Jeff Schultz tallied three points and scored
the go-ahead goal on an odd bounce, and the Washington Capitals used three
scores in an 88-second span during the second period to defeat the Atlanta
Thrashers, 5-4, at Philips Arena.
Schultz scored midway through the middle stanza from behind Washington's blue
line, as the puck bounced over the glove of Atlanta goaltender Ondrej Pavelec
at the other end of the ice. Alexandre Giroux, Chris Clark, Eric Fehr and Matt
Bradley each added a goal in the Caps' third consecutive win.
Alex Ovechkin failed to record a point for only the second time this season in
nine games and had scored four goals in his last two contests. Semyon Varlamov
made 22 saves and added an assist on Schultz's goal in the win.
"It wasn't a textbook game, but I think both teams were really sloppy," said
Caps head coach Bruce Boudreau. "Both teams got some pretty soft goals. It
wasn't a very well-played hockey game."
Ilya Kovalchuk scored twice, while Maxim Afinogenov had a goal and an assist
for Atlanta, which had won four of its first six games to open the season. Nik
Antropov added two assists, and Pavelec was pulled in the second period after
giving up five goals on just 14 shots.
Each team tallied twice in the first period, and the Capitals moved in front
thanks to an crazy bounce of the puck.
Schultz was looking for a Washington player up the ice to start a rush, but
his hard pass skipped past all the skaters and in on the Atlanta goaltender.
Just as Pavelec was going to catch the disc, it skipped over his glove and
into the net at 10:20 for a 3-2 lead.
"We had a bad start," Pavelec said. "(The Caps) scored on a breakaway on the
first shot. We came back a little bit, but after the long shot (by Schultz),
it was huge in the game. It was a lucky shot, it hit the ice in front of me,
changed direction. There's nothing I could do out there."
Washington then scored two goals in a 14-second span for a three-goal lead
after two periods. Bradley followed up a rebound in close at 11:34, and Clark
took a favorable bounce off the boards behind the net and beat Pavelec up
high, prompting Atlanta to change goaltenders.
Zach Bogosian scored a shorthanded goal for the Thrashers just under five
minutes into the final period, and, on a late power play, Kovalchuk blasted
a slapshot from the point through traffic with 38.5 seconds remaining to cut
the deficit to one.
Afinogenov had a chance in the final seconds to tie the game, but Varlamov
made a pad save from in close to secure the win.
Early in the contest, Schultz made a nice feed up the ice to Fehr, who was
behind the defense and beat Pavelec top shelf for an early Caps lead at 2:02.
Atlanta was able to tie the game on Afinogenov's backhand flip two minutes
later, but Giroux pushed a puck down low past Pavelec at the eight-minute mark
to put Washington back in front.
After Mike Knuble had a goal disallowed that would have put the Caps ahead by
two, Kovalchuk took a rebound in the slot and scored with 2:58 to go in the
frame for a 2-2 game.
Game Notes
Atlanta's Johan Hedberg stopped all 14 shots he faced in relief of
Pavelec...Washington is now 1-1-0 this season when Ovechkin doesn't record a
point...The Caps won four of the six meetings last season...Kovalchuk has six
first-period goals this season, most in the NHL...Washington played without
forward Alexander Semin, who sat out due to illness...Fehr, Giroux, Schultz
and Clark each scored goal No. 1 of the season...Kovalchuk and Ovechkin share
the league lead in goals with nine.
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