Boudreau: Every game against Philly will be a battle.

 Boudreau's after the game interview:

- We were trying to make sure that there were no odd man rushes, both teams played defense consciensly...
- It's was a 50-50 game right to the end, and that's what happens when two real good teams play...
- We feel that every game against Philly is going to be a battle...

Flyers did look good and it was 50-50 game. Coach is right, stay humble and the wins will come.


Ovechkin's after the game interview:

Ovechkin: It doesn't matter how we win, in a shootout or overtime, we just want to win.

Mike Richards whining? Good sign...

I iz whiny.

Mike Richards whine of the day:
- We knew he[Ovechkin] was gonna be running around a bit with maybe some dirty hits, but we shrugged those off, we played hard against him and we didn't give him too much.
- Well, he jumped at him[Carter]. I mean, how many times is he gonna have to do that before he hurts somebody? And then you don't even get a call against it. I mean, if he hits him there, next thing you know the guy's knocked out, head shot, the guy's hurt. So I thought it would have been a penalty. But apparently not.

Dirty hits? bhahaha


Corey Masisak:

While the Caps are getting healthy, I didn't see Chris Clark back on the ice after Alex Ovechkin torpedoed him when he was looking for a big hit on Jeff Carter. Not really sure what that hit would have accomplished if he had been on target, and it was obviously a little too close in proximity to his own teammate.

Kozlov is 17-for-35 in his career in the shootout. The same cannot be said about Ovechkin, but he did bang one of the post tonight. He also led the team with four takeaways, interestingly.

Capitals Insider Update:

Clark was not hit on the knee, he was actually clipped up high by Ovechkin. Coach Bruce Boudreau said Clark did not finish the game due to a "coach's decision".

Mike Vogel:

Not Tonight – Alex Ovechkin was held off the scoreboard tonight, marking the first time in the last nine home games that he did not score a goal.

Happy Birthday – To Caps left wing Donald Brashear, who celebrates his 37th birthday on Wednesday.

Total ice time for Ovechkin was 28:07, average shift 01:04, 5 shots on goal, one registered hit.

Mike Green was second in total ice time with 27:37.

Very weird: all players for both teams had zero in +/- column. I wonder if it ever happened before.

HOMER MCFANBOY (H/t to DC Sports Bog), Jan. 7, 2008:

In addition to the various players and equipment managers shuffling up and down the hallway, there was George McPhee, who was followed by roughly 30 priests from the Institute of the Incarnate Word in Chillum, Maryland.

It turns out Raul Fernandez, a part owner of the Washington Capitals, invited these fine men to attend the game and get a little VIP tour of the facilities, which set the scene for the most bizarre and improbable moment in our young blogging career.

Imagine 30 priests huddled in the Capitals locker room, easily filling the room to near maximum capacity. Then, imagine Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin coming out of the showers wearing nothing more than a towel (and with dip in his mouth). He heads to what would typically be an empty locker room only to discover the room has been temporarily taken over by holy men. What’s more, one of the priests is actually posing for a photo in front of Ovechkin’s locker … and wearing his helmet. Seriously, you can’t make this stuff up.