Thrashers, Meet Ovechkin

I know we're all shocked that the media hype and fan intensity didn't translate into all out war tonight.

Shocked.

Really.

Unfortunately if you tuned in tonight expecting to see an old school bench-clearing brawl between the Caps and the Thrash, you were probably disappointed.

But for the rest of us - those of us who like fast-paced, intense hockey, those of us who appreciate solid play from both sides, those of us who are a fan of Ovechkin and everything he does, well...tonight could not have been better.

It actually ended up being a very entertaining game, with both teams playing a very good game. There was intensity and physicality but nothing over the top, nothing to suggest that the bad blood so frequently trumpeted in the press over the past few days was real. It looked like, dare I say it, a division rivalry complete with all the implications - the Caps pick up a point on Atlanta and now sit in second in the division, 7 points out of first place.

But let's face it - as well as the Caps played for the majority of the game, this was all Alex Ovechkin. Once again he picks up the hat trick in dramatic fashion, scoring all three Caps goals including the tying goal in the last minute and the game-winner...6 seconds into overtime.

Blink and you missed it.

Only a few bad things I can think of - Jon Sim scoring (again...what is that??), Semin's tryout for the Russian Diving Team Captain, and some of the third period, which seemed to replace the second as the slightly sluggish frame of the night yet still provided some entertaining hockey.

Good stuff all over the place - Johnny again looked solid albeit giving up that first goal that he maybe should have had; the return of Jamie Heward complete with face shield; Brooks Laich, Matt Pettinger, Alexander Semin, Boyd Gordon, et al flying all over the place...

We all know who the true star of tonight's game was, though - it was Ovie who started and ended the scoring with a great individual effort and it was Ovie who lead the Caps to another two-point night.

Special shout-out to those of you who made it to the very first Caps blogger viewing party - it was great to meet all of you tonight! I hope to see more of you at future events...stay tuned to KHFC for more details :)