Mojo scores on the wraparound! (Photo credit: Ann Heisenfelt)

The Washington Capitals hosted the Ottawa Senators in Chinatown for a game that– INEXPLICABLY — ended after sixty minutes. After three games that went to overtime and beyond, this slow Saturday night snoozefest was welcome.

On the power play, Alex Semin sucked in a few defenders before feeding Nick Backstrom, who scored from the weak side. Marcus Johansson’s wraparound goal was a thing of beauty. Peter Regin exploited the top line’s laziness to make it 2-1. Then about forty minutes passed without anything important happening. Caps beat Sens 2-1 (NOT OT).

• We’re not gonna write about Arron Asham or Jay Beagle at all tonight. Promise.
• Nick Backstrom‘s powerplay goal marks his first tally at Verizon Center since March 22, when men were still men and women knew their place.
• DJ King played his first game in a Caps sweater this season. Recording almost 7 minutes of ice time, 2 hits, and a shot on goal, King probably met expectations. Well, what exactly were you expecting? No Zenon Konopka fight, which means we couldn’t use this reference in the recap.
• The Senators are not an explosive offense, and they’ve struggled this season. That said– they put 34 shots against our net tonight compared to the Caps’ 26.
• In his first back-to-back performance with the Caps, Tomas Vokoun blocked 33 of 34 shots and looked solid throughout. You don’t get the same kind of thrills from Vokoun’s hybrid style that you did from Semyon Varlamov’s more frenetic approach, but it’s novel and welcome to have reliability between those posts. Vokoun looked good, but Joe Beninati looked great.
• 2 points for #22, Mike Knuble. 
• 

  People actually looked like this between 1988 and 1996

  Non-Caps news, but I saw this on NHL.com and wanted to share: this day in history Wayne Gretzky broke Gordie Howe’s points record. He’d get another thousand before retiring. Not sure what year this happened in, but it was probably sometime during Full House’s TV run judging by the fan fashion.
• Sergei Gonchar, who used to be a beloved Capitals player before defecting to Pittsburgh, left the game early after taking a slapper to the foot. He did not return.
• Early in the third period, Alex Ovechkin had a 1-on-1 in the offensive zone. But it’s not 2007 anymore, so nothing cool happened. That said, Alex Ovechkin was on for seven scoring chances tonight — more than his first three games combined.
• NHL.com recorded hits as 31-24 Caps. No comment, we just wanna have a sip of whatever that guy is drinking.

Joe B zoot suit of the night

Let’s face it: this game was over after eight minutes, when Johansson’s wraparound made it 2-0. The Caps more or less checked out soon after, and then we fans had to sit through two periods of clock-burning. The Caps still have not delivered a 60-minute effort this season, and we didn’t get the fireworks or the hard work that we demanded, but a W is a W is a W. And the Caps have four of them in four games, only the third time in franchise history that’s happened.

Have a great Saturday night, everyone!

Additional reporting by Neil Greenberg.

The Caps may have had trouble scoring lately, but on Saturday afternoon players were racking up scores by the hundreds. Then again, the game was bowling. Karl Alzner, Matt Bradley, Jason Chimera, Eric Fehr, Boyd Gordon, Matt Hendricks, DJ King, Mike Knuble, Jeff Schultz, David Steckel, Brooks Laich–plus their wives, girlfriends, and children–took part in “Bowling with the Caps” at Lucky Strike Lanes in downtown DC. The event was all for charity, raising over $60,000 for the Chris Walsh Cancer Survivorship Fund at Virginia Hospital Center.

It was a great time,” Hendricks said. “It’s a lot of fun to get out there and mingle with the fans for a good cause.”

Hendricks’ bowling caught the eye of Schultz who questioned whether his teammate might have had too much spare time growing up.

“Hendy looks pretty good. Must be the only thing they have to do in Minnesota is bowl,” said Schultz, who admitted that he isn’t nearly as good. “My bowling is brutal. I didn’t have too high expectations because I don’t bowl at all. Ever. But it’s fun, though.”

Another standout was David Steckel, who is known to be quite the Wii bowler.

Like Schultz, Alzner conceded that he should probably stick to hockey.

“I’d be having more fun if I was a good bowler,” he said, adding that the last time he bowled was back in British Columbia. “Just a few nights when we were bored, had nothing to do back home. Just throwing balls down the lane. Halfway through the game, I’d start throwing with my opposite hand just because I can’t bowl. Yeah, I’m not that good.”

Photos (Click to enlarge)

Jason Chimera with his son.

Chimera signs an autograph.

Boyd Gordon and Fehr sign a jersey.

Jeff Schultz, Gordon, Fehr and Chimera sign for the fans.

Matt Bradley signs a hat and appears to be showing no damage from Friday’s fight.

Matt Hendricks smiles for the camera.

Slapshot takes a shot at bowling.

Jeff Schultz bowls.

Chimera’s son bowls. Jason picked up an assist.

Matt Hendricks leisurely bowls.

Slapshot entertains Chimera and his son.

Not sure this is the best form for Karl Alzner.

Awwwwwwww.

Alzner signs a bowling pin for a fan.

Awwwwwwww: part two.

Alzner’s fiancée Mandy made some lovely cupcakes.

Hendricks gets into it.

Chimera’s son is awesome.

But his dad thinks he can do better.

The camera loves Alzner. Yes, that’s Miss Virginia in the background.

This little guy was awarded a Penguins hat for bowling the lowest score.

Mike Knuble auctions off a team signed Winter Classic jersey which ended up going for $1,300.

The Caps present a check for $25,000.