Happy New Year - A Look Ahead To Tonight's Caps-Bolts Game

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Last night's result of note: IIHF Juniors - Canada 5, United States 4.


In case you didn't watch last night's IIHF showdown of sorts, it was an awesome game. The US zoomed out to a 3-0 lead before Canada came back and tied it up. The second period ended with Canada up 5-4; the third period was scoreless. Lot's of great play from folks on both teams. Of greatest notes relative to the players though for folks following the NHL prospects in general and Caps fans in particular were the following two items. Canada's John Tavares showed everyone watching why he should indeed be the #1 NHL draft pick in 2009 and Stefan Della Rovere showed Caps fans why he may turn up as being the best bargain in the 2008 NHL draft.


Today's NHL Games:


- This afternoon, the Winter Classic in Chicago: Blackhawks vs. Red Wings @ Wrigley Field
- Tonight: Washington Capitals vs. Tampa Bay Lightning @ Verizon Center
- Tonight: Pittsburgh vs. Boston @ Boston
- Tonight: Vancouver vs. Nashville @ Nashville.

The one folks reading this blog likely care most about is Caps vs. Lightning so that's the one that gets previewed. Besides, despite some thoughts to the contrary it's probably too early to be rooting for Pittsburgh over Boston and the only way to be rooting for either Chicago or Detroit would be if there was a way a game could conclude and neither team got a point. In the final game, you have to be for Nashville because, hey we want them to do well, and who needs/wants a team to move anyway? Maybe if Nashville started to get a home record like the Caps, Sharks or Boston have this season their attendance would improve. Now onto the key thoughts and items about tonight's game at "the Phone Booth."


First despite Jose Theodore winning his last four in a row, Brent Johnson will apparently start tonight. This is probably a good move by Coach Boudreau since as he told Tarik and others after this morning's skate: " Looking around the league this year you need both goaltenders....Very few teams have been able to run with one at all times so we have to keep our guys sharp." While Johnson and Theodore are both pretty healthy and playing well it makes sense to play them both, giving Johnson a little more rest over the next couple of weeks to allow his hip a little extra rest to further mend.


Virtually all the Caps skated at least a little today, except Sergei Federov. That said it appears the only change to the lineup of skaters from the team on the ice in Buffalo on Tuesday is that Karl Alzner will be back in the line-up and Tyler Sloan is probably headed back to Hershey.

Donald Brashear will be a game time decision apparently and Alexander Giroux and Chris Bourque are still here in DC and will apparently dress and take warm-ups as well. Odds makers are guessing Brashear won't play tonight but will likely return for Saturday's Rangers game and other optimists are also hoping that Alexander Semin will return to the lineup sometime next week, likely either for the January 6th home game against the Flyers or the games on Friday and Saturday against Columbus and Montreal.


Tom Poti, Brian Pothier and John Erskine all skated today, but there hasn't been any word or speculation otherwise on any timetables for their of Sergei Federov's return. The way the team is playing this all makes sense, the important thing is for the team to keep looking ahead and re-integrating the players into the "normal" lineup on a timetable that allows them to be healthy and set for a run to and through the playoffs after the All-Star Game on January 25th in Montreal.


As for tonight's opponents, Tampa Bay is 3-0-1 since the Christmas break. Their last game ended as a 2-1 shootout loss to a visiting Montreal Canadean team at Saint Pete Times Forum on Tuesday night in front of a sellout crowd. In addition to going 3-0-1 since Christmas, the Bolts beat the Penguins 3-0 in Pittsburgh on December 23rd and are 4-4-2 in their last 10 games. Tonight's game is the second of six meetings between the two Southeast Division foes this regular season. The last time the two teams met was Monday, November 10th at Verizon Center; the Caps won that contest 4-2. That game was long-time Capitals netminder Olie Kolzig's first return to play against the team that drafted him into the NHL in 1989. The likely starting goaltender for the Bolts tonight will be Mike Smith, who has a 2.00 GAA in his last four games in regulation, including the shutout against Pittsburgh. Smith, a 26 year old in his third NHL season, will be playing in his 87th NHL games tonight, assuming he gets the nod, his career numbers are 35-36-0-11 with a save percentage of 0.912 and a GAA of 2.44. So far this season he's 8-12-0-9 with a GAA of 2.42 and a save percentage of 0.923.


Clearly both Smith and his Lightning Bolt teammates have raised their level of play since the two teams last met in November. Ryan Malone has 7 points (2 goals and 5 assists) in the last three games and the Bolts have scored a total of 12 goals while allowing only 9 goals against over the past 4 games. So since December 23rd the Lightning has scored an average of 3.00 goals/game while allowing and average of only 2.00 against. The Lightning players the Caps need to contain are primarily the two usual suspects plus a couple of guys: Martin Saint Louis, Vincent Lecavalier, Mark Recchi, Ryan Malone and Steve Stamkos. The Lighting need to be weary of probably all four of the Capitals lines, assuming they come out and play the type of hockey they have shown themselves capable of throughout the month of December. However, this won't be an easy game for the Capitals, as if any game on any night in the NHL can be taken for granted. The Caps will need to come out focused and determined. Against a team like Tampa Bay, getting the first goal is probably a key item. With a roster that includes six former Caps, including two who have been playing very well of late - Matt Pettinger and Steve Eminger - as well as former Capitals Team Captain, Jeff Halpren, and being division rivals who have met eight times over each of the past two regular seasons, these two teams know each other well.


My former wingman and I will be back together and Rockin' the Red in Section 103. Hope you are too. I'm looking for the Capitals to make it five in a row and stop the Bolts point streak at four. Besides, doesn't the prospect of hopefully making this guy look silly (well maybe the right term is sillier) sound good to you?







LETS GO CAPS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Caps 4 - Lightning 2; Caps Tied For First In Southeast Division

Ovechkin Ends "Drought" With Score In Third;

Large, Boisterous Monday Night Crowd Has Very Enjoyable Evening

Well, all I can say is WOW! First off a SOLID "2 Point Night" - that's what it was. Last night's nationally televised NHL Game on Versus was the game held at Washington, DC's Verizon Center and it was a very, very good "testament" to why more people ought to become NHL fans. Per the game summary a crowd of 17, 932 attended the game; the crowd included me and one of my USMMA college friends, Rob. Rob and I started last evening off by have a very nice dinner at the bar at Clyde's. I mention this because as we were finishing up our dinner Nicklas Backstrom's father and a group of his friends and family came in to gather and have a drink or two before coming over to the game. Rob and I made it over to the Phone Booth earlier enough to catch the warmups from our seats in Section 103 and I noted Pappa Backstrom did as well from his seat in 102. However, it did appear that a good part of the "Backstrom Party" decided they needed to provide CLyde's with a larger economic stimulus package and didn't arrive until just before the National Anthem. In any case, I digress, back to the WOW - game.

Quick summary: Olie Kolzig returned to Washington, got a short, dignified tribute on the jumbotron during the first major stoppage of play, and then got peppered by the Caps for three goals in the first while his teammates pretty much let the Capital's "Young Guns + 1 (Tom Poti)" do so. After that the Caps played pretty defensively in the second period. Unfortunately at one point they got back on their heels on a Tampa Bay power play and Brent Johnson gave up his first goal of the night and several us in Section 103 lamented for him since the way he's been playing he deserves a shutout. During the third period Caps "ace" Alex Ovechkin ended his goaless streak at nine (9) games when he was set up masterfully by young guns Alexander Semin and Nicklas Backstrom. All six goals scored by both teams "were good ones - no softies". Both Tampa Bay goals were scored on the power play and the four goals given up by Olie Kolzig were all goals where he didn't get much help, if any, from the team in front of him. Every Capital in the game was +/- 0 or better, Poti, Tyler Sloan, Ovechkin, Backstrom, Semin, and Mike Green finished the evening +2. In addition to Ovechkin, the Caps other goals were scored by Tom Poti, Mike Green, and Eric Fehr. The Caps accomplished their mission (proving they could establish themselves early and control a game "start to finish") when the first period ended with the score 3-0. Even more emphatically the Caps' first two goals came on their first two shots of the game. The best player on the ice for the Caps last night though was the game's number one star: Brent Johnson. Johnnie stopped 34 of 36 shots.

More Details follow below.
Last night, the Caps came out for the start of the first period apparently determined to show the world that, despite letting up four goals so far this season on an opponent's first shot, they can establish themselves in the first period and control a game from start to finish. Even though the Lightning tallied the first four (4) shots of the game, Brent Johnson stopped them all with "routine saves", if there is such a thing at the NHL level of play. Then on the Capital's first shot of the game at 8:20 of the first period, with the "energy line" on the ice, Defenseman John Erskine made a solid outlet pass to Donald Brashear. Brashear carried the puck down the ice to the right side faceoff circle hash marks, stopped and did a move Caps fan's are more accustomed to seeing from Alexander Semin or Michael Nylander, got himself enough breathing room to put the puck right on the stick of Tom Poti, who, as they say, "put the biscuit in the basket." The goal was Poti's second of the year and matches his goal total through 71 games last season. The play was truly beautiful, and really goes to show the depth of offensive talent the Capitals. The Capitals second goal followed a short while later, on their second shot of the game. At the 9:55 mark, Nicklas Backstrom found Alexander Ovechkin at the left circle faceoff dot who when two Lightning defenders moved toward him, dished the puck deftly over to Mike Green who was following up as he often does on the right side. Green then put the puck past a "naked" and frustrated Olie the Goalie, his fifth tally of the season. Caps 2, Lightning 0.

