BOX SCORE//GAME SUMMARY//EVENT SUMMARY

Washington, D.C. -- The Washington Capitals received six goals from five different players, and goalie Semyon Varlamov was not dented until well after the outcome had been decided, as the Caps cruised to a 6-2 win over a very tired Florida Panthers team, before not quite a capacity crowd at Verizon Center.

Florida was playing its third game in four nights, beating Colorado in overtime last night at home, and it really showed. 

The Panthers never really had their legs, and it got worse as the night went on, as they took penalty after penalty, cumulating with rookie Mike Duco taking seven minutes worth of major penalty time for instigating and fighting (plus a misconduct and game misconduct) after he jumped Alexandre Giroux solely because Giroux had the temerity to finish a heavy check behind the Panther goal.

Coach Bruce Boudeau was pointed on his assessment of Duco's play, on which the Caps scored twice, putting the game out of reach.  "You get a good hit, and not a hard hit, and you take exception to a hit?" he said.  "It's stupid.  It's a dumb thing and [Duco] took their team totally out of a chance to win the game."

As for the Caps scoring, it was early, often, and varied.  Alexander Semin, returning from a seven game absence with a wrist injury, scored twice, the first on a wicked wrist shot to start the festivities, and later on the seven minute power play.

"[Semin] didn't miss a beat at all," Brendan Morrison (power play goal, two assists) said. "He got us going with an early goal, a beautiful goal -- a toe drag and a great shot. Not too many guys can do that. It got us going on the bench."

Asked about the performance of the "other" Alex, Boudreau quipped, "He was well-rested.  He should have had a lot of energy."

The Caps got three power plays goals in twelve chances, something they have been struggling with in recent games.  And Matt Bradley added a short-handed marker -- a "change-up" as he described it -- the first for Washington this season.

Washington out shot Florida 44-28, a testament to the complete domination of a very tired team. 

"They could have been a little tired," Morrison said.  "We talked about getting on them early."

"I like the way we followed the game plan in the beginning [because] we thought they would be tired," Boudreau said of the Panthers, who got into D.C. around 3:00 am. "[If] we attacked them early and got them down early, they wouldn't have the strength to come back. It worked well."

Captain Chris Clark talked about the defensive effort being triggered by the good puck movement on offense.  "Our good defense came from us having the puck in the offensive zone."

"We had a lot of chances at the net and we just kept piling on down low and not turning the puck over on the blue lines or up high where they could get an odd-man rush."

Varlamov made 26 saves on 28 shots, and made just one mistake -- allowing a big rebound to Steven Weiss, who followed his own shot and beat the young netminder to get Florida on the board.  The Panthers got another one just a few moments later on a puck the looked like it was redirected twice.

The win was the Capitals' fourth straight overall and it improved their record against the Southeast Division to 6-0-0.

It's also the third win in three games against Florida, all without Alex Ovechkin.  The Great Eight missed the first two contests with his shoulder injury and tonight's affair due to his two-game suspension for a kneeing game misconduct again Carolina Monday night.

The Caps play without Ovechkin again Saturday night against a reeling Philadelphia Flyers squad, who lost 3-0 to Vancouver this evening.

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THREE STARS

1. A. Semin - WAS (Goals: 2, Assists: 2)

2. B. Morrison - WAS (Goals: 1, Assists: 2)

3. S. Varlamov - WAS (Saves: 26, Save Pct: .929)

BOX SCORE//GAME SUMMARY//EVENT SUMMARY

The Washington Capitals, as they have so many times this season already, dominated through two periods, taking a 3-1 lead into the final frame against the Ottawa Senators Monday evening.

What followed was "a collapse by 20 guys and I don't know how else to sugarcoat it," according to coach Bruce Boudreau after the game. 

Ottawa scored twice in the third to tie and Mike Fisher, the NHL's No. 3 star of the week last week, batted home a centering pass from Chris Phillips past Semyon Varlamov (33 saves) in overtime to seal Washington's fate.

The Capitals (13-5-6), tied for the lead in the Eastern Conference with Pittsburgh, lost for the fourth time in five games (1-2-2) during a very trying time on the schedule, and with the accumulation of injuries across the team.

Missing again from the lineup were Alexander Semin, Milan Jurcina, Boyd Gordon, Shaone Morrisonn, Tom Poti, Mike Knuble and Quintin Laing.

No one wants to blame injuries and the schedule for the recent troubles, but reasons are different than excuses.

