Canadiens-Capitals – Winners & Losers
January 6th, 2010 | by mattleighton |Winners:
Alex Ovechkin. Captain Ovechkin. It’s got a nice ring to it. Alex has led the league in goals/points/everything and now he leads one of hockey’s best teams.
Tomas Fleischmann. In Flash’s first game at center since juniors, he responded with a goal and three points. Tomas should be playing center for the rest of the season, especially if he continues to tear it up in the face-off dot. (6/9, 69%).
Alexander Semin. A part of me thinks that Alex Semin shoots too many shots when he is standing still. That part of me is still alive, but was silenced tonight when Semin stood his ground as he blasted a perfect shot over Carey Price’s shoulder. Semin finished with eight shots (!) and somehow avoided a penalty after slashing a Hab just seconds after he scored one of his two goals.
Tom Poti. Caps fans do know that Poti was an all-star in 2003 when he racked up 48 points for the Rangers, right? If not, you were most likely distracted by the goose egg that is his goal total for the season. But tonight he played exceptionally well in the offensive zone, something that we’d like to see more of.
Eric Fehr. Fehr scores the ugliest goals I’ve ever seen. I have underlined the only important part of that last sentence.
Michal Neuvirth. The win snaps Washington’s three game skids and gives Neuvy his first win since the day after Christmas. Jose Theodore is not happy and he needs another start soon. But then again, he did allow five goals against the worst team in the league in his last appearance. Decisions, decisions…
Medium:
Mike Green. Another 30+ minute night for Green. He had a great opportunity at one point but Price came up big and stoned Green on the partial breakaway.
Quintin Laing. It’s a tough way to make a living, but Laing is one of the best at blocking pucks. Keep it up Q.
David Steckel. 10/12 on face-offs. Straight goods (I think it means ‘cool’ or ’sweet’. I just spent a week in Montreal, and that’s what the kiddies are saying these days).
Matt Bradley. Almost had one heck of a shorthanded goal. Great hustle, take notes Jason Chimera.
Karl Alzner. Believe me, I’m as concerned as you that John Erskine is getting more ice time than Alzner.
Tonight there are no losers, except you, unless you tuned in to watch the World Junior Final between the United States and Canada. In a rematch of Canada’s 5-4 SO victory earlier in the tourney, the States turned a 3-3 tie into a 5-3 lead with 13 minutes remaining.
The score remained the same until the hero of last year’s tournament, Jordan Eberle, pulled Team Canada within one with about three minutes left. The crowd was still cheering that goal when Eberle scored again to send the game into the extra frame.
Sometimes these Olympic-style games that need Overtime end up needing 3 Overtimes; this was not one of them. John Carlson (yes that John Carlson) found himself on a 2-on-1 break five minutes into the sudden death period and put the puck short side to end the game. It was his second goal of the game and his fourth of the tourney. The US snapped Canada’s attempt at six straight World Junior Championships. Wooooooo!
