Joel Ward with Puck at Center Ice
courtesy of clydeorama

The Caps did two things last night that they have been unable to do over the past several weeks: they came back from a two-goal deficit; and, they held a late lead. The result was a 4-3 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes to end a four-game losing streak.

Before the game even started, Coach Bruce Boudreau shook things up by benching superstar Alexander Semin as a “healthy scratch” for the first time since his rookie season. Adding to the drama, Semin failed to appear at the morning skate or the pre-game up warmup skate where healthy scratches typically join the team on the ice. Maybe Sasha don’t care.

Once the game was underway, the Caps got an early break when Phoenix took a penalty two minutes into the game. But on the ensuing power play the Coyotes’ leading scorer Radim Vrbata intercepted a pass and went the length of the ice to score on the first shot faced by Tomas Vokoun. The Coyotes are known to be very good when they take the lead so this was not an auspicious start. Continue reading →