- Article
- Comments ()
- Videos
NEWARK, N.J. — The debut of the newest Washington Capitals was a rousing success.
Goaltender Cristobal Huet made 18 saves last night and center Sergei Fedorov helped set up the team's first goal while looking quite comfortable in all situations. Toss in some stingy defense and fantastic work on the power play and it added up to a convincing 4-0 victory for the Caps against the Eastern Conference-leading New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center.
"It was an ideal start, I would say," Huet said.
Huet, making his first appearance since the Caps acquired him for a second-round draft pick in 2009 at Tuesday's trade deadline, played stout in net. His biggest save came against New Jersey's Zach Parise on a breakaway when the game was still tied.
He also had plenty of help in front of him, as the Caps defense limited quality scoring chances, often preventing them with one of their 11 blocked shots in key moments.
In the Room: Catching up with Bengt Gustafsson
It is the team's second shutout of the season. It was Huet's third shutout of the season — his last came Jan. 29 against his new teammates. The win moved Washington within three points of idle Carolina for first place in the Southeast Division and three of idle Philadelphia for the No. 8 spot in the conference.
"That was as close to our 60-minute game as possible," Caps coach Bruce Boudreau said. "To hold a team that is down 1-0 to two shots in the third period — I think that is quite an accomplishment. We want to bottle that up and do it again."
Fedorov recorded his first assist with the Caps and logged time on both the power-play and penalty-killing units. The former league MVP, whom the Caps acquired from Columbus for defense prospect Theo Ruth, also won 10 of 13 faceoffs and made his biggest impact with the man advantage.
Mike Green broke the scoreless tie with a power-play goal 11:27 into the second period thanks in part to a world-class passing exhibition.
Fedorov kept the puck in the zone, and after a give-and-go with Nicklas Backstrom snapped a backhand pass to Alexander Semin near the right faceoff circle. Semin sent a cross-ice pass to Green, who potted his NHL-leading (among defensemen) 17th goal.
Post a comment
There are comments on this article, submit your opinion!
Please login or register to post a comment