SB Nation - Washington Capitals

Sabres 3 Leafs 2 OT: Roy Nets Monster Goal

David Oleksy — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 04:22:31 -0000

about 4 hours ago: Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller dives to make a save against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Toronto on Monday, Dec. 21, 2009. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Frank Gunn)

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After a week of playing uninspired hockey the Sabres finally looked like a playoff contender on Saturday night against the defensing champion Pittsburgh Penguins. The problem is they played better and lost the game. With that game nothing more than a memory there were questions as to which Sabres team would show up tonight.

The game started exactly how the Sabres hoped it would start. They survived an early flurry by the Toronto Maple Leafs and eventually Nathan Paetsch scored his first goal of the season to give the Sabres a 1-0 lead. They held that lead into the locker room after 20 minutes and seemed to be in good position with the shots knotted at 13.

The second period was back to the Sabres team we had seen all of last week. The Leafs took control of the game and scored two ~~lucky~~ hard working goals. Toronto tied it on a shot from behind the goal line by Anton Stralberg. Stralberg shot it towards the front of the net and it deflected off of lanky Sabres Defenseman Tyler Myers and into the net. The second goal would be equally as strange as it deflected off the skate on Ian White who had pinched in from the point and drove hard to the net.

The Leafs did an outstanding job of keeping the Sabres off balance by standing them up at the blueline in the third period. They seemed content to hang on to their one goal lead. Jochen Hecht figured out the defense and beat "The Monster" with a backhand to tie the game with just over seven minutes left. Derek Roy eventually scored the winner and the Sabres came away with an undeserved victory.

Final - 12.21.2009	1	2	3	OT	Total
Buffalo Sabres	1	0	1	1	3
Toronto Maple Leafs	0	2	0	0	2

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Corsi Numbers | Event Summary | Pension Plan Puppets

Explanation of Corsi Numbers chart: There are four categories at the top of the page. 1 - Goals, 2 - saved shots, 3 - missed shots and 4 - blocked shots. There are two columns under each of the top headings. They represent for and against. This is a little bit different than the previous chart we used. There is also a category called Fenwick +/- and that represents the Corsi number minus blocked shots. It is believed by some people that the Fenwick number is a better representation of production.

Game Highlights

Quitting is for Losers

After a poor second period and a slow moving third period the Sabres could have easily folded their tent and looked ahead to Wednesday night. Instead they battled hard and some how found a way to get inside the Leafs defense to tie the game on a goal by Jochen Hecht. It looked like they might be playing for a point but in overtime Derek Roy was left all alone in front for the game winning goal.

Waiting in the Wings

Nathan Paetsch has one of the hardest jobs on the entire Sabres team. He is a natural defenseman who spends most of his time watching games from the press box. He has been called into duty to play forward on occasion and tonight was one of those occasions.

The Sabres were without the services of Thomas Vanek (abdominal injury) and Patrick Kaleta (neck injury) and therefore they dressed Nathan Paetsch as a fourth line forward. Paetsch scored his first goal of the season just over six minutes into the game. There was nothing spectacular about the goal but proved that good things happen when you shoot the puck.

Some Slumps End and Some Continue

Derek Roy has not been too bad as of late but it was still a confidence boosting goal when he scored the overtime winner after being left all alone in front Of Gustavsson. Roy made a nice move and waited until Gustavsson was down and out of position to score the goal. This could possibly be the goal that lifts Roy back to the player he was a season ago.
It's no surprise that Jochen Hecht is in a slump after watching him play last season. Still it was nice to see him end his slump with a good goal to tie the game. Hecht had not scored a goal since November 30 against the Leafs.
Tyler Myers continues to be inconsistent. I stop short of saying he is in a slump because he still amazes me with some of the things he does on the ice. He is so fast that he is never out of position and he is calm when he has the puck. It is that calmness however that leads to some nonchalant passes that end up becoming turnovers that head in the other direction.
The Sabres offense continues to struggle. They scored three goals tonight but most of the night was spent with players shooting wide or directly into the chest of Gustavsson. There are some talented players on the team and they are trying too hard to make the perfect play. They need to score more goals like the Leafs did tonight.

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How Much You Wanna Bet the Caps Make the Finals?

Stephen Pepper — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 19:30:13 -0000

More photos » by Nick Wass - AP

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By now, you've probably heard of OptionIt, a new (to Washington Capitals fans) ticket-buying concept which offers fans the ability to purchase an option now to acquire tickets to a future game at face value.

