Game #3 Recap: Caps 3 Senators 2 (OT)

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The Capitals got all they could handle from the Ottawa Senators last night. In a hard fought game it was Alex Ovechkin who came through for the home team. With 31 seconds remaining in overtime the Capitals captain got the puck on the right wing side, made a subtle little move on the defenseman, and fired the puck 5-hole for the win. Now, I'm sure the Senators goalie wants that one back as he had a solid effort going up to that point but the game was over. On the other end, Michael Nuevirth had another stellar effort in net for the caps, including  a double pad save effort near the end of regulation.

The Capitals opened the scoring in the first when Brooks Laich feed Alexander Semin, who standing all alone on the right side of the crease. Semin roofed his first goal of the season. I don't know how that kid can lift the puck so high in such tight quarters, but I guess that's why he gets the big bucks. The Senators replied with a nice deflection goal from in close. The Caps regained the lead on a nice passing play from Boyd Gordon to Matt Hendricks to Eric Fehr. The Senators tied it up halfway through the third on a great individual effort by Ryan Shannon. The two teams played a furious pace to the end of the game setting up Ovechkin for the OT heroics.

Of Note:

• Eric Fehr had a heck of a game. In addition to scoring the Caps second goal, he assisted on the first goal and led the team with 4 shots on goal. For his effort he was awarded the game's #1 star.
• John Erskine had a rough game but picked up 2 penalty minutes to give him 300 in his Capitals career.
• Alexander Semin scored the 149th goal of his Capitals career. He is tied with Kevin Hatcher for 12th place on the Capitals all-time goal scoring list.
• Michael Nuevirth stopped 29 of 31 shots for his second win of the season. He seems to be gaining in confidence over the last three games.
• Alex Ovechkin now has 2 game-winning goals on the season and 43 in his career.
• Jeff Shultz was +1.
• Mike Green didn't show up on the score sheet but the kid is playing some serious defense. A nice effort last night earned him the games 2nd star.

Official Recap
Game Summary
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