Game #13 Recap - Capitals 3 Rangers 1

The Caps played a hard game last night for the full sixty minutes and were rewarded with a 3-1 victory over the Rangers. The Caps scored twice in the first to put the pressure on the visitor. Both goals were the "ugly" variety that required a video replay to confirm. Brooks Laich batted a puck into the net on a power play as an Alexander Semin shot deflected off the glass, caromed over the goal and bounced off the New York goalie. Tom Poti netted the eventual game-winner after a rebound on a real nice rush from Boyd Gordon. As Gordon took the puck to the net, he and the goalie knocked the net partailly off the peg but the goal stood. Brent Johnson played another solid game in net for the Caps. In the third period he stopped Chris Drury on a penalty shot by poke checking the puck before Drury could shoot. To add some drama Semin took a tripping penalty with a little over two minutes remaining in the game. With the goal tender pulled, New York stormed the Cap's net but couldn't get the equalizer. After being released from the box, Semin got the puck below the face-off dot in the Caps zone and fired a slap slot into the dead center of the empty net with 5-seconds remaining in the game.

Of Note:

• Semin moved up another notch on the Caps All-Time Goals Scored list tying Larry Murphy at #28 with 85 goals for Washington. With an assist on Laich's goal, it was the 8th time in the 13 games this season that Semin has had multiple points. He is currently 2nd in the NHL in goals and points and leads all NHLers with a plus-11 rating.
• With Laich's goal the Caps were 1 for 4 on the power play and the Caps allowed New York only 3 power play attempts. The Rangers scored their lone goal on the power play as a shot deflected off of a defensmen's stick and eluded Brent Johnson.
• The Caps were very strong in the face-off dot winning 33 and losing 20. New York out shot the Caps by one 29-28.
• Tom Poti's game-winning-goal was his first as a Capital and the 19th of his career. The goal was the first by a Caps D-man since Tyler Sloan scored against Dallas in Game #8.
  
• Along with Semin, Boyd Gordon, Nicklas Backstrom, and Jeff Schultz picked assists on Capital goals.

Official Recap
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