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It’s game seven. It’s do or die. Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin isn’t going to stand idly by as his team’s season hangs in the balance.
With 11:38 left in the first period, Ovechkin stepped out on the ice for a shift, and it was inspiring. Ovechkin laid out three New York Rangers players with big hits and left the ice to a roaring standing ovation from the sold out Verizon Center crowd.
Let’s recap.
Late starts in the playoffs have an impact on how some Caps fans watch games. For example: take five-year-old Ben from Cleveland, Ohio, who had to go to bed during the latter stages of game five on Friday night because it was past his bedtime. No matter, the next morning Mom restarted the game for Ben as soon as he woke up.
That’s a good way to start your day.
Earlier in the day, we reported that Taylor Swift mentioned the Washington Capitals during her show on Saturday night at the Verizon Center. (She did so again Sunday too.) Hard-hitting stuff, right? Well now we have video.
In game six on Sunday night, the Capitals did not receive a single power play despite a few egregious fouls by the New York Rangers. One of the worst missed calls came in the first period, when Mathieu Perreault was decked into the boards by Michael Del Zotto.
Skating in just the second NHL game of his career, Tom Wilson immediately saw his role on the team expanded. Wilson got a lot more ice time and more of the same with: big hits and strong skating.
For the most part, at least. Wilson lost a skate blade after a collision with Ryan McDonagh and had to hobble his hulking frame back to the bench like a goofball.
A few days ago, a funny GIF of Alex Ovechkin was passed around the internet, showing Ovi slumping his shoulders after some defensive breakdowns down low led to a lay-up goal by Stepan. Then Deadspin published an article titled Alexander Ovechkin Would Prefer Not To Play Defense, which Peter and Alan May debunked pretty thoroughly.
While no one is saying he’s Pavel Datsyuk, Ovechkin plays some hard defense when needed. Example: game six, when Ovi blocked a couple of shots in a short burst– laying his body down in the effort.
Photo by one of my old BFF’s back in the day, Jessica Rice
File under things I didn’t expect to write about: during Taylor Swift‘s Red Tour 2013 show last night at Verizon Center (that did not create any Yanni-esque scheduling trouble trouble trouble), the 23-year-old pop singer gave the Washington Capitals a little shout out.
According to @Mic_Nas89, Swift said, “You ask yourself why is there so much red? Well one reason is because the Capitals are in the playoffs.”
And then she sang this.
While Mike Ribeiro got all of the accolades after scoring the OTGWG to give the Caps a 3-2 series lead Friday night, a few other Capitals gave valiant performances as well. One of those players was checking-line forward Matt Hendricks, who, in just 9:42 of ice time, blocked seven New York Rangers shots, a game high. He also had four hits.
Last year, after the Caps beat the Bruins in the first round of the playoffs, I spoke to Hendricks about his role as a wagon, a guy who sacrifices his body and does all of the little things to win.
Photo by Tom Turk | tomturk.com | piraticalphotography.com
Third line checker Joel Ward isn’t usually on the power play, but last night in the second period head coach Adam Oates played a hunch on the Capitals first extra-man advantage of the game.
“My name was called and I just went out there,” Ward said after the game. “I was excited to be out there. I just tried to pay attention to the details and get in my spot.”
Photo credit: Patrick McDermott
Game five of the Capitals-Rangers series was just as taut as the preceding four, but the Caps seemed to have the upper hand from the second period on. Still, it took until overtime for the game to be decided– and by none other than the Caps’ much-maligned bad boy, Mike Ribeiro.
Often known as a hot-head weak on the faceoff dot and prone to bad penalties, Ribeiro was the opposite of that on Friday night. Ribeiro won 70% of his faceoffs– many of them crucial defensive-zone draws– and drove play better than any other Caps forward. His pestering of Brian Boyle drew the penalty that led to Joel Ward’s tying goal, and his relentless occupation of Lundqvist’s net led to a pivotal game-winner.
You wanted CRASH THE NET? I give you MIKE RIBEIRO.
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