As reported by the Washington Business Journal:

Purchasers of an option have three choices. They can let it expire at no additional cost, sell it to someone else in an aftermarket on optionit.com or exercise the option and attend the event. The site guarantees that it can provide a ticket at face value should an option holder decide to exercise.

In the stock markets, an option provides the holder the ability to acquire shares at a certain (sometimes below market) price, in exchange for a small sum paid up front. Thereby allowing the option holder to benefit from the gain on the market price of the stock between the acquisition and exercise of that option. Of course, the stock price could fall below that certain price, leaving you out the amount paid for the option should you choose not to exercise it.

Right, you know all of this. But in the market for Capitals tickets, where the franchise is going great guns, offering precious few single game seats for sale, and selling out the barn on a nightly basis, the price for those tickets is only rising. And fast.

Want a prime seat in Section 116 for the tilt versus the Penguins on March 24th? $172.50 per billet on ticketexchange. Face value? $120 per seat. With OptionIt, by an "option" for $56 a ticket to purchase seats later at face value, which adds up to $176 per ducat. For now, only certain seats and sections can be optioned, but there's availability in both the 400 and 100 levels.

Looks like a wash, except that you're guaranteed today of not paying more later. Not sure if you can make the game, but don't want to scramble to get a pricey ticket at the last minute, or go through the hassle of re-selling a ticket you've already purchased? By an option. You'll be able to "exercise" it when you're set to go, at a fixed price, for an exercise window clearly noted on the site -- if you're not able to go, well then you're, at worst, out the cost of the option. And there's promised to be a brisk aftermarket for these options on the site. (You choose the price, minus a hefty 17% fee, 10% paid by you, and 7% paid by the buyer).

These days, one might be reluctant to embrace classic Wall Street practices. But here's the best part. Think the Caps will make the Stanley Cup Finals? Buy an option now for $78 to purchase two 100 level corner section tickets at face value. And don't worry about scrambling to score those tickets (at any price) as soon as that oh-so-anticipated playoff game is scheduled. You're covered.

But when would that "exercise window" for an undetermined playoff game begin and end, you ask? Michael Proman, VP of Marketing, breaks it down for us:

Once the Capitals officially qualify for the playoffs, First Round - Home Game One and Home Game Two will become ‘scheduled’ events and the exercise window will likely open two weeks before and close anywhere from 5-7 days before the event.

Where things get a bit tricky is on the "swing games." Example: Capitals are the #1 seed, up 3-0 in the first round series and playing Game 4 (away). Fans holding the option on a Game 5 (Home Game Three) ticket will only have the opportunity to exercise if the Capitals lose Game 4. The exercise window would effectively open up on Game 5 as soon as the result becomes official in Game 4. Depending on how many days between Game 4 and Game 5, the exercise window would likely close 24 hours before the game.

We will always give fans a reasonable amount of time to exercise their option and will send out reminder emails to customers before the exercise window even opens to remind them that they are holding an option for a particular game and that they will need to be prepared to exercise quickly.

Therein lies the real value. Might be a good time to ante up now for the reward of a guaranteed great seat in June. If nothing else, maybe it'll add some good Caps karma for a Finals berth. (And further squeeze out opposing fans who would buy tickets.)

Capital Ups and Downs: Week 12

J.P. — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 16:00:20 -0000

by David Zalubowski - AP

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Our weekly look at individual Washington Capitals' ups and downs:

Goalies	Trend	Notes
Michal Neuvirth		Quietly solid in a huge bounce-back win in Edmonton.
Jose Theodore		A good game and a not-as-good game, but just two even strength goals against and 1-1-0/2.02/.917 week are solid numbers.
Semyon Varlamov		Sounded close to returning before a hopefully minor setback.

