Caps rout the Red Wings and move to 7-0

The battle of un-beatens, left only one unbeaten.

Make it a perfect 7-0 for the Washington Capitals.  Rout style!

The Caps routed the Detroit Red Wings tonight at the Verizon Center, 7-1 behind a resurgent Mike Green, who tallied a 4 point night with 2 goals and 2 assists.  Mathieu Perreault added two goals of his own to send the Sea of Red home very happy, as the Caps take the next 4 days off before beginning a west coast road trip.

Washington scored twice in the first period, reminiscent of the Philadelphia Flyers game the game before, two quick goals in just 1:01 of one another.   Green started off the scoring on the Caps power play at the 14:00 minute mark of the first period.  Green took a Nicklas Backstrom pass in the center and sent a wrister past Detroit goalie Ty Conklin, who had a pretty rough night in net.  Backstrom added his 8th assist and Alex Ovechkin added a helper.  Just 1:01 later, Marcus Johansson scored his 4th goal of the season, again on the Caps power play to give the Capitals a 2-0 lead.  Johansson has now scored four goals on the season, all coming in the first period.  Alexander Semin and Mike Knuble assisted the Johansson goal.  Despite a 2-0 first period lead, the Red Wings out shot the Caps in the first period 10-8.

Green put the Capitals up 3-0 after the 4 minute mark with his second power play marker of the night.  Ovechkin and Dennis Wideman assisted the goal.  Wideman extended his scoring streak to 7 straight games, scoring in every game this season, thus far.  Detroit would get one back on a 5 on 3 advantage, as Nicklas Kronwall buried Detroit's only goal past Tomas Vokoun.  Washington walked away pretty luck, surviving two two man advantages and 4 Caps penalties within 6 minutes.  Mathieu Perreault struck for his first tally of the night with just 8 seconds left int he second period, burying a Matt Hendricks face off to send the Caps into the second intermission with a 4-1 lead.  Hendricks and Green added the helpers.  Detroit stunningly out shot the Caps 16-6 in the second period and dominated the second period puck possession wise, but the Caps out scored the Wings 2-1.

The third period was all Washington.  The Caps would scored 3 goals, starting with Joe Ward's second goal as a Cap at the 8:17 makr, on a 2 on 1 pass from Brooks Laich.  Perrealu would score his second of the night at a little over the 11 minute mark to put the Caps up 6-1.  Perreault's tally came off a rebound given up by Conklin.  Assist were given to Jeff Halpern and Hendricks.  The final goal came at the 16 minute mark by Nicklas Backstrom, his second of the season, assisted by John Carlson and Troy Brouwer.

What night it was for the Caps.  HC Bruce Boudreau said this game was a big measuring stick for the Capitals.  I believe the stick measure quit well.  This is the second straight upper echelon type game the Caps walked away in a  rout, defeating Philadelphia 5-2 on Thursday.  So the streak continues.  The Capitals again set a new franchise record with a 7-0 start to the 2011-12 season.

Hats off to Tomas Vokoun --- again!  Vokoun won his 6th straight start, stopping 32 of 33 shots and surviving some difficult penalty kill circumstances.   Vokoun has been nothing short of outstanding and is displaying why he is considered by many to be a elite goalie in the NHL.  Since he yielded 5 goals to the Tampa Bay Lightning on October 10, Vokoun has since stopped  164 of 170 shots over his past five games.   We will do the math.  That is a save percentage of .965.  Think about that!

Special Teams:

The Capitals power play was 2 for 4, getting tow power play markers from Mike Green.  The Caps PK was 1 for 2, allowing the Kronwall goal on a two man advantage.

Multi-Point Scorers:

Nicklas Backstrom, 1 goal, 1 assist

Mike Green, 2 goals, 2 assist

Matt Hendricks, 2 assist

Alex Ovechkin, 2 assists

Mathieu Perreault, 2 goals

DCPSR Player of the Game:

Mike Green.  A 4 point night with 2 goals and 2 assist.  For the third time in his career, Green puts up four points.

Streaks Maintained (more than 2 games):

*  Nicklas Backstrom has a FOUR point game streak.

*  Alex Ovechkin has a THREE point game streak.

*  Dennis Wideman has a SEVEN game point streak

*  Tomas Vokoun has won SIX straight games