Hockey Mom's computer is still in virus pergatory (but in the very capable hands of an IT specialist) so I apologize for the lack of live commentary of last night's feather-plucking of the Anaheim Ducks. I was surprised to see Jiggy (J.S. Giguere) in net for the visitors, but he was effective in holding back the Caps' sizzling offense, until the third period that is. The feisty boys from Disneyland had their game faces on, if just for a moment, and after the roasting began, they started getting nasty.
Ovi started the scoring, with a lovely goal less than one minute into the first period that pretty much smoked an unprepared Giguere. But then Jiggy started showing some of the old form that helped him win a Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe trophy, holding back the Capitals for the better of two periods. The hitting (as expected from the big boys from Anaheim) was "beast" - as my boys would say, and Ovechkin and veteran Duck leader Scott Niedermayer had a massive collision against the boards early in the contest. By the way, what is with all these Niedermayer to Washington rumblings I've been hearing?
The blowout began in earnest in the final stanza courtesy of some sweet secondary scoring from d-man Shaone Morrisonn, whose puck took a lucky bounce into the goal off of former Capital (and former Bolt, former Flyer, former Panther) Steve Eminger. Less than a minute later, Ovi blew past Niedermayer to set up Mike Knuble for the third tally. Knuble is currently fifth in the league with nine goals in January. He also shares the lead among players 35 and older with 16 goals on the year - let's hear it for the senior citizens! And once Alex Semin's magic hands touched the puck, it was game over for Jiggy and his pals (but not before a little fisticuff action between our man Matt Bradley and mean Mike Brown). Semin finished off the Ducks to make it 5-1 with a power play goal at 11:47. So now both Alexs can boast nine two-goal games under their belts and the Capitals are the highest scoring team in the league! Michal Neuvirth deserves some love for last night's effort as well, stopping 30 shots.
So are these Capitals unstoppable? Seems like it and they are sure as heck are fun to watch! But every team that takes on the boys in red will be working even harder than ever to knock them down a notch, we'll probably see that tomorrow night as the Florida Panthers come to town. The Cats are clawing their way into a playoff spot and will be a formidable opponent for sure. HM will be in the house as a guest of someone who works in the Panther organization, but no worries, they have been forewarned that I will be rocking the red loud and proud!
Meanwhile, in last night's Dallas/Calgary game we get a little lesson in "hockey fights 101" - note to self: you cannot hit a guy with their own lid:
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