Defensemen
Karl Alzner		Plus-two for the week and victimized by a bad bounce in Edmonton, Alzner's development should continue to benefit from being paired with the likes of John Erskine and Tyler Sloan. Ahem.
John Erskine		A monster night in Colorado (assist, plus-three rating and 17 penalty minutes earned for sticking up for Mike Green), tougher time in Vancouver and a scratch in Edmonton.
Mike Green		Just one assist and six shots on goal for the week. Of course, he did miss half of the Colorado game because he forced David Koci to skate halfway across the ice and board him. Bad Greenie.
Milan Jurcina		Scratched twice, looked hungrier against Edmonton, leading the team in hits.
Shaone Morrisonn		Missed most of the Colorado game, returned to lead the team in hits against Vancouver, back out of the lineup Saturday night. Hmm...
Brian Pothier		Despite seven points from blueliners this week, the Caps miss his puck-moving ability on the back-end.
Tom Poti		Three games, plus-three rating, but a whopping four third period penalties (at least one in each game), including an inexcusable unsportsmanlike in Vancouver.
Jeff Schultz		Want a microcosm of Schultz's career? Look no further than this week - a couple of memorable bloopers but a great job shutting down the Sedins and a positive plus-minus (though it should be noted that he was on the ice for four of the six goals the Caps allowed in the three games).

Swingman
Tyler Sloan		Scratched twice, returned and notched an assist on the insurance tally Saturday night, but let's be honest - his NHL time is running out.

Forwards
Nicklas Backstrom		A couple of goals, an assist, a plus-one rating and nine shots on goal and 57% in the dot are all nice, but he's got to take some of the blame for a power play that was just 1-for-9 on the week.
Matt Bradley		A goal, an assist and a plus-two rating in Colorado highlight the week for a guy who's two-thirds of the way to tying his single-season best in goals.
Chris Clark		A Gordie Howe Hat Trick (ok, it took him three games to get it), an extra assist and a plus-three rating. Good stuff, Cap.
Eric Fehr		A couple of helpers and a plus-three rating for the week are nice, but Fehr has gone six games without a goal and only had five shots on goal for the week. Go to the net, young man.
Tomas Fleischmann		Three goals on the week (including Saturday night's game-winner), but a bad penalty in Edmonton and being on the ice for half of the goals the team allowed in the three games take a bit of the shine off.
Boyd Gordon		On a conditioning assignment in Hershey, Gordo's return looks imminent.
Mike Knuble		With a goal and an assist, Knuble seems to be getting his timing back.
Brooks Laich		Another week passes without Laich finding the net, something he's only done once in his last 15 games (and his assist in Vancouver is his only point in his last seven games).
Quintin Laing		Q ate a steak this week and played an NHL game - he gets an up arrow.
Brendan Morrison		Just one assist on the week, his only point in the last seven games (oddly coinciding with Alex Ovechkin's return to the lineup).
Alex Ovechkin		Every now and then (weekly, usually), you're reminded why AO is the best player in the game. Saturday night's third period was one such reminder.
Alexander Semin		Beat Roberto Luongo on a knuckler from near Whistler on Friday night, but was stuffed on a penalty shot later in the game and didn't find his way onto the score sheet for the rest of the week (despite being on the ice for all three goals the top line scored on Saturday night).
David Steckel		A goal, plus-three rating and 7:59 of short-handed ice time without being on for a goal against. Can't ask for much more from the guy, can you?
Kyle Wilson		Made his NHL debut on his 25th birthday with two assists and a strong all-around game. Wasn't as good in Vancouver, was scratched in Edmonton, then reassigned to Hershey, but he looks like yet another fine fill-in. He'll be back.

Monday Caps Clips: AO, Cover Boy

J.P. — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 12:20:01 -0000

More photos » by Gerry Broome - AP

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Your savory breakfast links:

Alex Ovechkin is on the cover of this week's Hockey News, which you can preview here, but do yourself a favor and pick up a hard copy of it - it's worth it.
Quintin Laing on his return to the lineup. [Washington Times]
Don Cherry defends himself against claims that he encourages violence, then proceeds to excuse David Koci's hit on Mike Green without missing a beat. [Puck Daddy]
A little AO cheesecake... for the ladies. [Alex Ovetjkin]
Hershey heads into the Christmas break with the best winning percentage in the AHL. [John Walton Hockey]
Stefan Della Rovere will be one of five rotating alternate captains for Team Canada's WJC squad... [NHL.com]
... Mostly because he's not afraid to mix it up, as last night's box score shows (note also Marcus Johansson on the score sheet). [Hockey Canada]
In case you missed it over the weekend, The Copper & Blue of all places had a couple of nice Peter Bondra stories to tell. [C&B, C&B]
Glen Hanlon is back in the NHL, hired by the Canucks as a "goaltender scout." Congrats. [NHL.com, Vancouver Sun]
Finally, happy 31st birthday to Petr Sykora (yeah, that one).

