Courtesy: Geoff Burke- USA TODAY Sports
WASHINGTON — While it wasn’t a complete sixty minutes played in our nation’s capital, the Washington Capitals bombarded the Edmonton Oilers in the second period with three goals to pace the rest of the 4-2 victory.
This was a game where it appeared as if the Capitals were going to have the pace dictated to them once again as the Oilers jumped out to an early 1-0 lead off the stick of former Washington center Boyd Gordon. Gordon netted his team-leading fourth goal for the Oilers, but the Capitals woke up after that with Brooks Laich’s first goal of the season — that point tied him for 22nd all-time on the Caps franchise points list with Craig Laughlin (283 total points).
The Capitals center was unsure of the team milestone as he was more concerned with the win Washington desperately needed.
“Both teams [needed the win],” Laich told reporters. “We were very desperate. They’re a team that was struggling as well. Losing three-in-a-row was unacceptable.”
Washington gained control of the hockey game in the second period with three unanswered goals, two of which came on the power play. Capitals forward Joel Ward scored his first goal of the season Monday and was happy to give his team some added momentum as his team cruised to a victory following his goal.
“Basically, I just put my stick on it,” Ward said. “It was like one of those drills you run at the end of practice when you have to rattle the cage.”
Center Nicklas Backstrom added three helpers yesterday, all in the second period. He now has 22 career three-assist games with the Capitals and it’s his second multi-point game of the season. Backstrom has tallied an assist in four of his team’s first six games and five of his eight points have come on the power play this season (1 G, 4 A). One of his assists came on a second period power play goal scored by captain Alexander Ovechkin. Ovechkin netted his sixth goal of the season and his ninth point overall. Like Backstrom, Ovechkin has garnered most of his success in man-up situations as six of his nine points have come on the power play (3 G, 3 A).
“It’s good for our confidence right now,” Ovechkin said in regards to his team’s success on the power play. ” [Our] power play is working really well right now. If we’re going to play like this, we’re going to score the goals.”
Caps defenseman Mike Green felt as if the team is starting to take advantage of offensive opportunities better than they have in their first five games of the 2013-14 NHL season.
“”Tonight, you look at Brooks [Laich’s] goal slips through; Brouwer’s goal barely crosses the line,” Green said. “Maybe, the bounces are starting to go our way a little bit. I think it’s because we’re doing the right things at the right times.”
This was a game that feature a lot of physical play as the Oilers barely outhit the Capitals 29-28, but the physical play was present throughout all three periods. A young team like the Oilers may use these scraps to bait teams in, forcing them to take silly penalties like Ovechkin’s interference penalty in the 3rd period. Despite that penalty, Oveckin led the team with five hits and forward Tom Wilson added three nice shots at opponents as well.
In addition to the physical play escalating, the Capitals saw contributions from three guys for the first time this season. Laich, Ward and Capitals forward Troy Brouwer netted their first goals of the 2013-14 season and Brouwer credits head coach Adam Oates for keeping the lines consistent.
“When he keeps us together for sustained periods of time, I feel like guys perform better,” Brouwer said. “Guys don’t like being switched around every game or every other game because you never get a chance to 100% rely on your line mates and get that chemistry.”
Another positive aspect of Monday’s victory was the way Oates spaced out minutes among his offensive lines and defensive pairings. Obviously, after a 5-1 loss at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche Saturday night, you would have to figure everyone on the Caps was itching to get on the ice and do some damage to an opposing jersey. Washington’s head coach acknowledged this and how important it is to keep guys fresh early on in what is an 82-marathon NHL season.
“You need to get as many minutes spread out as you can,” Oates told reporters. ” The schedule gets so tough. You wear guys down and that’s how injuries happen. When you have a game where you can get a lead and maintain it, you get guys minutes; it’s great.”
The Capital were outshot by the Oilers 30-20, but Braden Holtby stood tall between the pipes for the boys in red. Also, the opportunistic nature Green mentioned wasn’t more evident than in the second period, when the Capitals scored three goals on just eight shots on target.
Washington is back at the Kettler Iceplex today for practice as they prepare for a rivalry game against the New York Rangers Wednesday night at the Verizon Center. The puck drops at 8 p.m. and will be broadcasted on the NBC Sports Network.
[…] first meeting between these two teams came on Oct. 14 and things got a little chippy. However, Washington was able to seal the home victory with three […]