Glory follows John Carlson, Caps

In the first game, starting in the second period, Habs were totally outplaying Caps. This time, even trailing 1:4, there was no such thing, Caps played well for the whole game and Habs couldn't do anything about it. Now I believe it's gonna be a long run. Caps in 6. :-)

And Caps have a guy who brings glory and luck, our American hero, John Carlson! Go, Caps!

Capitals Insider, Apr. 17, 2010:

Three months removed from his game-winning overtime goal in the world junior championships, defenseman John Carlson played the hero Saturday night, scoring with 1 minute 21 seconds to play to force overtime in a 6-5 victory.

"It's unbelievable," said Carlson, whose goal erased a 4-1 deficit and helped Washington even the series at one game. "We battled back, and that's great, but it's just Game 2. We've got to go Montreal and do our job. One game's good, but we've got to keep going."

Capitals Insider, Apr. 17, 2010:

Boudreau has high praise for Carlson:
"There's just something about him. Glory follows him. Some guys get that. I've said it before. They come up in the ninth inning with the bases loaded, and they're the ones that do the damage. I think John Carlson's career is going to be like that."

1067TheFan — April 18, 2010 — Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin both had 4 points in the game 2 win, they talk about it afterwards.
www.1067TheFanDC.com





Gunaxin — April 17, 2010 — Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom shoot baskets on the Wizards practice court while Bruce Boudreau gives his post game interview following the Capitals 6-5 overtime victory over Montreal in the Playoffs.

Capitals Insider, Apr. 18, 2010:

Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom helped bail out the Capitals on Saturday night, combining for eight points highlighted by Backstrom's winner in overtime that completed a hat trick for the first-line center.

They also had enough energy after the victory that while waiting for Coach Bruce Boudreau to finish his news conference, they shot baskets in the adjacent Washington Wizards practice gym, where the postgame news conferences took place.

That prompted Boudreau to ask if the Wizards were still playing.

When Ovechkin and Backstrom finally made it to the podium, here's what they had to say:

Ovechkin on his four-point performance: "I felt pretty good today, especially in the first period. I just wanted to get into the game, make some hits, make some shots, and I think I'm playing a lot better."

Backstrom on coming back from a 4-1 deficit: "I feel like we have that side on our team. We never give up, and the second period was kind of like embarrassing for us a little bit, but we bounced back, and it's a good thing for us. That's so important right now. We need those kind of wins, especially at home."

Don't touch my Captain:

DC Sports Bog:

"I was on the ice for a while, there was a little scrum in front of the net," Poti said after the game. "I think me and Greener and some of the other guys knocked the goalie over, and Gomez pushed Ovi, and I pushed him back at the end. And he just said let's go, and I said all right.

"I saw him pushing Ovi, so I just kind of wanted to push him, let him know I was there, and you're not gonna be able to push [Ovechkin]. And he kind of jumped me a little bit and was like let's go."

Not sure that was a strong tactical move. Gomez fired up the crowd, took himself off the ice, got battered over the skull, and made Poti a hero for one of the first times in weeks.

"I thought it was great," Bruce Boudreau said. "First time I've seen Tom in a fight. And I think that the players rallied around it, everybody patted him on the back. And we don't have a lot of fights anyways, but it told us something about how much he wanted to win. And I thought after that, even though our power play is struggling beyond struggling, that it gave us life."

Capitals Insider:

*Many in the home dressing room credited Tom Poti's fight with Scott Gomez for turning the momentum in the Caps' favor. Washington was down 4-3 when Gomez shoved Ovechkin from behind. Poti stood up for Ovechkin, then accepted his first invitation to fight since before the lockout. Poti won the fight, the capacity crowd began to chant "Poti! Poti!" and the Caps surged after that.

NHL.com three stars:
Backstrom, Ovechkin and Andrei Kostitsyn

Ovechkin's stats:
G: 1, A: 3, P: 4, +/- +3, TOT 20:22, SHF 24, AVG 00:50, PP 05:23, SH 00:00, EV 14:59, S 6, A/B 7, MS 2, HT 8, GV 2

Backstrom's stats:
G: 3, A: 1, P: 4, +/- +3, TOT 19:33, SHF 25, AVG 00:46, PP 03:15, SH 00:33, EV 15:45, S 6, A/B 1, MS 1, HT 1, GV 1, TK 1, BS 1, FW 9, FL 9, F% 50

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