Mike Richards scores 1st goal, gets standing O in Capitals win
Richie's first G. Great hustle Willy. #CapsYotes #RockTheRed pic.twitter.com/LKUPTz6DbK
— Washington Capitals (@washcaps) February 23, 2016
Mike Richards can finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Held without a point through his first 14 games with Washington, the veteran forward gave his new team a 3-1 lead Monday by drilling home his first goal as a member of the Capitals after Tom Wilson knocked the puck loose out from under the glove of Arizona Coyotes goalie Louis Domingue.
That’s Mike Richards’s first goal since January 3, 2015 with Los Angeles.
— Chris Gordon (@Chris_Gordon) February 23, 2016
"With my luck, I thought it'd be disallowed," Richards quipped after the game. A scrum ensued shortly after he scored, but his goal was met with a great reception from the Verizon Center fans who gave the 31-year-old a lengthy standing ovation.
Don't get goosebumps very often, but knowing Mike Richards as long as I have and what he's been through, that ovation did it. #CapitalsTalk
— Chuck Gormley (@ChuckGormleyCSN) February 23, 2016
The goal would stand as the game-winner with the Capitals hanging on to win 3-2. Evgeny Kuznetsov and Alex Ovechkin scored the other two Washington goals with the captain netting his league-leading 39th of the season, while Braden Holtby earned his NHL-best 38th win.
The Capitals have now won nine of their last 10 games and sit atop the Eastern Conference standings by a whopping 17 points ahead of their nearest competitors, the Florida Panthers.