Tuesday Roundup/Caps 6, 'Yotes 1

by J.P. on Jan 17, 2006 9:37 AM EST

[Boxscore - Recap]

In recapping Monday's game, I could talk about the fact that the Caps had five different goal scorers and five different multiple-point scorers. Or that Brent Johnson had his second straight very strong game in net. Or that the team scored twice on the power play and outshot the Coyotes 34-22 en route to its first back-to-back wins since January 28-29, 2004.

But all anyone else seems to be talking about is Alexander Ovechkin's second goal of the game (video courtesy rh71), so I guess I'll join the masses. Wayne Gretzky said of Ovechkin's one-handed-overhead-backhand-while-sliding-on-his-back tally, "That was pretty sweet." Ovechkin himself called the goal "beautiful." TSN called the goal "incredible" and ESPNews called it an "early candidate for play of the year." For more, the WaPo's article gets a nice sampling of player reactions and the WTimes chimes in as well. Phew.

In other news from around the League:

Today is Jeremy Roenick's 36th birthday or, as we at The Rink call it, Jacques Plante's 77th birthday. Probably the most innovative goaltender to ever play the sport (if not the best), Plante won seven Vezinas, a Hart and five Stanley Cups and, of course, was the first goalie to wear a mask in an NHL game. For that last contribution to the game, pretty boys like Jose Theodore are eternally grateful.
As for Roenick, The Rink wonders if he'll be able to total as many points in 2005-06 as he has years on this planet. With 35 team games left in which to score 23 points (and a finger injury to boot), we're betting he won't even come close.
Eric Staal and Martin Brodeur are your Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week, respectively.