The most important game of Thursday Night

As Tony mentioned earlier, Thursday night was a great night for sports. The #1 college football team lost and there were two walk-offs in an already crazy baseball playoff race.

What was missing in both Tony's recap of last night and the major sports outlets' recaps was the most important game of all: a preseason game between the Carolina Hurricanes and the Washington Capitals.

At first glance, the game seems meaningless.

To steal an overly used line by Lee Corso: not so fast my friend. The game was big for two reasons: 1) it was the first home game for the Caps since the awful game 7 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers, and 2) it was our first look at most of the Caps' roster.

Carolina dressed a roster full of players who will be in the minor leagues and it was a game the Caps should have won, but regardless, it was important to see how the players played. And, despite a slow start and a lackluster effort overall, they rallied in the 3rd period and scored 5 goals to win the game (they're now 2-0, with 2 wins against the Hurricanes).

A couple notes:

1. Alexander Ovechkin had 2 goals and an assist. The reigning MVP looked better than ever. On one play in the first period, he skated in, unleashed a cannon of a wrist shot which knocked the goaltender's helmet clear off and, while the play came to a stop, knocked an approaching player right off of his skates.
2. Prospect Chris Bourque had a goal and an assist in 15:24 of playing time, a great game by a player fighting for a chance to make the opening night roster. Despite his small stature - he's listed as 5'7" - he plays with a mean streak and was all over the ice.
3. Goaltender Michal Neuvirth, who looks no older than 14 years old (he's 20), was beaten early by two powerplay goals but settled down and ended up with 24 saves on 26 shots. Not too shabby in 40 minutes of work. Fellow prospect Daren Machesney had 3 saves in the 3rd period and got the win as the Caps scored 5 goals in that stanza.
4. Michael Nylander and Chris Clark looked great coming off of injuries. If you haven't been following the Caps, I'll fill you in: early last season, Nylander torn his rotator cuff but played through it. He eventually couldn't bear it and was shelved for the rest of the year after 40 games. Clark pulled his groin and recovered but aggrivated it in his first game back. He never recovored. Last night, Nylander scored 2 goals and Clark had 2 assists. The Caps made their run without them; with them in the lineup they become much, much better.
5. The attendance was listed 13, 266 people. Not all 13,000 were present, but the stands were much more populated than in recent years. Tickets this year will be much, much harder to come by.

Hockey is finally back in DC.