Ovechkin's 4 Goals Lift Capitals to Upset
Capitals 8, Senators 6

By Tarik El-Bashir
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, December 30, 2007

OTTAWA, Dec. 29 -- If Alex Ovechkin was less than 100 percent because of stitches in his thigh, it wasn't evident Saturday night against the Ottawa Senators.

Ovechkin notched the first four-goal game of his career and added an assist to lead the Washington Capitals to a wild 8-6 victory, their second triumph over the Eastern Conference's best team at Scotiabank Place this season.

"Today, I shoot everything and everything go in," Ovechkin said, flashing his gap-toothed smile. "Right now I don't think about 60 goals [because] we win. It was fun game, I think, for fans to watch."

Asked about his right leg, which was sliced by an opponent's skate blade on Thursday in Pittsburgh, "It was some pain, but it's okay," he said.

Ovechkin's outburst pushed his goal total to 30, putting him solidly in second place in the league behind Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk, who has 32. But more important, the win moved the Capitals out of last place, sending them past the Tampa Bay Lightning into 14th in the Eastern Conference.

"We've been there probably since the 10th game of the year," Coach Bruce Boudreau said of lingering at the bottom of the conference standings. "It's nice to see that your hard work is progressing. It means we're going in the right direction."

Michael Nylander chipped in with two goals and Nicklas Backstrom and Alexander Semin each had a goal and two assists to complement Ovechkin's performance. Olie Kolzig stopped 16 shots, but gave up three goals to Mike Fisher, all in the third period.

Saturday's game could have gone either way during an unpredictable final frame, which began with the Capitals leading 5-2.

The Senators pulled within a goal three times, with Daniel Alfredsson pushing a puck just wide of the net with 37 seconds remaining that would have tied the score at 7.

Ovechkin clinched it with an empty-net goal nine second later, though, shooting the puck from deep in the Capitals' zone.

In Washington's last visit to Ottawa on Nov. 8, the Capitals won, 4-1, and snapped the Senators' franchise-best eight-game winning streak. Saturday night, they handed the Senators just their ninth regulation loss.

"A win is a win, is a win is a win," Boudreau said. He also praised Ovechkin's performance, saying: "I haven't seen him that on. He wanted ice. You just knew something was in the air."

Ovechkin's playing status was not determined until game time. Thirteen Capitals forwards, in fact, took the warmup just in case.

But he decided he would play. And did he ever.

Ovechkin put five shots on net in 21 minutes 21 seconds of ice time.

"I can't remember when I scored four goals in a game," he said. "It's a great feeling."

Nylander added: "He's an amazing player. He works hard. He has a tremendous passion for scoring goals. He shoots from anywhere. He plays like this every game."

Washington was dominant in the first period, out-shooting the Senators 11-2 and outscoring them 2-1 as the home fans voiced their displeasure on several occasions.

Semin put the Capitals ahead 1-0 only 61 seconds into the game after a Senators mix-up behind the goal. Ovechkin stretched the lead to 2-0 at 4:45 with his 12th power-play goal, blasting the puck past Martin Gerber (22 saves) between the pads.

Ottawa didn't notch its first shot on Kolzig until 11:34. Until that point, Kolzig's only save had been on shot that had been accidentally directed on net by a teammate.

But moments later, the Senators cut the Capitals' lead to 2-1 thanks to a power-play goal on a fluky bounce. Alfredsson's pass through the slot hit Boyd Gordon's stick, fluttered up in the air, then nipped defenseman Tom Poti's glove as he attempted to bat it away. The puck landed behind Kolzig and sneaked over the line at 12:13.

Ovechkin finished a two-on-one with Poti early in the second period to put the Capitals ahead 3-1 and Nylander made it 4-1 when he tapped in a power-play crossing pass from Backstrom.

Alfredsson scored on a penalty shot after being hauled down by Mike Green midway through the period, but Backstrom restored the Capitals' three-goal lead with 2.6 seconds remaining in the period when he fired the puck off the end boards, then tapped it past Gerber to send Washington into the third with a three-goal cushion.

Then things got crazy. But thanks to Ovechkin's pair of goals in the final 6:14, the Capitals were able to laugh after being outscored 4-3 in the third period.

"When you preach defensive hockey, that's exactly what you want," Boudreau cracked, "is a game like that."

Capitals Notes: Right wing Chris Clark missed his 14th consecutive game with a strained groin muscle. In all, the captain has missed 22 of the team's 39 games because of injuries. . . . Winger Matt Pettinger and defensemen Steve Eminger and John Erskine were healthy scratches.