• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Semin leads Capitals over Canucks

Oct 14, 2008 - 3:58 AM By Tim Hipps PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- Alexander Semin scored two goals and the Washington Capitals used a second-period surge to cruise past the Vancouver Canucks, 5-1, on Monday.

Michael Nylander converted a penalty shot and added two assists for the Capitals, who have had a player score at least two goals in each of their three games this season. In 2007-08, Washington went 20-2-0 when it boasted a multi-goal scorer.

Nylander's last multi-point game was January 13, when he had a goal and an assist against Philadelphia. The next game, he sustained a season-ending rotator cuff injury. Nylander, who missed the final 38 games of the season, was ranked second on the team in points per game when he went down.

"He's magic with the puck, and when he connects, it's usually a tap-in on the front door," Capitals captain Chris Clark said.

Canucks defenseman Willie Mitchell was called for shooting a loose stick on the ice at Nylander, who was attempting to pass the puck. His tally against Roberto Luongo gave Washington a 5-1 lead with 3:24 left in the second.

The Capitals had not converted a penalty shot since November 25, 2005, when Matt Pettinger tallied against Tampa Bay. Washington had missed its last six penalty shots, including four by Alex Ovechkin, who was unsuccessful in his bid during the season opener in Atlanta on Friday.

Capitals goaltender Brent Johnson made nine saves for his 100th career victory.

The Canucks recorded 10 shots on goal, allowing the Capitals to break a franchise record for shots by an opponent, having never before allowed fewer than 11 in a game.

"Ten, 15, whatever they had - anytime you can hold a team to under 15 or 16 shots, you had a (heck) of a game," Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau said. "Not only a testament to the way you're playing, but also to the courage of the players blocking the shots."

Only two NHL teams managed only 10 shots in a game last season - the Vancouver Canucks (against the Chicago Blackhawks) and the Atlanta Thrashers (against the New York Islanders).

Semin opened the scoring by converting passes from Nylander and defenseman Mike Green just under three minutes into the contest.

"The team has been together for three or four years now and the guys have got used to playing with each other. Now we know where everybody is, and we can just pass and know that the player is going to be there," Semin said. "It is just chemistry now with this team."

Defenseman Alex Edler tied the game with a power-play goal 68 seconds later, but Johnson was impenetrable the rest of the way.

Johnson said his milestone "has been a long time coming," but he could not recall earning such an easy victory.

"Never, never," Johnson said. "These guys worked their butts off. The guys just played an incredible hockey game. They were going on all blue lines and goal lines. They didn't let them get anything going. From blue line to blue line, they were putting pressure on them and supporting each other.

"It was just a fantastic win. I've got to give us a lot of credit. We played our hockey game and did what we wanted to do. If not for that first little goal, it would have been an unbelievably perfect game."

With 3:49 remaining in the first, Green scored what proved to be the game-winner on the man advantage. In the second, a slap shot at the blue line from Milan Jurcina gave Washington a 3-1 lead at 5:23, and Semin followed suit before Nylander converted on the penalty shot.

Luongo turned aside 20 shots, but was pulled in favor of backup Curtis Sanford to start the third period.

"I've got no words," Luongo said. "It was a tough game from beginning to end. It was not a pretty game. I don't think there are many answers out there about why this happened, so we have to put it behind us."

Canucks coach Alain Vigneault was as complimentary of the Capitals' performance as he was perturbed with the Canucks' effort.

"You do have to give credit where credit is due," Vigneault said. "They played a really strong game where the skill level was evident and the execution was really, really good. In our case, I can only see two positives - the play of Curtis Sanford and that we were all awful at the same time."