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captain Alex Ovechkin has informed the NHL that he will miss the 2019 NHL All-Star Game in San Jose, preferring to take full advantage of the adjoining bye week to recuperate and get ready for the second half of the season and the playoff push.
Thrilled for Jay Beagle, who signs a three-year, $12 million deal with VAN. Hockey is loaded with good guys, but none better than Beags, who is a self-made hockey player if there ever was one. I'll miss him and I wish him all the best.
After the incident that occurred here in Chicago during
#Caps
' last visit 11 months ago, Todd Reirden felt it was appropriate for Devante Smith-Pelly to be on ice for national anthem. So he is in starting lineup with Ovechkin/Backstrom, but Oshie will play on that line after.
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and Carlson Agree on Eight-Year Extension - Defenseman will stay in the District as he passes on free agency for an eight-year extension worth a total of $64 million:
This could only happen to WIlson, but not only does he get the goal, he gets two in the box for goaltender interference. Not sure I've ever seen that.
#CapsWild
Miroshnichenko would have been ranked much higher, but he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma last season.
#Caps
did their due diligence with his medical reports and interviewed him in person here yesterday in Montreal.
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Oshie's Hat Trick Propels
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to Emotional Win - In his first game back after the passing of his father, Oshie's hat trick leads Caps to second straight win over Rangers, 4-2:
With pick No. 31, the
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have chosen big (6-3, 200-pound) Russian defenseman Alexander Alexeyev, who has played for WHL Red Deer for the last two seasons. He's a mobile puckmover in the mold of the modern NHL defenders.
Laviolette on Carlson: "It's tough that Carly wasn't there tonight because he sits right next to Ovi and is such a loud, vocal piece inside the locker room. Right now he is under the care of team physicians, and is being transported to the hospital for precautionary evaluation."
Former
#Caps
goalie Braden Holtby will be on the ice during this week’s development camp, helping goalie coach Scott Murray as a guest coach this week.
Happy anniversary to
@JohnCarlson74
and
@Holts170
, both of whom were drafted into the
#Caps
organization 10 years ago - Carlson 10 years ago today and Holtby 10 years ago tomorrow. Time, man. It's a runaway train.
Zach Fucale now holds the NHL record for longest shutout streak at the start of a career, erasing Minnesota’s Matt Hackett (102 minutes, 48 seconds from 12/6/11 to 12/8/11) from the record books.
#ALLCAPS
#Caps
get out of Denver with a 3-2 win over Avs. They become the first Eastern team to win in regulation here this season. Avs entered game 29-2-2 in last 33 home games.
#CapsAvs
Ovechkin scores early, Burakovsky nets a pair in the second, and Holtby stops 29 shots, recording his second straight shutout (4-0) to eliminate the Lightning and propel the
#Caps
to the Cup final for first time in 20 years:
The
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have signed free agent goaltender Craig Anderson to a one-year contract for $700,000. He was placed on waivers moments ago, at noon on Wednesday. Should he clear waivers at noon on Thursday, he is expected to join the team's taxi squad.
#Caps
goalie Vitek Vanecek is NHL's Rookie of Month for Jan. He is eighth Cap ever to earn the honor, and one of three current Caps to do so (Ovechkin twice, Backstrom). Vanecek is first to do so since Neuvirth in Oct. '10, and fourth goalie (Mason 12/84, Carey 3/95, Neuvirth).
Tonight marks the first time in
#Caps
franchise history and the 19th time in NHL history that two defensemen from same team have both scored their first NHL goals in same game.
#CapsSens
With nine seasons of 50 or more goals, Mike Bossy and Wayne Gretzky are the only players with more than Ovechkin's eight seasons with 50. Bossy accounted for 9 of 68 such seasons in the league during his career (13.2%), Gretzky 9 of 131 (6.9%) and Ovechkin 8 of 21 (38.1%).
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There will be a late lineup change for the
#Caps
tonight. Radko Gudas is trying to catch a flight home, as his wife is going into labor. Jonas Siegenthaler is stepping in. All the best to the Gudas family!
