Alex Semin was all over the ice Wednesday, helping Chris Clark and
Semyon Varlamov push the Caps past the tricky Islanders. Photo by choofly.

Welcome back, Captain Clark – with a little help from his trusty sidekicks Alex and Semyon, of course.

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.’)