Caps Battle Back for 2 Points

Ovie kept the Caps in the game last night by scoring with 25 seconds left in regulation to force the game into overtime where Clark put it into the net 1:33 seconds into the overtime period to win the game. This was an amazing comeback for the Capitals after Ottawa scored 3 goals in 11 minutes in the 1st period and Hanlon pulled Olie and put Johnson in net. Johnson responded by being perfect with 21 saves.

Hanlon pulled Olie to shift momentum in the game not because he didn't stop those 3 goals by Ottawa. There were clearly defensive breakdowns in the game, again, which is nothing unusual with this young defense.

In years past when the Caps have gone down by 3 goals, I typically turn off the TV in disgust. Last night I felt like they still had a chance to come back so I turned the volume down on the TV and didn't really watch until the power play at the end of the 1st period when the Caps scored. Craig Laughlin, announcing with Al Coken, even said that in this era of the new NHL it is possible to come back from a 3-0 scoring drought and last night, the Caps proved that point. They hung in there, played hard and won the game.

In my Caps Dreamer mode, I must comment on the fact that if the Caps were playing in their old division against hated teams like Pittsburgh, Philly and others in the Atlantic Division, they would be in first place today with 16 points over Pittsburgh's 15. I know it's way too early to get excited about this young team, but I'm having a ball watching them play and develop.

Onto Carolina.

Let's go Caps!