IT'S A MARTY MIRACLE

Last night’s virtuoso performance in the pipes by Marty Turco was a “One Bagger”.

A what, you say?

A one-bagger. He was forced to on-load one shiny IV bag of nutrients and fluids to combat cramping that had started around shot number 40 during his public peppering at the Verizon Center.

Ya, I walk down to the dressing room area to see friends and family on the Caps side and then wandered into the Stars room on my way out to the bus and there is Marty, on the training table, some Stars suits milling about, the Stars hard-working training staff, and a couple of EMT guys pulling the needle out of his right arm. His teammates were all long gone – watching your goalie save your ass repeatedly doesn’t require much of a shower.

52 shots.

49 saves.

Both personal highs.

And that seems to be what the Stars demand right now – Marty Turco on dextrose, electrolytes and sterile water.

I tracked scoring chances during the tilt and had it at 35-11 Capitals. Being a former goalie I was probably a bit liberal, but not by much. A normal “chance” count would be around the number Washington gave up, and considering who was getting the chances – Ovechkin, the leagues top scorer, finished with ten shots and two goals – 35 real good opportunities to score is a gargantuan number.

I’ll leave you with this: Over his past two road starts Marty has stopped 89 of 92 shots in his shutout win at Phoenix prior to the Olympic break and last night’s shootout triumph in the nation’s capital. They were out shot 40-22 and 52-26 in those two outings. Going forward can he be that heroic enough of the time to get the Stars into the 8th spot in the West? The next 4 ½ weeks will tell, and we’ll all have a front row seat to spectate his brilliance if he does – just like his teammates did last night.