"I don't think the problem was physical," center David Steckel said. "I just think mentally we shut it down."

"It's a tough loss. I still can't really believe that we let it slip away," said Jay Beagle, who registered his first NHL goal to give the Caps a two-goal lead.  "I scored but at the same point you're disappointed with the loss so it's kind of a bitter feeling."

Washington has allowed a power play goal that has tied or been the go-ahead goal in the third period eight times this season, and unfortunately the trend continued.

Three penalties in the third period made playing with the lead more dangerous than it should have been.  Ottawa tied it up with Alex Ovechkin in the box for a questionable roughing call.  "I think he just go low and I just hit him," Ovechkin said. "But I don't take a penalty."

The Caps could do nothing with a gift later in the period, as the Senators were whistled for too many men on the ice.

"They wanted it more.  We take three dumb penalties, they get the momentum, they get the crowd into it and we leave our poor goalie out to dry," Boudreau said.

"What happens a lot to us is that we go two periods without a penalty and then all of a sudden it's, well, 'We got to call something on them.' And you get a cheap one. But at least two of them were deserved."

Washington outshot Ottawa 25-15 through the first two periods of play, but the table was reversed in the third, as the Sens dominated, beating the Caps in shots 18-3.

The Caps got first period goals from Chris Clark (2) and Brendan Morrison (8) to take the early 2-1 lead, and Beagle got his first in the second period, which should have made things comfortable in the third period.

But it seems like lately, when things should be comfortable, that's when the Capitals have their most trouble.

The Caps are off until Wednesday night, when they host the Buffalo Sabres at 7:00 pm at Verizon Center.

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THREE STARS

1. M. Fisher - OTT (Goals: 1, Assists: 0)

2. P. Regin - OTT (Goals: 1, Assists: 0)

3. M. Green - WAS (Goals: 0, Assists: 1)

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NOTES

Mike Green assisted on Morrison's goal, extending his point streak to seven games.

BOX SCORE//GAME SUMMARY//EVENT SUMMARY

John Carlson making his NHL Debut

Photo © 2009 Cheryl Nichols. All Rights Reserved.

With 19 seconds remaining in the game and trailing by one, Mike Green hit the right post flush and the puck gently came to rest underneath Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price, and the Washington Capitals best chance to tie up a game they struggled in was whistled dead. 

Two ensuing faceoffs provided no more help, and the Caps (13-5-4) fell 3-2 before a capacity crowd at the Verizon Center Friday night.

Washington played the final 1:52 on a power play, and much of the time played with a six-to-four man advantage.

"There was a lot of red out there," Price said about the last two minutes to the media after the game.  "Especially when I lost my stick. I've got six players against four with no stick. That makes it pretty tough."

Tough, but obviously not impossible.

The Capitals found themselves down 3-1 midway through the third period due to an uneven, sometimes sloppy performance.

With several players wearing jerseys numbers in the 70s and 80s, Washington resembled a traveling pre-season squad.

Missing from the lineup were such regulars as Alexander Semin, Mike Knuble, Boyd Gordon, Quintin Laing, Milan Jurcina, Shaone Morrisonn and Jose Theodore.  In were 21-year old Michal Neuvirth, 19-year old John Carlson and others that started the season in AHL Hershey, such as Mathieu Perrault, Jay Beagle.

Michal Neuvirth started at Goalie.  Photo © 2009 Cheryl Nichols. All Rights Reserved.

It's no wonder the Capitals looked like a different team in the first period of the game.  They are a different team.

"It's easy to rip on your players when you lose to a team that's below you in the standings," Washington coach Bruce Boudreau said, "but I thought Montreal played a strong game. The biggest thing was I didn't think we were ready at the start of the game. "

Regardless, you have to play with what you have, and tonight the Caps just weren't ready out of the gate, despite taking the early lead.

"We got the sense of urgency in the last two periods," he added. "Sometimes it's too late when the other goalie is on top of his game."

Eric Fehr struck with the only goal in the first period.  After good forechecking by Perrault and David Steckel, Fehr beat Price with a rising wrist shot as Steckel skated right in front of the Montreal goaltender.

But Les Habitents registered the next three tallies, including two goals in 2:47 in the second period.  There was a deflection and a bounce off a Capitals player, so youngster Neuvirth (19 saves) can't really be faulted too hard one either.

"He did what a starting pitcher is supposed to do," Boudreau said of the goalie, making his first start of the season.  ""He kept us in the game. And we didn't take advantage of it."

