Washington Capitals Keep Their Head Above Water

The Washington Capitals managed to win the last of their three road games played after the All Star break by beating the Montreal Canadiens this afternoon by a score of 3-0.  While that sounds like a lopsided victory, it was actually anything but — in fact, in most statistics other than the score, the Canadiens played a better game. The Caps scored their first goal on a fluke slap shot by Dennis Wideman that barely made it to the net.  It was described by the TV announcers as a “knuckleball”, and during the break between the first and second period, Wideman said he was a “little embarrassed” by the goal.  The second goal was a solid score by Matt Hendricks, who hammered home a juicy rebound into an almost empty net.  Alexander Semin scored the final tally for the visiting Capitals, scoring on a penalty shot after being hooked by Montreal’s defense on a breakaway. While there is clearly no doubt that the only statistic that really matters is the number of times each team lit th...