Caps-Ducks Live

 The Anaheim (no longer mighty) Ducks are in town for the first time in a while as the Caps attempt to stretch their winning streak to eight. Michal Neuvirth and Jean-Sebastien Giguere are in goal tonight.

First Period
It didn't take but 36 seconds for the Caps to strike first. With great pressure in the offensive zone, the puck took a favorable bounce to Alex Ovechkin, who poked the puck into a wide-open net as Giguere was heading towards the boards for his 34th of the season. Ovie already got a point, which he didn't last night in the Caps' 7-2 romp over the New York Islanders.

From there, the Caps couldn't convert on a couple of power plays as the over-passing continued. They should institute a maximum amount of passes before a mandatory short. All kidding aside, they really do need to simplify the extra-man advantage a bit.

The Caps did a decent job of shooting during the rest of the period but couldn't quite Giggy enough. They had a few two-on-ones, but couldn't make the most of them. They're definitely not as sharp as they were last night but, considering Anaheim played (and lost) in Atlanta last night, both teams are pretty much in the same boat. But getting 19 shots in the first period and only one goal leaves a lot to be desired.

After one: Caps 1, Ducks 0.

Second Period
The middle stanza quite frankly got off to a dull start. There hasn't been to many offensive opportunities and the Caps really haven't played with a spark but neither have the Ducks.

Both teams have enjoyed two power players and neither have been able to get close to converting. This is a rare occasion (at least in non-Olympic seasons) where both teams played last night -- and it's beyond apparent. The good news for the Caps is that they're still hanging to a lead.

The lead didn't last much longer though. Sheldon Brookbank fired a shot from the point and Dan Sexton cashed in on the juicy rebound to tie the game at one, with Neuvirth leaving half the net wide-open. Both goalies have been victims to poor positioning on the goals they've allowed, but there haven't been enough quality opportunities -- which has led to a very slow-moving contest that's been somewhat blah.

After a somewhat mundane game, Bobby Ryan and Mike Green got into a small tussle out of nowhere at 15:52, with the two players exchanging punches before falling to the ground. Ryan ended up on top of Green and then a bunch of players piled on so Green was under a large group of players for a couple minutes. A four-on-four resulted for two minutes.

The ensuing stretch resulted in some better chances but the score remained unchanged. The Caps have 35 shots after two.

After two: Caps 1, Ducks 1.

Third Period
It looked like the Caps would get on the board quickly as they broke in on a three-on-one but Alex Semin fumbled the pass and couldn't get it past a sliding Ducks' defender as the collective groans sounded from the capacity crowd.

But the Caps finally broke through less than a minute later off the stick of Shaone Morrisonn, who fired a wrister from the point past Giggy (with lots of traffic) to give the home team a 2-1 lead at 1:45. You know you're doing something right when Morrisonn and John Erskine score their first goals of the season on consecutive nights.

And they didn't stop there. Ovechkin broke in and feathered a pass to Mike Knuble, who fumbled it a bit but still beat Giguere to give the Caps a two-goal bulge at 2:39.

Semin broke it open even further on a breakaway beauty at 4:15-- but huge props go to Brooks Laich, whose awesome pass from his own zone launched Semin for the opportunity.

For those scoring at home (or even if you're alone as Keith Olbermann used to say), that's three goals (on four shots) in 2:30.

The rough stuff then ensued with the Ducks facing a huge deficit. The "appetizer" was a scrum in front of Neuvirth, but the main even came moments later as Matt Bradley and Mike Brown squared off in a tussle clearly won by the Professor.

During the already-disturbing Kiss Cam, some guy proposed to his girlfriend (whose jeans were too small). No word on whether she said yes. Lovely.

The Caps got a power play after Corey Perry got two minutes each for slashing and unsportsmanlike conduct. Matt Beleskey compounded the Ducks' problems after getting two minutes for slashing. That's a five-on-three for a full two minutes -- but it only took 13 seconds for the Caps to strike again.

Semin was wide open at the faceoff circle and he beat Giggy high blocker side to give the Caps a 5-1 lead (and four goals in the third period). And, oh yeah, the Caps still have another 1:47 left on the two-man advantage.

The Caps couldn't convert again on the power play but they turned the tide on a close game and left no doubt about this one. They're also badly outshooting the Ducks -- registering 49 shots to Anaheim's 31.

With the game no longer in doubt, the Ducks started to rough it up again but it really wasn't anything more than a scrum. No more one-on-one fights resulted -- but four players got four minutes each for roughing, which didn't change the on-ice numbers.

Final: Caps 5, Ducks 1.