November 25 - Washington Capitals vs. Buffalo Sabers

It had been so long since we'd been to a game in person (a full week!) that Neil and I were really excited to head to Verizon Center on the night before Thanksgiving. We both got off work early and took naps to prepare for the game. After a quick dinner at Camille's with other Caps fans, we headed to our seats.

Buffalo is a tough team and the Caps have been losing lately, so the game was really a big test for our injury-ravaged team. From 419, it looked like the Caps were dominating for the majority of the game. The very beginning was rough and the Caps were outshot something like 9 to 1. Fortunately, that 1 was taken by Ovechkin and it went in.

Ovie looked like his old self finally and the first two periods remained 1-0 in favor of the Caps. Varly was stellar in goal again and even though there was only a one goal margin, it was looking good for my team.

Then, in the third period, Ovie hit a Buffalo player and was ejected from the game. In the moment, it did not seem like a justified call and after watching the replay when I got home, it still looked like a perfectly legal hit.



Fortunately, the Caps were able to kill off the 5 minute penalty and the team rallied for Ovie. Eric Fehr scored a second goal for the caps and Varly got his first regular season shut out.

Overall, great game. Fortunately, it sounds like Ovie will not get a suspension for the hit. I really think that the officials will have to see that the hit didn't even warrant the major penalty or ejection when they review the tape. We'll see.

Also of note: Ovie got a haircut and looks much less scruffy.