Montreal Canadiens vs Washington Capitals

Musings and In-Game Scribbles

My English is as good as yours, I just write these in a stream-of-consciousness mode that I insist excuses me from small things like rules of grammar or general etiquette. Let’s call it conversational English, hopped up on beans. You know what kind of beans (no, Carl Mellesmoen, not the magic ones).

Montreal Canadiens (28-25-6) host Washington Capitals (41-12-6)

Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Game Sixty-One (score posted following scribbles)

Missed the game? Musings and In-Game Scribbles are typed during the game then edited and posted. Usually the RDS telecast of the game. Musings take about 20 minutes to read. More detailed than an article and good with morning coffee.

Carey Price gets his first start of the new era.

As most of you would be aware, Bob Gainey stepped down as general manager of the Canadiens and will be staying with the team in a consultative role. Pierre Gauthier has been named his replacement.

Jacques appears to be wearing some kind of velour or velvet jacket. He sits between Renaud Lavoie and Joel Bouchard and reviews Semin, Backstrom and Green’s season achievements.

Michal Neuvirth is the Capital goalie. Our favourite number soixante is the backup. Le petit boy.

First Period

Eric Furlatt and Kyle Rehman are the referees for tonight. They do some macho punching and back-patting in their mini-huddle with the two linesmen. Y’all aren’t lacin’ ’em up tonight. Dance on some other canvas.

Tom Pyatt and Scott Gomez are the starting forwards. Gionta is on the wing.

They get the early jump and a shot from the circles by Pyatt is high and dangerous. Puck bounces to the corner. Pyatt handles it on his knees, Gionta picks it up and passes it to Gomez who sends it in short side.

Montreal 1, Washington 0

It’s Gomez’ ninth goal of the season.

Darche line is on next. Plekanec and Sergei Kostitsyn are on with him. Early whistle as the puck goes out of play in Washington territory.

We resume and Kostitsyn is chasing around the net. Hungry pointer. But his stick is too errant and a Capital falls. Delayed call. Caps continue for an incursion and a reset but a shot on Price is handled by Montreal and the whistle goes.

Brunet calls it a bad penalty.

Caps go to l’attaque massive.

Faceoff is to Price’s right. Pennington.

Caps have to retrieve.

They are briefly interrupted by Moen and Gorges.

They set up, though. Ovie is parked on the opposite side alone. Caps are taken off the puck and it is cleared.

Gomez is on the first pairing. And another clear.

Moen and Plekanec are on the second kill pair. Forty-five seconds left in the power-play.

Caps are in. Point pass to Mike Green. Shot. Wide.

Shot from Fleischmann.

Another shot. And another. Price is continuing his good work. But perception is that he is playing better. Than when. It’s not better. It’s the same. As November. He’s been better since early November. That’s when he improved. And he’s been very, very good since. Won-loss records and save percentages are not the way to measure a goalie. There is far more to it. If there wasn’t, then all y’all could scout. Go ahead, then.

Penalty is killed.

Gill and Gorges are paired on defence. Gomez line is back on. Pyatt loses it near the Washington blue line.

Desharnais is on with Lapierre now. Desharnais is swift and responsible. Highly responsible. His forecheck is the best amongst the Canadiens these days. This despite some impressive January-February efforts from Plekanec, Gionta and Darche.

Moen stickhandles in. Puck goes wide.

D’Agostini is working well, too.

They have a new man to impress.

Semin makes an entry for Washington on the right side. This ends with a swivel and a stick.

Gomez enters with Gionta. Tries to slide it over. Intercepted.

Caps re-enter and Montreal resumes control. But a turnover leads to a goal against.

Washington 1, Montreal 1

O’Byrne gave it away in the slot. Terrible pass. From Price’s right just over the end line. Semin stepped up to intercept it. A move and a pass. And Brooks Laich got his eighteenth on a very nice deke.

Deke. Only in Canuckistan. That’s a good thing. I love coriander. (Urban Dictionary claims that Pat Buchanan coined Canuckistan in 2002. Hogwash. I coined it years earlier. I have proof.)

Commercial.