The Capitals then "took it" to the Lightning for the remainder of the first period, they had several other solid scoring opportunities and Kolzig responded sometimes with a little help but often alone in keeping the Bolts within striking distance. Then at the 16:24 mark, in a setup that looked like it had probably been played out at least several times on the ice sheet in Hershey, Pa, Dave Steckel and Brooks Laich setup Eric Fehr who had no problem putting a laser beam into the open side of the net. Once again on the Caps third goal, it was solid, while the Lightning did have defenders in the zone they were nowhere near Fehr and had left Kolzig to fend for himself. Finally after the Caps third goal the Lightning tightened up their play and started to go to the net on Johnson. However, it was too little to late. Even though in the second period the Lightning outshot the Caps 18-6 and outscored them 1-0, Brent Johnson came up big when he needed to do so and the Caps never let the Bolts get too much momentum. Also, after the second intermission, it seemed as if the Caps once again began pressing their opportunities and forcing the play as much or more than the Bolts.

From a shots on goal perspective, the Caps and the Lightning each had 12 in the third period. Scoring wise the Caps opened the third period scoring with an even strength goal at the 15:54 mark from ... wait for it .... "CAPS GOAL AT 15:54 OF THE THIRD PERIOD BY NUMBER 8, ALEXANDER OVECHKIN." Jeff Schultz sent an outlet pass to Alexander Semin, who shot and Ovechkin blazed it by Kolzig to put the Caps up 4-1.

Later in the period at 17:51 Caps Defenseman John Erskine was whistled off for roughing, on a call that never would have been a penalty even a couple of years ago. Erskine was simply clearing the crease and mixing it up a little, "old time hockey style" with the Lightning in traffic. Like the marginal calls against Caps Left Wing Donald Brashear in the second for high sticking and the uncalled for "unsportsmanlike conduct" he, an alternate captain got for objecting to that call against him, it was a penalty that I call all part of Bettman's ruination of the sport. Hockey is a physical, contact sport and if Mr. Bettman really wants to see more goals scored he should do two things: 1) outlaw "the trap", and b) further restrict the size/width of a goalie's equipment. Instead he and his band of henchman at NHL headquarters want to outlaw or otherwise hamstring good, solid physical defensive play. Once again in the final two minutes of the game the Caps found themselves shorthanded and despite a pretty good night for the Caps penalty kill unit, yielded a goal to Gary Roberts, his second of the night. The game ended 4-2, with Barry Melrose, smartly and classily NOT pulling Olie Kozig while he was down three and two goals respectively.

The three stars of the game were:
3. Eric Fehr, 13 shifts, 10:13 TOI, 4 SOG, 2 Hits, 1 goal, +1 for the night - truly a solid
outing and demonstrative of the promise he has for the future.
2. Tom Poti, the 31 year old defensman, logged 21:04 of TOI in 27 shifts including 5:57 of PK time, had 2 SOG, 1 goal and was +2 for the night. Poti was only on the ice for one of the Lightning's two power play tallies and with 3 points in the last three games is playing far above his 2007-2008 offensive production and on track to have similar TOI and +/- numbers.
1. Brent Johnson: Johnnie had a save percentage of 0.944 turning away 34 of 36 Lightening shots. The only two goals he let in were when the Caps were a man down and in heavy traffic. His play in the second period when the Caps seemed to set back slightly on their 3 goal lead and were outshot 18-6 was even more excellent than his play in the first and third periods.

A couple of side notes, interesting facts and other thoughts related to last evening.
- 1. I'm just no longer a fan of Steve Eminger. When he was a Capital, I felt he had the promise and could maybe one day even be on par with a guy like Mike Green. After last night, I've decided he just doesn't have the character or class to ever reach his athletic potential. When he got frustrated in the second half of the game he just played lazy and dirty. For the life of me, watching from my seat in the stands in the right corner, lower lever, I have no idea how he wasn't called for at least three minors for holding/slashing and yes interference.
- 2. Contrary to what I've seen written elsewhere in the blogsphere - NONE of the goals were Olie Kolzig's fault and while the ultra-competitive Kolzig always wants "every one of them back" and occasionally, even at age 38, makes super-human saves, it's hard to see how he could have stopped any of the Caps goals even with a second chance. I couldn't agree more with Barry Melrose's reported quote when referring to the skaters on his team: "If I’m those guys, I can’t look Olie in the face. Probably the biggest game he’s played in years and they show up and do that for him. Those guys should all be hiding their eyes when they walk by Olie Kolzig tonight.”
- 3. My friend Rob, a Redskins' season ticketholder commented very positively on the size of the crowd, the energy level of crowd and the large % of fans in the stands with Caps Jerseys, particularly Red Sweaters. I couldn't agree more and note that an attendance at just shy of 18,000 folks at a Monday Night game against a Southeast Division Team when it's not April with the Caps fighting for that last playoff berth is indeed a positive commentary on what the Caps are doing right and how much the region is embracing these Capitals, this Coach and it's management. For my professional sports entertainment dollar there is no better value to be had. - 4. When the game was over, the Caps found themselves with a 1/2 game lead for the Southeast Division lead, tied at 18 points with the Carolina Hurricanes but with a game in hand. This situation should make for an interesting Wednesday Night @ the RBC Center in Raleigh, NC when the two team next meet. So far for November, the Hurricanes are 3-3-0. The Caps are 3-1-1 so far in November including a 3-2 win in regulation at Verizon Center in DC on November 5th.
- 5. For the game the Caps as a team were +20 on the night; they out hit the Lightning 20-15; and they were 51% in the faceoff circle. But statistically they lost the SOG category 36-30 and the giveaways/takeaways battle. The Lighting had 12 giveaways and 16 takeaways, while the Caps had 22 giveaways and 5 takeaways. Tampa Bay also has 17 blocked shots to the Caps 8.
- 6. So far on the season counting last night's victory the Caps have 18 points in 14 games. From a points available - points captured perspective that is 0.643 hockey and on pace for a 105 point season. That's not as great as it sounds given that so far this season so many games have ended in "3 point nights" that it may take as many as 100+ points to make the playoffs. However, it's infinitely better than being on pace to compete for the lottery pick like the Caps were on pace to do last season at this point in time.

Next up: Coralina Hurricanes, at the RBC Center, in Raliegh, NC, tommarrow night. I'll be "Rockin' the Red" from my seat in the ol' den in Bristow, VA.

LETS GO CAPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Look Ahead To Tonight's Caps-Bolts Game

Well here's a look ahead to tonight's Caps - Lighting game at the Verizon Center. The game features the resurgent and "Hot" Washington Capitals at home taking on the Tampa Bay Lightning, who despite an up & down/inconsistent start are only two points behind the Caps. The Lightning are coming off a 2-1 win in regulation in Philadelphia Saturday night. The Caps lineup has a few question marks and possible holes in it but they are the same ones as the Caps had on Saturday night when they faced and beat the NY Rangers. Shoanne Morrisonn, Sergei Federov, and Chris Clark's status for the game are all unknown. Chris Clark is a possible return to the lineup. However, based on comments attributed to Coach Bruce Boudreau after Sunday's optional practice would have to result in listing Morrisonn and Federov as doubtful against the Bolts. However, the biggest storyline tonight won't be who plays and who doesn't for the Caps. It's going to be who is between the pipes for the Lightning: former Cap Olie Kolzig. Rumor has it there will be a video tribute to Kolzig before the puck drops. Then as Tarik El-Bashir reported, Coach Bruce Boudreau's team will go try and put more pucks past him then his new teammates get by his former back-up Brent Johnson. ""I like Olie, I think we all like Olie, and the people in Washington love Olie and rightfully so," Boudreau said "But when the puck drops, I hope we score more against them than they score against us. .... I hope if he's starting [the fans] give him the round of applause I think he deserves and the recognition he deserve. But when the puck drops, it's our team versus their team, and we want to win." So how do the matchups look tonight?

Intangibles: Even with the emotion a start by Kolzig and coming off the 2-1 Win Saturday night in Philadelphia, you have to give the intangibles solidly to the Capitals. The Caps are unbeaten in regulation at home this season and actually haven't lost in regulation at home in 13 games going back to last season. The crowds at "the Phone Booth" have done nothing but energize the Caps since last February and Kolzig''s "homecoming" will only drive more local hockey fans to attend tonight's game. Finally, you have to believe that if Alexander Ovechkin is going to "come out of his slump" he'd love to do it while facing division rivals Lecavalier and Saint Louis. Also the Johnson - Kolzig matchup also has to motivate both teams but the Caps even more so than the Bolts. Also look for Steve Eminger to work hard to show the Caps they should have kept him as he has every game since they traded him to the Flyers, but the young Caps defenseman like Jeff Schultz and Mike Green will be responding in kind as well.

Forwards: The Caps lines for tonight's game are likely to be similar to Saturday's lines: 1) Ovechkin-Backstrom-Semin, 2) Fleischmann-Nylander (or Steckel)-Kozlov 3) Laich-Steckel (or Nylander) -Fehr (or Clark) and 4) Brashear-Gordon-Bradley. Though look for the "fourth" or energy line to get almost as many shifts as the second or third lines. These lines matchup pretty well against the Bolts, since even when you factor in the relatively low scoring games the Caps have participated in during their last four games, the Caps have lit the scoring lamp 10 more times so far this season than the Lightning. Key Matchups: Ovechkin/Backstrom - Lecavalier/Saint Louis. Lecavalier leads the Bolts scoring with 6 goals and 11 points; Saint Louis has 3 goals and 10 points. Ovechkin has 2 goals and 8 points, and Backstrom has yet to score this season and has 5 assists. Add Semin to the first line with his 11 goals and 21 points and it doesn't matter who the Bolts pair with their dynamic duo as long as Ovie and Nick have at least the kind of solid performance they've shown these past five games. Also given the mediocre +/- numbers of all of Tampa Bay’s forwards except Lecavalier and Vaclav Prospal and it's not hard to imagine the possibility of both Ovechkin and Backstrom breaking their slumps tonight. As for lines 2 and 3 looking at the pairings there the key guy the Caps have to contain is likely to be Prospal. The Lightning's second line center is third on the team in scoring with 3 goals and 7 assists and has been looking every bit as potent in a Bolts uniform as he did during last years playoffs when he was wearing a Flyers' sweater. That said even with the relatively lackluster production of the Capitals second and third lines, they have been more productive than in the past two seasons and this balance is a true asset. When this fact is joined with the production numbers of Tampa Bay's second through fourth lines, there is little doubt that the current advantage in this category rests with the Capitals.

