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Photo credit: Chris Gordon
Steve Oleksy played in 14 playoff games in professional hockey before tonight: with the Idaho Steelheads, the Lake Erie Monsters, and the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. He had never played in an NHL postseason game, because, until March of this year, he was little more than an AHL role player.
Thursday though, he set up the game-winning goal in the Washington’s 3-1 victory over the New York Rangers to open up the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. And it was awesome.
Photo credit: @brouwerrangers
The Brouwer Rangers are on fire. Rocking their playoff beards at game one of the quarter finals, the boys found one slothful NYR fan catching up on some sleep. Yeah: photo opportunity.
Bravo, Rangers (Brouwer version, not New York). You did us proud.
Photo credit: Alex Brandon
In the second period of game one, the Washington Capitals looked wobbly, in a one-goal hole and entirely without momentum. Then Aaron Asham checked one of the Caps in the head and Washington went on its fourth power play of the game. That’s when Alex Ovechkin channeled his inner-MVP-ness, scoring his 31st career postseason goal on the power play. It seized back momentum for the Caps, who went on to score two more goals before the period was done. The Caps held on to win 3-1.
With that goal, the Great Eight is Washington’s franchise leader in playoff goals, passing one of my childhood hereos, Peter Bondra.
GIF by welshhockeyfan
Braden Holtby ended New York’s second period shooting flurry in a huff as he snatched the puck away with mucho sass. Srsly, somewhere Beyonce is like, “white boy has got attitude.” Holtby has 23 saves through 40 minutes.
Until the temperature hits 70 degrees in there. (Photo credit: @WaltonCaps)
Less than four hours until puck drop.
Video by the @BrouwerRangers
We’ve gone four long days since the Washington Capitals last played. As the Caps spent their Thursdays preparing for game one at home against the New York Rangers, Caps fans across the region and world did their duties as well: rocking the red (including a fair number of RMNB t-shirts) and decorating their worlds with all kinds of Caps paraphernalia.
Let’s all share in each other’s enthusiasm. If you’ve got pics of your own psyche-up rituals, share them in comments.
And, oh yeah: Crash the net.
Alex Ovechkin and rap music go together like cheese whiz and nachos. His cameo in Sasha Belyi’s Champion was such a hit with our readers, we had to buy four extra mice to run on those little wheels to power our web servers. And on Wednesday, using Maria Kirilenko’s iPhone, Ovi and his crew put their hoods up and gyrated to Drake’s Started From The Bottom. And here I was thinking we’d have nothing to post during the four-day break.
If this shirt is any indication of how Ovi’s going to play in the playoffs, I’m excited.
Photo credit: @WaltonCaps
A few days ago, when the Caps clinched the Southeast division, Alex Ovechkin was asked how the team celebrated. “Yeah, like, we went to the bar. I got home at 7 in the morning. I get hammered,” Ovechkin deadpanned to The Washington Post’s Katie Carrera. “That’s kind of Russian celebration.” Well on his day off after winning the Rocket Richard trophy, Ovi had another early morning Russian celebration, this time putting on sneakers, grey shorts, a zip-up hoodie, and a Caps floppy hat given away on Fan Appreciation night and played tennis with his fiancée Maria Kirilenko. Adorbs. This is pretty much the same attire I wear on Sundays too.
Photo credit: @Ovi8
Brad Marchand is a great hockey player. He has a big heart too. His gutless diving, however, has to stop.
In the third period of the Capitals’ 3-2 overtime win over Boston on Saturday, Marchand dropped to the ice like a piano falling off the top story of the Empire State Building after Alex Ovechkin gave him a friendly slash in the ribs.
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