Russian Machine powered off

Per just about everybody, Alex Ovechkin was suspended for one game for his hit on Swiss forward Valentin Wirz.

I didn't see the hit, but it wouldn't surprise me if this was a situation like Ilya Kovalchuk's ejection from the Olympics a couple years ago. For whatever reason, physical play is frowned upon in international competition, and the Russian Machine is nothing if not physical. At least it's not the Olympics where any ejection gets a player removed from the entire competition.

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Late edit- here's a youtube clip of the hit. Notice Ovechkin keeps his shoulder tight and doesn't extend the elbow. A clean, solid hit. It wouldn't even get 2 minutes in the NHL.

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 :-)

Just my luck

I had to work this weekend and had a get together afterwards, and I forgot to set my TiVo to record the game. Of course it ends up being the most exciting Caps home game since the Pittsburgh game, only with a much better ending. And I missed it. I hate myself right now.

As I predicted, both Kovalchuk and Ovechkin found the net, but Sasha Semin steals the title of best Russian of the night with two goals, including the game winning goal with 17 seconds left in overtime. The Caps secure another much needed two points with the win.

Next game is Tuesday at the V against Philly.

The Battle for Russian Supremacy, part II

Tonight at the V, Ilya and Alex go one on one (5 on 5, actually, but you get the idea). I wrote about this earlier, but it bears reinforcing. I fully expect Alex to have a monster game, and break out of his mini-slump. Hopefully Kovalchuk will bring his A game, which should really set AO off.

I also expect a Brashear beatdown, but then again, there really isn't a night these days that I don't.

Caps pull out a squeaker, 4-3. I'd be a lot more confident about this pick if Erskine were back in the lineup. I think he's much more important to this team than anyone realizes. The Caps NEED toughness on the backline to keep teams from pressing at them all night long. A good solid rib rattling check keeps forwards thinking twice about how they attack the net. And Erskine brings that. Not in a Mark Tinordi way, but enough to make folks account for him.

In the end, there can be only one.

Wow. I mean WOW. A dominating performance by Ovechkin. A goal to get the Caps out in front early, a goal to send the game into overtime with under a minute left, and a goal second into overtime to win it. You think maybe Ovie was a teency weency bit fired up for this game? Just an incredible performance. The kind that makes you think that as long as we have this kid playing for the Caps, a championship is more a matter of when than if.

We believe the reason for Ovechkin's domination of the game came from 2 sources. One, you already know about (and again, if you've been stationed in Antarctica for the last few months, click here). The other, surprisingly, was Ilya Kovalchuk. In the first, Kovalchuk seemed intent on making an impact in this game, and I do mean IMPACT. I don't ever think I've seen him throw so many big body checks in one period. It seemed Kovalchuk was trying to show Ovie that HE was the best Russian in the NHL.

Bad move.

Ovechkin thrives on competition. Feeds off of it the same way Popeye feeds off of spinach. It makes him skate faster, hit harder, and grow incredibly enlarged forearms. Okay, maybe not that last one. His drive to be the best has been documented all over the place, most noticeably in the post's recent feature article. And here was Kovalchuk, running around like he was the biggest, baddest guy around. Like he was the one deserving of all the fanfare. Like he was the best player on the ice. And he ended up stepping on The Russian Machine's toes.

Very bad move. Ovechkin made him pay for his transgression. He made them all pay.

Other observations on the game: Dainus Zubrus has officially come into his own. As a Caps fan over the years, I've always been critical of Zubrus. I didn't like the trade we made to get him (I was big on Zednik and Bulis' upside). I thought Zednik would be a star 2nd liner (and turned into one in Montreal, right up until he was nearly decapitated in the playoffs by a Kyle McLaren cheap shot in Montreal's series against Boston a few years back). I didn't think Zubrus would ever play with a physical edge or develop the intensity needed to be a star at the NHL level.

Well, Dainus, my apologies. I promise to limit my suggestion that you hit opposing players with your purse to twice a game.

This season, Zubrus has consistently won physical battles, made solid defensive plays, and is making stellar set up passes, like the 2 assists he had last night. His talent makes the first line a formidable presence. And his newfound willingness to bang around makes the first line not just a scoring line, but a line that beats other teams up. Clark, Ovechkin and Zubrus don't just want to score when they're out there. They want your lunch money too. And they're not going to stop pounding you until they get it.

Now you're going to have to forgive me for being grumpy here and pointing out that Zubrus is also in a contract year. Hey, it's in the name of the blog folks. Just can't help myself.

Let's turn focus now to the ridiculous nature of some of the penalties last night. The referees in Atlanta had NO SPINE. NONE. The ridiculous no call on the goaltender interference on Atlanta's washed out goal was just that. Ridiculous. Ditto the Semin diving minor. Forgive him for not being able to stay on his feet while being suplexed by Coburn. As my brother put it, "that was a reputation call, plain and simple." And reputation calls are made by referees that aren't good enough to keep up with the game. Kudos to Semin for not loosing his cool, or letting the rough stuff affect his game. Though he didn't score, he was a force on the ice, and Atlanta had to account for him.

Next game is tonight, 7PM against the Flyers. Regrettably, I won't be able to attend, but I'll have the TiVo spun up (and my brother will be watching with his one year old from the comfort of his couch) so I should have something on the game posted Sunday.