The Canadiens' last goal was a rocket by Mike Cammilleri on a questionable power play midway through the third period.

It was at that time the Caps woke up, but it was too little, too late.

Washington got it's second goal off a terrific shot-pass from Green to Brendan Morrison, who then beat Price with a backhander as he skated through the crease, setting up the final two-minute flurry.

Despite the onslaught, the Caps never did get the equalizer.

There is no rest for the weary, though.  The team loaded up for their charter immediately after the game for a 7:00 pm road faceoff with the woeful Toronto Maple Leafs tomorrow.

Hopefully they find their legs earlier Saturday evening than they did Friday.

NOTES:  Carlson made his N.H.L. debut and acquitted himself well.  He led the team in hits and rang a shot off the post in the first period in a bid for his first goal.  "I thought [he] played well," Boudreau commented.  "He's going to be a good player in this league for a long time."

D Tom Poti left in the second period with an undisclosed upper body injury.  He is listed day-to-day, and Boudreau indicated the team will call up another player for Saturday's game, implying that Shaone Morrisonn, Milan Jurcina and Poti all will be unavailable.

The Washington Capitals got six goals from five different players, as they jumped out to a 3-0 lead, and cruised home with a 6-4 victory over the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs before a capacity crowd at D.C.'s Verizon Center.

It was Washington's eighth consecutive home opening victory.

"You felt like you were in a piranha fish tank," Toronto coach Ron Wilson said. "We were getting quality scoring chances, without a doubt, but you can't trade chance for chance with a team like that."

Alex Ovechkin, back-to-back Hart Trophy winner, started the scoring 1:17 into the game.  Ovie took a long pass from Nicklas Backstrom, took Toronto's blue line, then used the defenseman as a screen as he flicked the puck glove-side past Vesa Toskala, who had a rough period and was replaced for the second period.

"It's unbelievable," said Toskala, replaced in net by Jonas Gustavsson at the start of the second period. "It seems everywhere they go, the puck is following them."

Mike Knuble scored mid-way through the period, and Brooks Laich scored his third goal of the campaign on a breakaway four and a half minutes later.

"It was a nice play by Juicy [Milan Jurcina].  He made a nice stretch pass and I was able to slip behind the D-man."

"It was nice to get a fancy one, so to say, for once."

Three more second period goals, two from Alexander Semin and one from Brendan Morrison, pushed the lead to 6-1.

Goalie Semyon Varlamov was outstanding in the first two frames.  He made several solid kick saves and held his own when the outcome was still in doubt.  He made 27 saves in the game, and was not faulted by couach Bruce Boudreau.

Defensive letdowns led to three unanswered Leafs goals, and had the Caps not killed a late penalty it could have gotten ugly.  Boudreau was satisfied with the performance, but wanted to use it as a teaching tool as well.

"I told the guys, it was a great win, it was a great start, but we have to learn to how win six-to-one... and not think we're going to win nine-to-one."

"Hopefully this was a cheap lesson for us."

Washington is off until Tuesday night, when they face the Flyers in Philadelphia at 7:00 pm.  Philly is off to a 2-0-0 start, beating Carolina 2-0 Friday night and New Jersey tonight 5-2.

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SCORESHEET

1ST PERIOD

01:17 Alex Ovechkin (3), Snap Shot. Assist: Backstrom, Semin

09:12 Power Play - Mike Knuble (1), Wrist Shot. Assist: Clark, Ovechkin

13:53 Brooks Laich (3), Wrist Shot. Assist: Jurcina, Morrison

2ND PERIOD

04:23 Lee Stempniak (1), Wrist Shot. Assist: White, Mitchell

05:27 Alexander Semin (1), Wrist Shot. Assist: Erskine

10:42 Brendan Morrison (1), Backhand Shot. Assist: Green, Laich

16:02 Alexander Semin (2), Backhand Shot. Assist: Ovechkin, Backstrom

3RD PERIOD

02:04 Alexei Ponikarovsky (2), Wrist Shot. Assist: Finger

05:18 Mikhail Grabovski (1), Tip-In. Assist: Schenn, Ponikarovsky

17:57 Niklas Hagman (1), Snap Shot. Assist: Grabovski, Kaberle

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THREE STARS

1. A. Semin - WAS (Goals: 2, Assists: 1)

2. A. Ovechkin - WAS (Goals: 1, Assists: 2)

3. B. Laich - WAS (Goals: 1, Assists: 1)