Stories Around The League - Varlamov and Avalanche Start The Season Strongly

Well this morning I noted that Semyon Varlamov is now 2-0 with a 0.968 SV% and a GAA of 1.00, not a bad way for he and the Colorado Avalanche to start the season.  As a team the Avalanche is on top of the NHL Central Division having won their first two games of the season in regulation. The Avs opened their season by beating the Anaheim Ducks at home by a score of 6-1 in a game that ended with their mercurial coach, Patrick Roy going apoplectic at several Ducks players as well as Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau.  The retooled team from Colorado then beat the Nashville Predators last night at Pepsi Center in Denver by a score of 3-1 in a game that featured some highlight reel footage by a couple of former Capitals (Varlamov and Matt Hendricks) on NHL Network this morning.

The Avalanche now start a three game road trip that ends next Saturday with a game against our Washington Capitals here in DC at Verizon Center after playing Toronto on Tuesday and Boston on Thursday.  The Capitals schedule this upcoming week a game tonight against the Stars in Buffalo and then "home cooking" at the Phone Booth on Thursday against their Metropolitan Division rival Carolina Hurricanes before taking on Varly and the Avs next Saturday.  Who knows by then most of the teams in the NHL will have played four games and we should have some real ideas about how the season might really go.

LETS GO CAPS!!!!!

Checking In On The NHL With Just 10 Days Before the All Star Game

Well fellow Cap fans here we are on the precipice of the event which generally is used to mark the middle of each NHL Regular Season - the All Star break, even though in the Washington Capital's case they are now six (6) games past that actual point as are most other teams in the league as well. Today, Thursday, January 20th, 2011, the Caps are in the middle of a three game Eastern Conference road trip/swing before returning to Verizon Center to face the New York Rangers on Monday evening. Tonight the Capitals will face the New York Islanders in Uniondale and then they travel to Toronto to face the Maple Leafs on Saturday evening.

There's a great interview with Semyon Varlamov over at Japer's Rink and if you haven't read it you should. There were three of his answer's that really impressed me, they aren't fancy or wildly expressive, that's not the reason they impressed me. Here's the excerpts:

How did you get beat in overtime?

"Their defenseman rolled up to me and shot under my glove. I didn't have time to react."

In the last game against Ottawa the team started out down 0-1 but scored two goals in 45 seconds. Tonight you were down 0-2 and scored two goals in 40 seconds. What's going on with Washington?

"The fact that we are playing badly the first two periods. We aren't scoring. Only then do we start saving ourselves. We need to give it our all for the entire sixty minutes. We are constantly allowing the first goal. But this is a very powerful league. To fight back, you have to break through the other guy's defense-you have to put forth a lot of effort. It isn't always successful. So we need to score first and carry the game. Then everything will be okay."

What do you think of Sergei Bobrovsky and his debut season in the NHL?

"I know Sergei well, we ran into each other on the national team. Bobrovsky is having a great season. He's a great guy! If you make it to the NHL in your very first season you've already played 28 games, then that shows that the guy is talented and he works a lot on himself and his mistakes. And you can achieve a lot of success if you don't stop."

To a fair degree the answers to these three questions reflect a couple of things about Varlamov that make me like him even more and make me continue you think he could very well end up really being "The Guy" here in Washington. Those three things are: 1) mature intensity, no excuses about why he got beat on an OT goal, just a direct factual answer - but underneath I sense he's been looking at that goal in his mind and thinking about what he'd do differently next time so he would have enough time to react, 2) clear understanding that even as talented as he and the rest of the Caps are, they need to work ev ery minute of every game like they can be beaten, and 3) he doesn't measure himself against others, that's why he can be both brutally frank and still be happy to see another peer like Sergei Bobrovsky do well. Anyway tonight's goaltender match up is probably Varlamov vs. DiPietro though it is possible that the Capitals might start Braden Holtby who was just called up from Hershey, and the Isles may also be without "DP" as he didn't skate today and was listed as "sick" and I don't think that's in the good way like when Alexander Ovechkin often uses the word as slang, so Nathan Lawson may be in net for them. Tonight should mark the return of Kyle Okposo and Frans Neilsen to the Islander's lineup while it looks like former Capital Milan Jurcina will not be available. For whatever reason, it always seems like the Islanders play well and hard against the Capitals regardless of how the rest of their season is going, so let's hope that tonight is one of those night's where as Varlamov said, the Caps play solid hockey for all sixty minutes.

