Washington Capitalizes on a pair of goals from Huberdeau in win over Boston
Boston Bruins (1) vs Washington Capitals (3).........
Washington hosted the Bruins on Saturday at the Alpine Center in Landover. The Caps 6-1 in their last seven games were sitting 5th in their conference before game time. As for the Bruins they 3-7 in their last ten games, hard pressed to be considered for a play-off spot they sit 8 points out of eighth with four teams ahead of them. It's fair to say their next half dozen games will tell if they are contenders or pretenders.
The Capitals struck for two goals in the first twenty minutes as Brent Burns (5th) at 12:35 snapped a shot in behind Ryan Miller after teammate Mike Green had fired wide of the six by four, then second year pro Jonathan Huberdeau scored his 12th of the year with under two minutes remaining in the opening frame when he picked up a lose puck in the slot and wristed a shot over Miller's right arm. Capital's defenseman Jeff Petry was ejected for instigating a fight with Bruin's Brooks Orpik after the latter had thrown a devastating body check on Petry moments earlier. The Caps led 9-4 in shots after one.
Washington would play the rest of the game with five defensemen but it really didn't seem to show on the ice.
Vincent Lecavalier notched his 12th of the season on the powerplay at 7:08 of the middle stanza while one of Washington's top penalty killers, Daniel Paille was off serving a hooking minor. Washington held a 17-15 shot advantage after 40 minutes.
Jonathan Huberdeau would give the Caps back their two goal lead at 4:16 of the third as he grabbed a rebound off of a Chris Phillips blocked shot and went backhand - forehand past Miller for the insurance marker.
MOLSON'S 3 STARS:
1 - Jonathan Huberdeau (Was)...... Scored twice and was a +2 on the night.
2 - Brent Burns (Was).................... Scored once, was a +2 while playing almost twenty-two and a half minutes.
3 - Mike Smith (Was)..................... Washington's Mike Smith wasn't overly busy during the game but did stop 21 of 22 shots for his 31st win of the season.
Reporting For The WCHL Network....
Peter Puck
Washington hosted the Bruins on Saturday at the Alpine Center in Landover. The Caps 6-1 in their last seven games were sitting 5th in their conference before game time. As for the Bruins they 3-7 in their last ten games, hard pressed to be considered for a play-off spot they sit 8 points out of eighth with four teams ahead of them. It's fair to say their next half dozen games will tell if they are contenders or pretenders.
The Capitals struck for two goals in the first twenty minutes as Brent Burns (5th) at 12:35 snapped a shot in behind Ryan Miller after teammate Mike Green had fired wide of the six by four, then second year pro Jonathan Huberdeau scored his 12th of the year with under two minutes remaining in the opening frame when he picked up a lose puck in the slot and wristed a shot over Miller's right arm. Capital's defenseman Jeff Petry was ejected for instigating a fight with Bruin's Brooks Orpik after the latter had thrown a devastating body check on Petry moments earlier. The Caps led 9-4 in shots after one.
Washington would play the rest of the game with five defensemen but it really didn't seem to show on the ice.
Vincent Lecavalier notched his 12th of the season on the powerplay at 7:08 of the middle stanza while one of Washington's top penalty killers, Daniel Paille was off serving a hooking minor. Washington held a 17-15 shot advantage after 40 minutes.
Jonathan Huberdeau would give the Caps back their two goal lead at 4:16 of the third as he grabbed a rebound off of a Chris Phillips blocked shot and went backhand - forehand past Miller for the insurance marker.
MOLSON'S 3 STARS:
1 - Jonathan Huberdeau (Was)...... Scored twice and was a +2 on the night.
2 - Brent Burns (Was).................... Scored once, was a +2 while playing almost twenty-two and a half minutes.
3 - Mike Smith (Was)..................... Washington's Mike Smith wasn't overly busy during the game but did stop 21 of 22 shots for his 31st win of the season.
Reporting For The WCHL Network....
Peter Puck
