After 11-Round Shootout, Caps Emerge With Win
Alex Semin was all over the ice Wednesday, helping Chris Clark and
Semyon Varlamov push the Caps past the tricky Islanders. Photo by choofly.
Chris Clark was the eleventh Cap to take the ice in a shootout against the New York Islanders Wednesday night, and only the second Cap to score, but the captain's tally was one the Islanders – who have taken each of the three games against the Caps this year into overtime – couldn't match.
But before all the drama of the marathon shootout, the game began with an offensive lightning bolt: Alexander Semin scored after but eight seconds had ticked off the first period clock. Within seven minutes, however, the Islanders had three against starting goalie Jose Theodore, who head coach Bruce Boudreau then pulled for Semyon Varlamov.
Boudreau said he didn't like pulling Theodore, particularly that early in the game, but that he will definitely play again this week for the Caps.
"He looked a little rattled, and he looked a little down, and it wasn't like pulling him when the game was out of reach -- we had so much time left." Boudreau said. "The last time he was pulled, Varly came in and shut the door, so I thought he would be able to do it again."
Center Mathieu Perreault, who survived his first NHL shootout and was the sixth skater Boudreau sent out to face Isles goalie Dwayne Roloson, agreed that the goalie switch changed the team's mindset.
"I think we let Jose down in the first period," Perreault said. "[Varly] came in and made some big saves." (For the record, Boudreau said Perreault looks like he has that 'x' factor which 'sparks any line he plays on.')
Inspired, the Caps fought back to take the lead with goals from Tomas Fleischmann in the first and Semin and Eric Fehr in the second. But the third period discipline problems which have plagued the Caps in recent games against New Jersey and Florida again floated to the surface. Called for three penalties in the third, the Caps eventually conceded, allowing New York's Trent Hunter to even the score at four with just over two minutes remaining in the game.
If you were a fan, it might have been for the better. The shootout that followed must have had even NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, who was in attendance, raising his eyebrows. The Caps sent out, in order: Nicklas Backstrom, Semin (who scored), Brendan Morrison, Fleischmann, Brooks Laich, Perreault, Mike Green, Mike Knuble, Fehr, and Matt Bradley, before Clark finally found the net for the win. Varlamov, who stopped 10 straight one-on-ones, now has another highlight reel worthy of YouTube despite letting the Islander's first skater, Jeff Tambellini, send one past him.
Varlamov and Clark could both be the man of the match, but that honor probably goes to Semin, who contributed two goals and has been under pressure to step up his game since Alex Ovechkin remains on the shelf. Semin told DCist (via Dmitry Chesnokov, who graciously served as translator) that he thought it was a special night.
"Today was simply one of my best games, period," Semin said. "I'm happy because I could do a lot of things today I couldn't do before, and Alex and I, we both, play a major part, and... we have to return the trust that is put in us."
Boudreau said the game was a good example of what Semin can do when he comes ready to play, but he also said Semin, when he wants to play, could have even more goals.
"He's scary good when he's motivated," Boudreau said.