More on the current health situation and development of Neuvy and Varly from Katie Carrera of the WaPo here - it's an article worth the read IMHO.

So with four more games before the All-Star break, the Capitals find themselves with two goaltenders who could and hopefully will make good use of the break and in the thick of a tightening contest for superiority in the Eastern Conference - right now the only team of the top nine in the Conference with any "breathing room" are the Philadelphia Flyers who the Caps battled back against before ultimately succumbing in OT on Tuesday evening with a league leading 30 wins and 65 points. There are only nine (9) points separating the second place team in the Conference (really Pittsburgh with 62 points) and the 9th place Carolina Hurricanes with 50 points, additionally the 10th place Florida Panthers (46 points) and the 11th place Buffalo Sabres (45 points) also can't really be counted out since they have three games in hands (while the Hurricanes have two in hand) on the eighth place Atlanta Thrashers (53 points). The Capitals (58 points) are battling for first place in the Southeast Division with the Tampa Bay Lightning (59 points); while the Penguins (62 points) and the Flyers (65 points) are battling for first place in the Atlantic Division, though the third place New York Rangers (57 points) also aren't out of that hunt either. Rounding out the top nine teams in the Eastern Conference are the defensively stingy Boston Bruins atop the Northeast Division with 59 points in 46 games played and the 7th place Montreal Canadeans with 56 points in 47 games played. All in all the remainder of the season, as well as the few weeks remaining before the trading deadline should be very interesting to follow when it comes to the NHL's Eastern Conference - welcome to parity.

For the Capitals it all continues tonight in Uniondale ...

LETS GO CAPS!!!

Despite a 3-1 Win Over The Senators, Caps Still Need Minor Work ...

Yesterday afternoon's 3-1 win over Ottawa was the highlight of the last week for the Capitals. Yesterday's game was a good one by the Capitals, they played patient hockey, they stuck to their game plan - if you can say such a thing about a game where for the life of most people you can's discern who was playing with who on what line if they were wearing a red jersey - and in the end they prevailed convincingly. However yesterday's win meant the Capitals were 1-2-1 or 0.375 on the week when it comes to points captured vs. points possible, hardly their best week of the season. Perhaps the disturbing thing looking ahead for the rest of the season is the fact the Capitals have a schedule that is at least as tough as last week for the rest of the season, and it's not like things get any easier in the playoffs. The one team the Caps managed to beat cleanly last week is a struggling team, who arguably to a large degree beat themselves yesterday. Don't get me wrong, I'm not screaming like a crazy man for major rebuilds, etc. of the Capitals, I am just saying that playing like they've been playing doesn't give me a lot of confidence that they are on track this season for a deep run into the playoffs. They haven't been playing like that sort of team for going on eight weeks and that's a pretty long stretch of time. In fact as we all painfully remember for the month of December the Capitals went 5-6-3 and played 0.464 hockey; now so far this month they are 3-2-2 (0.571). Even more disconcerting is their play against likely "playoff teams" over that time span: 3-6-3; not exactly fear inducing to those potential playoff opponents.

