Happy Thanksgiving Caps Fans!

With the reinforcements in from Hershey and a hat trick from Alex Ovechkin, Thanksgiving Eve is shaping up quite nicely! After a nice glass of wine and a dinner that I didn't have to cook, Hockey Mom settled in to watch the Caps take on Southeast division rivals, the Atlanta Thrashers. The bluemen looked pretty tired, after a string of back-to-back games. And the fact that AO was on fire, didn't help their situation much.

Eric Fehr had a sweet goal to give the Caps a 3 - 1 lead but the Thrashers' Slava Kozlov tightened it up to make it 4 -2 going into the third period. A side note here: how about Patrick Roy's other son getting a 15-game suspension for high-sticking another player during a Quebec Remparts game? High sticking? From HM's review, it was more like a Chris Simon "I'm going to decapitate you with my stick" move. I'm thinking that this family could benefit from some family anger-management sessions, huh?

I am thrilled to see Karl Alzner and Chris Bourque in the lineup. Alzner stated that he felt like he might throw up prior to his first NHL start. Let's hope he overcomes those pre-game jitters and lays some major hits! I think I speak for many Caps fans when I say we'd like to see much more of Alzner at the Phone Booth.

Early in the third, big man Viktor Kozlov netted his third of the season to make the score 5 - 2 Caps. But the Thrashers didn't lost their will and cut the Cap's lead to 2 with a goal in the third by Nathan Oystrick.

Final score: Caps 5 - Thrashers 3 - a happy Thanksgiving Eve, indeed! Congrats to Ovie for his hat trick and also to the great work of Bourque, Lepisto, Mink and Alzner for their contributions to tonight's victory. Alex Ovechkin, always the team player, added his kudos to the callups, saying "The guys from Hershey played a great game and they deserve to be here." So a fabulous effort by a team down several key players and coming off of a brutal road trip.

Hope all of you great hockey fans out there have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I know that I have lots to be thankful for: healthy kids, great friends and family, a roof over my head, a good job, and so much more!

The Caps will again be helping others this Thanksgiving. Three Capitals players – Nicklas Backstrom, Mike Green and Brooks Laich - will spend Thanksgiving Day with more than 400 underprivileged children and their families at District ChopHouse & Brewery in Washington, D.C., for the sixth annual Miracle on Seventh Street event. The Capitals have participated in the event all six years. Miss Virginia, Tara Wheeler (a former Penn State women's ice hockey goalie and a mighty tough one, I might add) will also be in attendance helping serve meals.

The District ChopHouse & Brewery is working through the Rock Bottom Foundation and partnering with the Gospel Rescue Ministries, the Division of Youth and Recreational Services and individuals identified by the Washington DC Metro Police Community Outreach program, for their sixth annual Miracle on Seventh Street event. This is the first time that the event is being held on Thanksgiving Day; in the past the District ChopHouse has held the event on Christmas Day.

For the third straight year Green will participate in the event while this will be Laich’s second visit. Volunteers from organizations throughout the city will serve families traditional Thanksgiving meals complete with all the trimmings from noon-4 p.m.