The Curious Case of Alexander Semin
Alexander Semin, center, celebrates a goal after another torrid night. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
But when asked by Comcast SportsNet's Lisa Hillary if Alexander Ovechkin's captaincy is helping Semin (Hillary pointed out Semin has 17 points in the 10 games since Ovie started wearing the C), Boudreau couldn't completely rule it out.
"If it's because Ovie's captain, that's great," Boudreau said. "Whatever it is, I don't want it to not continue."
So what have Semin's teammates noticed about his play?
"He's really been playing hard," Tom Poti said. "I think everyone wants him to shoot the puck as much as he can, 'cause he has a pretty sick shot, so, he's been doing that for us."
Semin, for one, doesn't seem to think he's changed much.
"I haven't really changed anything, I just play the way I play," he told reporters after the game via translator Dmitri Chesnokov. "Sometimes I shoot to score, sometimes I give a pass. It depends on the situation, really. It's just situational hockey for me."
Whatever's the reason, Capitals fans can only hope it continues. Every time the Caps got a goal Saturday, Semin had a hand in it (of course, there was also a delay of game penalty that put the Caps at a brief 5-on-3 disadvantage). Semin and Eric Fehr both had assists on Brooks Laich's goal, which was the first of the game, before finding the net themselves. Laich didn't get on the board again, but he did get punched in the face in the third (don't worry, ladies -- his face is fine, there was no apparent damage) which gave the Caps a two-minute power play.
It was a feisty finish for a game that Boudreau had worried would be an emotional letdown after big wins over the Penguins, Red Wings, and the Flyers earlier this week. But the Caps' victory Saturday rounded out an impressive trifecta -- in one week, Washington's defeated the gold standard of NHL franchises (Detroit), the current Stanley Cup champions (Pittsburgh), and a group of hot new upstarts from the opposite conference (Phoenix).
Another stat that was floating around during gameday was that Ovechkin had never scored a goal on goalie Ilya Bryzgalov, who was in net for the Coyotes Saturday. Ironically, Ovie did get a goal in this game -- an empty-netter in the final moments of the third. Ah, Bryzgalov -- you'll get yours someday.