National Hockey League Friday Night Match Roundup -NHL Feature
There were five games happening around the National Hockey League (NHL) on Friday night, December 30, 2011, which had teams fighting for positioning just before the New Year’s break, but there are still many teams that will be competing on Saturday as well.
Washington Capitals gain momentum with second straight over Buffalo Sabres 3-1
Newly appointed Washington coach, Dale Hunter, is probably finally beginning to breathe easily after his team managed to grab their second consecutive win, something which they were not able to achieve since earlier in November.
The Capitals routed the Buffalo Sabres as captain, Alex Ovechkin, scored two goals for their second straight victory, 3-1, at the sold-out Verizon Center in Washington, District of Columbia, United States.
"When your top line scores -- Nicki and Alex and Alex -- the rest of the team plays hard," Hunter said, after a victory that put them in the Eastern Conferences 10th number spot. "And they feed off it."
Alex Ovechkin was determined to score early in the game, which is exactly what he did by potting his 13th of the 2011-2012 NHL regular season on a quick power play opportunity in the first 27 seconds as Mike Weber was booked for boarding with
a minor penalty.
Nicklas Backstrom added the second straight of the night for the home team, which certainly gave them a much needed boost of confidence, in the opening four minutes of the second period followed by Buffalo’s first goal by Jochen Hecht in a penalty-less 20
minutes.
Tomas Vokoun was back in the Washington net and faced 26 shots throughout the contest of which 25 were diverted by him.
Alex Ovechkin added his second of the night to secure the match for Washington with less than six minutes remaining in the final period of regulation.
Washington will be looking for their third straight victory when they face the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday while Buffalo Sabres host the Ottawa Senators the same day.
Calgary Flames fail to maintain lead, get knocked down by Ottawa Senators 4-3 in overtime
Calgary Flames got off to a strong start by scoring three straight goals in the opening period but were unable to maintain their lead as the Ottawa Senators rallied in the final 40 minutes to win, 4-3, in overtime, at the over packed Scotiabank Place in
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Rene Bourque got off on a breakaway right after the first face-off and potted his 12th goal of the season 23 seconds into the opening period followed by Curtis Glencross on the first power play opportunity after Chris Neil and Tim Jackman exchanged
fists.
Chris Butler finalised the Calgary scoring with his first of the season at the 18:49 minute of the first period, after which the Flames burned out totally.
Nick Foligno and Zack Smith scored two straight for the Senators nearly 10 minutes apart in the second period, which certainly gave Ottawa the boost they needed to get back in the contest.
Erik Karlsson wowed the crowd with his breakaway goal at the 4:28 mark of the third and final period of regulation to force an uncertain overtime extension followed by captain, Daniel Alfredsson, on the lone OT power play sponsored by Calgary’s, Rene Bourque,
for the game-winner.
"We all knew what we had to do, and we were talking about it on the bench, but nothing got done," Bourque said. "We lost last night, now we lose again tonight. We're just not sharp right now."
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