But according to Washington Capitals left winger Jason Chimera,
the word fits goaltender Philipp Grubauer perfectly.
"He was awesome. He looked really calm back there," Chimera said
after Grubauer made 30 saves in only his second National Hockey
League start to lead the Washington Capitals to a 4-1 win over the
New York Rangers on Sunday night at Madison Square Garden.
"When a goalie looks calm, he usually saves a lot of pucks. He made
a lot of saves at key times in the game."
Chimera, defenseman Steve Oleksy, center Mikhail Grabovski and
defenseman Nate Schmidt scored for Washington, which has won two in
a row.
"We've got to get some ugly goals against (New York goaltender)
Henrik (Lundqvist)," Chimera said. "We've got to get goals like
that, for sure. Everyone really played well and defensively we
played really well."
Lundqvist stopped 32 of 36 shots for New York, who has lost
consecutive games for the fifth time in the 2013-14 season.
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Washington scored twice in a 25-second span of the second period to
take a 2-0 lead. Chimera poked a loose puck past Lundqvist 2:28 into
the period. Oleksy's slapshot at 2:53 increased the lead to 2-0.
"It's big," Oleksy said of the two quick goals. "I think you could
feel it on the bench. We felt them deflate a little bit too. It was
nice."
Before the end of the period, Grabovski pushed the advantaged to 3-0
when he ripped a slap shot on a penalty shot past the New York
netminder. Grabovski was given the penalty shot after New York
defenseman Ryan McDonagh hooked him on a breakaway.
"I just kind of decided right away to shoot," Grabovski said. "He is
a good goalie moving side to side, so it's really hard to score. You
have to shoot. I was happy I scored against a great goalie."
Washington's lead grew to 4-0 on Schmidt's second of the season.
New York was headed for its sixth shutout loss until left winger
Benoit Pouliot redirected defenseman Michael Del Zotto's point shot
with 1:53 left.
The game mostly resembled a track meet as the teams skated
up-and-back, but did not generate much in terms of sustained time in
the attacking zone. The Capitals finished with 36 shots while New
York only generated 31.
"We didn't get what we wanted (done)," New York left winger Rick
Nash said. "I don't know the specifics. I have to go back and watch
video, but it was one of those nights where it wasn't good enough."
[to top of second column] |
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Heading into the third period with a 3-0 lead, Washington
intensified its defensive effort. New York did not generate a
shot on goal until 8:01 into the period.
The Rangers' best chance to get back into the game came when
Olesky was called for holding New York center Derick Brassard
10:53 into the third. But the Rangers were only had four shots
on goal in the two-minute power play.
All five goals came at even strength. Washington was 0-for-2 on
the power play while New York went 0-for-2.
"We did a really good job early in the third to stifle them and
the place was kind of quiet, which is a good feeling on the
road," Washington coach Adam Oates said.
"I talked after the second about we have to close the door.
Let's work on being a better team and playing a good third
period and continue what we do to have success tonight. I
thought the first 10 minutes and then we let the game get
easier."
Washington improved to 16-12-2. New York dropped to 15-15-1.
"Right now we are a .500 hockey team," New York coach Alain
Vigneault said. "When the other team scores a goal we don't seem
to have much of a push. I firmly believe this group is much
better than that but we are not showing it. We can talk all we
want behind closed doors but it's up to everybody to find it. I
thought our compete level is a .500 compete level. It's not
consistent enough."
NOTES: Rangers G Henrik Lundqvist entered Sunday night's match
against the Capitals with a 180-minute shutout streak against
the Capitals. He had shut them out in Games 6 and 7 of the
Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series last May, and blanked
Washington 2-0 on Oct. 16 at the Verizon Center. ... Capitals RW
Alex Ovechkin came into the game trailing Peter Bondra by one on
the franchise's all-time list for power play goals. Bondra
scored 137 power-play goals in 891 games with the Capitals.
Ovechkin played in 628 NHL games prior to Sunday night and had
scored 136 goals on the man advantage. ... Vigneault said before
the game D Marc Staal had "symptoms" due to a check from New
Jersey Devils RW Reid Boucher in the third period of New York's
4-3 overtime loss Saturday night. Michael Del Zotto dressed in
place of Staal. ... Washington scratched D Alexander Urbom, D
Patrick Wey and C Brooks Laich.
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