Defense: Assuming the Caps pairings will once again be the same as Saturday Night: a) Tom Poti - Tyler Sloan, b) Jeff Schultz - Mike Green and c) John Erskine - Milan Jurcina, the matchups look like this. Tom Poti - Andrej Meszaros: Meszaros is a third year pro and arguably the Bolts #1 D-man and minute muncher. He was +/- +5 through 82 games last season with the Ottawa Senators, he also had 9 goals and 32 assists. It might be better to compare him to Mike "Game Over" Green given where each of them are in their career but a) that's not how the pairings lay down and b) as will be noted in a few more sentences the Bolts don't have anybody to compare with Green. Poti is in his 8th NHL season and was +/- +9 in 71 regular season games last season and had 2 goals and 27 Assists. Call this matchup a draw or even give a slight edge to Meszaros. Mike Lundin - Tyler Sloan: Lundin is a 24 year old second year pro whose play so far this season has been sound; in 12 games played he has 2 assists, is +4 and has 2 PIM. Sloan is filling in for injured Shoanne Morrisonn, despite being 27 years old and having had a long and fairly successful AHL career, this is the first year he's seen action at the NHL level. So far this year he's played in 5 games for the Capitals, scored his first NHL goal, is +1 and has 2 PIM. He has been playing very well and in the Caps - Rangers game the Poti - Sloan pairing was solid. Call this matchup a draw. Mike Green - Paul Ranger: Probably not the right matchup to consider given Steve Eminger will play his second game with the Lightning tonight and I expect him to have more minutes and a second pairing position but based on the Tampa Bay - Flyers game this is where things fell. Okay - this is a no contest, Green is the absolute going away better player, even on an off night where he makes a mistake or two on the backend while trying to add too much to the offense; Ranger was - 13 in 72 games last season and is +/- 0 so far this season. Mike Green was +6 last season and is +4 so far this season. Jeff Schultz - Steve Eminger: Last season Schultz played 72 games and was +/- +12 with 5 goals and 13 assists. His play so far this season has been solid but uninspired - he's -1 and has 5 assists in 13 games. Eminger spent most of the last regular season in the Capitals press box before having a solid performance against the Flyers in the playoffs. He was traded to the Flyers in the off season and was performing fairly well but inconsistently there in the first 12 games of the season before being traded to the Lightning last week. Eminger's numbers so far this season are +1, 2 assists and 10 PIM. Because of intangibles and solid communications between Kolzig and Eminger based on their prior play together, if Kolzig is in goal I give a light advantage on this match-up to Eminger. Milan Jurcina - Marek Malik: A weird but valid comparison none the less, these two players are on the opposite ends of their careers. Both are big, strong European (Malik is Czech and Jurcina is Slovak) mostly stay at home defenseman. Last season with the Rangers, the 33 year old Malik played in 42 games, was +7, had 2 goals, 10 points and 48 PIM. The 25 year old Jurcina played in 75 games for the Caps last season, was +4, and had 1 goal, 9 points and 30 PIM. So far this season Malik is +3 and Jurcina is -3. Give this Comparison to Malik and the Lightning but recognize last game out Malik logged over 20 minutes against the Flyers while Jurcina logged only 15:06 TOI against the Rangers. My point being that you take this matchup anf give it to the Bolts for 15 minutes of Malik's ice time and then the remaining five minutes he's up against Mike Green who averages about 25 min TOI and that matchup gos to Green. John Erskine - Lucas Krajacik: Another slightly strange comparison, the 25 year old Krajacik, like Jeff Schultz is a former first round draft pick (Florida, 2001, 24th overall) while the 28 year old Erskine was a second round pick by Dallas, 39th overall in 1998. Last season Krajacik played in 39 games for the Vancouver Canucks, was -3, had 2 goals, 11 points and 36 PIM. During the 2007-2008 season, Erskine played in 51 games for the Caps, was +1, had 2 goals, 9 points and 91 PIM. Erskine is probably the number #2 pugilist on the Capitals behind Donald Brashear, which accounts for about half those PIM. Both are comparable statistically so far this season, however given the greater mobility and improved communication between Erskine-Jurcina and Johnson over the last three games you have to give any slight edge in this comparison to the Erskine. Overall give call the defensive matchups a draw or a slight edge to the Capitals if Poti continues the solid play he's had since his return and Green has a good or better game.

Goaltending: Assuming a Brent Johnson - Olaf Kolzig matchup you have to give the slight edge or better to the guy who is playing at home. Of course that means the "Rock the Red" crowd have to remember that's Johnson and not Kolzig. Both Johnson and Kolzig are playing well. However, Johnson will be starting his fourth game in a row, and as Kolzig would tell us the constantly improving communication between a goaltender and his defense that back to back starts give a team are worth a couple of extra blocked shots and stopped scoring chances. Also given last year’s stats and this year’s so far Johnnie has a slight edge in save percentage. So even though it pains me after years of rooting for Olie the Goalie, I'm giving this edge to the current Caps team as well. If it's Mike Smith in the net for Tampa Bay then call it a draw, though if I were Barry Melrose I'd give the nod to 'Zilla and be hoping he has one of those awesome "steal the game" nights as well. Besides, look at the drama it all creates.

Overall prediction: Caps win in regulation 4-2. I'll be Rockin' the Red in Section 103 with one of my college buddies, Rob, after a nice meal and a few beers at Clyde’s. Here's hoping my prediction is on the mark and "the good guys" have another two (2) point night.

LETS GO CAPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Taking Stock and Looking Ahead

What's Next for the Caps? Development Camp Starts Monday.

The Caps have and are doing so many things right but there are a few big question marks left to ponder looking ahead to next season. Today is "arbitration filing day" but don't expect any news relative to the Caps roster. The Caps now have X question marks hanging over the lineup for next season - first and most ambiguous is the health status of two players on the roster: Team Captain Chris Clark and veteran Top 4 defenseman Brian Pothier. After that the remaining unsigned free agents that GMGM has said he'd like back "Rockin' the Red" next season: Laich, Morrisson, Federov, Gordon and Fehr. If all seven of these guys are healthy and signed the Capitals Depth Chart could well look something like this going into camp.

LW CENTER RW
1) Ovechkin 1) Backstrom 1) Kozlov
2) Semin 2) Nylander 2) Clark
3) Laich 3) Federov 3) Fehr
4) Brashear 4) Steckel 4) Gordon
5) Laing 5) Fleischmann 5) Bradley

Defense: 1) Green, 2) Poti, 3) Pothier, 4) Morrisson, 5) Schultz, 6) Jurcina, 7) Alzner, 8) Erskine.

Goalies: 1) Theodore, 2) Johnson.

So if you did the math that's a total of 25 players - two too many which means that it's likely the Caps will have one of the 8 defenseman and one of the 15 forwards I've listed wither in the press box or start the season in Hershey. That will depend on a couple of factors - for Alzner it'll be his performance during next week's development camp and subsequently training camp if he does well next week. For the forwards for Schultz, Laing, Steckel and Fleischmann it'll be a function of what they do at training camp and what kind of shape and attitude they show up with. The least likely of these to be in the press box or Hershey at the start of next season is Jeff Schultz when you get over some minor appearance issues and look at his numbers from the 2007-2008 regular season. For Brashear, Bradley, and Gordon the have the experience and certain desired skill sets that unless they show up out of shape or with their heads screwed up - not likely given their personal make up - they'll be on the team and dress regularly. John Erskine needs to show up in shape and ready to skate with his best game possible given the drafting of Erskine and the other quality defenseman in the pipeline at Hershey; in retrospect Steve Eminger has got to be glad he's on a different roster.

Eight Other Forwards in the pipeline at Hershey and South Carolina who could also challenge for a roster slot are: LW Chris Borque, C Kieth Aucoin, C/RW Mathieu Perreault, RW Fracious Bouchard, LW Oskar Osala, RW Andrew Gordon, C Phil DeSimone, and C Jay Beagle. The placement of the #4 and #5's in these positions is based on their last season or couple of seasons efforts but clearly none of these guys can "rest on their laurels" though none are really the type to do so. Brashear, Steckel, Gordon, Laing, and Bradley are there based on their "grit" value to the team as stoppers. Of course Brashear and Bradley also can provide some protection to the Caps star forwards and they, Laing and Gordon hustle into the corners like nobody's business. Steckel and Laing provide the Caps two awesome penalty killers and when paired with Federov and Gordon provide the potential for short-handed scoring threats as well. All that said, if secondary scoring becomes an urgent need and Fleischmann, Bradley and Gordon haven't started to improve their productivity by November, don't be surprised if any of the 6 guys listed in the 4) & 5) slots spend some time in the press box while whoever is the "hot hand" in Hershey gets some ice time with the big club.

There are also 3 defenseman in the pipeline that could challenge Jurcina, Erskine, Schultz and Alzner for the last three of the seven defenseman slots on the Capitals' roster. In Hershey and South Carolina the following guys have the potential to make a run at an NHL spot this year: 1) Sami Lepesto, 2)Sasha Pokulok, and 3) Patrick McNiell. Further down the pipeline is 19 year old Kieth Seabrook who will also attend development camp this year.