Missing tonight; Pouliot, Cammalleri and AK46. Expect four Montreal goals, nonetheless.

Long pass for Sergei is just a bit too far and defended well.

Puck sidles backward. Spacek picks it up and passes into the neutral zone. Intercepted. Caps are back in. Semi-dangerous shot from the high slot is one-juggle-glove and a faceoff.

D’Agostini takes it in.

He is working with Metropolit. D’Agostini is playing as if he has been in les gradins for more than three weeks. Looking before he passes and even backchecking past his own end-line. That is a first.

Long shot on Price is handled and directed easily to the right. Puck is pushed back out.

Caps enter offside.

Brunet says that when a team can have a Brendan Morrison as third-line centre, it speaks well of their depth.

Gionta has it on the circle on Capital ice. Sends it to the high slot for an advancing O’Byrne who shoots quickly. Stopped for a faceoff.

And another faceoff takes place following a long Montreal shot.

Caps look for space in the Montreal slot but are covered well by Markov and O’Byrne. Gomez is back, too. Bad-angle shot is captured by Price.

Faceoff.

Plekanec line is on. They win the faceoff and move out quickly. Offside.

Caps win the draw. Rush. Ovie has it inside the blue. He turns it over.

Hamrlik’s pass for Darche is intercepted at the Washington blue.

Pace slows some.

Price handles it. Shoots it to the boards.

Canadiens finally make it out.

D’Agostini and Metropolit move the puck along the boards for about five seconds. Caps exit.

Ovechkin has it inside the blue line. Shoots. Play is whistled. Commercial.

Another whistle after a Gionta line incursion.

The Capitals are on an unbelievable fourteen-win streak.

Canadiens win the faceoff. Gomez works along the boards. Sends it to Markov for a shot. Big rebound and O’Byrne sends a wrister from the other side. Neuvirth manages to trap it.

Moments after the whistle, Neuvirth races for the Capital bench on a delayed call against Montreal. Ben Maxwell. Hooking. Caps can’t take advantage of the brief extra man. But we go to a full power-play with just under eight minutes left in the first period.

Another whistle. Draw is outside the Montreal blue line.

Canadiens clear the puck out on the first segment.

Moen and Plekanec are the first kill pairing.

Ovie enters and turns it over.

Gionta leads a two-on-one but his pass is flopped on. By Green. Pharaoh’s block.

Caps set it up.

Eric Fehr’s shot from the high slot deflects into the crowd.

Caps are struggling to establish the power-play. Hamrlik snarls the puck inside the Cap blue.

And another reset by Washington leads to a non-shot possession as the penalty runs out.

Pyatt is on the ice.

Teams change lines.

It’s in the neutral zone. David Steckel picks up the puck and drops it at the blue line for defenceman-led rush. Washington turns it over.

These two teams are among the league leaders in giveaways. Montreal has 746 for second place and Washington is ninth with 570.

Caps step up the efforts. Canadiens are behind a step. Awkward shot to Price’s left seems to hit the post. Canadiens survive.

Washington ices soon afterward.

And another whistle on a short-side save by Neuvirth.

We are informed that five Capitals are on Olympic teams. No Canadians. Three Rooskies.

Fleischmann sends a high shot off Price. Puck goes to the corner.

Caps are called.

Montreal enters offside. Gionta is also called.

Four-on-four. Brunet says it was accidental.

Plekanec and Kostitsyn are the Montreal pairing.

Spacek and Hamrlik are the defenders.

Ovechkin and Backstrom are the Washington pairing.

The open ice is closed quickly by Lapierre and Gomez. Washington’s entry is nullified.

Canadiens resume control. Hamrlik has it. Sends it to the opposite corner from the neutral zone but it’s intercepted by Ovechkin.

Light entry on the right results in a soft shot and whistle.

Just under a minute in the first. Shout it Out Loud echoes over the PA system.

Puck is trapped on the boards in the neutral zone. Pyatt tries to gain control but the Caps come up with.

Semin now dives to keep a puck in play in the Montreal zone. Succeeds. Long shot. Gorges is down. Whistle.

Gorges is not moving and is face down.

