Courtesy: uk.eurosport.Yahoo.com
WASHINGTON — Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom and the penalty kill were once again near perfect for the home team as Washington was able to get back to .500 at 7-7-0 with a 3-2 shootout victory over the now 3-8-3 Florida Panthers.
Once again without their captain Alexander Ovechkin, Washington was able to find themselves victorious. Since Ovechkin’s inception in the NHL in 2005-06, the Capitals have played 23 games without their star forward. In those contests, they are now 13-8-2.
In his absence, Backstrom has stepped his play up twofold and is taking more shots rather looking to set up the perfect play. It has paid off as the Swede has netted three goals in his last two games and he also blasted the shootout-clinching goal past Panthers goalie Scott Clemmensen. The sentiment that Backstrom needs to shoot more often than not has been held in Washington for quite some time and will continue when Ovechkin can return to the lineup. If he keeps up the shooting clinic when the captain returns, look out for the top line of the Capitals.
Head coach Adam Oates is pleased with how Backstrom has stepped in to fill the void of Ovechkin, but is also proud of his hockey team as they show that they do have depth outside of their top line.
“[Backstrom’s] played very good the last two games,” Oates said. “He’s played good all year. You’re still patching the dike in a sense. You don’t want to miss anybody in your lineup, let alone your star. It proves that your team is still a solid hockey team and you can do a lot of good things. We went on the road last night, we played tonight, a little tired. It shows a lot of good things throughout the lineup and guys gets minutes that they wouldn’t normally have got. [We’re] giving guys an opportunity to prove that they can play; a lot of positives in that.”
The Capitals also have to proud of the way their penalty kill has performed as of late. While they had an impressive streak of 35 consecutive power plays killed last night by former Capitals forward Tomas Fleischmann, who scored a late third period power play goal to tie it at two for the Panthers, Oates remained impressed with the way his team was able to play special teams.
“It comes across your mind every penalty kill,” Oates said about the streak potentially coming to an end. “That’s a very undisciplined penalty [on Oleksy]; we can’t have that. Stevie knows that , but you can’t lose your cool. I didn’t know what the exact number was, a lot of luck involved in that, but a lot of good jobs by a lot of guys.”
Capitals defenseman Steve Oleksy took the silly slashing penaltyat 16:25 of the third period, but was proud of his mates nonetheless.
“The PK’s been great,” Oleksy said. “It’s been good to kill all of those. I think we’ve built off of that.”
Despite Washington getting outshot once again 33-23, the Capitals’ backup netminder Michael Neuvirth put forth a solid effort, stopping 31 of those shots and limited Florida’s rebound chances. He saw the puck well last night and bailed his defense out on some sloppy odd-man rushes that kept the game closer than it could have been. A better hockey team would’ve probably defeated the Capitals last night, but the boys in red will take the win regardless. Neuvirth wasn’t fazed by barrage of shots early by Panthers.
“It helped me a lot,” Neuvrith said. “When I see a lot of shots, especially in the first period, it gets me going. I felt pretty good. I’ve been practicing well. I was coming into this game confident. I’m happy with the effort tonight and obviously a great win at the end.”
Yesterday also saw two milestones from the Washington side of the showdown. Center Michael Latta recorded his first career NHL point with an assist on defenseman John Carlson’s first goal of 2013-14. Carlson’s goal happened to be his 100th career NHL point and 100th point with the Capitals. The D-man didn’t talk too much about his own performance — one of his best thus far in 2013-14 — focusing more on the team as they came out with two wins on back-to-back nights.
“I think we’ve been doing great,” Carlson said in regards to Washington’s play over the last two games. “We’re really sticking to our system and I think that’s what’s doing it for us. Everybody knows where to be and knows what to do. It’s nice when you mesh because it’s not simple being out there.”
Sure, Washington did just beat two teams in the Philadelphia Flyers and Panthers who have a combined six wins in 2013-14, but there are still a lot of positives to take from these two victories. The Capitals are deeper than most thought and were able to forecheck with aggression on a regular basis in both contests. Latta and forward Tom Wilson continue to show their physical presences out on the ice and may have a future with this club long-term. Eric Fehr stepped in to fill the void of Ovechkin on the top line and on the special teams lines as well.
The Capitals are back on the ice Tuesday night at home as they take on the NewYork Islanders. Washington looks to improve to 8-7-0 and crack the .500 mark for the first time this season.