Blues 3 Canucks 1: Character In Question

Sean Zandberg — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 08:10:57 -0000

Ugh. Ryan Kesler mentioned a bubble of positivity in the Canucks' locker room on Sunday, saying that the world is full of negativity and the Canucks were having no part of it. But let's call a spade a spade here...BULLSHIT! I thought Kesler and his line were fine tonight, even though they finished an even zero and 2 assists. They showed a lot of hustle generally. But where in the blue hell was everyone else? The Canucks will rely on the top line for scoring on most nights, but they were hardly a factor tonight, finishing a -3 with 8 shots and no points.

The Blues' power play finished 1-for-3. The Canucks were terrible with the man advantage and 0-for-4.

The 2nd period curse reared it's ugly head again tonight, where the Canucks were outshot 14-7 and outscored 2-0. There is your game right there. Where was the Canucks' wheels? In a scrap yard somewhere. Their character, after shutting down and beating the Capitals on Friday now remains in question. They failed to get a playoff spot once again. Their record against Central Division teams is 1-7. Fail. Fail. Fail! And just like that, the Blues are no longer in the Western Conference basement.

BOXSCORE AND HIGHLIGHTS

My 3 Stars:

1. David Backes. 2 goals and over 19:00 played

2. Ty Conklin

3. Paul Kariya. He was a force in the first half of the game.

Kevin Bieksa: Go away!

Kyle Wellwood: Hit the waiver wire!

Alain Vigneault Post Game.

I don't care about Alex Burrows' botched "kick in" call. The team wasn't in it.

I'm out.

Sunday Caps Clips: Oil Country Comeback

J.P. — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 15:04:08 -0000

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Your savory breakfast links:

Recaps and other assorted musings on last night's big comeback win from Corey (blog, article), Tarik (blog, article), Vogs, Peerless, Washington Examiner, Cult of Hockey and The Copper and Blue.
Alex Ovechkin "might come across as a rodeo clown" at times (per a guy who's from a town that knows rodeo), but let the rest of the world underestimate his intelligence at their peril. [Edmonton Journal]
Amidst the AO media blitz that has engulfed the team for the past few days, it's good to see Nicklas Backstrom get some well deserved ink (err, pixels). [Edmonton Sun]
Did I mention the AO media blitz? [Edmonton Sun]
Reunited and it feels so good... since the Caps got the win. [Washington Times]
Tom Poti calls Alex Burrows a diver... post-game, where he can't get the additional two minutes for unsportsmanlike (i.e. where such comments belonged). [Canwest]
"Sources say" that if Atlanta decides to deal Ilya Kovalchuk, the Caps will be among the half-dozen teams most aggressively pursuing a trade for the Russian superstar. [Ottawa Sun]
Hey, have you heard the one about how the Caps have crappy defensemen and lousy goaltending? [The Hockey News]
Given the last bullet point, it's pretty incredible that the Caps are 11th in the League in team GAA and give up the 12th-fewest shots per game, isn't it?
Finally, happy 59th birthday to Bill Clement (and his hands of cement).

Recap: Caps 4, Oilers 2

David M. Getz — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 06:42:09 -0000

More photos » by John Ulan - AP

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[AP Recap - GameCenter - Game Summary - Event Summary]

Having the best hockey player in the world on your team is a wonderful thing. Frankly, the Capitals don't have much business heading back to D.C. with the two points they picked up in Edmonton tonight, no matter how good that third period was, and those two points are going to show up in the standings tomorrow because Alex Ovechkin stood up and carried the team on his back for the third period and a rookie goaltender kept the team in the game when the rest of the team wasn't doing much to help itself.

Still, you have to give credit where credit's due. The Caps could have easily gone in to the locker room at the second intermission, considered that they were on the last game of a Western Conference road trip and were down two goals and decided to mail it in for the third and get on their plane back to Washington (eventually). It might have taken Ovechkin to get things started, but the rest of the team followed, and that's a positive sign.

