Washington Capitals manage 7-6 win over Anaheim Ducks
Alexander Semin scored his fourth hat-trick of the 2010-11 season, as the Washington Capitals rallied to defeat the Anaheim Ducks 7-6, on Wednesday night.
David Steckel and Mike Knuble each also found the back of the net for Washington, who halted their three-game losing streak. Alex Ovechkin and Brooks Laich both also tallied a goal in the win. Semyon Varlamov started between the pipes for the Capitals, giving
up three goals on nine shots. He was replaced by Michal Neuvirth, who then surrendered the other three goals on 12 shots.
Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf each netted a goal and earned three assists for Anaheim, who had their four-game winning streak snapped in a high scoring encounter. Teemu Selanne, Lubomir Visnovsky, Toni Lydman and Bobby Ryan each also added a goal in the losing
effort. Curtis McElhinney started the game in net for the Ducks. However, he was pulled for an extra attacker in the last minute, allowing all seven goals on 31 shots.
Getzlaf gave the Ducks a 1-0 lead just four minutes into the opening stanza, as he cleaned up a rebound in front on a power play. Ovechkin then knotted the game at 1-1 for the Capitals just after the midway point of the first period, as he fired a snap shot
into the net.
Laich put the Capitals ahead by 2-1 with four minutes left in the first period. He was gifted a pass in the slot by Anaheim’s Teemu Selanne on a turnover and was all alone for an easy tap into the net. However, Selanne got the goal back to tie the game at
2-2 with two minutes left in the same period. Luca Sbisa provided the assist for the goal.
Anaheim then took a 3-2 lead through Lydman’s goal with 31 seconds left in the first stanza. The Ducks doubled their advantage at 4-2, with a shorthanded goal in the second quarter. The goal was set up by Sbisa, who sent a long pass across mid-ice for Perry,
who was stationed in front and stuffed the puck home just over six minutes into the period.
Steckel drew the Capitals to within a goal to make it a 4-3 game just two minutes later, and Semin then scored the equalizer to make it 4-4, just before the midway mark of the second period. Visnovsky gave Anaheim a 5-4 lead with nearly seven and half minutes
left in the same period, as he ripped a wrist shot into the net with an assist from Perry and Getzlaf. However, the Capitals pulled the game even at 5-5 again just one minute into the third period.
Ryan recovered the Ducks’ one-goal edge at 6-5, nearly six minutes into the final session. However, Semin knotted it again at 6-6 three minutes later, when Scott Hannan sent the puck in front from behind the net and Semin swiped it in.
Semin completed his hat-trick, capping the final scoring at 7-6 with less than two minutes to play in the game, as he rushed in behind McElhinney and released a backhander into the net.
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