Good game last night against the Flyers. Two teams that are expected to make a run for the Cup this year. Flyers had a 1-0 lead in the second when the Caps got 1:41 of 5-3 hockey. We had a couple of good chances but missed out on a golden opportunity. Shortly thereafter, the Flyers scored again making it 2-0. At that point, I thought that might be it.
However, Ovie came back with a goal to make it 2-1. Ovie is the greatest player in the world right now. The guy is a goal scoring machine but even better is how physical the guy is. He is a big, strong tough guy with amazing skills. On top of that, he plays every game with extreme passion. I love his celebrations. I love the enthusiasm he brings to the game. He gets the players and fans really pumped. A couple of minutes after his goal, Caps went on a power play and Backstrom got a great feed in front of the net and one timed it past Emery. Game tied 2-2. I like Backstrom too. He is another young, core guy to this very talented Cap team but the one thing he REALLY needs to work on is shooting more. He is ALWAYS looking to pass so it was good to see him not hesitate and pull the trigger.
The game was well played from the onset so it was exciting to start the third period knotted at 2. The third member of the big three, Semin, ended up getting the game winner by pulling a patented Ovechkin move. He skated down the left side and used the defender as a screen and pulled a quick wrist shot top shelf past Emery. Ovie added an empty netter to seal the deal.
Theo put together another great game. The guy has been MUCH better this year and seems to be playing the way he did a couple of years ago when he was one of the best goalies in the league. He made a few tremendous stops including stopping a penalty shot. I think he ended up with 40+ saves.
It was the Caps 5th win in a row so looks like they have found a good groove and hopefully can keep this thing going.
3 comments:
I watched most of the third period and thought Theo was solid. I have to say, he is playing at a high level. I'm not willing to concede that he is a championship goalie just yet, but a few more weeks of good play out of him would be great to see.
I still think he is smallish and would like to see Varly get a good number of opportunities during the season - including against some of the better teams - to make sure he is ready come playoff time.
If Theo can continue to play the way he has since the start of the season, I'm fine with that and the Caps will be fine. He has a 2.47 GAA and a .922 Save %age. Sure he was inconsistent last year but by and large, he has played very well this year.
It's early and I like the way he is playing, but I'd still like to see a lot of Varly mixed in so that he is ready at the end of the year if they need him.
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