I am typing this postgame report from the press room on the event level at Verizon Center. It’s a quiet place of work which is situated not far from two very noisy places. One of those is the old Coaches Club bar from which I can hear many ecstatic Caps fans clinking glasses in celebration of a great win. The other noisy spot is inside the Caps dressing room, where the players who made the convincing win over Detroit happen have a right to be loud.
At the beginning of the week, the players were very focused on making their three games this week do the talking for them. Well, they couldn’t have produced a much better effort as they whitewashed Florida, and waxed both Philadelphia and Detroit by a combined 12-3 score.
I know that I am often guilty of heaping praise on the goalies in this league, but it’s hard not to praise Tomas Vokoun and his work this month. I would go so far as to say that Vokoun was the difference in tonight’s action, because Detroit was putting on its usual passing clinic in the first 10 minutes of the game and were it not for Tomas, could easily have had its own 2-0 lead.
Instead the Caps would strike twice in a 61 second span to take command in this battle of unbeatens. Mike Green would lead the charge on the power play. His first of four points tonight came on the receiving end of another buttery-soft pass from Nicklas Backstrom. Mike pumped a shot to the shortside of Red Wing goalie Ty Conklin to make it 1-0. The Caps have been working to make their power-play hum like it did a few years ago, and the practice seems to be paying off.
Young Detroit center Cory Emmerton made a big mistake in the minute that followed the Green tally. He forced a puck into the middle that was gobbled up by Mike Knuble. Mike found Alex Semin who found Marcus Johansson, and the 21-year old Swede tucked one past Conklin before the Wings knew what hit them.
Special teams would be pivotal in the second period. Given another Caps power-play opportunity, Green blasted a beautiful snapshot over Conklin’s glove to trigger a raucous celebration in the stands at Verizon Center.
The Red Wings would answer seven minutes later enjoying a 5-on-3 advantage of their own. Nicklas Kronwall laced a slapshot past Vokoun on the blocker side to make it 3-1. Soon thereafter the Capitals found themselves shorthanded by two men again and it seemed like Detroit was going to pounce. But Vokoun and the DC penalty-killers tightened up and shut them down. The Wings move the puck with such precision it behooves the penalty killers not to be overly aggressive or too tentative. The Caps found just the right balance in that instance and that’s where the game turned out to be theirs for the taking.
The back-breaker came late in the second period. Matt Hendricks pumped a long slapshot that skipped on its way to Conklin. The veteran goalie didn’t field it cleanly. It rattled through his pads and became an easy tap-in for Mathieu Perreault.
Conklin was tabbed as the starter for this game yesterday, before Detroit dispatched Columbus last night. Red Wings Coach Mike Babcock elected to give his top guy, Jimmy Howard, the night off in nets and Conklin wasn’t nearly as sharp as he was in blanking Colorado in his previous start.
Joel Ward and Nick Backstrom joined Perreault in denting Conklin again over the final 20 minutes to bring the score to a 7-1 final.
The Caps had five multiple point-scorers led by Green who had 2+2=4 for the night.
Of Washington’s seven consecutive wins to open the season, this one will have the most resounding impact on the hockey world. A showcase between the last two unbeatens in the NHL turned out to be a lopsided win for the home team, one that looks mighty strong as it prepares for a western Canadian road swing.
Let’s finish with a note on the captain of the Red Wings, Nicklas Lidstrom. NHL game #1500 for him didn’t go as he would have liked, but it is safe to say his legacy won’t suffer from it. It was terrific to see the Caps and their fans salute him as they did tonight. It would be hard to find a more classy ambassador for the sport than Nicklas. Four Stanley Cups, an Olympic Gold Medal, and seven Norris Trophies make him one of the most decorated athletes the game has ever seen. I consider it an honor to have covered his efforts for so long. He’s an incredible player, but tonight he and his mates were not the better team.
Source:
Mike Green would lead the charge on the power play. ... pennyboardled.blogspot.de
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