The Caps walked into Madison Square Garden with their superstar in tow, and walked out with a big 4-2 victory on Tuesday night. Alex Ovechkin made his mark early with a power play goal, and Matt Bradley led the charge for the unsung heroes in a feel good effort for the boys from D.C.

There were several concerns entering this game, most notably the penalty kill, and goaltending consistency, and the Caps didn't do a ton to squash those feelings, but they did enough to win. Marian Gaborik was able to beat Semyon Varlamov twice, and now has four goals in two games against Washington this season. However, the Caps were able to respond with some old staples, getting a goal on the Henrik Lundqvist's doorstep by Brooks Laich, and two Mike Green assists. Here are my additional thoughts on the game:

• He's baaaaaaaaaack. How about that bomb from the point from the Great 8? Just a thing of beauty. Only one shot though? Weird...
  
• The Rangers chances in the slot during the early portion of the first period? Not so much.
• My wife cringed at Matt Bradley's fight with Aaron Voros, but the professor held his own tonight. Don't let all the blood and stitches fool you. She didn't cringe at her favorite player stepping up, protecting the puck and scoring an extremely important thrid period marker. That's a textbook definition of protecting the puck on the way to the net. Nice hands Brads!
• Good to see John Erskine doing what he gets paid to do. He did a good job of playing a physical game, and cancelling out Sean Avery everytime he got close to Semyon Varlamov.
• Speaking of Mr. Project Runway, I certainly wouldn't be sad if someone decided to go all "baseball bat" to his face with their stick. If anyone deserves it, it's him. I also don't understand how a guy could look so confused on every close up. Nice elbow to Varly's head, a-hole.
• Does Donald Brashear play hockey anymore? Pretty glad GMGM decided to pass on dropping any money on #87. I love Brash and all, but five shifts through 40 minutes isn't exactly worth a multi-million dollar deal.
• Another strong night for Mathieu Perreault. Can the kid do anything more with the time he gets? He drew two penalties in the first two periods, and was his typical sparkplug self on both ends of the ice. Not to mention that he won 71% of his faceoffs.
• Gotta stop the untimely penalties Potsy...
• The Rangers did a great job of playing below the goalline in the third period, and that really seemed to keep Semyon Varlamov a little off balance.
• What a shift by the the Beagle-Steckel-Bradley line coming out of the 4-on-4...that was a thing of beauty. Overall, the third and fourth lines really had pretty good nights overall, giving a lot of energy when needed. The aforementioned cycling crew seemed to gas New York a little just before Bradley's game-winning goal.
  
• That last minute was a little nerve-wracking, but the Caps did a good job of collapsing around Varlamov and not allowing shots to get through to the net.

Kudos Go To:

Matt Bradley...one assist short of a Gordie Howe, and some stitches to boot. Brads continues to show leadership and grit, which are two things that the Caps can't have enough of if they expect to compete into June.

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