Friday, April 9, 2010

Capitals 5, Thrashers 2

So what does a team with every team achievement possible up to this point achieved have to play for?

Stat padding, of course.

Alex Ovechkin: 2 goals, a helper, now with league-leading totals of 50 goals and 109 points.
Nicklas Backstrom: 2 goals, a helper, now with his first 100-point season at 101 points, and counting.
Jeff Schultz: +4, to extend his league-leading plus-minus to +48. Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Mike Green, and Daniel Sedin (correction: Alexander Semin) round out the top-five the NHL.
Alexander Semin: #40 will have to wait.
Mike Green: #20 will have to wait.

For a team have little to play for, I wasn't too worried about the sloppy play. Giveaways, cute passing, and sometimes less-than-desirable efforts forechecking and backchecking.

Jose Theodore had another strong outing, and kept the Caps in it through the first two periods before the Caps ramped it up, as usual, in the third.

One worrying stat though: 0-5. That's the Caps on the power play. They were force-feeding Ovechkin and Semin all night with the man advantage, and the second unit was mostly made up of guys who might not see regular power play time (like Scott Walker), but with all that talent, one of Green, Ovechkin, and Semin should be able to score. Right?

Season sweep of Atlanta: check. Second 120 point season since the lockout: check.

And to top it all of, the Capitals moved above the .500 mark for the first time in franchise history.

On to the season finale against Boston. Sunday at noon, NBC.

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