Once Mike Green stopped his one-man parade to the penalty box on Tuesday night the Washington Capitals were able to accomplish some things on the ice.
Helping matters was Tampa Bay's Richard Panik taking a costly (and dangerous) boarding penalty late in the second period when he sent Karl Alzner flying into the wall, giving the Capitals power play a five-minute man advantage.
As if Brendan Shanahan didn't have enough to do this week. Panik will have a disciplinary hearing with the league on Wednesday for the hit.
Here's a pro tip for the young hockey fans out there: When you're trying to protect a multiple goal lead against the Capitals, it's not a good idea to give their power play an extended opportunity by doing dumb things like that. Nothing good is going to come from it.
The Capitals wasted no time in cashing in thanks to a pair of goals from Alex Ovechkin to complete his hat trick and tie the game at 4-4 heading into the third period. The Capitals went on to win the game 6-5 in a shootout.
That's the best way to respond to an ugly hit: Putting the puck in the net as often as humanly possible and then winning the game.
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