Ovechkin Opens Ornately

It’s not yet Halloween, but the Washington Capitals have one of the scariest skaters in the NHL. Alexander Ovechkin glided his way to a fast start in this unsullied hockey season by pummeling the Bruins on the ice in Boston last night. The teams both won their divisions last year but exited prematurely in the playoffs’ second round. Ovechkin appeared in mid-season form as he netted a pair of goals in Washington’s 4-1 season opener. The hard-hitting superstar with two NHL MVP trophies on his resume also added an assist. Brooks Laich, the six year veteran born in Saskatchewan, slipped the other two Capitals’ goals by Boston netminder, Tim Thomas. The defending Vezina Trophy winner for the league’s best goalie, Thomas made 30 saves. It was the goals allowed in the third period that really crippled Thomas and the Bruins. Laich scored on a power play before Ovechkin shoved the puck past Milan Lucic for the fourth Washington tally. Jose Theodore stopped 19 shots to aid the effort on defense. Even when Theodore mistakenly lost his stick for an integral initial two minutes of the game, the lackluster Bruins were unable to capitalize. Claude Julien’s team was humbled offensively, escaping a shutout loss on Patrice Bergeron’s lone goal in the final period.
Ovechkin is an animated athlete who usually plays out of his mind. There is nothing nondescript about the novel shooter. He initiated the first goal of October by feeding a cross pass to Nicholas Backstrum, who redirected the puck to Laich waiting in front of an empty net. Laich won’t grab headlines over his famous teammate, but the Washington center scored two timely goals key to the 4-1 nudging Thursday. Ovechkin was credited with his official first goal of the season in the middle period when he fired from the slot to beat Thomas. It was an uneven match with Ovechkin sliding and slipping through the Boston defense. He took 14 shots, about one-third as few as the entire Bruins line. There are many positive points to procure from last night if you’re a fan of the Washington Capitals. Although the Caps did take a couple unnecessary and frustrating penalties, they weren’t too costly in the end. The Washington defense deployed a disparate position in the third period, allowing just three shots the entire time. The work-in-progress continues a Captials credo of preventing goals. They were able to win last night because the defense shut down a more physical and demanding Boston team. The stable defense combined with an able offense helped control the tempo of the game Beantown. The early returns look good, but the NHL is a very competitive league. Ovechkin is a monster in protective pads. The left wing has 221 career goals in three season, so there is no down-playing his role. On the other side of the puck, Boston was ill-prepared to face the visiting antagonists in the Garden. The disintegration of Boston began when they were penalized for having an extra man on the ice in the opening period. The embarrassment escalated from that point on, and Boston was simply going through the motions until the final second. The seemingly aggressive gameplan was missing. The Bruins were not aggressive checkers and did not pin the Capitals deep often enough. Washington crossed the blue line unimpeded. The Bruins did not restrain Ovechkin but permitted the bubbly Russian to zip by briskly, bouncing as he applied blow after brutal blow. Had Thomas not halted some of those beastly slaps from Ovechkin, the blow would have been even more impactful. Boston’s team-wide lethargy was responsible for their self-inflicted loss. Next time, maybe they will get the job done and make smiles come to fruition for their fans.

Parting Points: Vikings-Packers Monday night should be a good one.

Have you taken a sneak-peak at the new Foo Fighters’ album? I dig the new tune, “Wheels”. Supposedly, that will be the only new track though. Bummer.