Capitals Reserves Tie Atlanta

The Washington Capitals sent out a reserve side against Atlanta on Day 8 and the seldom-used players managed a 3-3 tie in a penalty-filled game. Dan Snyder led the way for Washington with a pair of goals, and Aleksander Suglobov had two assists.

The action started quickly in the first period when Denis Pederson scored for the Capitals from Mike Zigomanis and Andy Sutton after just 36 seconds. After the goal, Atlanta's Backer took a cheap shot against Pederson and went to the box for four minutes for roughing. Atlanta continued its steady procession to the penalty box as Scheffelmeier went for two and 10 at 2:14, Brown for two at 3:27, Heatley for two at 7:24, and Leboutillier for two at 10:12. The Thrashers finally decided to play some hockey during the second half of the period and goals from Backer at 15:57 and Kidney at 17:35 gave Atlanta a 2-1 lead. The Capitals responded very quickly, however, as Snyder netted his first from Alex Henry and Suglobov just 17 seconds after Kidney's goal.

Much like the first, the second period started with a bang as Yakubov and Jason Robinson dropped the gloves after just 22 seconds. It wasn't a smart move by Yakubov as Washington's Robinson pummelled the Russian. Atlanta regained the lead at 4:24 when Leboutillier scored from Petterstrom and Steeves. Another fight excited the fans just 1:23 later, and once again it was a one-sided affair. Sutton was the victor over Bahen and he was ejected. With a pair of fights behind them, Washington re-tied the game late in the second on Snyder's second goal. Alexander Korolyuk and Suglobov assisted.

The final period saw more penalties and another fight. Pederson and Atlanta's Safronov duked it out but neither man came out on top. Neither team scored in the third period or in overtime.

Ratislav Stana stopped 25 shots for the Capitals. Michael Garnett had 23 saves for the Thrashers.

Washington is off on Day 9 before visiting the Rangers on Day 10.