Ovechkin Captures OT Win in Battle of the Capital Cities

After scoring just about every kind of goal known to puck heads on Saturday night, the Capitals got off to a slow start in tonight's game against the Ottawa Senators. The boys spent way too much time chasing Sens skaters in their offensive zone during the first period, but thankfully Michal Neuvirth had another stellar evening and kept damage to a minimum.

Alex Semin kicked things off for the home team, scoring late in the first period. Nasty Jarko Ruutu deflected a high puck with under ten minutes left in the second period to tie the game.  Ruutu would win the game's "best Crosby dive imitation" later in the second period. He initiated contact with Ovi then proceeded to perform a theatrical sprawl resulting in a questionable interference call on the Great Eight.

Shortly after the Ruutu tally, Matt Hendricks made a crisp pass from behind the net to a waiting Eric Fehr, who scored to give the boys a 2-1 lead.

The tenacious Senators refused to give up and tied the game at two apiece when Ryan Shannon beat John Carlson to roof the puck over Neuvy midway through final period. Neuvirth had another solid performance, making crucial stops when called upon including two sweet pad stops on Peter Regin in waning minutes of the final period. On the other side of the ice, Pascal Leclaire had a strong performance of his own and held on to force the contest into overtime.

But it was Alex Ovechkin with the hot stick, scoring the game winner with about 30 seconds left before this one went into a shoot out. The captain went five-hole against Leclaire, giving the boys the 3-2 victory.

Next up - the New York Islanders come to town on Wednesday and the Isles may be without John Tavares. And it remains to be seen what (if any) disciplinary action will be doled out to Islanders' defense man James Wisniewski after he made a crude gesture towards agitator Sean Avery (oh, the irony) in today's game between the Isles and Rangers.