The Caps have three good Goalies in the pipeline but all are 2-4 years away from being regulars in the NHL though if Theodore and Johnson play to their potential and turn in solid seasons the Caps could be a 100 point team.

Overall the Caps are looking good with a fairly stable roster that should only get better and more experienced for the next two years, that's why guys like Sergei Federov may indeed take a little less then they could make back home in the Continental Hockey League and elect to finish out their careers playing next to last season's MVP. There is a lot of young talent available for Coach Bruce Boudreau to mix and match on the lines however if Clark and Pothier don't come back from their injuries last season what happens. Clark brings gritty play AND secondary scoring; if he can't come back Federov's locker room leadership is even more important and valuable as is the need for Federov, and Fleischmann to ramp up their scoring, as well as somebody like Steckel who has proven his ability to score at the AHL level to find the back of the net more against NHL foes. If Pothier can't make it back as a regular then Schultz has to "kick it up a notch" quickly and find the ability to play like he did in December and January and play that way all season; Jurcina and Alzner both also have to work hard and quickly mature into the players they can be. Alzner will be a rookie and can' t be expected to play error free hockey, but Jurcina needs to not make avoidable mistakes at the rate he did at times last season. Without Clark and Pothier, the Caps can still be a solid hockey team, they showed that in December through February, but they need to play very smart intense hockey every minute - Pothier and Clark in the lineup turn a good team into a very good team.

In an aside, it certainly does appear that Olie Kolzig will wear #37 for Tampa Bay - it would be kickin' if he has a really hot year with it there too (yes EXCEPT when he plays the Caps).

Can't wait till next season. LETS GO CAPS!!!!!!!!!!!

It's Official - Godzilla Goes To Tampa

Long Time Washington Capital Olie Kolzig Signs One Year Deal With Division Rival Tampa Bay

It's official, after 19 years, including 10 seasons in a row as their number 1 goaltender, long time Cap Olie Kolzig signed a 1 year, $1.5M (+ incentives) deal with Cap's division rival Tampa Bay Lightning. Kolzig could well be a perfect fit for what the Lightning needs in the net. The Kolzig signing compliments the numerous other deals Tampa Bay has made over the past two weeks and the Lightning will be a strong team, in what will likely be the most improved division in the NHL next year. With the moves made by Tampa Bay, the basically stable Carolina Hurricanes, as well as the coming of age of the Washington Capitals, the Southeast Division has three teams that could easily be predicted to make the playoffs, while no one should write off the Atlanta Thrashers and even though it appears the Florida Panthers will do some rebuilding next season, they won't be pushovers either with an improved defense.

The best place to track free agent signings is probably here - there is just too much going on to cover here and when the dust settles some real analysis can be completed on what it all means.

Can't wait till next season. LETS GO CAPS!!!!

Old News: Kolzig Leaving Capitals; Commentary: Irrational Reactions

It's old news to DC Hockey Fas by this morning, longtime Capitals Starting Goalie Olaf Kolzig, has announced he will not return to the Washington Capitals. Kolzig made this pronouncement in his first big interview with the press since the Caps season ending game 7 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers in round one of the NHL Playoffs. Kolzig was speaking on Thursday with Washington Post Hockey Beat writer Tarik El-Bashir, who reported the conversation in an article published in yesterday's Post. The news was somewhat anti-climatic and expected, at this year's trade deadline the Caps picked up a second starting net-minder, Christbel Huet, from the Montreal Canadeans and Huet started in net for the Caps in their final 7 regular season games, as well as all 7 of their playoff games, even though Kolzig was healthy. Somewhat surprising to me though have been some, the small minority, of the reactions and comments being posted in response to the publishing of the news as it makes the rounds of the "blogsphere".

To be sure, those fans who inhabit the blogsphere, whether blog writers, or regular readers who submit comments, are the more passionate and opinionated fans so while the fact they possess strong opinions is not, in itself surprising, some of the opinions on this subject are puzzling. Here's some "factoids" about Kolzig's career, even though it has been and will be reported upon in far greater depth elsewhere.

- Kolzig was a first round draft pick by the Capitals in 1989 and since then has played 711 games and captured 301 wins.

- He has been the face of the team for over a decade and their undisputed number 1 goalie since the 1997-1998 season.

- He first made the NHL All Star Team in 1999 - 2000; that same year he also won the NHL's Veznia Trophy as the league's outstanding goaltender.

- He stayed with the Capitals Organization through thick and thin over the 17 seasons, even when he could have left and gone to a higher caliber team.

- Kolzig's 711 NHL games played put him # 20 on the NHL all time list for players in the "modern era" ; his 301 wins place him tied for 22nd on that same list. With 2 more 62 Game/25 Win seasons he would likely be 11th on the games played list (depending on how Hasek finishes out his career) and 17th on the all time wins list.

- Over the course of his career the Capitals have captured 58.8% of the available points in games he's played.

- Of the 18,o13 saves he's made throughout his career, many have thrilled and delighted DC's hockey fans. He's made those saves while allowing just 1,860 goals against for an overall Goals Against Average and Save Percentage of 2.70 GAA and SV of 0.907.

- It's very likely that given the choice the ultra-competitive "Olie the Goalie" would "like every one of those 1,860 goals against him back".

- He earned $10.9M in salary over the past two seasons as one of the Capitals' franchise players.

- This past season was far from Olaf Kolzig's best, however as he points out it probably wasn't as bad as some make it out to be. He garnered 25 wins in 54 starts and overall ranked as the 24th goalie in a league with 30 teams in an off year. He may still be capable of playing number 1 and even dominating, age isn't always that big a factor with goalies look at the all time list; look at Chris Osgood, etc. This past season Kolzig captured 52% of the available points in games played including the period between the start of the season and Thanksgiving when the Caps had a horrible stretch all around.

- Kolzig is part owner of the Western Hockey League's Tri-City Americans.

- Kolzig's generosity and humanitarian efforts in the community are well documented and real; he is and likely always will be a total class act; Washington area sports fans have been fortunate to have him as a role model for their kids for 17 years.

This writers thoughts and opinions on the subject of Olaf Kolzig apparently deciding he won't return to the Washington Capitals or they don't want him to do so.

- This is probably the right decision for Kolzig, the Caps absolutely did, through their actions after game 4 of the Flyers series, indicate their preference for Huet as the Goalie of choice at present. As a side note, since the Caps won game 5 it was the right tactical decision and if Huet is resigned by the Caps it will probably prove out to be the right strategic decision for the Caps as well.

- Seventeen years is a long career for a professional athlete in any sport. If Olie wants to continue to play so be it. If he wants to continue his playing career I hope he does and wish him the best but given the way the season ended for him here in DC a change of scenery is probably what he needs to rejuvenate himself.

- If Kolzig decides to retire as a player and it's possible I'd love to see him stay in the DC area, he is a class act and like Darrell Green he could use his fame and the affection the local fan base have for him to continue to help the worthy charitable causes he supports. As someone who has been the face of the Caps for over a decade, I'm sure the Caps management would be willing to give him the right kind of front office or hockey operations staff position that both would find rewarding. Leonsis and Lincoln Holdings are many things but not stupid.

- Everything to date indeed indicates Olie wants to try and play two or three more years as a starting NHL goalie and there are a couple teams that could use him. The style of play Coach Boudreau is pushing though would make that tougher.

- If Kolzig does retire after testing the free agency market and not liking what he sees the Caps Organization and Fan Base should react the way the Redskins did to Green's retirement and the Packers Organization has to Brett Farve's. While the Caps have never won a Cup (their sport's equivalent to the Super Bowl), looking at the overall body of work that is Olie Kolzig's playing career and off ice impact he's had in the DC area the last 17 years, I feel these are justifiable parallels.

- The last thing fans should do in reaction to Kolzig's announcement is react with scorn or glee. He's not "overpaid" nobody put a gun to anybody's head to get him his 5.45M last season and he earned it even considering the off season he had. His play after the coaching change was part of the team effort that recovered the Caps season. Reacting with glee and indicating he is anything other than one of the games better active players from an overall career perspective is just wrong and not borne out by the facts including the statistics. True he isn't in the top 5 all time but he IS IN the TOP 25 ALL TIME and that as they say "isn't shabby". Consider that for a lot of his career the Caps have been "building" or "re-building" and in context his overall body of work looks even better.

Good Luck Olie, we'll miss you. The jersey you and Johnnie signed for me last year will continue to be proudly displayed in my office for years to come.

LETS GO CAPS!!!!

Wednsday Night Is Hockey Night In Bristow Too!

As a break to another hectic day in a hectic week, we simple Bristow, VA residents settled down to watch the Washington Capitals vs the Chicago Blackhawks on Comcast+, turning on the TV a little early, I was rewarded with the beginning of "The Core" on F/X and once again realized it's on so much because it's a FUN movie. It's an even better movie when you're getting ready to watch some the Caps try and make it two in a row on the road. The great movie line of the night before the game was: "Okay, IF I agree to do this, I'm gonna need an unlimited supply of Xena tapes and Hot Pockets." At least for me it was the perfect mood setting line before watching a Caps Game. LETS GO CAPS! Time to "Unleash The Fury".

