Friday, March 20, 2009

Caps Zap the Lightning: Ovi Nets Goal Number 50

After a sluggish start, the Capitals zapped the Tampa Bay Lightning last night at the St. Pete Times Forum. With a final score of 5 - 2 (which would have been 6 - 2, had Eric Fehr's "no goal" goal counted), the Caps got another nice showing from rookie goaltender Simeon Varlamov, who held Vinny, Marty and the Bolts to a mere 2 tallies. HM was happy to see the call up of Quintin "The Human Shield" Lang to the Caps' bench - I was completely bummed when he was sent down to Hershey. That guy is a prime example of giving 100% on every shift and I frequently cite his efforts as an example to my own young hockey players.

Speaking of 100%, of course the highlight of the evening was Alex Ovechkin netting his 50th goal for the third time in four seasons! AO loves his props and he had his own unique celebratory "dance" to mark his tremendous feat - which didn't sit well with some folks, including Bolt's coach Rick Tocchet.

In case you missed it, check it out here:



Ovi's reaction reminded HM a little too much of TO and is sure to provide plenty of fodder for geezin' windbag Don Cherry on Hockey Night in Canada tomorrow. Nonetheless, AO has and always will be a passionate character (thank goodness) and team player (seen as he hugged Varlamov at game's end), and as far as I'm concerned he can celebrate however he likes as long as he keeps 'em coming!

Hugs and congrats to Ovi and to the Caps for another 2 points - jeez, is it almost playoff time yet?

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