First Period comments coming up as the game just got under way...
Here's one of the videos I've told you about...
Ladies Man
For more go to washcaps.com
:)
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First Period Comments...
The Caps started the period in fifth gear...they were shooting anything and everything - bad angles, through traffic, in close, whatever as long as it got to the net...I guess they've been listening to Boudreau and it's finally sunk in...
The Oilers respond right back pouring the pressure on...They are much better set up to get second chances off rebounds as there are usually two sometimes three guys down low...
The Oilers are so aggressive on the PK...so unlike any other team I've seen so far this year. They come out and challenge the puck handler and eliminate his options...
Cogliano is so fast it's sickening...He is so fluid with his strides...each one is like a little power booster!
The Oilers scored twice on nearly identical plays - A slapper from inside the blueline that gets to the net and bounces right out to the faceoff cirlce where someone is there to bang it home while the goalie is out of position...
The first goal was Horcoff from Souray and Hemsky. The second was Nilsson unassisted...I asked about that one and they said it had bounced around in front too much all off Capitals players that they really couldn't give an assist...
The Caps have lost some of thier earlier spark...they are playing tenative, not willing to give up another goal, but that also inhibits thier creativity and ability to move the puck and get it on net...They need to regroup during the intermission and get their confidence back...
Second Period coming up :)
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Second Period Thoughts
Pitkanen is out with a groin injury...
One minute into the period and Backstrom scores just like the Oilers scored thiers - Schultz lobs a bomb from the blueline and he's there to pick up the garbage...
Thirty-eight seconds later...Ovechkin goes in front and snaps off a wrister with such a quick release the no one saw it until it hit the twine.
I officailly don't like the tapered sides of these new jerseys...it just looks terrible.
For the record I like the Oilers home jerseys better...maybe because I don't notice the "tails" as much...
The Capitals let the Oil move the puck too much on the PP and allow them to get too many shots off.
Tic Tac Toe! Penner scores on the PP. Hemsky just inside the blueline on the near side sends it cross ice and down low to Horcoff who feeds it to Penner stationed to the right of Kolzig...great play!
Green ties it up and scores on the PP. Ovechkin goes the length of the ice, crosses the blueline and sends the puck cross ice to a wide open Green who sends a wrister top shelf...beautiful goal!
Again...on the PK the Caps just stand there and let the Oilers do too much with the puck!!
Moreau will fight you for every inch he can get in front of the crease...I like it!
Just under a minute left in the period and Semin gives the Caps the lead...Throws it on net without even looking and it hits the inside of Rolosons left pad and goes in five hole...
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Third Period Comments
Horcoff scores with a one-timer from Hemsky and Smid to tie it up...
A fan threw something on the ice that shattered on impact, play continued for quite awhie before it could be cleaned up....Bad form! I hope you got thrown out!
The Oilers are a speedy bunch with insane puckhandling skills...it's like a game of takeaway at center ice!!
Did I mention that I love watching AO play??
I'm in the Press Box and the Oilers scratches are sitting just a few seats away and they are so into this game it's fun to watch. I've seen many players in the Press Box, but usually they just sit and quietly watch the game...not these guys. They're talking to their mates on the ice and silently cheering when they score and make a good play and ooh and ahh when they miss a shot. Shows a lot of passion...I like it!
This one's headed to ooooooooooooooooooooooovertime! ;)
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Overtime Comments
Great end to end action!!! The teams are trading scoring opportnities with the best chance come from Washington's Fleishmann who went in all alone but couldn't get it high enough to put it home...
Kolzig with two great saves!!!
That was one of the most energetic overtime sessions I've seen this year...
Shootout
Gordon - didn't get a shot off and then ran into the net...
Gagner - makes a move but Kolzig stops him with the pad on a wide open net
Semin - glove save
Ovechkin - stick save on the five hole shot
Horcoff - wrister sent five hole...save
Kozlov - beat Roloson, but missed it top shelf
Nilsson - pad save by Kolzig
Backstrom - misses just wide
Pisani - another pad save
Laich - tries too many moves and doesn't get the shot off
Gilbert - again with the five hole...save
Green - glove save
Stoll - stick save...
Round 8 incase you're counting...
Fleishmann - five hole...no go
Penner - shoots wide to the left
Brashear - glove save
Reasoner - Shoots wide
Who says shootouts aren't exciting?? This is great! All the fans are on their feet!
Pettinger - fans on the shot in close
Cogliano - five hole stopped again
Erskine - backhands it high - glove save
Moreau - POST!!!
Round 12....
Bradley - SCORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Backhander top shelf (all the other attempts like this were to his glove side)
Souray - SAVE!!! Slapshot to the crest!
Caps win...what an ending!!
Post game quotes coming up...
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"Give me the puck. I'm going to score, " Matt Bradley told Capitals Head Coach Bruce Boudreau. Before He could look down the bench at what players he had left available for the 12th round of the shootout, Bradley had hopped over the boards and skated to center ice....
More coming soon...
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Oilers forward Shawn Horcoff
On tonight’s game and whether or not coming away with a point is satisfactory...
“We found ourselves down and I thought we came out a little bit better in the 3rd but that game was there for us tonight; we have to take advantage of that….Yeah, when you’re down a goal into the 3rd and you’re able to get a point out of it, you can take a little bit from it. But we just have to forget about that, regroup and get ready for tomorrow which is an even bigger game now.”
On the shootout...
“It’s as deep as I’ve ever been involved in. We had plenty of chances there to win it but we just couldn’t.”
