In a Must-Win, It's Ovechkin
Star Scores Twice for Caps, Who Preserve Playoff Hopes With Sixth Straight Victory: Capitals 4, Lightning 1

By Tarik El-Bashir
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 4, 2008

It was a game the Washington Capitals pretty much had to win to preserve their hopes of earning a playoff berth.

Alex Ovechkin -- with a dramatic third-period goal -- made sure they did.

Ovechkin scored goals 64 and 65, the second breaking a tie early in the final period, to lead the Capitals to a 4-1 victory over the last-place Tampa Bay Lightning last night at Verizon Center.

The win, Washington's sixth in a row -- its longest streak since January 2001 -- and 11th in 12 games, moved the Capitals into the Eastern Conference's eighth and final playoff spot with one game remaining in the regular season.

There are several scenarios that could result in the Capitals sneaking into the playoffs for the first time in five years. But the simplest ones require that they also beat the Florida Panthers tomorrow night and finish with 94 points. In fact, if tonight's Ottawa-Boston game finishes in regulation, the Capitals would control their own playoff fate.

"We haven't gotten anywhere yet," Coach Bruce Boudreau said. "We're in the same position two weeks, two months ago. It comes down to one game. If we win it, it's in our own hands. The guys have played so hard, I just want them to get rewarded."

Boyd Gordon clinched the win with a backhander with 3 minutes 17 seconds left, then Tom Poti added an empty-net goal with 1:08 remaining.

But the big one was scored by -- who else? -- Ovechkin. He rifled a wrist shot from the top of the circles past Karri Ramo with 12:10 left to play to put the Capitals ahead 2-1 and set off a wild celebration on the ice and in the stands, where the Verizon Center patrons once again serenaded Ovechkin with an ear-splitting chant of "M-V-P!"

"He really turns it up when the game's on the line," forward Brooks Laich said. "You've seen that many times. The third period is usually his best period of the hockey game, and tonight was no exception."

Ovechkin's clutch goal helped the Capitals avert a potentially devastating outcome. They had begun to look increasingly frustrated after peppering Ramo, the Lightning's rookie goalie, with 29 shots in the first and second periods, but only managing to squeeze one past him.

Ramo (36 saves) turned away Ovechkin on a semi-breakaway near the midpoint, and the game went into the third even at 1.

"I don't know if it was Ramo making the big saves, or the fact that it was 1-1 late in the game, and knowing what our situation is, guys didn't want to make a mistake," Boudreau said. "Sometimes you just have to play."

Capitals goalie Cristobal Huet was also superb, stopping 18 shots, including one on Vincent Lecavalier from point-blank range about a minute into the third period. Lecavalier left the game a few minutes later with a right shoulder injury caused by a Matt Cooke check in open ice. No penalty was called on the play, and Lightning Coach John Tortorella called it a "cheap shot." Lecavalier will have an MRI exam tomorrow.

Washington's needed victory came without defenseman Shoane Morrisonn, who was hurt late in the first period of Tuesday's 4-1 win over Carolina. The team is calling it an "upper-body" injury, but Morrisonn was favoring his shoulder as he left the ice. Morrisonn's absence left the Capitals with a huge void on the blueline, but they didn't seem to miss a beat without him.

Washington outshot the Lightning 20-5 in the opening period and went into the first intermission tied at 1 after having a goal waved off. It was the most shots the Lightning had allowed in the period this season.

Viktor Kolzov almost scored on the game's first shift, but Tampa Bay responded with a goal of its own at just 39 seconds in.

During a scramble in front of the net, Lightning defenseman Filip Kuba pinched down low and flipped a loose puck past Huet, who wasn't able to get his glove on the puck to freeze it because of a tangle of legs and skates in front of him.

Controversy struck moments later. The Capitals appeared to pull even on a goal by Laich. But it was waved off because of goalie interference after left wing Tomas Fleischmann shoved Lightning defenseman Matt Smaby into Ramo.

"The explanation was that it was incidental contact," Boudreau said, "and that the [goalie] didn't have time to recover."

The Capitals, however, continued to pour it on and eventually scored a goal that counted. Ovechkin fired a fumbled puck in the slot off of a defenseman's skate and past Ramo at 12:01 to make it 1-1. The goal broke Luc Robitaille's NHL single-season record for most goals by a left wing.

The score stayed that way until Ovechkin's second strike.

Capitals Notes: Capitals right wing Chris Clark (groin tendon), defenseman Brian Pothier (concussion) and center David Steckel (broken finger) were out, while left wing Quintin Laing and goaltender Brent Johnson were healthy scratches. . . . Nicklas Backstrom moved into a tie with Ovechkin (2005-06) for the Capitals' rookie record for assists in a season with 54.