Yesterday's win against the rough and tumble Flyers saw rookie net minder Braden Holtby capture his first NHL victory and Mike Green remind us the origin of his nickname "Game Over." Green, who to date is on a five-game point streak, scored his fifth career overtime goal to rank tied for second in Capitals history with Peter Bondra and Kelly Miller. Only Alex Ovechkin has more career overtime goals (8) for the Caps, who have won four straight games and placed themselves into a tie with Philadelphia atop the Eastern Conference.
Tomorrow the boys head to the Big Apple to face the New York Rangers for the first time this season. Last season, the Capitals earned the "W" in two of their three meetings against the Blueshirts. It's always a spirited affair when these two teams meet, stemming from Rangers' coach John Tortorella's bottle-tossing escapades a few seasons back. New York will be without the services of their primary sniper, Marion Gaborik. The oft-injured forward is ailing again, as is Vinny Prospal and Rags captain Chris Drury. The Capitals will be facing a young front line comprised of Ryan Callahan, Brandon Dubinsky and Artem Anisimov. Dubinsky is tied for second in the NHL in scoring - having tallied 10 goals in 14 games. In addition to uber-pest Sean Avery, the Rangers added more grit in the form of tough guy Derek Boogaard. Tomorrow's game will be broadcast on VERSUS, with puck drop at 7:30.
On another note, a ginormous stick tap to the parents, players and other volunteers with the Prince William Hockey Club, located here in Northern Virginia. After losing their rink to a roof collapse during last year's snowstorm, everyone banded together to donate their time, money and efforts to construct a temporary rink for use by their house and travel leagues. We had the opportunity to play there this weekend and the rink looks fantastic - what an amazing testament to volunteerism, hockey parents and above all, the love of the game!
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2 comments:
Actually it was Holtby's second NHL win from a pure statistician's perspective as he got credit for the win against Boston that he came in in relief of Neuvey as well... Sunday's game was Holtby's first complete NHL game and took his NHL career record to 2-00.
That's true - I should have stated his first complete win :)
Not a bad start for the young man either way - I can't imagine how nervous he must have been. Nice to get it against the Flyers too!
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