Oilers goalie Dwyane Roloson
On tonight’s game and the shootout...
“I was just trying to give the guys a chance to win there. We had some great moves and everyone played really well together. It’s unfortunate to lose that point there but it’s nice to get at least one.”
On the play in the 2nd period...
“We sat back a little bit instead of going right at them. They’re a great offensive team. In a split second they can put the puck behind you, or in the net. It was unfortunate that we had a little letdown but we know that we have to be better and be ready for tomorrow night.”
Oilers head coach Craig MacTavish
On tonight’s game...
“You just got the sense early on that it was going to be one of those games that turned into ‘nuclear hockey’ as somebody said in there where it was just end to end, the last rush was going to win. Our troubles in the 2nd period were largely defensive zone breakdowns. The power play looked really good, finally got some opportunities on the power play and we were able to capitalize on that. We’re obviously really disappointed to go from a 2-0 lead to being down going into the 3rd period so we had to rally. You get into situations a lot of times those games already feel like you’ve lost you’re so disappointed. So you have to get around the disappointment and dig yourself out of it; thought we did a good job of that.”
Capitals Head Coach Bruce Boudreau
Preparing to face Edmonton's very successful shootout...
“They are 11-2 in the shootout. I wasn’t worried about it. That’s why in overtime I was just telling the boys to jump into the play. Let’s go for it. We hadn’t had this success in the shootouts that they’d had. I didn’t really want to get to there. Sometimes it’s a strange game.”
On Matt Bradley telling him he would score the winner…
“He didn’t even let me say, “Don’t go.” He said, “I’m going to score. Put me out there.” He jumped over the boards and went in, did a great move and scored. It was fabulous. That’s what we need. You need guys that are going to go out there and not hope to score but know they are. Brads just wanted the puck. I thought it was great for him.”
On the success of Kolzig in tonight’s shootout…
“I was so happy for him. And to his credit, he asked the other day to practice shootouts after practice and we did. Then he stayed out there every day this week and practiced. That’s what true goalies do and good for him.”
On watching Bradley score the gamewinner…
“He plays so hard all the time and gets those opportunities and sometimes they just don’t go in. You wish he had that touch and it’s great when guys like that get the opportunity to finish off the team. I don’t think that there is a coach alive that doesn’t appreciate the workers. He works and when he gets a little bit of the attention that Alex (Ovechkin) gets, I think that’s tremendous.”
On seeing Edmonton only once this season and how it could affect the outcome of the game…
“We knew that they were fast and everything but we didn’t know how fast. The first five minutes they were trying to prove a point by clearing the front of the net very well and we were trying to prove a point by going to the net very well. But they weathered the storm and got two goals. I was a little worried at that point. The guy upstairs only gives you so many chances to score and we had four or five in the first five minutes and we didn’t get anything. They end up with a 2-0 lead. The resiliency, which is a great word we can use this week, and the never quit attitude really showed in the second period I thought.”
Caps winger Matt Bradley
On the shootout…
“When we got to overtime we were really trying to win in overtime because we know their record in shootouts. Olie was unbelievable in goal and I got lucky to put one in at the end. ”
On the physical side of the game….
“We both play a hardnosed style of hockey and they work really hard and we work really hard. Anytime two teams like that play against each other, there are going to be big hits and chippiness. It’s part of the game.”
On playing against Edmonton’s top line…
“They are obviously good players and (Dustin) Penner’s a big guy, but it’s no different than playing any other top line. You’ve got to play them hard and you’ve got to play well defensively against them.”
On coming from behind…
“We’ve got a lot of confidence in all the guys here. I thought we had a good start in the first five minutes then we kind of went to sleep for the rest of the period. We knew we were capable of doing it and lately we haven’t been getting discouraged and getting down and we are working extra hard to get back into it and our big players came up big for us and we ended up with a big win.”
Caps center Boyd Gordon
On coming from behind…
“Tough start tonight, but we’ve been coming back well. Great team effort. Rocky shootout at the end, but it’s great to win against a great shootout team.”
On upcoming division game…
“We’re right there and we have a good streak going. We just want to keep doing what we’re doing. Just play hard.”
Caps goalie Olie Kolzig
On the goal scorers…
“Those are our goal scorers and they came through tonight. We probably could have added a few more tonight. Fleischmann made a nice move in the first period and hit the crossbar. It was an entertaining hockey game tonight. Lot of chances on both sides, especially in overtime and the shoot out after that.”
On coming from behind…
“I don’t know if we want to get in the habit of giving up the first goal, but it’s always good to know that we can come back. We have the belief that we can come back. We’ve got some fire power in this room.”
On the shootout…
“Once three guys go through, you really lose track of how many guys are going. You are hoping that your guy goes down and scores and then you make the big save. Rollie (Dwayne Roloson) is a master at this and I think that’s why their team is 11-2 in shootouts. They’ve got some crafty players. We asked Bruce (Boudreau) to start implementing some shootouts in practice. I think it’s important for the players, and for the goalies to get their timing down and I applied what I did in practice to the game. It seemed to work.”
On Matt Bradley in a shootout…
“He’s a deceptive player. He doesn’t have the hardest shot on the team, but in a shootout sometimes he can find the back of the net. I think he actually requested to go before four other guys.”
On missing key players to injury…
“Everybody in the league goes through it and everybody is missing key players at some point. It’s just a matter of the guys in the file and rank to step up and do a job. We’re doing a terrific job. Our captain has been out of the lineup for half the year and now one of our best face-off guys is out.”
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