Tim Taylor playing for the Bolts, despite his hip injury. Gutsy guy. I read he's due to have the same surgery Floyd Landis had. The usual scratches for the Caps.
And the Caps get even!!!! Ovechkin takes it in with speed. From along the boards to Holmqvist's left, he feeds it out to Pothier at the right point, over to the left point, and a hard shot by Semin goes in!
Before I can tell you Ovechkin then misses a layup goal after the faceoff, Lecavalier has put the Bolts back in the lead.
2-1, Bolts.
This message has been edited by reallycrowesnest on Jan 11, 2007 7:54 PM
The stats for the 1st are going to show a bunch of giveaways, but really they've been outright steals of the puck. Lots of good stickwork by both sides tonight. Ovie's got at least 2 of these already, and several chances; the Bolts have had several chances of their own. Everyone looks quick on the ice.
Kolzig with a save on the TB PP, and we're back to ES.
Hasn't affected any of the goals, but there have been at least 4 very strange bounces off the boards and glass (at both ends of the ice) behind the goalies. Pucks shot hard around have come back out at strange angles on the same side as shot from, pucks off the glass have been coming off at tangents instead of straight back like a rebound. No idea what's doing it, but it's been going on all period.
They dance for a moment, looking for openings..... they clinch. In so tight, Roy keeps Brashear at bay and gets the first several punches in. Then, Brashear starts throwing, and gets Roy's helmet off. Several good punches by both later, they go to the ice.
I was just about to type that except for the fisticuffs, the period was pretty much a yawner, but looked up from the keyboard to see Semin with the puck entering the offensive zone. What a sweet play- this one will be on ESPN highlights tonight.
9 points in the last 4 games for AlexII (and a while to go in this one).
Brashear picks up a bad Bolts' pass in the Caps defensive zone, and whips it down ice to Clymer, ahead of the pack and clear in front of the Tampa Bay goal!!!
And again, almost before I can type (1:13 later), the Bolts have tied the game on a double-deflected goal. Prospal, I think. Kolzig was screaming for an interference call on it, denied by the ref.
3-3, 8:45 left 2nd.
Now after the faceoff, a huge scrum behind Kolzig and a timeout on the ice. The ref needs time to sort this out, I think.
I'm only listening to Kolbe since a few minutes (exactly when Semin scored his second goal), but it's raining goals since then, and I can hear them coming.
Yeah, it's fast and furious for long stretches tonight. Forgot to mention that Green was benched for a goodly portion the last game after a couple of horrendous turnovers.... looks like Hanlon doesn't hold a grudge, though, as Green is back in there tonight and playing fairly well.
One of those wakeup calls, I guess. I also read that, after the game, Hanlon ripped the team a new one for their sloppy play against the Flyers- and they won the game 6-2! He pointed out that at least 4 of the goals were bizarre, and that the Caps took the foot off the pedal late in the game to give the opposition a chance to get back in it. Lesson learned, hopefully.
Yeah, it reminded me of Semin his first season- remember how people were griping (WOOOOOOOOOOT!!!!!!!!!! Clark!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) about how he would slack in his play at the end of games? Must be a young man's disease, and last game all guys were taking shifts off at the end. Semin learned his lesson then, and these guys are learning theirs now.
Nycholat the interview: shorter shifts, try not to get winded so you can do the job. Excited to be up, but taking the "one game at a time" approach to the NHL- try to be ready each game and each shift.
Seems like a good guy, and he's visibly more comfortable each game. He's still scoring points, and doing the job on D. I really think he's made a great impression on the coaches; I know he has on the fans (and I also heard he and his wife have 2?? sets of twins?? Not sure I heard right).
I shouldn't say it, but the Lightning are getting all the best of this in the 3rd. They seem to have legs, and almost all the action is in the Caps' end. Caps only have 1 SOG so far in the 3rd.
I heard Kolbe talking about two injured Caps before the timeout, but I didn't pay attention. Now, he's back, and says that someone is cut on his cheek?
This message has been edited by marc_mehdi on Jan 11, 2007 9:50 PM
The timeout was because of the collision. Both finally got up under their own power, and are on the bench. They'll be ok. It looked like Ovie just saw him at the very last fraction of a second, or it would have been helmet to helmet instead of body to body.
Although... yesterday, the Sabres are leading the Blackhawks 2-0 and get a PP with 1:19 left. And you know what happens? Arkhipov scores, short-handed! 2-1. And the 'Hawks pull their goalie to try to tie the game, but it didn't happen.
Teemu Selanne scored three goals to help the Anaheim Ducks cruise past the Dallas Stars 5-1. Selanne scored a goal in each of the game’s three periods to record the 19th hat trick of his career -- his first since March 29, 2001.
A quote from Crazy8 tonight, in the official game thread, confirming my earlier observation:
The third period reminded me of the Jagr era caps. There was no fire, passion or "team chemistry." I counted at least 5 passes that ended up being turnovers. The team simply did not play like they wanted to win for the past 20 minutes. Horrible, horrible period.
Tarik El-Bashir: "Washington Capitals goaltender Olie Kolzig refused to deflect the blame for Thursday night's 5-4 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Instead, he shouldered it all. "The team played terrific, but the goalie let them down tonight," Kolzig said flatly. "I didn't make the saves when I needed to make them.""
Also, in the notes: "Right wing Richard Zednik, out since Dec. 2 with an abdominal injury that required surgery, is traveling with the team and skated vigorously in the pregame practice, leading to speculation that his recovery is ahead of schedule."
Ovechkin is on pace for 445. He took 425 shots last season, though, so I guess those stats are not regularly updated (EDIT: last update in 2004, it seems.)
This message has been edited by marc_mehdi on Jan 12, 2007 8:57 PM This message has been edited by marc_mehdi on Jan 12, 2007 8:51 PM
The District: How is Ovie doing after that nasty collision last night?
Tarik El-Bashir: He wasn't up for a postgame chat after the game. He had some swelling, a cut on his cheek and a headache. But I'm told he is okay now.
Sutherby also had a cut on his forehead. He was a bit shaken up too from the collision. He was still sitting in his gear about 10 minutes after the game. But he's okay too.