Brunet says that the puck hit the defenceman in the head.

There is blood on the ice. A doctor is brought out. Two officials escort him by the arms to keep him from slipping. He’s in dress shoes.

Crowd cheers as Gorges gets up. He is on his feet and holding the lower left side of his face.

There is blood on his neck. Brunet guesses if he got hit in the ear. We see the replay and we see that the puck hit Gorges in the back of the head. Martin’s arms are folded and he looks queasy and concerned.

Tragically Hip blares now.

Faceoff is to Price’s right. One second in Gionta’s penalty.

Ten seconds in the period.

Faceoff is a draw. Caps get on it in three seconds. They send a pass to the blue line. Shot. Deflects away before it gets to Price.

Shots are in favour of Washington 14 to nine.

And I realise only now that Alain Crete was doing play-by-play and not Pierre Houde. What. What.

First Intermission
Montreal 1, Washington 1

Francois Gagnon says that predicting how successful new general manager Pierre Gauthier will be is like picking the 6/49 numbers. He reviews Gauthier’s history.

Jacques congratulates the RDS film-crew for not showing the replay of Gorges’ injury again and again. He says that kids at home should be spared this. He throws a few other appropriate bouquets.

Lavoie asks Demers what he thinks of Jeff Carter being named as a replacement player for Team Canada. Demers is upset about it and asks what’s wrong with Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis. Bouchard balances it by saying that they are going with younger players.

Again, nobody wants to be labeled a separatist. Well, Jacques ain’t worried, I venture. Let’s see what Michel says after the game.

Team Canada’s process is a joke. A late-night, gin and rum-soaked Conn Smythe joke.

Tom Pyatt is interviewed. Long time since we’ve seen an Anglo interview. But Pyatt gives us the most annoying of good Canadian boy tones in his responses; faux modesty and artificial “I am a hockey player” assurance. Ontario prima donna pedigree.

Second Period
Washington 1, Montreal 1

Gomez starts the period. Faceoff is won by the Devil. And the Canadiens take it down for two sequences. Second one ends in a goal. (I should have explained that second phrase, eh. I didn’t. Some of y’all know what I mean. Others think I need to get to church. And they’re right.)

Good passing. Gomez finishes with a pass to the circle for a one-timer from O’Byrne and the rebound is potted by Pyatt. Boy, does Pyatt annoy me. Yeah, yeah, I’m sure he’s a great guy. Or maybe not. We shall see.

Montreal 2, Washington 1

Caps score on the next incursion. Beauty play. Ovie to Backstrom from circle to circle. Price falls like a bad super-villain cover.

First hard hit of the night is recorded by the Capitals. Behind Neuvirth. Clean. Play continues for a few seconds til Washington ices.

Lapierre line is next. They keep it in.

Maxwell and Lapierre do the most work. Desharnais plays the evil spirit in front of Neuvirth; circling til he gets a one-timer chance. I like this line.

Re-entry.

Long shot from Spacek. Out and in again. But Montreal goes offside.

Gionta shakes his head. He thinks it was onside, perhaps.

Caps go in offside, now.

Ovie is talking to Darche. They have unfriendly smiles. Both return to their respective benches. Number eight didn’t like something about the lecturer’s check.

Metropolit plays the game like a champion. No shifts off, inventive, skilled and a positive attitude. Quick skate to send the puck along the boards is almost balletic in its one-foot-up-on-a-chair angularity. Backward kick.

A strange feeling of nostalgia for Islander goalie Glenn Resch comes over me. I couldn’t even tell you why or how. I guess I liked hockey when I was a kid, eh.

Play resumes.

Knuble is in on the right side and sends a soft one that Price gloves. Arret. Stop.

Commercial.

I guess there are worse people to emulate than Wayne Gretzky.

Theodore is warming up. What. Neuvirth is shaking his head on the bench. He seems in pain.

No explanations yet. Jose Theodore. Our former favourite Hart winner.

Crowd chants Theo, Theo. It’s hard to tell if it’s derisive. It continues past the whistle.

Too many men on the ice.

And in the meantime, Gomez missed a chance alone in front of Jose.