It was Tony Esposito night and a sellout in Chicago and the Blackhawks came out flying. Before four minutes had 8 shots on Olie Kolzig and two goals - an even strength goal at 1:27 by Jason Williams and a power play score by Johnathan Toews at 3:19 while Sami Lepisto was in the penalty box for an Interference call. It wasn't so much that the Caps came out flat, it was indeed just that the Hawks' intensity was mind-boggling. Perhaps Chicago watched a tape of last night's game in Nashville and wanted to make sure the Caps didn't catch them on the backs of their heels. Just as the Caps seemed to be picking up the pace the Caps got caught up ice. The Blackhawks got a 3 on 2 breakaway the Yannick Perreault put a rocket wrist shot through a partial screen over the left shoulder (glove side) into the top corner of the net behind Kolzig, making it 3-0 at 9:14. At 10:00 the Caps got their first power play of the night on tripping call on Dustin Byfuglien, but they didn't get a shot on net due to the Blackhawks' awesome PK unit. At 17:56 Patrick Sharp made it 4-0 after they looked like they had a shooting drill going on Olie Kolzig - not one of the Caps on the ice looked good on that one. The Blackhawks had Kolzig "surrounded" and for some reason none of the Caps could clear the low slot or the corners of the crease; and for some reason Olie couldn't smoother any of the first three shots he stopped before Sharp scored his 35th goal of the year. At 18:27 the Caps got their second power play of the night and applied pretty good pressure before the end of the period. However, Nickolai Khabiboulan made two really nice stops and the period ended with the Caps trailing 4-0. First period summary for the Caps - lots of Hot Pockets; unleashed fury? not so much.

The second started with the Capitals on the power play for a little under the first half minute. Alexander Ovechkin came out "banging" making two solid hits in his first shift of the period. The Caps worked hard at the start of the period to change the games momentum. However, after keeping things pretty even for 10:19 the Rene Bourque a 1-0 breakaway on a nice outlet pass from Williams, and Bourque put it through Kolzigs "five hole" to make it 5-0 Blackhawks with just over a half game played. Following Bourgue's goal, the game see-sawed though the Caps could never get anything going because Khabiboulan was super when he needed to be.

During the third period the Caps played their best hockey of the night but again came up short. For the period the score ended 0-0 after Khabiboulan robbed Alexander Semin with a diving save to preserve his shutout with 2:58 left in the game. Even during the third period the Caps were outshot by the Blackhawks 11-13. Overall on the night the Caps were outshot 42 - 12, and veteran goalie Olie Kolzig must have felt "naked" at times. Despite being on the loosing end of a 5-0 shutout, Kolzig's save percentage was 88.095 for the game; his NHL career average was is 90.6% and he is on track to finish this season with an 89.3% save percentage, so he pretty much played what for him has become an average game. While Kolzig's performance wasn't up to the same level he had been playing the past three games, he has been gone 3-0-0 and had a SV% of 94.2% in his last four games played, tonight's loss isn't on his shoulders, allowing 43 shots on goal, including multiple breakaways, the Caps clearly weren't the team they have proven they can be. A disappointing loss, in front of over 20,000 Chicago fans, tonight's game is even harder for Caps fans to stomach since Carolina won and is once again 5 points ahead of the Caps for, in the race for the Southeast Division title. Now, despite having their last seven games against Southeast Division opponents including two against the Hurricanes, the Caps best hopes for a playoff berth is clearly to overtake the Eastern Conference 8th place Philadelphia Flyers who they remain two points behind.

Next up, the Thrashers (who lost to Carolina tonight and are now 2-6-2 in their last 10 games) in Atlanta. LETS GO CAPS!!!!!!!!!!

A Short Tribute and Summary Facts - Olaf Kolzig's 301 Career Wins

The Caps traveled to Nashville today in preparation for their match-up Tuesday evening with the Western Conference's 9th place Predators today. Taking time to go over a tribute and some facts about "Olie the Goalie's" 18 year and counting professional ice hockey career and his 301 and counting NHL wins seems like a good use of the time at hand. After all it is an "intermission" between yesterday's "most important game of the season for the Caps" and tomorrow's "most important game of the season for the Caps". Much of what will be covered here has been covered in bits and pieces elsewhere since "Godzilla" notched his 300th NHL win on Wednesday night against the Calgary Flames at Verizon Center. However, since Mr. Kolzig is only the 23rd Goalie in the 104 year history of the professional hockey in North America to collect 300 or more wins and only the fifth person to do it with a single team, repeating the facts, figures and notations in one place doesn't seem too effusive.


Most accounts of Olaf Kolzig's professional hockey career indicate it started in 1989 when he was drafted in the first round (19th overall) by the Washington Capitals. In truth Kolzig's career started two years prior during the 1987-1988 season when the then 17 year old Kolzig joined North Westminster of the Western Hockey League and played 15 games. For the 1988-89 Season, Olie then went to the Western Hockey League Tri-City Americans who he also played with immediately after being drafted by the Capitals in the 1989 - 1990 season. Today, Olie Kolzig co-owns those same Tri-City Americans with Stu Barnes who played with Olie in Tri-City and Dennis Loman and Bob Tory. At 6-3 and 220 pounds, Olie was big for a goalie when he was drafted and it took him a while to grow into his stature both physically and as a first round pick. He played two unspectacular games for the Caps in the 1989-1990 season and did not earn a victory while compiling a GAA of 6.00 and a save percentage of 0.810. He spent much of the next 3 1/2 seasons in the minors and matured. During the 1993-94 season he was the AHL's Calder Cup MVP (Jack Butterfield Trophy) while he led the Portland Pirates to their first Calder Cup and earned himself a spot in the Pirates Hall of Fame. The following season 1994-95, Olie the Goalie, split his time between the NHL Washington Capitals and Portland. For the 94-95 campaign, Kolzig played 14 games in the NHL and recorded a record of 2-8-2 with a save % of 0.902 and a GAA of 2.49 (fourth among NHL Rookies). Olie's first NHL victory came on 1/27/1995 against the New York Islanders; his second victory came in a 36 save performance against the Pittsburgh Penguins on 5/2/1995. He also made his NHL playoff debut, earning a 1-0 record in two appearances.


Kolzig spent the next two seasons as Washington's backup goaltender where he needed to work through some focus and temper issues before becoming the Capital's number 1 goalie in the 1997-1998 season. During the next two season's Kolzig's maturation as a number one goalie continued and in fact he posted 33 wins and a 0.920 save percentage in 64 games played in the 97-98 season and a 26 win, 0.900 save percentage in the 98-99 season. His career progress was such that after the 1997-1998 season when in addition to an excellent regular season record he led the Caps through 21 playoff games with a 12-9 record as well as a GAA of 1.95 and a Save % of 0.944 he was talked about as a clearly top tier net minder. He had some regression in the 98-99 season as the pressure of being a star settled in but in the 1999-2000 season he put together, what is arguably, clearly the best year of his career. That season he won the Vezina Trophy the NHL's highest honor for a goaltender, he was the Caps' iron-man playing 73 games and earning a record of 41-20-11 witrh a GAA of 2.24 and a SV% of 0.917.


Kolzig has played a total of 710 games in his career and has an overall record of 301-292-86 with a career GAA of 2.70 and a SV% of 0.906. He reached the 100 win plateau early in the 1999-2000 season on his way to being the NHL's best net minder that year. He reached 200 wins during the 2001-2002 NHL Playoffs. Win number 300 came on March 12, 2008 in a 3-2 victory against the Calgary Flames at home in Verizon Center, a team that played in Atlanta when he entered the league in a building that didn't exist when he entered the league. On that night "Godzilla" was fittingly awarded the game's number 1 star after a 24 save/SV% of 0.923 performance. The game's number 2 star, league leading scorer Alexander Ovechkin, was 4 years old when Olie Kolzig was drafted and 8 years old when he recorded his first NHL victory. The only current playing goalie with similar tenure with his current team, like Kolzig, is another future Hall of Famer, Martin Brodeur.


To keep things in perspectives non-hockey minded sports fans can relate to, Olie Kolzig's career and impact with the Capitals rivals analogous efforts in Pro Football like Brett Farve and Darrel Green's careers with the Green Bay Packers and the Redskins. The off-ice and off-field persons of these three gentlemen also has parallels in that all three have been very active in supporting charitable causes and philanthropic activities, especially in their local communities. Olaf Kolzig and his wife Christin have been exceptionally generous and dedicated towards the cause of both Autism Awareness and finding a cure for the disease from which one of their three children, Carson, suffers.


For another great biography and perspective on Olaf Kolzig check out this post on James Mirtle's blog.

Capitals 10 - Bruins 2 - YES, You Read the Score Right

The Capitals, disappointed with the result of their last game, a 3-2 loss in regulation to the Toronto Maple Leafs, came out of the locker room flying for their game against the Boston Bruins. Thirty-two seconds into the game, recent trade deadline pickup Matt Cooke scored his first goal as a Washington Capital. The Capitals early surge of energy carried through into solid play and the Caps overpowered the Boston Bruins for the entire first period. For the first twenty minutes, the Capitals scored 6 unanswered goals, ensuring their happy fans received free wings before the end of the first period. Adding to the euphoria, Washington’s sharpshooter, Alexander Ovechkin, tallied a hat trick before the period was over notching goal numbers 50, 51, and 52 on the season during the period. But perhaps Ovie’s best play was the assist he got setting up his playmaking center Nicklas Backstrom for the rookie’s 10th goal of the season in the second period. The Great Eight also had an assist on a power play tally by Brooks Laich early in the third period. With his three goals and two assists on the night, Ovechkin extended his goals scoring lead over countryman Ilya Kovalchuck and regains the point scoring lead over countryman Evgeni Malkin.