Modern NHL players owe debt of gratitude to the late Ted Lindsay, who put his career on the line in an attempt to start a players' association in late 1950s. Ted was also the first to hold the Cup aloft and skate it around. RIP to a true pioneer and a great man, on/off the ice.
With today's signing of Michal Kempny,
#Caps
have inked five of their top six defensemen and 10 of their top 11 forwards from last season. Focus now shifts to RFAs Wilson, Bowey, Boyd and another defenseman, potentially Brooks Orpik. They've got about $9.7 million in cap space.
Backstrom said today that Caps have NHL's top PP over last 10 years. He's so right. Since he debuted at start of '07-08 season,
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are at 22.4% (664-for-2,961) on PP, Sharks are 2nd at 20.7%. Distance between WAS and SJ is greater than that between any other two teams on list.
#Caps
Confound Knights, 3-1 - Washington earns its first-ever home ice victory in a Stanley Cup Final series in Game 3, taking a 2-1 series lead over the Golden Knights:
Johnny Law is looking it over. Making sure of no offside. Caps are all in the room, B's are all on the bench ... it's a goal.
#Caps
win. And more John Denver ...
#CapsBruins
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are heading to the Stanley Cup final for the first time since 1998. They took out Tampa Bay with the first multi-goal Game 7 win in franchise history. They'll face Vegas now for the big bowl. Game 1 is Monday in the desert.
Copley's shutout in Ottawa tonight comes two weeks after Holtby shutout the Jackets in Columbus, marking the first time since 2011-12 the
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have had two different goalies with road shutouts in same season (Neuvirth, Vokoun).
Heaven's Just A Win Away -
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open up six-pack attack on Vegas, getting goals from six different skaters in 6-2 Game 4 victory that moves them within a win of their first Cup title:
For the first time in their franchise history, the
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have earned consecutive road wins in overtime on the same trip. And they came from behind to get it done both times.
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Make 37-Year Climb to Top of Wins Ladder - Their first eight seasons were fallow, but the Caps have prospered since and are now the NHL's winningest regular season team since '82-83:
With Siegenthaler making the scoresheet for the first time, every
#Caps
player who has pulled on a sweater has recorded a point this season, including goaltenders.
Congratulations to ex-Cap Matt Hendricks, who also announced his retirement from the NHL today. He will go to work for the Minnesota Wild in player development.
Backstrom is Back - Following two tough years of rehab, Backstrom returns to lineup, pain-free: "I just wasn't ready to stop, and I wanted to give this another shot":
#ALLCAPS
With Oshie joining Backstrom and Kuznetsov in protocol and both Wilson and Mantha still out with upper body ailments, the
#Caps
will take the ice against LA tonight with Alex Ovechkin as last man standing among group they envisioned as their top six forwards last summer.
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have signed Jensen to the same deal they gave Kempny last summer, four years at $10 mil total. They have their top five defensemen under contract for the next two seasons beyond this one at a combined hit of $23.85 million.
Ovechkin and
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Stun Isles with Late Rally, 6-4 - Ovechkin has third straight multi-goal game while Caps score five unanswered in third for third straight win:
Samsonov is first
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goalie with whitewashes in consecutive starts since Braden Holtby on Jan. 5-7, 2017. Samsonov is first Caps goalie to achieve the feat entirely on the road since Clint Malarchuk on Feb. 19-20, 1988.
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You do realize I have been posting a postgame notebook the day after every game - in addition to a recap the night of every game - for more than a decade now???
Yesterday marked Ovechkin’s “half life” with
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. As of today, he has been a member of the organization for one more day than he has not. Also, today is 19th anniversary of the Caps winning the 2004 NHL Draft lottery for right to draft 1st overall, and to select Ovechkin.
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have recalled G Ilya Samsonov from AHL Hershey to serve as their No. 3 netminder. Standard playoff practice, nothing to worry about with Holtby or Copley.