Chanting stops. Cap coach Boudreau yells at the refs. Another NHL coach that reminds me of you, Karlo.

Penalty is against Washington.

First segment is along the boards and ends quickly. Steckel causes problems. And Bradley gets a backhand chance on Price. Then the puck is repelled at the Washington blue.

Next entry ends in an interception by Plekanec.

Forty-two seconds left in the penalty.

They get some control. Two passes. Shot by Spacek. High and wide. Wild shot [Walton].

Eight passes. Nine. Ten.

Eleven.

Finally a shot by Markov. Wide. Puck is poked at Theo by the net. Easy stop.

Penalty ends.

Canadiens maintain control.

And it ends along the boards.

Washington gets two possessions with no decent shots. Price scoops a puck up. Commercial.

Ten minutes left in the second period.

Brunet says he is not very impressed with Ovechkin tonight. Crete chuckles.

Canadiens. Speed. Pressure. Increases. More. How did they not score.

Empty net miss. And. Theodore traps it.

Canadiens resume control and mood. Gomez down low. Move. Loses. Regains. Sends it to the point. Shot from Markov.

Washington penalty.

Gomez is on. And he is on.

Sniping. And searching.

Washington avoids another near-goal. The frequency of quality chances on this incursion remind me of last season’s offensives.

Re-entry. Energy. Passing. Down low. Shot. Rebound. Goal. Metropolit.

Hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey.

That’s how you play the game.

Theo chant gets very loud.

Refs talk through the glass porthole. Black phone wire. And we wait.

Montreal 3, Washington 2

Brunet says it should be a goal. He adds that the skate was indeed placed in position for a deflection but because there was no forward motion that the goal should stand. Me, I don’t know.

They rule it good.

It’s Metro’s twelfth of the season.

Canadiens score again. Lapierre.

From Kostitsyn. From the circle to the slot. I almost weep from happiness.

Canadiens 4, Capitales 2

Theo chant is even louder.

Sometimes the only good thing is the scoring. Sometimes scoring is all you need. Sometimes scoring.

Caps get in. Looking incisor. High shot. Price goes low and traps high in the sky.

Faceoff.

Canadiens are back in. Lapierre again.

Moen is circling the net. Caps exit.

Montreal stands around. Someone takes a heavy, heavy hit from Ovechkin. Standing up and knocked down. Price made a great save and got no help from three guys. Don’t ask the refs for help or mercy. Cover your man.

Puck slides in. It will stand.

Montreal 4, Washington 3

And they say no goal. Boudreau clears two players out of his way, stands at the boards and listens. I really like Bruce Boudreau. He tries not to blow up as he debates the call.

Boudreau keeps his composure. Refs keep their call.

Montreal 4, Washington 2

Under six minutes.

High puck. Glass echo. Vulcan. Penalty. Against Montreal.

Commercial.

Now Ovie is having a chat with the refs. He is on my nerves today.

Just let the refs do their job. And maybe they should just have named a veteran captain of this team. Like Langway.

Whatever.

Price gloves a puck that slides to him.

Fourteen game streak, whatever.

Where is Bob?

Post.

Puck leaves. Stay out.

Ovie carries it in like a sports car. Veering. Herbie. What kind of sports car did you think I meant?

Whistle.

Children, go to bed now. It’s gonna get ugly.

Faceoff.

Teams are hitting.

Caps are annoyed.

Canadiens don’t give a hoot. They are in.

Lapierre again. He has some eloquence tonight. Devil’s puck. Behind the net. Looking. Sends it through the slot. Nothin’.

Caps return. But are sent home without a bag of chips. And minus the puck.

Puck goes out of play.

Caps win the faceoff to Price’s, uh, right.

It’s on the boards. Moen loses it.

Semin spins and sends an athlete’s shot to Price. Price is a rhythmic gymnast for a moment. And the rebound is bad. Montreal gets away with it.

Gomez is down again. Plenty of patience and intent. Gionta slides into the net and knocks it off. Whistle. The two discuss things as they return to the bench.

More action. More Montreal. More magic.

Plekanec scores.