The Caps scored 6 goals in the first period, three from the NHL’s leading scorer and three from a portion of the game the Capitals haven’t always seen this season, “secondary scoring”. Trade deadline pickups have apparently allowed Coach Bruce Boudreau to put together a number of third and fourth line mixes that have some offensive punch in addition to the solid defensive play they’ve exhibited most of the season. The keys to these changes, in the game against the Bruins, were Sergei Federov AND Matt Cooke. In Federov, the Capitals have retained the services of a solid veteran center, replacing the injured Michael Nylander in the lineup, who can match-up with and shut down an opposing team’s number one center. Federov also brings the mindset of a champion and the experience of a superstar who’s been there, done that to steady the Capital’s “Young Guns” down the stretch. In Cooke, the Capitals seem to have gotten the player they had hoped the traded Matt Pettinger would be for them. (Since the trade “Petty” though scoreless is +/- 0 and is clearly also energized getting his shots and “mixing it up” for his “hometown” Vancouver Canucks so things might work out for both teams on this deal.) Since joining the Caps Matt Cooke has logged an average of 11:21 TOI and against the Bruins he was +/- +2 and had three (3) points with 1 goal and 2 assists. Even though Cooke only logged 18 shifts and 10:21 of ice time against the Bruins, he led the Caps in Hits with 4 and seemed to provide a spark and raise the energy level every shift he was on the ice. Matt Bradley certainly enjoyed his shifts with Cooke as Bradley was also +2 on the night with three (3) points: 2 goals (both assisted by Cooke) and 1 assist (on the goal scored by Cooke). Could this be a start of something new – “the Matts”? In any case, the juggled lineup with “the new pickups” have been super in two out of three games and solid, though outplayed in the loss to Toronto.

A game like the one against the Bruins is hard to write about succinctly because simply too much happened. In addition to all the scoring, basically everyone played and I mean everyone – all four Goalies who dressed saw ice time. In what would be the only low point for Washington, Christobel Huet did not return to the ice for the third period. After stopping 20 of 22 shots in the first two periods, Huet was apparently injured and the Caps staff opted to play Olaf Kolzig for the third period. Versus reported Huet had back spasms and back pain at the tail end of the second period. While Kolzig played well during the third period, and the Caps have a third, solid Goalie in Brent Johnson; Washington’s stretch run will likely go easier if Huet’s pains reside and he is available for continued duty. Duty in between the pipes was a “rotational affair,” Tim Thomas started the game but was pulled after the Caps went up 4-0 in favor of Alexander Auld. Thomas, who last week had a GAA of less than 1.00 and went 3-0, returned to the net for the second period when the Caps were up 6-0. Boston’s All Star Goalie then played the entire second period yielding 2 more goals to the Caps, came out for the third period gave up another tally when he didn’t squeeze his “5 hole” shut tight enough for the second time in the evening. In all Thomas played a total of 36:30, gave up seven goals in 24 shots against before being replaced Auld for a second time. Auld finished out the game and gave up just one final goal to Matt Bradley on a beautiful setup from Mike Green on a power play that would have taken divine intervention to stop.

Another highlight for DC’s pucksters against the Bruins was their “special teams” play. Washington scored four power play goals in 7 tries, while the penalty killing unit allowed the Bruins to score just one in 7 tries by the Bruins. As you would expect during a 10-2 victory, the Capitals fared well in the +/- stats category, the only Caps not on the positive side of the ledger were Sergei Federov, Alexander Semin, and Brooks Laich since all the Caps goals they were on the ice for were power play scores but were all on the ice for the one even strength score by the Bruins. Another area the Caps excelled in during the game was shooting percentage, not coincidently 8 of the Caps 10 goals came from shots taken “in the slot” and the majority of shots were from high percentage areas. If there can be any down-side to a game like this for the victor, it can only be that the two teams will meet again Saturday evening in Boston, and the Bruins will certainly be highly motivated to “even the score”. The statistics from this game, basically speak for themselves – the three stars of the game were: 1)Alexander Ovechkin (3 goals, 2 assists, 5 points, +3); 2)Nicklas Backstrom (1 goal, 3 assists, 4 points, +3) and 3)Matt Cooke whose play was as previously described. Next up: the Sabres in Buffalo on Wednsday – LETS GO CAPS!!!!

Disappointing Night at the Verizon Center

Final Score Maple Leafs 3, Caps 2

The Caps "won" the first period but only scored one; the Maple Leafs won the second period in fairly dominant fashion out shooting the Caps 12-5 and out scoring them 2-0; the Caps dominated the third period out shooting the Leafs 11-3 but the Leafs tied them in goals 1-1 so in the end - the Caps came away with a "no point night". Olie Kolzig wasn't too bad but he wasn't great either (save percentage of 0.880). However the Maple Leafs won this game on the outstanding goaltending of Vesla Toskla who stoned the Caps in the third period and had an overall save percentage of 0.929 on the night including robbing several Caps. The only "high point" for the Caps was that Alexander Ovechkin broke his "slump" when he put the Caps up 1-0 with the first goal of the game.

Next up: The Boston Bruins at Verizon Center in what will be Christobel Huet's home ice debut against a team he has pretty much owned so far this season while in Montreal. We'll all be rooting for a great win and it would be even sweeter if we all get to see an Alex Ovechkin hat trick that puts him back on track for a 60+ goal season. LETS GO CAPS!!!!

No Hockey Thoughts Today - Lots Going On In Work

It's 11:30 PM and the first time today to think about hockey - my question who starts in goal versus the Devils in Newark on Friday night?

Another study in class look at this interview Q&A from Cristobel Huet this morning from Tarik:
Q: Because Olie has been the face of the franchise, what were your thoughts when you found out that you were coming here?A: "I respect Olie a lot. He's been here a long time and he's done well for the franchise. We're just going to work it out and I'm just going to try to be my best when I'm asked to play."

Caps 4 Wild 1 but Big News Is Trade Deadline Deals

Caps 4 - Wild 1 while Mark is working and driving home from Glen Burnie , MD but big news is the trade deadline deals. First thought - woo - I didn't think the Caps would make a move today, let alone four deals all of which you have to judge pretty positively. Yes for a loyal fan and sentimental guy like me there are downsides. First the Huet deal could easily affect Olie Kolzig in a manner he doesn't fancy and Matt Pettinger is a solid Hockey Player and Solid Citizen. But you have to admit both deals definitely have the potential to positively impact the Caps the remainder of this season and, possibly in future years.

Huet is a solid top ten goalie and easily the best potential available UFA at the end of the season, if the Caps can resign him they likely have a solid, younger than Kolzig, number one for two or three years. Matt Pettinger wasn't getting any offensive production this year a the change of scenery and getting to play for the team he rooted for as a kid has to be a potential positive for him and if he responds for the Canucks. The Caps get Matt Cooke a grittier forward then they had and that "nudgey" kind of player to compliment what Brashear brings to the team. As for the Federov deal this is unexpected, but definitely "no-brainer" move - I don't know why Columbus was willing to part with him for Theo Ruth. Ruth isn't even in the Cap's Hockey Future data base but given Michael Nylander's injury it's a good and necessary deal for the Caps if they could make it happen. The Motzko - Giroux deal is a fair swap for the two teams and given the Thrashers recent selloffs/trade offs Motzko might get a chance to play more at the NHL level in with Atlanta, Giroux is a player the Caps know who is two years younger than Motzko.


Again on the sentimental side I like both Olie and Johnnie and feel sad about that but Huet is also a class act - just look at his final comments to the press in Montreal: "I'm very excited to join a young team like the Capitals and to have the chance to play with Ovechkin instead of facing him," Huet told reporters in Montreal. "I'm a bit surprised by the trade but I had some thoughts about it yesterday when I found out that I would not be in the net versus the Thrashers. I had 3 great years in Montreal, a classy organisation, great teammates, special relationship with the fans. I will miss that. I would have liked to finish the job in Montreal. I did not play well enough in the last few games.""Washington will be a great new challenge for me," he added. "I don't know about their plans, if I will be use as a no 1 goalie." Clearly another mature, classy goalie who takes responsibility for his actions - would you rather that the Caps tried to improve their goal tending if the off season with this guy?


So now we watch and wait to see what this means for the the goaltending situation now the Caps have three goalies. If the possibility of resigning Huet is real, I expect we are probably watching the sunset of perhaps the greatest Capital so far in Olaf Kolzig, hopefully we will all see a great person treated with dignity so he can act with dignity if that's the case. Also what about both Brent Johnson and Fredric Cassivi? Why do I bring up Cassivi? Look at his bio and age, if the Caps resign Huet and opt for a NHL level tandem of Huet & Johnson do they really need/want a 32 year old goalie logging the bulk of the ice time on their developmental team with Machesney, Varlamov, and Neuvirth in the system? I doubt it of course they could end up withKolzig and Huet for the playoff push this year, not resign Huet and be right where they were yesterday or either and be in more flux. I doubt that scenario happens but you never know.


On the Pettinger - Cooke deal, good luck Matt Pettinger, you are a classy, solid guy and on a personal level all Caps fans wish you well. Playing for the team that was/is the team you rooted for as a kid has to be cool, Vancouver is a beautiful city as well. Hopefully, Matt Cooke also works out for the Caps, his grit is certainly something that at times will be helpful. Now as this guy says "Let's kick it up a notch"; February hasn't been a bad hockey month but January was so cool you spoiled us all. Finally, I'm getting piggy I want it all - please shoot the moon - win the Division, get the secondary scoring going so teams have to give AO the room to enable him to hit 60+ goals and Caps fans eat lots of wings after home games. LETS GO CAPS!!!!

