Caps win an OT Shoot-out thriller!

Last night at the Verizon Center was quite possibly one of the most exciting games I have witnessed in the NHL ever. That's quite a bold statement, I know. I went with a friend and we got some decent seats down in the lower bowl for this game against the Western Conference Edmonton Oilers. I figured this game wouldn't have too much excitement since these two teams don't see each other ever. Was I ever wrong.

The Oilers busted out a 2 goal lead at the end of the 1st off of two power-play goals. I might add that their power-play unit is very effective...either that...or the Caps have a terrible penalty kill. Back to those goals, I was running through my mind..."Boudreau, why did you start Kolzig tonight?"

The second period started out with high energy from the Caps as they had 2 goals immediately back to back, maybe 30 seconds apart and tied it up. The oilers got another power-play goal to make it 3-2 Oilers. The Caps didn't fret or worry, instead they came out with more resolve to out-duel the visitors from Alberta on "Canadian Forces" night. They answered back with two more goals making it 4-3 at the end of the 2nd.

At the close of that period, my friend leaned over and said, "I bet this game goes into OT tonight." I responed, "Yeah right, the Caps are on fire and will win this out in regulation."

The Oilers scored another goal at even strength to tie the game at 4-4 in the 3rd. Ovechkin, dog tired at the end of the 3rd, started to streak down the right wing to squeeze off one last shot as the seconds winded down, he ripped a snap-shot with 1.2 seconds to go and it narrowly missed the top shelf after a deflection from the goalie's glove, sending the game to OT. Damnit! I think I just lost a dollar bet.

There was a lot of scoring opportunities for the Caps in the OT session, and Kolzig was stellar again. No one could break the tie in the 5 minute OT session, it was time for the shoot-out.

The shoot-out seemed like an eternity. 11 rounds with not a single goal scored. 11 consecutive saves, 1 on 1, for each goalie. Kolzig was in the zone tonight. Every major player for the Caps had taken a crack at busting down the Oilers goalie, even Brashear, to no avail.

An unlikely hero was going to have to do it for the Caps tonight, and that hero was Matt Bradley. In the 12th round, he beat the Oilers goalie on a backhand shot to give the caps the edge.

It was all down to Kolzig now. The skater came down the rink, but instead busting a move, he stops and does a slapshot? Seriously? Kolzig stopped it easily, and the arena erupted.

I can't convey the intense energy that was there last night. It was a playoff like atmosphere, every fan was standing, cheering, hoping that someone would put the puck in the net and that Kolzig would be a brick wall denying everything coming at him. I went back to my thought of... "Boudreau, why did you start Kolzig tonight?" This was the reason he started him, he knew something that we all didn't.