Montreal 5, Washington 2

From the slot. Pass from Sergei.

Plekanec stays on the ice. Gionta is there, too.

Crowd is in surge mode.

Gionta is chasing. Caps are nervous.

Gomez intercepts.

Knuble tries to settle ’em down. He’s jammed as he enters the Montreal zone.

Ovie is a barracuda but he obeys the clock. A lesser player would have started a fight after delivering that hit at this point in the game.

A player from Thunder Bay, perhaps? Perhaps? Eh?

Shots are 17-10 in favour of Vos Glorieux. Total is 26-24 for Montreal. Alain Crete laughs and says “les ailes sont gratuites”. Et oui.

Second Intermission
Montreal 5, Washington 2

You know, with all these stupid songs in commercials, it’s a good habit to try and imagine the chumps around the table discussing the (battery or burger) lyrics and then imagine said chumps recording the music itself with all the ardour and sternness of Bob Dylan. What insipid crap. Art hustle.

Not only should commercials be written-only with a community warning scrolling on the right side but they should be soundless, too. How about we just ban commercials altogether.

Bouchard is fired up. We see some pretty puck-handling on the Cap replays. I’m reminded of how talented the last Hab team was. Talent is not enough.

Yeah, yeah.

Demers talks about Neuvirth a bit. Then he references the NFL. He wants to know what the details are on injuries. Renaud Lavoie adds that in a serious league, we are told what is going on. Oh, get over it. In a league run by gambling interests, we are told what is going on. Be glad that this league, your NHL, doesn’t have the same type of transparency.

The game is more important than the media.

The game is also more important than the fans.

Interview is with David Desharnais. He is five-six. Listed at five-seven. He plays well. He is considered one of the best players to go through Cincinnati (home of the Cyclones; Montreal’s ECHL affiliate).

Third Period
Montreal 5, Washington 2

Plekanec takes a tripping penalty thirteen seconds into the period.

Green from the blue line. Scores.

Montreal 5, Washington 3

Good wrister. None of us can tell if it was deflected.

[Expletive deleted]

Gionta line is on.

Gomez nearly takes a puck away. He is like a phantom tonight. Smooth and frightening. I hope he can play like this for the rest of the season.

Now he comes in against and makes a nearly perfect decision to lob the puck into the corner for a winger. He is really looking dangerous.

Tom Poti up for Fleischmann.

Entry ends down the middle in front of Price.

Semin has it on the circles. Interception.

Caps breakout gets space enough for long passes.

Pass crosses. Price falls. Puck hits the post going across. Canadiens get it back.

Markov and O’Byrne are doing well together. Parallel and guarding. Price’s support is excellent. He’ll handle the shots, you guys handle the coverage. The team is playing well defensively on these first few shifts.

Caps send a puck into the crowd.

Faceoff is between Gomez and Pyatt.

Puck escapes the Capitals and they have to retrieve. Then they turn it over on the blue line and nearly give up a rush to Gomez. But he is offside on the play.

Kostitsyn. On with Darche. They enter. Kostitsyn enters, I mean. Move. Nicer move. Keeps it. Shoots after another move. Too soft. Too sharp an angle. Play is stopped.

Darche gets a shot off the faceoff.

They create. Kostitsyn moves it with vigour. Vinegar on a stick.

Plekanec gets a shot from the circles. Whistle soon afterward.

Caps send it to the neutral zone. Canadiens re-enter.

Winger. Works it down. Metro picks it up. Shoots. Whistle soon afterward.

Lapierre intercepts deep. Terrible turnover. Lapierre can’t create anything in the middle.

Metro. I dunno. I prefer not using the nicknames. But Metro is very tempting. And typing Metropolit is almost as carpal as Kostitsyn.

I rest my fingers for a moment and just watch.

Puck is on the Montreal blue. Kostitsyn flips it over a Cap stick. We’re off. Three on two. Kostitsyn pushing it. Waiting. Two-handed backhand pass from right to left. For Plekanec. It’s an awkward lane. Plekanec can’t get enough on it because of that. Save. But Washington holds on the play.

It’s called.

Commercial.

