Capitals end losing streak, beat Senators 3-2
The Senators came into this game hoping to take advantage of a slumping Washington Capitals, but failed miserably in that attempt. The Senators looked sharp initially, finishing the first period up 2-0. Undersized and underrated forward Ryan Shannon opened goalscoring with a nifty top shelf wrister, while Chris Kelly gave the Senators a 2-0 lead after Chris Neil set him up with a great pass.
However, the second period started off in horrendous fashion, with the Caps picking up two goals off of Senators turnovers to tie up the game within the period's first two minutes. The Caps picked up another goal on the powerplay just over five minutes later, giving them their first lead of the game. The Caps would hold on to that lead for the rest of the game, finally breaking their eight-game losing streak.
Sens Killer: Mathieu Perreault
Perreault had two goals for the Caps, including the game-winner, and did it with less than 13 minutes of ice-time.
Sens Killer: Eric Fehr
Fehr had an excellent game, posting a goal, an assist, and seven (!!!) shots on net.
Sens Hero: Chris Kelly
Kelly had another solid night tonight (although he was assisted from a strong game by linemate Chris Neil), and had one of the Senators' two goals.
Sens Zero: Milan Michalek
Michalek gets a zero not so much because he had an off night, but because he had six penalty minutes in the game. You can't give a dynamic offensive team like the Capitals the benefit of that much powerplay time, even if they're slumping.
Sens Zero: The Powerplay
The Senators' powerplay was absolutely awful at times in tonight's game, struggling to hold onto the puck in the Capitals' zone and constantly missing passes when they had the puck. Just terrible.
Sens Hero: Disallowed goals
The Washington Capitals actually scored two goals that didn't make their way onto the scoresheet tonight. The first was scored seconds after the end of the first period, while the second was kicked in by Alexander Ovechkin. When you get the benefit of disallowed goals (even if both were quite obviously not goals), you should capitalize. The Senators didn't.
Padding the Stats: Peter Regin
Peter Regin was somehow the Senators' only +2 tonight. Neat.
Who's Going To Be Watching HBO's 24/7?
Tonight's game will undoubtedly be featured on the next episode of HBO's 24/7, which is currently following the Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins. The Ottawa Senators will likely not want to PVR that episode.
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