D Nate Schmidt for 6-8
weeks due to a fractured shoulder blade he suffered Sunday during a
conditioning assignment with the AHL's Hershey Bears. ... The
Avalanche continue their season-long five-game trip with stops in
Carolina on Tuesday, Florida on Thursday, Tampa on Saturday and St.
Louis on Jan. 19. The Capitals close out their three-game homestand
Wednesday night against the Philadelphia Flyers, followed by games
at Nashville on Friday and Dallas on Saturday.
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
