Caps Thankful for Varly in 2-0 Win
Semyon Varlamov, pictured here at training camp, provided a sparkling
performance in a 2-0 shutout of Buffalo last night. Photo by photopete.
The Caps -- who had dropped three straight games and four of their last five -- were nursing a one-goal lead in the third against Buffalo Wednesday night, when Alex Ovechkin was called for a five minute boarding penalty after a hit on Patrick Kaleta and given a game ejection for misconduct with 16:22 left. But with the pressure on, the Caps' penalty kill, with Varlamov anchoring, came through twice: first during Ovechkin's lengthy penalty, and then during a Mike Green delay of game penalty later in the period. Eventually, Eric Fehr found the net to push the score to 2-0 and seal the win.
Head coach Bruce Boudreau told reporters afterward he'd already watched the clip of Ovechkin's hit "half a dozen" times and thought it warranted, at most, a two-minute minor.
"He hits him in the shoulder, and Kaleta saw him coming," Boudreau said, adding that Kaleta cries wolf frequently.
Caps center Jay Beagle had a similar take.
"[Ovechkin] made a great hit, I thought -- the guy just kind of turned," Beagle said.
Ovechkin was diplomatic when asked if he thought it was a penalty.
"If the ref decide[s] to give me a penalty, it's a penalty," Ovechkin said.
The prolific forward said there wasn't anything between him and Kaleta and that he was just finishing a check -- and, in typical Ovie-style, confirmed he'll continue to play his game.
"I'm not gonna change," Ovechkin said.
"I think it spurred our team on to, for once, let's come to [Ovechkin's] defense," Boudreau said of the Caps' ensuing penalty kills.
Though the Caps' offense started out slow (it took till 8:27 left in the first period for them to get two shots on goal), Ovechkin helped out with a nice goal in the first on a wicked wrist shot, his 17th of the season. Varlamov remained strong at the other end, where it certainly seemed like he stopped double the 25 shots on goal Buffalo ended up with at the end of the third. Verizon Center rocked with chants of 'Varly,' and the goaltender received the first star of the game.
"Varly was solid. It was like he was saying, 'I'm not letting this happen to me again in the third period,'" Boudreau said.
The Caps will take today off before going on the road Saturday at Montreal.