Seemingly out of nowhere, Matt Bradley flew in and grabbed Steve Downie, allowed him a second to figure out what was going on, and took the fight from Ovechkin.

I loved it.

Don't misconstrue why Bradley did that — it isn't that he was worried Ovechkin was going to get beat up, rather, it's simply protecting your most valuable asset from a dangerous situation.

It reminded me of the time when, playing junior hockey, our goalie got run and players on our team basically had to fight each other to see who would fight the guy who did it. After that game, we went on a roll, maybe because we realized we really were a team. It's reminiscent of Clark Gillies fighting Terry O'Reilly seventy-twelve times in a playoff series to prove the Islanders had the necessary playoff grit. These moments don't physically affect the rest of the season, but for a team, their mental outlook can be totally changed.

You know the reasons the play rings of logic — the potential for your number one, highest-paid, league-best stud to sustain a serious injury is a situation you avoid if it's in any way possible. Even if that means saving him from himself.

It's not that Ovechkin, Pavel Datsyuk and other talented forwards can't fight, and if they do something cheap, by all means they should fight. What they don't need is a personal, meaningless, grudge fight that carries any chance of risk to the player that makes his team go from good to great. An Ovechkin-less Capitals team is a considerably less imposing squad.

Bradley earned his money this year on that play for a number of reasons. It's not the heroic save-Ovie-from-a-fightness that matters, it's the gesture.

It represents that maybe he understands the concept of "team," something that the Capitals desperately need to tie together all the personalities their team sports. It shows that Alex isn't to be messed with, and for that matter, it shows that none of their star players are up for grabs. It shows that they realize where their strengths lie.

I don't want to blow it up to be bigger than it was, but that play made me take the Caps a little more seriously. Maybe they aren't just an all-star team of players doing their own thing anymore. Scary concept for teams in the East, isn't it?

Who knows what happened behind the scenes on that one. Maybe Ovie thought it was cool, or maybe he was pissed. At the very least, I'm sure he gets why it happened. As the now-captain of the Capitals, he has to.

There's a real chance that play was a turning point moment for the Caps, where players on the bench from assorted countries can feel like their logo represents something beyond who pays them — a vibe more than a few spectators have gotten from the Capitals in the past.

Or maybe not. Really, who knows what it means to those guys?

From a fans perspective, and from the angle of a guy who played the game, that was a pretty cool moment to watch. I guarantee the guys on the Washington bench were glad to see it go down too.

So look out, NHL ... I think the Capitals finally get it.

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