Washington has finally found the first letter of their name as they defeated the Chicago Blackhawks by a score of 4 to 2. Thanks to a pair of goals from Alexander Ovechkin, the Capitals earned their first two points of the season in their season opener.
Before the game, the Capitals raised their Southeast Division Title banner; they had won the division last season after defeating the Florida Panthers in the last game of the regular season.
Kris Versteeg scored the first goal of the game for Chicago just 26 seconds into the 1st period. Ten minutes later, Jack Skille scored to give his Blackhawks a 2-0 lead. However, with 6:34 left in the 1st period, Matt Bradley scored his first goal of the season with David Steckel and Donald Brashear getting assists on that goal. After the first period, Chicago led 2 to 1.
In the 2nd period, Washington Capitals superstar Alexander Ovechkin, after being blanked out last night against the Atlanta Thrashers, finally found the net for the first time this season. The only goal of that period, he tied the game at 2-2 heading into the 3rd period.
The third period stayed deadlock for 15 minutes before Alexander Semin and Brooks Laich rummaged through the Chicago defense and barely scored. Semin brought the puck to the net, where a knocked-down Brooks Laich was able to tip the puck just past the goal line for his first goal of the year. Alexander Ovechkin would close the door on Chicago, scoring his second goal of the game (and season) with 1:36 left in the game. After that goal, the 18,277 fans at Verizon Center chanted “M-V-P!”
Nikolai Khabibulin started in net for Chicago, stopping 30 of 34 shots faced. As for Washington’s Jose Theodore, he made 19 saves on 21 shots.
Three Stars:
1st Star: Alexander Ovechkin (2 Goals, 0 Assists)
2nd Star: Brooks Laich (1 Goal, 0 Assists)
3rd Star: David Steckel (0 Goals, 1 Assist)