And Howe! The Great Eight has tied Mr. Hockey for second all-time, notching goal No. 801 here in the District against Winnipeg’s David Rittich, at 18:22 of the 1st.
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lead 1-0, and that's victim no. 166 on Ocho's hit parade.
#CapsJets
Holtby earns his fifth straight win and 200th of his career, becomes second fastest goalie in NHL history (K. Dryden) to reach that milestone.
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win, 4-1
#CapsPens
Hats and Nats Propel
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to Fourth Straight Win - Jakub Vrana's first career hat trick and the World Series champion Nats fuel Caps 4-2 win over Flames:
In addition to being the 10th anniversary of Alex Ovechkin being named
#Caps
' captain, today is also the 10th anniversary of John Carlson's game-winning overtime goal for Team USA in the gold medal game of the 2010 WJC tournament.
Ovechkin has now victimized a new goaltender for the first time for the third straight game, doing so for the seventh time in his career, but the first in 14 years. He last did so Nov. 24-28, 2008 against Backstrom, Pavelec and Halak.
#CapsOilers
Caps Unleash Flurry of Goals in 6-3 Win Over Isles - Facing first multi-goal deficit of season, Caps rally for six unanswered - including five in less than 10 minutes in 2nd - to extend point streak to eight straight:
Holy Holtby - Holtby's desperate late save lifts
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to a 3-2 win over Vegas in Game 2 of Stanley Cup Final, the first SCF win and first win over Vegas in franchise history:
Tuesday is the first Stanley Cup championship parade in the
#Caps
' franchise history. It comes 44 years to the day after the team conducted its expansion draft along with the Kansas City Scouts, June 12, 1974.
Orpik Calls it a Career - Nineteen years and one day after he was drafted in the first round of the 2000 NHL Entry Draft,
#Caps
defenseman Brooks Orpik announces his retirement from the NHL:
For the
#Caps
, this is potentially similar to the 2010 Draft when they were able to land Evgeny Kuznetsov at No. 26 overall after having ranked him in the top five on their list that year.
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Ovechkin's first goal of the game marked the 66th time in his NHL career that he has opened the scoring in a road game, passing Brett Hull (65) for most in League history.
Backstrom and Hagelin both on the ice and no light blue non-contact sweaters in sight. Good chance the
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take the ice against the Sharks tomorrow with a fully intact lineup for first time this season.
To the surprise of no one,
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have signed goalie Darcy Kuemper to a five-year deal worth $26.25 ($5.25 AAV). They're still working on potential additional deal or deals beyond this one, too.
#ALLCAPS
Ovechkin Opts Out of All-Star Game - With a heavy recent workload and a need to rest up for the season's second half and playoff push,
#Caps
captain Alex Ovechkin will sit out the 2019 NHL All-Star Game:
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goalie Ilya Samsonov pitches a 21-save, 5-0 shutout over the Lightning. Five different Caps light the lamp, sending the Bolts home without a win in the 2018 Prospect Showcase.
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Mourn Loss of Bryan "Bugsy" Watson - After ending a 16-year playing career in the NHL, the legendary Watson stayed in the area and operated Bugsy's, a popular sports bar/pizzeria in Old Town:
The
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' first-ever win in a Stanley Cup Final comes some 44 years after they began their NHL existence, on the same night as their first-ever win over Vegas, and with Brooks Orpik supplying the GWG. This game is nuts sometimes.
Finally, some good news from MCI. Backstrom, Oshie and Orlov all back on the ice today, and it seems as though all are present and accounted for. Practice underway in five minutes, flight to STL this afternoon.
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Living The Dream - Every NHL player has a unique story, but
#Caps
defenseman's Michal Kempny's rise to the NHL is among the most improbable I've encountered, and I tried to tell it here:
The
#Caps
won their first four road games in 2015-16, but they opened that season with a four-game homestand. This season marks the first time in franchise history that they’ve opened with two road games and brought home four points.