It is friggin nice to have the Caps back. After the slow start in Atlanta (See Nasty Nates Description of the game) the Caps got things on the right track during the home opener. To starts things off, the opener was on a Saturday night and it was a beautiful day in DC. The atmosphere downtown was awesome and it was good to see the streets of D.C. draped in Red again.
The rookie, Marcus Johansson, got off to a poor start with a terrible turnover right in front of Neuvirth that lead to the Devils first goal. Carlson quickly followed with a wrister from the blue line that was just nasty to set the score even. The devils notched their second and final goal around the 14 minute mark which put the score at 2 to 1 for the remainder of the 1st. After that the Devils might have well just packed up and gone home because the final 2 periods were just hilariously awesome for Caps fans.
The second period contained 4 Capital goals: Flash, Ovechkin (2), and Chimera. Ovie is such a beast. On his first goal he had the entire Devils team around him and he still managed to get the shot off…so Nasty. Chimera scored on a breakaway from the penalty box that was pretty sweet. Ovie followed with a breakaway that lead to a penalty shot which he nailed which lead to Brodeur getting the hook.
Brooksie and Fehr added goals in the fight filled 3rd period (all of which are in the Beltway Brawls section). These fights were pretty hilarious and the matchups were pretty unusual. The only fight I had a problem with was the one on Johansson…Seriously Devils? Johansson apparently stated in the faceoff that he did not want to fight and you guys attack him from behind, real classy..You better believe that D.J. King will suit up next time we see them in late November. All in all it was an embarrassing night for the Devils and a great home opener for the Caps.
The 2nd game in the home stand was a nail biter that ended with Ovie coming to the rescue in OT. Bruce had some pretty interesting comments about Ovie’s performance, basically saying that only a guy like Ovechkin can have such a terrible game and end up being the hero. Ovie said that he was just really tired and wanted to get off the ice..feel free to put it in the net anytime you feel like you need a rest..fine by me.
The Islanders came in to town for another close game to wrap up the home stand. Ovie notched another goal and then had the assist on the game winner that reflected off of Backstroms skate for the 2-1 win. A few other notes are that Nuvy has looked better each and every game. Mike Green left with a shoulder stinger, so we will have to see how long he is out for.
Alright time for a few beers in DC…Peace.