Ten additional thoughts on last night's game:

Despite the win, the Capitals' powerplay went 0-for-4 for the second consecutive night and, as was the case in Friday night's loss, didn't put nearly as much pressure on the opposition as it should have. The biggest problem was simply too much standing around. A lot of the time all five guys looked like they were waiting on someone else to create a chance. It just doesn't work that way.
Part of what's so great about Karl Alzner's game is the fact that he not only does everything so well, but he's under control at all times. One of the ways that manifests itself is in shot attempts. Rather than trying to blast away with a ceiling-scraping slap shot, Alzner just concentrates on getting the puck to the net. It might not mean as many goals for him, but it almost certainly means more goals for the Capitals because it makes the opposing goalie work and it creates chances in front of the net.
For a team at the end of a road trip that covered a pretty fair amount of distance and undoubtedly tired after having played the night before, the Capitals were remarkably disciplined, taking only two minor penalties.
There were six Capitals on the ice for the Oiler's first goal and exactly one of them, Michal Neuvirth, did their job on the play. Between the turnover by Jeff Schultz and the lackadaisical backchecking of Alex Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, and Mike Green it's impressive Neuvirth stopped the first shot, let alone the second one. Hell, he deserves credit for even coming close on the rebound.
I'm pretty sure the delay of game penalty called on Tom Glibert was a lucky break for the Capitals. I'm more sure I'd know whether the delay of game penalty called on Tom Glibert was a lucky break for the Capitals if the game had been broadcast in HD. Just sayin'.
Question of the night: was Jeff Deslauriers' glove hand in the game's first two periods the result of some kind of dark magic or was it simply that the Capitals' shooters simply couldn't resist their primal urge to shoot at the big, fiercely orange target?
Speaking of Deslauriers he seemed to be getting awfully upset about the contact the Capitals were making with him, which makes me wonder why he didn't tell his defensemen to stop pushing Washington players into him.
Obviously this is a Cap-centric blog, but great effort deserves to be recognized no matter who's wearing the uniform. With that in mind, the way Steve Staios repeatedly threw himself in front of Alex Ovechkin slap shots deserves praise from anyone who loves hockey.
No Capitals player finished with a minus rating on the night.
Early in the second period I became exasperated with Comcast Sportsnet when they missed a faceoff because they were talking about the Caps' upcoming schedule and decided to keep track of how many they missed the rest of the night. I stopped keeping track at a dozen (this was also more or less when the game started to get really interesting) but that's way, way too many. Especially when you're missing draws to show Hilary Duff sitting in the stands or to do a close up of Jeff Deslauriers' face.

Joe Beninanti and Craig Laughlin noted on the telecast that Pat Quinn had referred to Ovechkin as "a gift" to the game of hockey. I don't think anyone in Edmonton's going to be disputing that any time soon.

Game highlights:

Capitals @ Oilers, 12/19/09 - This one could be ugly.

Derek Zona — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 22:30:13 -0000

via www.sportslogos.net

SBNation's Capitals vs Oilers coverage

Japers' Rink

On to Caps news:

Just in case you haven't seen it, David Koci with yet another dirty hit

Bruce Boudreau doesn't see a place in the NHL for David Koci. I'm not the only one that's tired of all of these dirty hits.

Jonathan Willis spins the wheel of justice on Koci and says 5 games. So of course, no suspension.

Michael Nylander was assigned to Grand Rapids and his cap hit is off of the books for now. Would you trade for Nylander?

An interesting statistical breakdown of the Capitals defensemen.

Washington Capitals Injuries

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Boyd Gordon	back	11/15/2009
Semyon Varlamov	groin	12/08/2009

Grabner Re-assigned To Manitoba, Demitra Going Home

Sean Zandberg — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 20:59:59 -0000

More photos » by Darryl Dyck - AP

Wrong bench, asshole!

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Mike Gillis has announced today that the Canucks have re-assigned Michael Grabner to the Moose. This is reportedly a conditioning stint. Grabner has 2 goals and 5 points in 9 games with the Canucks this season, before he wrecked his ankle playing soccer in a pre game warm-up several weeks ago.

Pavol Demitra is returning to his homeland of Slovakia to see a specialist "that he is comfortable with" about his ailing shoulder.

"He had this massage therapist guy who works with the Slovakian national team and he said the massage therapy helped him out a lot," Mike Gillis said today. "So, he asked if he could do that and we said yes."

It has me wondering if there is something wrong with our medical staff. See: Cody Hodgson.

Was that a great game last night or what? That had the feeling of a playoff game. It made my current headache worth it.

I'm not going to recap the game, but I will say this: Great effort by the Canucks after crapping the bed against the Ducks. They can beat any NHL team when they play like that. Random: A big hat-tip to Aaron Rome, who played so well and really deserves a spot on the Canucks' roster.

