Comeback Caps

October 18, 7:09 PMWashington Capitals ExaminerMichael Hoffman

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Ovechkin, Fleischman celebrate Boyd Gordon's game-winner (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

First of all... wow! It’s one thing to somehow win with a strong third-period effort after a less than consistent effort at home (such as the Caps 4-2 victory over the Blackhawks). What do you say, though, about a team that looks dead out of water for two periods, but gets three goals in the third period to beat the Eastern Conference Champion Pittsburgh Penguins after being down 3-0? Pardon the sloppy run-on sentence there, but I needed to get that all in. If the Caps can beat the Penguins after being down three goals...well, frankly, the sky is the limit.

Let’s not fool ourselves, though. The results might say 3-1 but it would be egregious to not acknowledge that there are some cracks under the surface.

I don’t love the fact that in a number of games already this year the Caps, especially on defense, have looked lethargic in the first period.  The team from the get-go is opening way too many things up and not playing conservative enough. That free-wheeling style may have produced two two-goal-deficit comebacks already this year, but the Caps are playing too sedentary in the first.  thirty seconds into the Pittsburgh game on Thursday and Sidney Crosby was skating practically untouched as the defense didn’t even do so much as to try to hook him in attempting to prevent a goal. That is simply way too lax a way to open up the game, and the numbers prove it as the Caps have been outscored 8-4 in the first.

Okay, that will be the last glumness in this column.  Our economy might be faltering but hey things can’t be that bad for YOU! You’re able to program your internets to view this high quality web page. Maybe your location is even covered and maybe you even have a plate of grilled cheese next to you, so how bad can things really be? Crashing stock market? That sucks, but on the other hand the Caps are 3-1!  I mean, I may work six days a week, get up most days at 3:45 in the morning and be as single as the Grand Marshall of ComicCon, but for now I’m cool.

I’m cool because Matt Bradley came right back into the game in the third period after literally having to taste his own blood after fighting Pittsburgh gooner Paul Bissonnette and getting stitches to the face (click here for the YouTube video of the fight).

It may seem crazy to come back into an environment in which the danger is about as palpable as a mailman walking through Michael Vick’s dog kennel after already blooding your mouth. I mean, this is a game in which not only do you have to look up for every 230-pound defensmen who leads with his elbows, but with no disrespect to football, you can’t fall onto a nice soft patch of grass in hockey. Nope, instead if you’re not falling onto a hardened surface of ice your being pushed into glass. Great choice, isn’t it?  “Would you like a hammer or a rock to your face?”

Bradley, though, is a hockey player.  And I love how he flat-out told a member of the media that the craziest thing would have been not to come back. "Have you ever had stiches before? It’s not a big deal. The only thing they had to do is stich up the cut and after that I was fine," Bradley nonchalantly said after the Pittsburgh game.

Blood dripping into his mouth, multiple stiches on his the face.  Hey, it’s just another day at the office for Matt Bradley.

I loved Alexander Ovechkin's pugnacious attitude during this game as well. The Great 8 not only yelled directly at Crosby at the end go back into a game after but hit fellow Russian Evgeni Malkin at every opportunity. Apparently this caused some confusion for Malkin, and feelings were hurt. ““Ovechkin is a great player, but every time he hits me -- I don’t know why,” Malkin said after the game. Ovechkin’s reaction: “It’s just a hockey game. I hit hard with everybody.” At 3-1, one Washington group is simply not offering diplomacy.  
 
Caps Notes: He may be young, but I’m very excited about the Caps recalling Chris Bourque from the minors. For my take on Bourque, click here.