Game #80 Recap - Capitals 4 Hurricanes 1

In the biggest game of the year, the Caps dominated the Carolina Hurricanes and sent them to a 4-1 defeat. The win drew the Caps even in standings points with the 1st place Canes in the SE Division and within 1-point of the 8th place final playoff spot in the East. The first period went exactly as the Caps wanted. It was very physical and the Caps scored twice to put the pressure on the Canes. Carolina responded with a goal early in the second but then a parade to the penalty box led to a Caps power play goal with about six minute remaining in the period. In the third period, Alex Ovechkin put the icing on the cake when he took a feed from Nicklas Backstrom an absolutely wired a shot into the top right corner for his 63rd goal of the year. Cristobal Huet stopped 21 of 22 shots and had an amazing stop on a breakaway in the second period. The Capitals 3 trade deadline acquisitions were named the stars of the game: 1st Star - Cristobal Huet, 2nd Star - Sergei Fedorov, 3rd Star Matt Cooke

Of Note:

• The Capitals are now tied with Carolina with 90 standings points, however, Carolina holds the tiebreaker advantage should the teams finished tied. Both team have two games remaining vs. Tampa and Florida.
• The Capitals got goals from 4 different player last night. Matt Cooke opened the scoring at even strength followed by Brooks Laich and Alexander Semin on the power play and finally Ovechkin at even strength in the third.
• Alexander Semin played his best game of the season. His stat line was 1 goal, plus-1 rating, 3 shots on goal, 2 attempts blocked, 4 missed shots, 3 hits, 5 giveaways, 2 takeaways, 1 blocked shot, and 2 penalty minutes. He also leveled Carolina's Eric Staal with a beautiful hit in the first period.
• Alex Ovechkin's 63rd goal of the season ties him with Luc Robitaille for most goals All-Time by a Left Wing. He needs 1 goal to tie Kelly Miller for 10th place on the Capitals All-Time Goals List.
• Cristobal Huet recorded his 7th straight victory. Since coming over from Montreal at the trade deadline he is 9-2-0 with a 1.75 GAA and a 0.933 save percentage.
• The Capitals out shot the Canes 39-22 and converted 2 of 8 power play opportunities. Carolina were held 0-4 on the power play. the Caps won the face-off battle 32-26.
• Mike Green and Sergei Fedorov each had 2 assists apiece. Viktor Kozlov, Tomas Fleischmann, Nicklas Backstrom and Jeff Schultz each had one.

Official Recap
Game Summary
Super Stats