You play with fire long enough, eventually you’ll get burned.
The Detroit Red Wings knew they were doing exactly that every time they sent Alexander Ovechkin and the rest of the Washington Capitals to the power play.
It finally came back to bite them the fourth time, when Ovechkin scored midway through the period while Detroit defenseman Brendan Smith was off for hooking Ovechkin, tying the game 2-2 and paving the way for Washington’s 3-2 shootout victory Tuesday at the MCI Center.
“It's a dangerous power play for sure,… Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. “It feels dangerous. They've got obviously - what makes it real dangerous in my opinion is they've got more than Ovechkin - it's all five guys that do a real good job in their roles. (Nicklas) Backstrom is one of the best passers in the world. So they’ve got guys in good spots there for sure.
“I thought we did a pretty good job killing overall. You just can't take, I think it was 4-0 in (power plays in favor of the Capitals) in regulation. We've got to find a way to make those power plays more even.…
The Wings, who have gone to overtime seven times in their last eight games, are now 1-1 on the season in shootouts.
“I think when you get to overtime, you get to a shootout, you're leaving it to chance a bit,… Blashill said. “I think that's the reality of life sometimes.…
Z Gets One Detroit captain Henrik Zetterberg, who’d gone 14 games without a goal, converted a nifty cross-crease feed from Dylan Larkin to open the scoring for the Wings.
“It was a faceoff play that we’ve been working on in practice and finally it worked,… Zetterberg said.
Howard Survives The last time he started in goal in Washington, Detroit’s Jimmy Howard didn’t make it much past the opening minute of the game. A groin injury suffered on a Capitals goal early into that game last season cost Howard a chance to play in the NHL All-Star Game and began a downward spiral that ended with Petr Mrazek usurping his job as No. 1 goal prior to the Stanley Cup playoffs.
“Oh geez, I wasn’t even thinking about last year or anything like that,… Howard said.
Howard played a strong game, blocking 38 shots, but lost again in a shootout, which was his nemesis last season.
“I don’t look at it that way,… Howard said. “You know sometimes it’s a game within the game, so you know I was just doing my job back there for the guys, and just trying to get us at least one point.…
Jurco Delivers Two players who weren’t even regulars a week ago made the play for Detroit’s second goal. Joakim Andersson separated Capitals defenseman Dmitry Orlov from the puck behind the Washington net and fed Tomas Jurco in front. Jurco put a quick deke move on goalie Braden Holtby and flipped a backhander into the net.
“He got a goal, he did a pretty good job,… Blashill said of Jurco. “He ended up, I think, (with) nine minutes (of ice time). I'm sure he'd like to play more. But I think part of grabbing a spot is learning how to be effective in those nine minutes and in those nine minutes he scored a goal.
“So I think that's a positive step forward.…
Blashill also liked what he saw from Andersson.
“Yeah, a great play by Andersson (on the goal),… said Blashill, who felt the rest of his team could have taken notes. “That's the one thing, in the second (period) overall we didn't do a good enough job skating so we didn't get enough pressure on the forecheck and we didn't spend enough time in their end.
“That was one case where we did get pressure on the forecheck and created a turnover, so good job by Andy.…
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