Oh, and I'd never forget this guy:

In which I called Bondra's shot. Alternative title - Thanks Tom Poti

Derek Zona — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 17:07:00 -0000

It was March of 2002. The Edmonton Oilers were talking about the playoff race, but in reality they were desperately clinging to 9th place and floundering a bit. I was on my way to Washington D.C. to see the Oilers face the Capitals, courtesy of Chris, a good friend of mine - the same friend that has turned me into a Caps fan when the Oilers fail to make the playoffs. He scored some fantastic seats at the MCI Center, section 214 on the visitor's blueline, though great seats at the MCI Center weren't hard to get at that time - the place was sort of empty.

At the time, Tom Poti was in his fourth season as an Oiler, he was a flawed but promising young defender prone to the more-than-occasional mental gaffe. He was also second on the Oilers in time on ice to Janne Niinimaa at 24:32 which gave him plenty of opportunities to have his nightly mental breakdown. Think of Denis Grebeshkov's troubles in the first half of the season each year and you have a solid approximation of what Tom Poti brought to the Oilers at the time. There were flashes of brilliance, but at the same time there were ghastly turnovers and missed assignments and he had begun to wear on me that spring. I was tired of watching a game waiting for the HUA from Poti, and the worst part was that he never let me down.

Poti was playing left defense that year. Peter Bondra was busy tallying up his eighth 30 goal season at right wing. With that in mind, I boldly proclaimed to my Caps-fan friend "If Ron Wilson can get Bondra matched against Poti, Bondra is going to get himself a hat trick, you watch." Off we went.

We arrived early because the Capitals staged an old-timers game featuring, for me at least, Rod Langway. Langway was always a sentimental favorite of mine - he was as unsung as they came, a rock of a defender playing in a near-shinny league at that time. He never much cared for offense, often failing to crack the forty shots mark, but when it came to shutting down the other team's best - few were ever as good as Rod Langway. The old-timer's game was played sans helmets so Langway looked exactly as he ten years prior when he was skating his last season as a Capital.

The game started well for Edmonton, as Ken Klee attempted a hard-around a la Steve Staios and instead made a ghastly turnover to Mike Comrie right in front. Comrie banged it home for a 1-0 lead. The Oilers settled in and got physical. Marchant, Moreau and Grier were disrupting the Caps' breakouts on the forecheck and in the neutral zone with extremely physical play. There was a sequence early in the game when Marty Reasoner's line held the puck deep for almost 45 seconds and the Capitals didn't seem up to the task that day after Todd Marchant scored off of a secondary rush from the circle on a wrist shot off of a nice pass from Jochen Hecht.

The second period was an entirely different story. The Caps came out with jump and Ron Wilson started putting Bondra out every time Poti touched the ice. Bondra's first goal was a one-timer from Adam Oates, Poti wasn't on the ice to be victimized. Bondra would fix that shortly thereafter. About half-way through the period, Poti lost track and let Bondra slip behind him. Glen Metropolit hit Bondra in stride and just like that the game was tied.

Bondra iced the game late in the third as the Oilers were trying to tie the game. Edmonton had it in the zone when the puck squirted in the air towards the left point. Poti came pinching in, but it was the wrong decision. I'd have to check with Chris to be sure, but I believe I said "Aw no, Poteeeeeeeeeeee!" as Poti started to pinch. Bondra realized that the defensemen was coming in, beat him to the spot easily and pushed the puck around the oncoming Poti - off he went. Poti couldn't stop and go the other way and ended up corkscrewing himself into the ice. Niinimaa caught Bondra, but not in time to get himself into position before the hats came onto the ice. Chris couldn't stop laughing - I called the Bondra hat trick and told him how it was going to happen.

Washington would go 9-6-1 over the last sixteen games, losing on the last night of the season to allow Montreal to squeak into eighth place and capture the final playoff spot. Edmonton won the rematch five days later 4-1, and began their "usual" late-season charge, going 8-1-1 over the next ten games. Unfortunately, they couldn't keep steaming and finished the last five games winning two and losing three. They missed the playoffs by two points - the hated Canucks took eighth place - two points which were lost in Washington at the hands of Peter Bondra's hat trick, which your author saw coming from a mile away.

Tom Poti was traded nine days later. He was sent to New York, along with Rem Murray, in exchange for Mike York. I'd like to think it had something to do with that game, but I doubt it. At least the Tom Poti Aggravation Experience had ended in Edmonton.