I Just Don't Have It In Me...

Capitals 5, Rangers 4 (OT)

For those who went to college: remember back to college, how bad finals were? Well, they're exponentially worse in graduate school and I just don't have the energy for a full recap.

What a fun game to watch though (especially for how it ended if you're a Caps fan). It's great to see the Capitals step up in certain areas to make up for where they're shaky; on a night when the defense was shaky and Kolzig was average the offense put in five against one of the best defensive teams in the NHL.

I'd like to briefly make a couple notes about Kolzig, who had a bad first period. The first goal wasn't his fault - it was Schultz's for not getting back on Gomez, but man was it frustrating to see another one get through Kolzig's five-hole. The play the led to the second goal wasn't Kolzig's fault either - you can't expect him to stop a bang-bang play like that. But the reason the Rangers even had the puck in the Capitals end was the Kolzig decided to play it out to a Rangers player in the corner rather than freeze it, and you can fault him for that, just as you'd fault a defenseman who failed to get the puck out of the zone and let the other team gain possession without having to clear.

DMG's 3 Stars
(1) Mike Green - 1 goal (game winner), 2 assists, +3, 30:05 of ice time
(2) Joe Motzko - 2 goals, +2
(3) Donald Brashear - 2 assists and a nice fight win

Quick Hits

• The Caps may be 26th in the league in scoring but they've got to be first in goals waived off.
• First period shots: 18-7, Washington. First period faceoffs: 18-9, Washington. First period goals: 2-1, Rangers. Such is the advantage of having a goalie like Henrik Lundqvist.
• Man, the call on Bradley for holding about seven minutes into the third was weak.
• The Mike Green curl-and-drag that almost led to a Caps goal with three seconds left was simply beautiful.