This ad has been staring out of my laptop for hours without me realizing its impact. “Get Your Russia Gear” … it’s on the Capital website. The Washington Capital website. The Washington DC Capitals website. It’s for team Russia hockey wearables. Team Russia. The Big Red Bear. Man, things have changed.

Canadiens power-play. Zip and pep.

Lightning jar of pickles.

Caps finally clear it at the halfway point of the man-advantage.

Lines change. Canadiens regroup.

Metropolit has it.

Markov has a goal.

Theodore gloves the goal. No goal. What a save.

Markov had slid up to his usual sneak spot at the left faceoff circle (left from the offensive point of view). I was only watching Markov. Oy.

Caps get a two-on-one. Laich. Carrying it. Keeps. Shoots. Five-hole. Goal.

Sugar.

Oy. Oy.

Montreal 5, Washington 4

Eleven minutes left in the game.

Brunet was right. There was more to come. “Quelle spectacle ce soir,” dit Benoit.

D’Agostini line is on. Youppi is in the corner sitting and watching, all orange and furry.

Action goes to the other end. Ovie skates unchecked. Finally the Caps turn it over.

D’Agostini delivers more effort than normal.

Metropolit is waiting for a puck but D’Agostini falls. After he lost the puck. A bit of exaggeration? Hard to say.

Two rushes either way. Penalty is called.

Commercial.

So that Russian ad. Ovie is in it with a stunned expression. And he’s wearing his Russian jersey. That coat of arms is so busy and so ugly. The Russian team should consider updating their look. I’d get one but it’s too ugly for even me to wear.

I have some, uh, key near-ugly items in my closet. Go-to items. You’d say they’re ugly. I’d say I have brass.

Penalty is against Brendan Morrison. The great Brendan Morrison from Pitt Meadows, BC.

Wide shot from Markov.

Caps clear.

Gomez is on with Gionta and Plekanec. Martin is pushing for a goal. That’s what this alignment means.

Second segment is along the boards and out.

Now Semin skates to the Montreal blue line and back to Washington’s before loosing (yes, loosing) the puck. How irritating.

Canadiens control for about eight seconds.

Whistle while the puck is carried through the neutral zone.

Hal Gill is called. He is annoyed. I finally realise who he reminds me of; Dan Crifo. Former Blue Bomber Rob Crifo’s little brother. Uh, well, not that little.

Gomez. Point blank. More point blank. Theodore.

This is supposed to be Washington’s power-play. They get it back. They set up. Some passing. Backstrom is dangerously placed in the mid-slot. Nobody can get him the puck.

Now it’s cleared out.

Washington sets up again.

They move it around. Maybe five perimeter passes. Then they go offside.

Brendan Morrison is out of the box. He gallops toward Price and then slaps it. To the crest. Price holds it. Faceoff. And commercial. Loud and annoying. It gets the mute. As usual.

Yeah, so those red jerseys. And the whole CCCP thing is out, stigmatized. I’d go with black jerseys with a white sickle and hammer with a touch of red. I’d use the CCCP thing anyway. Or maybe USSR. Or perhaps invent something. Just put Moscow on there. Or a big red square. What. You have a better idea?

We resume. Caps make it look like a power-play. Just for a few seconds. Canadiens make it look like a power-play. They ice it.

Gill is hurt somehow. But he has to stay on the ice. No go. Rules say that Gill has to stay on.

Canadiens win the faceoff. Two passes and they are on the way. Gill stays on the ice.

Finally Markov is on.

Whistle. Line infraction.

Replay shows that Gill took the puck in the jock. Brunet mentions family jewels. Which culture coined it, I wonder.

About a quarter-period left.

Faceoff to his left. Price’s left, I mean.

Ovie is on. Strange along-ice golf shot makes it to Price’s stick. Ovie shot it from the side-boards.

Canadiens push the puck out. Pyatt is chasing. Green wins the race. Starts the Caps.

Drive down the right side. Gill pokes it away from behind. Very slick.

Laich is in now. Right side. Hard. Brakes. Just as hard. Tries to make something happen with the space but nobody is open.
Montreal is called.

