The Fifth Liners

The Washington Capitals should no signs of fading in the absence of star player Alexander Ovechkin last night as they hammered the Philadelphia Flyers 7-0 at the Wells Fargo Center! Things almost got off the wrong start for the visiting capitals when Steve Downie, who was making his debut after arriving from the Colorado Avalanche in mid week, almost beat Capitals goalie Braden Holtby in the opening seconds! But Niklas Backstrom got the party started when after he rifled a shot past Steve Mason after 17.28 to put the away side in front! But it was in the second period that the Capitals should their offensive capabilities and a five goal flurry would soon follow- Joel Ward pushed the advantage to 2-0 after less than 1.24 of the second before Jim Chimera made it three on a breakaway! After Steve Mason's poor display, he was pulled from net shortly after the third goal and replaced by back up Ray Emery. Sadly Emery would fare just as worse when Backstrom grabbed his second off...

The Vancouver Canucks won a closely fought battle against the Washington Capitals last night win a 3-2 win at the Rogers Arena to make it four wins straight under John Tortorella! The home side were given a lucky break after Alex Ovechkin was given a penalty shot for the Capitals after less an a minute played, but Roberto Luongo was on hand to save it and save Vancouver from going behind! Zack Kassian then put the home side in front after 11.31 played but the Canucks were quickly pegged back when Jason Chimera made things a tie game after 14.36. In the second period there were no more goals, but both Luongo and Capitals goalie, Michal Neuvrith were kept busy making several excellent stops- Ovechkins bad luck in front of goal in this game continued when he hit a post! After only 1.52 of the third period played, Mikhail Grabovski scored to edge Washington in front, but Vancouver had no desire to the fans going home disappointed and Ryan Kesler hit home a rebound to make things a ...

A second period flurry by Washington Capitals helped them to a 3-1 win over New York Rangers at the Verizon Center last night and in doing so take a 1-0 game advantage! Carl Hagelin gave the Rangers the lead late in the 1st period, but Washington Captain Alexander Ovechkin scored on a power play early in the second period to give us a tie game! It was then left to Marcus Johansson and Jason Chimera to score late in the 2nd and give the Capitals the win. They were all aided by a great goaltending display by Braden Holtby who made 34 saves in net to keep the Rangers offensive at bay! With two impressive sets of forward lines, the coming games in this series will be one to keep both eyes on!