We Just Pucked All Day and All Night

Once again, we were faced with a barrage of pucking Friday and Saturday from daytime all the way through the night.

Friday night's highlight was Washington's 6-0 destroying of the Tampa Bay Lightning who came in on a five-game winning streak that meant absolutely nothing to the Capitals. Alex Semin had his third hat trick of this season in this game - a natural hat trick at that - all in 4:29 in one period. The Caps clearly didn't care, and put on that killer instinct, scoring in every period of the game, including four in the second period.

Aside from the obvious offensive numbers that Washington is known for, the Capitals put on some spectacular defense. Along with Tampa's winning streak, they came in scoring the most power play goals in the league and a 32% efficiency rate during the five-game winning stretch. And yet, Washington held Steven Stamkos, the intruder in all things Ovechkin/Crosby, to no points for only the fourth time this year. The Lightning power play went 0-for-5. All the while, Semyon Varlamov only saw 17 shots, which is awesome because it's less work for him; thus, less likely to get hurt.

Varlamov looked much healthier though, and more confident, as his goaltending seemed more refined and polished. He had much better save selection, and didn't lunge at every rebound around him (and miss it). If he out-performs Michal Neuvirth, I'll be the first to congratulate him, but I'll wait. I'm waiting... I'm gonna sit here and wait... *looks at watch*

Saturday's main event for me was the late game in Los Angeles featuring the Kings and the Chicago Blackhawks where the Hawks took the game 2-1. This game had everything a neutral fan would want: hard hits, a close game between two legitimate teams that went down to the wire, huge saves, and uh... this (check the bottom part of your screen). Kevin Westgarth vs. John Scott



This certainly was one of the best fight moments I've seen in a while, as the refs decided to stand back and let the two players go, even though clearly Westgarth's face got shattered. Nonetheless, Westgarth still had some fight in him until he chose to exit the bout, tapping Scott and giving him the acknowledgment of his victory. Scott isn't that great of a player (like, at all) but I sure wouldn't want to take him on the ice... okay I'm not taking anyone on, with me and my 4'11'' self.

Anyway, the rest of the game, though slow right after the fight at a 1-0 Chicago lead, turned out to be a great one. The Hawks eventually scored another goal from Patrick Kane to go up 2-0, but the Kings' Anze Kopitar made it a one-goal match with about six minutes to go in the game. However, the Hawks held on for the 2-1 victory.

And if you haven't read it yet, I did a guest post a couple of weeks ago for the folks over at Hockey Community. Check out how to build a backyard hockey rink, and see what true love for hockey looks like! Video is courtesy of Ross Bergen from Massachusetts.

I hope you enjoyed all the pucking the past two days. We get less of a load on us tomorrow with only three games all starting at 5 pm. Find me on Twitter and we can chat about the games!