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Capitals in Motion: Mo’ from Motown

Last week we mentioned how Tom Wilson’s first career NHL point won out in the closest vote yet, taking top honors by a slim two-vote margin. Well, that was trumped when the top-two GIFs as voted by you were separated by just a single tally…so here it is, your top GIF from last week – Martin Erat being awesome:

Erat_pass

This slick play will have some tough competition, with a bevy of beautiful plays taking over this week. And away we go…

We’ll kick things off in Motown, where the Caps headed to the Joe Louis Arena looking to keep the slumping Red Wings slumping. So who better to kick off the scoring than a guy who knows a thing or two about recent slumps?

Take it away, Brooks Laich

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A nice play on the initial shot, a follow-up chance, a goal despite having two guys hacking away at you… yeah, that’s a pretty slick play right there. More, please, Mr. Laich.

Of course, no stranger to the slick play is none other than the Caps’ captain himself, Alex Ovechkin. Forget that streaking-up-the-wing, deking-around-the-defenseman play that was Ovechkin’s old standby for so long – now he’s going to the net, finding new ways to score goals seemingly every game. And because of that, he can capitalize on a quick-thinking Marcus Johansson and a perfectly-placed pass for this beauty:

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That’ll do, Alex.

Not to be outdone by his forwards, of course, Braden Holtby refuses to bite on Todd Bertuzzi’s spin-o-rama move in the shootout, tossing out the stick for one of three (THREE) poke-checks he successfully employed in that night’s skills competition. And of course, finishing it off with a classic Holtby “what else ya got?” pose at the end, just to kick up the awesome:

Gifs_week_6_-_bertuzzi_shootout_attempt

Ice in his veins.

What’s that you say? Enough already with the Caps vs. the Red Wings? Okay, let’s head home and watch this fancy little bit of hand-eye coordination by Mikhail Grabovski:

Grabovski_scores_3-0_-_imgur

Yes, that is a bouncing puck being swatted out of mid-air and into the net. And yes, Grabovski is just awesome.

So much for that reprieve from Detroit, because there’s no way we could talk about that game – and the comeback orchestrated by the Caps – without acknowledging this magical moment:

Lattacelebration

First NHL goals are special; first NHL goal celebrations, the best. This one? Priceless.

Okay, so you’ve staged a comeback to force overtime. You’ve won the game in a shootout, in part thanks to your unshakable goalie. Celebration time! And sure, you can go with your standard fist-bumps, your head-rubs, your hugs… but Aaron Volpatti says those are boring:

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Just checking to make sure the ol’ kiwis are okay, right, Aaron? What a guy.

Looking ahead to the next week, the Caps get a double-dose of le Bleu, Blanc et Rouge, as Montreal makes the trek to DC to pay Alex Ovechkin and the Caps a visit. So in honor of that, we would like to remind the Habs that Ovechkin is a scary, scary man who cannot be contained.

…okay, so this goal didn’t count. But he throws Hal Gill at the net as if Gill weren’t an 8-foot-tall behemoth and it’s awesome:

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This one? This one did count, and it is also awesome:

Ovi-goal

And that does it for another week – so, which one’s your favorite?

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