caps 4, ning 1, OMG WE’RE IN THE PLAYOFFS (for the next 21 hours, anyway)

i am a born pessimist, and about the only thing that gets me hopeful is hockey.
but boy, after the first few minutes of the first period, i was playing all sorts of doomsday scenarios in my head.

the ‘ning scored just 39 seconds into the period. ouch. what a lousy way to start a game.
brooks laich answered with a goal a few seconds later, but the refs refused to allow it because a tampa bay player had touched the tampa bay goalie; thus, goalie interference. it was a totally bad call.
and for the next 10 minutes, i had visions of our playoff hopes going down the drain, and the game ending 1-0 ning, and the disallowed brooks laich goal being the one bad call that ended the dream season.

but at 12:01 in the first period, alex ovechkin suddenly made everything better, with goal #64 tying the game. and i suddenly remembered why i’m not pessimistic about hockey. not with this team. not with this coach. not with this beautiful play in a regular season where our team was in the basement.

things just got better and better from there. in the third period, ao scored number 65. and then boyd gordon scored another. and then tom poti launches a beautiful gliding goal down the ice to score an empty netter – his second of the season.

tampa bay did not go down without a fight – literally. after the poti goal, things degenerated into anarchy. a penalty for too many men on the ice degenerated into a knockout brawl between matt bradley and lessard. brads beat him but good, delaying the inevitable win by several minutes.

and then, the game was over, and there was a lot of this going on…

really, caps, thank you. the past few games have been a beautiful coda on a season that once had me in the depths of despair. now the guys are the scrappy underdogs that everyone wants to root for. and it’s a sweet, sweet feeling .

see you on saturday! kitty cats, we’re gunning for you!

~ by malaiseybonbons on April 3, 2008.