Ceci Ferrara
March 9, 2015
Sports Writer
Sports Insider
Coming off two days rest, the Washington Capitals were looking to bounce back from their 2-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild Thursday night. They were also hoping that Alex Ovechkin, who had missed that game due to an injury earlier in the week, would be available to help them.
By the end of the night–a 6-1 rout of the Buffalo Sabres–Ovechkin had scored his 44th goal of the season and the Caps had put on one of their best performances of the season.
“We need to get on a little bit of streak,” Capitals coach Barry Trotz said. “But we also have to build our game, have a little bit of the killer instinct in us. I thought we did a good job, but we benefited a little bit from the schedule today.”
While the Caps hadn’t played in two days, Buffalo had played Friday in Ontario before traveling to Washington. By the time they took the ice against the Caps, they were no doubt tired. Washington took advantage of that, allowing a season low 17-shots.
Though the Sabres scored first, it was the only goal the Capitals would allow. Curtis Glencross tied it up at 1-1 a little over five minutes into the first period and from there, it was all Washington’s show. Jay Beagle and Ovechkin put the Caps ahead, while goals by Brooks Laich, Joel Ward, and Marcus Johansson put the game away.
While Ovechkin’s score gave him the league lead, for teammate Laich, it was the ending of a two-month drought. “Obviously it’s been a really tough time for myself and it was a big relief,” said Laich, who hadn’t scored since Jan. 7. “This was really nice to score a goal.”
The Caps will now head into a three-day break sitting comfortably in the first Eastern Conference wild-card spot, six points ahead of Boston. They will use the time off to rest and regroup before heading into the final 15-games of the regular season.
“There’s teams that are chasing us a little bit, I would say, so we’re not out of the woods there,” Trotz said. “But our focus has to be, when we come back, let’s look at the teams that we could catch now and see if we can jump over a couple of them. I think there’s enough time and I think we’re a good enough team to do that. Let’s build our game and build our focus on doing some good things.”
College Basketball
The No. 4 Maryland women have been great all season, so their Big Ten Title, while exciting, came as no surprise.
The Lady Terps, who went 18-0 in conference play, extended their domination into the Big Ten tournament. They knocked out Michigan State and Northwestern to face Ohio State (23-10) in the title game Sunday. Maryland went on a 17-3 run late in the first half to give them a 15-point lead in the second.
But Ohio was able to cut that deficit to one, and keep the game tight to the finish. In the end it was the Terps who emerged triumphant, hanging onto a 3-point lead. Lexie Brown led Maryland with 19 points, while Shatori Walker-Kimbrough scored 13 and Malina Howard and Laurin Mincy added 12 apiece.
The 77-74 victory was the 24th straight win for the Lady Terps, who hope to keep the momentum going into the NCAA Tournament. While they reached the Final Four last year, they are hopeful they have what it takes to go all the way this time.
If their recent performances are any indication, the odds are in the favor.
