Last night the Capitals continued their domination of the once-mighty Ottawa Senators with a 5-1 win at home. Goalie Brent Johnson had fans asking “Olaf who?” as he held the Senators scoreless until the game’s final minutes, stopping every shot and holding on to every puck that came near him.

The Senators tried everything to throw Johnson off his game. They tripped him. They slashed at him with their sticks. They even body checked him to the ice a couple times. Goalie pads only offer strong protection on the front of the goalie’s body, which faces pucks, but Johnson came back after the Senators threw him repeatedly on his back. When Johnson starts, former MVP Jose Theodore usually backs him up, and vice versa. Today Theodore suffered a hip-flexor injury before the game, and the Caps looked everywhere for a backup goalie.

They called up Simeon Varlamov, their first pick from the 2006 NHL draft, but they weren’t sure if he could make it on time. Varlamov plays with the Caps’ top farm club, the AHL’s Hershey Bears, and they were in San Antonio, Texas for a road game. The Caps called up Michal Neuvirth, their second round pick from the 2006 NHL draft — but similarly, they weren’t sure if he’d make it on time from Florida, where the Caps lower farm club, the ECHL South Carolina Stingrays, were on route.

Photos of Brent Johnson on the ice by Eli Resnick.