What Happened? – Sometimes I Hate It When I’m Right

Bottom Line: Carolina 6 – Washington 3; a “No Points” Night for the Capitals

Why do the Caps keep coming up short in these important Southeast Division games as the season drives to a close? Generalities are rarely useful from an analytical standpoint without solid data to back things up and need to be left until another time as they don’t need to be applied to figure the reasons for this loss. Last evening the Caps just didn’t execute on the things they needed to do. On the other hand the Carolina Hurricane’s though they had some lapses executed on what they needed to do and “played their game”. Oe thing for sure is no cliches apply, look at the scorecard on things and match-ups to watch as compared to the results, and the reasons for this loss become clear. Both teams showed up and played to win, Carolina just did it all a little better last night, and it ended up making a huge difference.

Offensive Keys:
- The Caps needed to stay out of the penalty box or have their PK unit (18th in the league) play well as 28% of the Hurricanes’ goals are from the power play. Key result: The Caps put the Hurricanes on the power-play 7 times (counting Kozlov’s double minor) and the Hurricanes scored 4 of their 6 goals on the man advantage. Caps failed to execute in two ways – they gave far too many power play chances to Carolina and their PK unit went 42.8% (versus their season average of 80.5%)
- Erik Cole was indeed stoked for the game and had the intensity factor up notching a powerplay goal and an assist. For the game he logged 22:25 TOI, led the Canes in Hits with 5 an even though he went -1 for the game he was a major factor in the offense as he was on the ice for the four Carolina power play goals.
- For the Canes they got continued solid “secondary scoring” from Williams, Samsonov, Walker and Cullen. Cullen scored two, and Ladd scored one in fact “secondary scoring accounted for 60% of the goals scored by Hurricane’s forwards; and Samsonov with two assists was involved in both the Hurricanes’ even strength tallies.
- Alexander Semin: While it’s hard to be complimentary of individual performances when the team looses, Number 28 showed up for the game and had a reasonably good night. He logged 18:25 TOI, scored a goal, took 4 shots had a takeaway and no giveaways and played disciplined hockey staying out of the penalty box. In fact, Semin’s mature play when he was “mugged” by Andrew Ladd in the second period and kept his cool led to a power play that Brooks Laich capitalized on. “The other Alex” played to win and wasn’t the on the ice for either of the Hurricane’s even strength goals – take that James Mirtle; oh yeah except the Capitals lost so we can’t be too happy, nor probably is Semin.
- Alexander Ovechkin: Logged 23:03; had 3 assists “kinda” broke out of his slump and also brought his game even though he failed to score in any of his 8 shots, 6 blocked attempts and one missed shot – clearly Cam Ward enjoys stopping the league’s “big guns” on other Southeast Division rosters. Notably Ovechkin led the Caps in hits with 5, was directly involved in all three of the Caps goals, was even in +/- and logged 1:08 of successful PK time during which he and Backstrom were able to stymie an otherwise awesome night for the Hurricane’s power play. Unfortunately in what may have been one of the two most important match ups of the night – Ward vs. Ovechkin – Ward won, and though Ovie made up some ground on his buddy Malkin in the race for points leadership and personally had a pretty good night , he’s probably not too happy either.
- Backstrom and Fleischmann: Backstrom vs. Whitney and Fleischmann vs. Cole. Neither Backstrom or Flash had horrible nights, but they didn’t have great ones either. Whitney and Cole combined for 4 points, were impact players in the game and ended up the evening on a team with a 6 point lead in the standings.

Defensive Keys:
- Joe Corvo and Bret Hedican’s play: Corvo - TOI: 20:56, 2 Assists, 1 Goal, +/- even, 3 takeaways, 2 blocked shots, no giveaways; Hedican – TOI 20:57, 1 hit, 2 takeaway, 2 blocked shots, -1 on the night. Basically, a very solid night for both leading Hurricane D-Men.
- Frantisek Kaberle and Niclas Wallin’s play: Kaberle – TOI 16:44 (1:55 of PK), +/- +1, 4 shots, 1 blocked shot; Wallin – TOI 17:19 (2:30 of PK), +/- +1, 1 shot, 1 takeaway. A solid night for Kaberle and Wallin and a key to the Hurricane’s win.
- The Mike Green – Joe Corvo match up: Green – TOI: 25:25, +/- +1, 1 assist, 1 goal, 1 hit, 1 blocked shot, 2 shots, 2 blocked attempts, 1 missed shot, no giveaways or takeaways; Green had a solid outing but Corvo’s 3 takeaways and 2 assists give a slight edge to the veteran in this match-up. However last year this time and before the Caps coaching change this comparison wouldn’t have even been in the realm of reality, Green really needs to be the next Cap that Management locks up a contract extension with.

The Goaltending Matchup:
- Cam Ward stopped 31 of 34 for a save % of 91.18%, Olie Kolzig stopped 36 of 42 for a save % of 85.71%. While Kolzig had a reasonable outing, the Caps needed him to have a super night. At the other end of the ice Ward had a solid night and stoned the league’s leading goal scorer on his eight shots. But you can’t put this game all on Olie Kolzig, giving the Hurricanes 7 power plays is what enabled them to get 42 shots on goal. Even if Ovechkin had scored a goal for the Caps to have won the game 4-3, they would have needed Kolzig to have had a save % of 92.86% to limit the Hurricanes to three goals last night. On his better nights Olie Kolzig is still capable of a save percentage of 93% but it’s certainly a hard way to win. To top it off in addition to the 42 shots the Caps blocked an additional 14 attempts by the Hurricanes.

Overall the game was actually closer than the score would indicate but the Caps didn’t execute on all cylinders and the Hurricanes did. Both teams gave up too many other power play opportunities to the other but the Caps only scored on 2 of 4 opportunities while the Canes scored on 4 of 7. The Hurricane’s offense hit on all points with a shooting % of 14.29 while the Caps were a solid but unspectacular 8.82%. Putting this in perspective if the Caps had scored that fourth goal their shooting percentage would have been a much more respectable 11.76%; and if they had matched the Hurricanes’ performance they would have scored 4 or 5 goals. Despite pundits thoughts to the contrary, recent results indicate the Southeast division isn’t a cake walk or filled with “lightweights” so the Caps need to kick it up a notch and get back to the form they had in January.

Finally, Mark’s Musing Prognostication Grade: F - Leave this sort of stuff to Peerless.
- Kolzig, Backstrom and Ward made me wrong. I predicted: Caps win 4-2 on one of Olie Kolzig's best nights this season; goals scored by Semin (1); Green (1) and Ovechkin (2). Backstrom has 3 assists and both Green and Semin have great +/- nights. That said I didn’t forsee the Caps being outshot 42 – 34, nor did I forsee Ovechkin getting three assists and no goals either.

This evening another hot team and hot goalie – the New Jersey Devils and Martin Brodeur at Verizon Center – LETS GO CAPS!!!!!

Caps - Rangers Running Thoughts

Watching the game on the tube, as we get ready to head out to Bryn Mawr where my wife will get her total knee replacement tomorrow. Matt Pettinger is in for Quintin Laing (a healthy scratch); Steve Eminger is in for John Erskine who was hurt in the fight in the Carolina game on Friday night.

17:28 of the First Period: That didn't take long. Power play goal - Alex Ovechkin from Eric Fehr and Nicklas Backstrom in tight on the rebound, a much different kind of goal then one of those all to infrequent, pretty goals the power play has previously gone for. That's Ovechkin's 47th on the season, for the NHL's current leading scorer. The youth movement is working pretty well the Caps power play unit on the ice for that goal and their ages were: Ovechkin: 22; Fehr: 22; Backstrom: 20; Fleaischmann: 23; Green: 22.

16:25 of the First Period: Now we got offsetting roughing penalties (Green & ) and we have a 4-4 for two minutes. A couple of good scoring attempts by both teams and we're back to 5-5,

12:58 Caps turned over puck to Sean Avery and he puts a rolling puck top shelf over Kolzig's left shoulder and ties it up 1-1 just as I was thinking the Caps weren't looking very good for the last 20-30 seconds.

That was humorous - Ovechkin puts a solid hit on Staal and Avery comes over and tries to get Ovechkin to fight. I couldn't tell for sure (my lip reading skills leave something to be desired) but it looks like Ovie's English skills are improving, he must be listening to some more rap music and not just techno any more.

9:28 Caps back on the power play thanks to a Sean Avery unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and the Caps go two minutes with a man advantage without any shots on goal.

5:23 Shoanne Morrison off for tripping and the Rangers go to a power play without his or Laing's services. A couple of shots, a couple of blocked shots including one that hobbled Tom Poti (ouch) and everyone is ack to even strength 5-5.

2:05 Jeff Schultz - delay of game - dumb! Chris Drury and Brandon Dubinsky are really hanging around for loose change but Olie Kolzig is playing stingy with the rebounds, thank goodness. Penalty killed and period ends with Ovechkin taking a long slapshot for a final shot on goal.

Back to the action:

16:56 remaining: Great save by Kolzig on a Ryan Hollweig breakaway, wrist shot.

14:37 remaining: Morrisonn off (again) for tripping. Pettinger has a shorthanded shot on goal that might have scored if Valiquette didn't have such tremendously long legs. Penalty Killed!

10:35 remaining: Chris Drury scores on one that Kolzig and Semin would like to have back that started with a blown face off. I don't know if you can put that on Kolzig but I know he'd certainly like to have the first shot back so he could just smother the rebound. Rangers lead 2-1.

9:47 remaining: Brooks Laich takes a Milan Jurcina slapshot and hobbles off to the locker room.

9:20 remaining: Valiquette robs Ovechkin with a great save. NY comes right back and is denied by a good play by Kolzig but the Caps take a delayed penalty and we play 6 on 5 for almost 20 seconds.

8:36 remaining: Caps take a penalty for harassing Jagr on his way to the net (Shoanne Morrison off for hooking his third minor of the game).

7:54 remaining: Linesman Johnny Muarry down after taking a slapshot in the back, He's back up and still on the ice officiating.

