Wow!  How exciting was this?  The Caps haven’t been scoring goals and so Ovie, Semin, and Feds were put on the top line and guess what happened?  Goals.  Ovie had the three primary assists.  Federov had a beautiful set play goal and of course Semin’s game winner with 11 seconds left.  A nice pass and shot.  I don’t think Ward saw the puck.  Ward looked very good throughout the night and deserved better, but Johnson outdid him.  My concern with the Caps of late has been poor passing and overpassing.  The power play looks terrible and the puck continues to roll off sticks.  It is so frustrating to watch.  However, the penalty kill continues to impress and is the reason the Caps won vs. Carolina and took a point in Ottawa.  The PP needs to have more shots!  Shoot already!  I am going have to have a talk with Backstrom.  Every pass doesn’t need to be gorgeous.  Just put it on the winger’s stick already!  Whatever.  In his defense, he looked much better against Carolina.  Keep moving forward buddy.

How cool is Brooks Laich?  He blocks a shot by taking it in the log, he is hobbling off the ice (I am sure he couldn’t even feel his leg), and he  STILL stops the D to D pass along the blueline????  Are you kidding me?  That is why I like this guy.  He does the garbage work it takes to win games.  The crowd gave him a real nice ovation when he finally got off the ice.  Well done, Mr. Laich.

Brent Johnson continues to impress with 32 saves.  I thought Carolina’s second goal was a little soft, but the Caps overcame it.  I hope they stay with Johson, but something tells me that Jose will start against the Rangers on Saturday.  We’ll see.

The Caps got a good win at home against the division leader.  Well done!  Let’s ride this into Saturday night against the Rangers.

Thoughts?