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 That's because Washington moved closer to clinching a Stanley Cup
playoffs berth by holding off the Detroit Red Wings 2-1 on Sunday at
Joe Louis Arena.
Washington (44-25-11), second in the Metropolitan Division, needed a
Toronto win over Ottawa to earn a playoff berth.
They got it, as the Maple Leafs downs the Senators 3-2 in a
shootout.
The Capitals had to win a tough game to inch closer to their goal.
There was a mad scramble around goaltender Braden Holtby, who made
35 saves, as the game ended and he and his teammates had to get
their bodies in front of pucks in the last minute.
"I wouldn't say it's like playoff hockey but it's the closest
thing," Washington defenseman Matt Niskanen said.
Defenseman Mike Green had a goal and an assist and center Evgeny
Kuznetsov scored for Washington.
"I was really happy with the way we played in the first period,"
Capitals coach Barry Trotz said. "In the second, we got some
outstanding blocks, good saves, things that you really need. I
thought in the third, we managed it well."
Forward Darren Helm scored for Detroit while goaltender Petr Mrazek
made 26 saves.
The Red Wings (41-25-13) are tied for third in the Atlantic Division
with the Boston Bruins but are in the second wild-card spot because
Boston has the advantage head to head.
"I thought we played hard. They're a team that's playing hard too.
The bottom line, I can go through this sheet, tell you how many
shots we had and all that stuff, that's what you do when you don't
win," Detroit coach Mike Babcock said. "When you win, you just say
here's the score and move on with the rest of your day. The bottom
line is you've got to find a way to win. I'm a big believer that
when you do good things good things happen. We're doing good things
and good things will happen for us."
Helm's power-play goal put Detroit on the board and made it 2-1 with
7:01 left in the second period. He tipped center Pavel Datsyuk's
pass into an open net for Helm's 14th goal.
"We're still, I think, in control of knowing how to make the
playoffs. We've got three games. We're in control," Helm said.
"We've got to win some games and we can get into it. Unfortunately,
we sort of buried ourselves a little bit, not picking up wins when
we needed to."
Green had stretched Washington's lead to 2-0 4:42 into the second.
His slap shot from the top of the right circle went in off the top
of Mrazek's glove. It was Green's 10th goal.
[to top of second column] |
Red Wings defenseman Marek Zidlicky got a clipping penalty against
right winger Tom Wilson with 9:32 left in the middle period on what
looked like a solid, old-school hip check. Wilson had caught
Zidlicky with a hard hit against the boards earlier.
"It was interference. ... That's considered a dangerous play now,
going that low on a guy," Trotz said. "You can really hurt somebody.
I've seen that before. I knew it was coming."
Even though Zidlicky got the penalty, Detroit killed it off and
seemed to get a spark from the hit.
Kuznetsov opened the scoring 3:38 into the game with a power-play
goal. His shot from the right circle hit Detroit left winger Drew
Miller, totally changed direction, and fluttered past Mrazek. It was
Kuznetsov's 11th goal and came with right winger Dan Cleary in the
penalty box for high-sticking.
Mrazek made a nice save, coming across the crease, on Kuznetsov's
one-timer from the right circle about 2:50 into the first period.
NOTE: Washington RW Tom Wilson was helped off with 6:18 left after
he got hit in the head while blocking Detroit D Dan DeKeyser's shot.
Capitals coach Barry Trotz said Wilson would go through the league's
concussion protocol and there would be an update on Wilson's
condition on Monday. ... Red Wings LW Justin Abdelkader missed the
game because of an injured hand. ... Detroit was without RW Erik
Cole (upper body) and RW Tomas Jurco (upper body). ... Washington
recalled center Andre Burakovsky from the Hershey Bears of the
American Hockey League. ... The Capitals clinched a playoff berth
with the Ottawa Senators loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
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