Caps break 5 game road skid
The Washington Capitals got back on track tonight, snapping a five game road skid, defeating the Ottawa Senators 5-3. It was a challenge, given the fact the Caps continued their penalty trouble, tallying up 8 penalties.
In the battle of the Capitols, the Caps and Senators skated to a scoreless first period.
The Caps got on the board first, with a Jeff Halperin rebound goal a little over two minutes into the second period. Halperin buried a juicy rebound given up by Senators goalie Craig Anderson, from a Dennis Wideman blast. Wideman and Troy Brouwer added helpers. The 1-0 Caps lead was fumbled away to the Senators by an Eric Condra goal for the Sens at the 12:43 mark. Nick Folingo gave the Senators a 2-1 lead that they would take into the second intermission.
Third period was all Caps as the Caps put scored the Senators 4-1 in the third period. Nicklas Backstrom started off the scoring, netting his tenth of the season at the 9:45 mark to knot the game at 2-2. It was a much needed goal that field the Capitals offense to keep pressure in the Senators zone. The Backstrom was assisted by Brooks Laich and John Carlson.
Washington would next strike two times in 15 seconds to take a 4-2 lead. Alexander Ovechkin got a much needed marker at the 13:50 mark. The Ovechkin goal was an incredible goal that faked out Craig Anderson with a fake out shot. It was Ovechkin's 9th goal of the season. Backstrom and Dmitri Orlov assisted the Ovechkin goal. Fifteen seconds later, Brouwer struck for his 8th of the season, scoring right in front of Anderson from a nifty center feed from Marcus Johansson.
Milan Michalek scored just a minute later to cut the Caps lead to 4-3 and provide intense player for the final four minutes. John Carlson iced the game winner with his fifth of the season, into the Ottawa empty net.
Tomas Vokoun gained the win in net, stopping 31 of 34 shots.
The Caps win improves their overall record to 14-12-1 with 29 points. The win jumped the Caps over Winnipeg for second place in the Southeast Division, 5 points behind division leading Florida Panthers. Caps also moved up to 7th in the Conference.
Ice time Leaders:
Karl Alzner, 27:40 John Carlson 27:35 Dennis Wideman 26:38
Multi-Point Scorers:
Nicklas Backstrom, 1 goal, 1 assist Troy Brouwer, 1 goal, 1 assist John Carlson, 1 goal, 2 assists
