Game #72 Recap: Caps 2 Detroit 3

All winning streaks must come to an end and last night the Caps had their 9-game ended in Detroit as the Red Wings pulled out a 1-goal victory against the Capitals 3-2. Washington put out an injury depleted lineup that was without Mike Green, Nicklas Backstrom, Jason Arnott, and most recently Eric Fehr and John Erskine. The Caps gave up the lead three times in the game and at the end just couldn't break down the Detroit defense. In the first period the Red Wings struck first but the Caps answered 33 seconds later when John Carlson powered a slap slot into the Detroit net for a 1-1 tie. The tie was short lived as the Wings retook the lead two minutes later on a well placed redirection. In the second period it was vintage Alex Ovechkin. The big Russian winger took the puck down the left wing backing the defender into his own zone and then ripped a wrist shot through the defenders legs and past the goal for a 2-2 tie. The went back and forth from there with both teams trading possession in a really well played game. In the third period the Caps' Mike Knuble was called for tripping in the offensive zone. Then Henrick Zetterberg from zero angle threw up the most ridiculous backhand that beat Michal Neuvirth over the shoulder to give the Wings a 3-2 advantage. The Wings then clamped down on the Capitals and the two games in two nights appeared to be wearing on the visitors as they couldn't get a good look at the until the final seconds went Alex Ovechkin feed Alexander Semin and the Detroit blue line where Semin ripped a wrist shot off the cross bar and that was all she wrote. The Capitals now head to New Jersey for another tough road game with the Devils.

Of Note:

• In the loss Michal Neuvirth stopped 32 of 35 shots but looked a bit rusty in his first game back after having a shard of metal removed from his eye.
• Dennis Wideman was a force on the Caps back end and finished the game with 6 blocked shots and a +1 rating.
• Alex Ovechkin recorded his 29th goal of the season and had a team high 7 shots on goal.
• The Capitals special teams let them down in this one giving up a power play goal on 2 attempts and failing to score on 4 of their own chances.
• In his first appearance in a long time D.J. King chipped in an assist as did Alexander Semin, Scott Hannan, and Jason Chimera.

Official Recap
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