Alex Semin does an awesome move but is robbed by Valiquette.

06:10 remaining: Kolzig leaves a rebound on the doorstop and the D can't clear it instead opting to take a (Brooks Laich - Hooking) penalty and see if the Caps PK unit can continue to frustrate the Hab's powerplay; and the Caps do indeed kill the penalty which featured several good Kolzig saves.

0:14 remaining in the Second Period: CAPS SCORE!!!! Boyd Gordon from Ovechkin and Semin; and the game is tied 2-2 despite the Caps having a laccluster second period.

Third period summary since I missed the first 3 minutes packing for my trip and Comcast decided we needed to spend about five minutes watching the Jim Zorn announcement by Dan Snyder. It was a great period of wild hockey whose highlights are basically some great plays and saves by both Kolzig and Valiquette. The Caps played with purpose but so did the Rangers, the only bad (as in mistaken plays were Kolzig's delay of game as he overzealously cleared a puck over the glass and Ryan Holweig trip at the end of the period.

Overtime 4-4 play which is actually a 4-3 Caps Power Play -

Mike Green steps up, shots a slapper through a screen by Ovechkin and Green scores number 15 of the season for the game winner. Caps get two points, Rangers take home one.

Caps get two power play goals; Alex Ovechkin gets a goal and two assists for three points; Green gets another game winning goal; Olie Kolzig gets win number 20 with and the Caps are back to first place in the Southeast Division. LETS GO CAPS!!!!!

Caps Win Shootout In Ottawa 8-6

The Caps came out flying against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Place tonight. Just over 1 minute into the game, Alexander Semin took the puck from behind the Senator net and put it into the goal right in front of a stunned Martin Gerber. Semin's goal, his 6th of the season, was unassisted. Slightly over 3:40 later, the Caps power play, which had been dormant their prior three games, came alive when Alexander Ovechkin netted his 27th goal of the season and first goal of the night. Ovechkin's tally was assisted by Mike Green and Semin. At 11:36 of the period, Shoane Morrison took an interference call and the Senators' Daniel Alfredsonn netted his 23rd goal of the season with helpers from Wade Redden and Dany Heatley on the Senators' power play. As the first period ended, the Caps took a 2-1 lead into the locker room. Each team had taken two penalties and the game looked like it was going to be a good, close typical NHL Eastern Conference relatively defensive battle, even though the Caps had out shot the Senators 11-2.

The second period started with the Caps Nicklas Backstrom getting a tripping penalty at 0:43 which the Caps successfully killed off. At about 3:13 Backstrom, just out of the sin bin, made a nifty backhand move to outlet Ovechkin who then executed a textbook give and go with Tom Poti that resulted in the AO getting his second goal of the night (28th of the season) and giving the Caps a 3-1 lead. The Caps then had to kill off a questionable call tripping penalty that Tomas Fleischmann got at 4:06 before the Senators Mike Fisher got a questionable call for holding that went the Caps way at 5:43. After the brief 4-4 that resulted, the Caps power play converted a goal by Michael Nylander that was a beautiful setup by Rookie Nicklas Backstrom. It was one of those plays that Backstrom has made all month where he looks like a seasoned veteran rather than a rookie. It was also his second assist of the night/period. At this point (6:41 in the second period) the Caps were in clear control of the game by a score of 4-1 and in every statistical category but faceoffs won. At 8:49, Shean Donovan was called for holding and the Senators penalty killing unit played with abandon determined not to yield another goal to the resurgent Capitals. In fact a little over 1 minute into the penalty the Senators sprung their team captain, Daniel Alfredsson on a 1-0 breakaway that resulted in Mike Green interfering with him from behind and Alfredsson getting a penalty shot. If tonight's game was going to be storybook for Caps fans, Olie Kolzig would have stoned Alfredsson, but that was not the case; Alfredsson scored on a set of beautiful moves and a pretty goal at 10:06 re-energizing the Senators for much of the rest of the second period. At about the 18:00 mark, the Caps surged in response to a push by the Senators, siezed control of the pace of the game, and played the majority of the final two minutes of the second period in the Senators zone. After a couple of late scoring chances, Nicklas Backstrom got his first goal and third point of the night with assists from Victor Kozlov and Alexander Ovechkin with 00:03 left on the clock for the period (19:57). At the end of two it was Caps 5, Senators 2 and this game was looking more like a Western Conference shootout, but the Capitals still seemed to have things well in hand. The period ended with a hockey fight between the Senators Chris Neal and the Capital's tough guy Donald Breshear that saw "Brash" land numerous good punches in a fight started by Neal before Neal finally responded, they fell to the ice and the refs/linesman could break the heavyweight bout up. In addition to the fight, Brashear played a pretty solid game even though he only had 6:34 of ice time.

To say "all hell broke loose" in the third period would be cliche', but the goal total between both teams in the third period was seven (7). The Senators scored first on a slap shot by Jason Spezza at 4:08 and at 6:41 Mike Fisher scored his first of the night, and the Senators second shorthanded goal of the evening as well, pulling the Senators to within one at 5-4. The pace of play clearly picked up at this point and both teams responded playing exceptionally exciting hockey. It was clear somebody was going to score again but who? At 9:13, during a line change, Tomas Fleschman passed the puck to an oncoming Alexander Semin who drove into the Senators zone, with some excellent stick handling, before pulling up and passing the puck over to Michael Nylander who put the puck into the other side of the net, top shelf, on Gerber and putting the Caps up by two goals once again. At 11:38, Caps penalty killing machine and defensive forward, Dave Steckel was called for holding when the Caps were trapped in their zone for too long and he was pushing to try and break up a well developed play by the Senators awesome first line. On the resulting Senators power play, Mike Fisher netted his 13th of the season for his second goal of the night and the Senators were once again within one at 6-5 Caps. Clearly this game was not your usual defensive one goal Eastern Conference night any longer. The Senators sellout crowd was again energized and it seemed all bets might be off for the Caps. However, a little over a minute later, at 13:46 after getting a pass from Jeff Schultz; Alexander Ovechkin netted his third goal of the night (the third hat trick of his career) putting the Caps two goals up again at 7-5.

Since great teams never say die and never give up, and the Eastern Conference leading Senators are having another great year, that's exactly what they did at this point - "kicking it up another notch" as Emeril would say. The Capitals responded as well, Ovechkin began double-shifting, clearly the adrenalin of the hat trick trumped whatever negative effects his cut thigh was having. At about 17:30, the Senators pulled Martin Gerber for the extra skater and at 17:55 Mike Fisher scored his third of the night, getting his hat trick and making the score 7-6 Caps. The Caps responded and made several good plays, breaking up Senator rushes, and making it hard for the Senators to set up again, despite the fact they again were playing 6 skaters on 5. At just over 19:00, Ovechkin got a bouncing puck took it out and pushed it toward the net looking like he'd get his fourth of the night then, but it hit the outside of the post and icing was called on the Caps. The Senators took the next face off; Olie Kolzig made one of his 16 saves of the night and Ovechkin broke up another Senators play. This time Ovie pushed a solid wrist shot down the center of the ice and scored his fourth of the night; an empty netter at 19:32 as the six Senator skaters on the ice could do nothing but watch him collect his 30th goal of the season.

It wasn't pretty, but it was exciting to watch. The Caps got two points they very much needed on a night when all the teams in the Southeast Division played and the Hurricanes, Panthers and Lightning all lost, which means the Capitals are no longer in the cellar. The sole SE Division Cellar dwellers are now the Tampa Bay Lightning. In the rest of the Eatern Conference, Toronto and the Boston Bruins also lost however the Flyers and the Atlanta Thrashers won. The number 7 and 8 teams in the Eastern Conference are now Buffalo and the Bruins each tied with 40 points. The Caps are five points (2 1/2 games) back with 35 points. The point range between the final four playoff spots in the Conference is 1 game (42 points for # 5 Pittsburgh; 40 points for # 8 Boston); and the Caps have just completed their best month of hockey since the end of the 2002-2003 season.

Despite the final result, there were some things to look to improve tonight, while statistically Tom Poti had a good night (+/- +2; 23:11 of Ice Time and 1 assist), but when he looks at the game tapes he'll likely be unhappy with his play during the first period Alfredsonn goal; the Spezza goal; and the last two goals by Mike Fisher. In particular the two Fisher tip-ins where he gave Fisher enough room in front of Olie to make the plays will likely catch his eye. Since Poti is the team's number one defenseman, even though his offensive play tonight was very good, he got burned a couple of times in the Capitals end. As the number one, mature, go to defensive guy, he's just expected to be held to a higher standard. Mike Green's move, that resulted in Alfredsson's penalty shot probably wasn't a smart penalty either nor were the two other times he got caught too far up and yielded breakaways. But Green is young and other than the Alfredsson move, he got away with his mistakes because Kolzig made the saves. Poti is a big guy as are Schultz, Jurcina and Morrisonn, when those guys are on the ice, nobody should be able to camp in the low or mid-slot in front of the Caps net. On the other hand, Olie Kolzig had a better night than the stats indicate. Statistically, Kolzig stopped 16 of 22 (a SV % of just 0.727); but there were at least three times when he came up with the big save on the Senators big scorers that kept the Caps ahead. On the downside, for the first game in several, the third and fourth line did NOT contribute to the scoring.

When you go in to the Division Leader's home ice and come away with two points, you can't get too negative, but the third period of this game was not the best hockey the Caps have played this month. Bottom line: a two point night on the road - thanks for the excitement Caps!

Next game - home at Verizon Center, against these same Ottawa Senators. Hope to see you ring in the New Year; I'll be there rooting for two points to start 2008. LETS GO CAPS!!!!