This afternoon is the front half of a home and home for the Caps against Atlanta. The Caps have already clinched the Southeast Division, but are still trying to hold off New Jersey for the 2nd overall seed in the East. Atlanta hopes to make things difficult for Washington as they look for their 5th straight win.
Lately the Thrashers have been feasting on bubble teams. They have taken down the Rangers, Sabres, and Panthers during their 4 game streak. They have given the Caps trouble this season, rocking them 7-4 in the season opener, and giving them a 5-1 beating in Atlanta a few weeks ago.
But the Caps are 2-0 against the Thrash on home ice. In the 2 games they have scored 5 powerplay goals, which has helped them record the top home powerplay and overall top powerplay in the league, running at an astounding 25.5% clip. Ovechkin had a hat-trick in their first meeting in DC, and has scored 16 goals against Kari Lehtonen, six more than any other netminder. He has 23 goals against Atlanta, his most against any team.
The Caps can use today's game in hand to climb two points above New Jersey for the 2nd seed in the East. Eliminated from the playoffs, Atlanta simply wants to makes things as tough for them as they can. The Caps have been an inconsistent team lately, so it will be interesting to see how they respond to Friday night's overtime loss to Buffalo.
It was a big end of the night as the Caps skated away with a 6-4 win. The Caps players gave some lucky fans their jerseys off their backs, and the locker room was especially crowded after the game.
Keith Aucoin was happy with his powerplay time and goal, but admitted that the team was less than pleased with their overall play. Aucoin has been with the Caps for just over a week, and Coach Boudreau mentioned that he might have earned some more time with the big club. The organization will make a decision soon regarded Aucoin. Lucky for him he packed for two weeks, instead of the one suggested to him by the Capitals.
Eric Fehr was excited to finally get back on the board with his first goal in 8 games. He admitted that it was easier on the team when guys like Fleischmann and himself are able to put goals in the net and help out the big scorers like the Alexes. "We wanted to get some 5-on-5 goals established...we really did that. Definitely it feels good to be able to contribute in any way...I was excited, it's been a while. To be able to help out...it feels great."
Overall Bruce Boudreau wasn't as pleased as you'd think with the win. When asked about the line changes he made during the game he felt that "We were sleepwalking it seemed like for two periods...When things aren't going well and guys are having bad games...I think it's foolish just to keep the same guys going out all the time when on certain nights people aren't clicking." You have to give him credit for shaking things up and finding line combos that were able to swing the game in the Caps' favor over the last period.
Tonight we saw the guys scoring that the Caps need to in order to go deep in the playoffs. Alex Semin was the only one of the big four to score tonight, but was aided by 5 other guys who put the puck in the net. That depth is what the Caps have been needing. On the other hand, they played a crummy two periods at the least, and only got their stuff together in the third. Washington will go to Atlanta Tuesday night, and the Caps have a chance to continue the secondary scoring and fix all the problems they had in the first two periods. Boudreau also noted that the Thrashers will be ticked come Tuesday after giving up 4 goals in the third. Combine that with the fact that the Caps haven't won in Atlanta all season, and Tuesday's game becomes another big test for them.
