Predators Hunted Down

The Caps came out flying tonight scoring 3 goals right away in the 1st period. Ovechkin picked up his 100th point of the season tonight on the first goal by Semin, tallying an assist for himself. He then picked up another assist as Backstrom scored another goal. Bradley took the tally for the 3rd goal of the period with Brooks 'the ladies man' Laich.

Something must have been said in the Predators locker room during the intermission, because the Preds came out hard and applied the pressure. Their persistence paid off and a goal squeaked by Huet making it 3-1 at the end of two. The Caps looked out-played very badly this period and surprised. It easily could have been 5-3 after two with all the chances that the Predators had.

Jason Arnott came out firing hard against the Caps in the 3rd with a few close calls that narrowly missed the goal. He finally got one through on a low shot by Huet on his left side. Things got pretty tense after that as the Predators could smell a game tying goal as they yanked their goalie.

With seconds left in the game, the puck somehow found it's way to Ovechkin's stick. Instead of firing it down the rink risking an icing, he made a soft shot off the boards to kill more time, but he did it in such a way that it found it's way into the goal netting his 58th goal of the season. Intentional or accidental goal? Who knows.

There's two arguments to be made in closing; One, overlooking Ovechkin's personal achievements, the Caps won the game, earning them a ninth place spot in the Eastern conference 2 points behind Philly, who won tonight. Two, trick question, can you overlook Ovechkin's performance tonight? If anything, this solidifies his bid for MVP this season. I'm so tired of hearing about Malkin & Crosby in the running for this honor. Were the Penguins really that screwed when Crosby originally went out with his ankle injury? I don't think so. So saying that Malkin was the sole savior is an invalid argument. Yes, Malkin is a great player and deserves accolades, but not awards this season. Ovechkin deserves this award as he plays hard every game and does everything for his team that he can and shows great enthusiasm. Did I mention that he gained his 300th career point tonight as well? Yeah, enough said. This kid deserves MVP this year.