Hooking.

Metropolit.

And that’s why nobody was open. He took down Mike Knuble in the slot. Made it look accidental. Watching old veterans is always educational.

Two and a half minutes.

Plekanec pushes the puck out. Caps can’t get set up right away.

Fleischmann splits three guys. Three guys. Price stops it.

Replay shows it was really two guys with a trailer. Good save, either way. To his knees going left to right.

Faceoff.

Green sends it in. And it’s out just as quickly.

Gionta gets it going the other way. He is taken down. They ignore it.

Theodore leaves the crease.

Crowd is booing the non-call.

Caps set it up. Six against four. A minute in the game. Thirty seconds in the penalty.

At the circle. To Price’s right. Waiting. Shot. Gloved. Price.

Faceoff. No. Timeout.

Boudreau is on the white board.

Ovechkin is low on the ice, almost squatting and listening to Boudreau. Another coach that has the full attention of his players.

They return to position.

We hear Sandstorm by Darude.

Faceoff. Price’s left.

Plekanec loses it.

Semin shoots advancing from the circle. Nope.

Now it’s behind the net.

They roll out. Shot attempt. Stopped. Golfed out. No icing. Just before the penalty ended.

Caps re-enter.

Left side. Puck goes the other way. Full horizontal. Shot from about 5 degrees. And it gets deflected in. By Brooks Laich. Blinking luck.

Time.

Siren.

Tie. What balderdash.

Shots are 12-9 for Washington. They lead 36-35.

I hope Bob missed this part.

Overtime
Montreal 5, Washington 5

Four-on-four.

Fourteen, my hat.

Gomez and Gionta are the first pairing.

Gomez wins the faceoff.

Spacek and Hamrlik are the defencemen. They are tightly covered by the Caps. Backstrom and Ovechkin.

Canadiens get it in. Then they leave to keep possession. Circle back. Change lines. Retain.

Ovie exits.

Skates with exaggerated emotion; like Lynn Swann. He loses the puck. I am running so hard. I am skating so hard.

As time goes on, the enemy becomes the enemy.

Fleischmann and Semin are the next Washington pairing.

They get an entry. A dangerous shot. And five seconds later a dangerous pass.

Gomez and Gionta exit.

Gionta tries a sharp-angle special. You know what he can do. Magick.

Schultz is in on the other end for Washington. Shot from sharp angle.

Knuble drives down the right next.

Poked away.

Canadiens are doing good work to keep the Caps from the puck. Great sense of urgency from the defensive.

Ovie is on. Wild, hard shot. Not so wild. Every bit as hard. (As your worst memories)

Just over a minute.

Pyatt enters. Slides a puck to Theodore as he drives left. Waste.

Theo snares it. Pyatt was pushed off the drive line by Schultz. The great Tom Pyatt.

Faceoff. Long shot by Gill. Something but nothing.

Caps respond. Their drive is weaker.

Canadiens re-enter.

Gomez is playing an Olympian game.

Dives to keep the puck in play. Pokes it back to the blue. It ends.

Next entry is Plekanec. Drops it for Sergei. Goes to the net. Gets it from Sergei. Pas d’erreur.

Montreal 6
Washington 5 (OT)

HDS Stars: Scott Gomez, Nicklas Backstrom, Alexander Semin
RDS Stars: Sergei Kostitsyn, Brooks Laich, Tom Pyatt

Tomas Plekanec gets a quark. So does Sergei Kostitsyn.

(Tom Pyatt is interviewed about his first NHL goal in the dressing room after the game and he says it’s good to get the first one out of the way in a way that implies he expects about 600 more. Like Dino. Uh. I don’t think so. Get over yourself.)

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1. Montreal Canadiens vs. Washington Capitals (Game Seven)
2. Montreal Canadiens vs. Washington Capitals (Game Six)
3. Montreal Canadiens vs. Washington Capitals (Game Five)
4. Montreal Canadiens vs. Washington Capitals (Game Four)
5. Montreal Canadiens vs. Washington Capitals (Game Three)
6. Montreal Canadiens vs. Washington Capitals (Game Two)