And we're rolling!

Another day, another Caps win. I could get used to this.

Again, the Russian Machine looked spectacular, scoring twice despite being shadowed by an opposing forward every shift he was on the ice. He scored on an unstoppable snipe from the slot on the power play, and again on a positively evil wrister off a takeaway.

Note to Atlanta. We've told you this before, but apparently you just don't get it. We'll try it real slow for you (we know you southerners need a little more time to digest things).

Do.
Not.
Piss.
The.
Russian.
Machine.
Off!

There. That aught to do it. Make sure you forward this to all of your defensemen before they think of lining Ovechkin up again. It was all well and good when he and Kovalchuk were going at each other one on one like they do every game they play one another. But you had to go and have one of your defensemen get involved, to try to get a nice big hit on Ovie. The Russian Machine was not amused.

He spent the next few minutes looking to line someone up and knock them into next season, but settled down and channeled his rage into an offensive showing worthy of the best power forward in the NHL. Once the Russian Machine got geared up, there was simply no stopping him.

Evil Brent Johnson once again tried to make his presence felt, giving up what appeared to be a goal off a terrible clearing attempt. He was saved by a high sticking call, and was banished in favor of Good Brent Johnson for the rest of the game. Good BJ made a slew of impressive saves late in the third, denying Atlanta on an extended 6 on 3 power play to secure the victory.

Now, if tonight wasn't evidence enough that Ovechkin and Semin (who missed the game with a foot injury) should be playing on separate lines, I don't know what is. It's clear that Ovechkin thrives when he is the undisputed top guy on the line. He doesn't worry about making nifty passes or trying to get the puck to his opposite wing. He does what he does best: get a head of steam up and attack the goal. With he and Semin on the same line, there simply isn't enough puck to go around, so both players end up a little worse off. Hopefully this will be remedied when (not if, WHEN) the Caps pick up a couple big time players this offseason to bolster the attack. With two legitimate scoring lines, it only makes sense to have the two natural left wings playing on different lines.

The Caps close out the season at home this Saturday, taking on the Buffalo Slugs at 1 PM at the V. If you don't have tickets, go get them. NOW. And if you win a Matt Bradley jersey at Fan Appreciation Day, you might want to pass it along to one of your friends at Grumpy Caps Fans. C'mon, you know you want to :-)