So despite having 57 points in 46 games and being well on track for a 100+ point season, there's plenty of work the Capitals still need to do, if they want to achieve their goals this season. Earlier this month there was some speculation, locally here in the Washington DC metro, as to whether the Capitals might be "pacing themselves" - sure they're pacing themselves, just like I really worry about how winning a big Powerball Jackpot would mess with my life. Seriously, this is a team searching to identify what little tweaks it must do to win the tougher games and put away opponents consistently when they start a third period in control of the game. They aren't pacing themselves, the reason Bruce Boudreau and his mates on the coaching staff are constantly juggling the lines is not to make sure the team "paces itself" or their opponents can't get to fine "a bead" on them before the playoffs or anything silly like that. This team is looking for answers and because of the salary cap as well as the fact that of the 30 teams in the league AT LEAST 22 of them still have some reasonable possibility and hopes of making the playoffs so are NOT looking to give up anybody of "value" without getting something SIGNIFICANT in return. So making a deal that makes sense for a team is harder than ever right now for any NHL GM; and if you're George McPhee and the Capitals it might be even harder than for many others. Like many teams, the Capitals don't have much cap room; they have a very solid talent pipeline but to pick up what they need most right now, which in my and many others estimation is a solid second line center. That likely means they also need to trade away someone with a bit of a Cap hit to make room for the incoming player who will likely have a Cap hit of ~$4-5M for a full season. That won't be easy. The one place many worried about - goal tending - doesn't look to be all that much of an issue right now. Through 46 games, the Capitals young goal tending crew has had a combined GAA of 2.63, that's well within statistical norms to be considered "on par" with the other 20 or so likely and/or valid potential playoff teams. On defense while the Capitals continue to have a less "physical" defense than one might like (John Erskine is #2 on the team in hits (#1 is Ovechkin) with 97 is #44 in the league to date compared to Brent Seabrook of Chicago who is #9 with 140), the Capitals defense hasn't been the root of their issues these past eight weeks. The issue for the Capitals has been they've been weak offensively. Their previously high powered offense hasn't been putting the puck into the net, or even getting nearly as many high quality scoring chances per game as they've conditioned us all to expect. In the last eight weeks they've scored more than three (3) goals only three times in twenty-one (21) games and in those games they've been 2-0-1.

So the issue is that it's that time of year when the Capitals top six forwards need to start playing like their top six forwards - consistently. Here's a list of names for you: Scott Stevens, Patrick Roy, Nicklas Lidstrom, JS Giguire, Brad Richards, Cam Ward, Scott Niedermayer, Henrick Zetterberg, Evgeni Malkin, and Jonathan Toews. That list has three goaltenders, three defensemen, and four forwards - all centers on it; it's the list of Conn Smyth (playoff MVP) Trophy winners since 2000. My point here is, as importantly as secondary scoring, excellent team play, and great role players are to a deep Stanley Cup playoff run - this list would suggest that to win the Stanley Cup - your best players have to a) be your best players and b) be on their game, playing great hockey for the entire playoffs. The only way that usually happens is for those guys to be "on their best games" going into the playoffs, for the Capitals the only guys who are even close to fitting that are: Mike Green, Semyon Varlamov, and/or Michal Neuvirth. Given that in the post "lock-out" era, three of the five Conn Smyth Winners have been forwards, that's also not an especially comforting thought. It's time guys - its time - time for the best players to start consistently playing like the best players so the coaching staff can stop CONSTANTLY juggling the lines and this team can return to being a team with offensive flow as well as one that plays responsible hockey and defense. It's time to do that if this team is going to be ready for the 16 - 28 game second season that starts in the third week of April. To do that it's probably time for GM George McPhee to locate and obtain a solid, veteran second line or even "rental" first line center to enable that all to happen. That probably means it's going to cost the Capitals something. If the move works and a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals results, everyone is likely to be happy. If it doesn't everyone will be looking at the move that gets made in the next couple of weeks in hindsight come June and thinking if not saying, well that wasn't all that smart. And like many other aspects of the game - that's hockey and that's why McPhee gets the big bucks. One things for certain the current status quo, especially against other playoff quality teams, isn't good enough to get there.

In the meantime, thanks for a solid game and two points yesterday Caps; next up the Flyers in Philadelphia on tomorrow evening.

LETS GO CAPS!!!!

Capitals 3 - Panthers 2, A Two Point Night at Verizon Center ... But Does Any Of It Matter?

Well tonight I didn't go to the game, I wasn't feeling all that great and then this afternoon that horrible event in Arizona just took what little bit of possible enthusiasm I might have been able to muster for the game and sapped it all from me. So before I blog about the hockey game I watched here from my comfortable family room in bucolic Bristow, VA, i'd just like to say my prayers and thoughts are with the families of all those killed and injured this afternoon in Tucson, Arizona. From the family of a young 10 year girl, to the family of a Federal Judge both of whom lost their lives today to the family of Rep Gabrielle Giffords, whose husband Mark Kelly is a 1986 graduate of my own Alma Mater. I won't pretend to understand any of it, I do not. I can only say I will pray for you all and I wish you the best thoughts I can in getting through these trying times.

So in the midst of all that real life stuff, the Capitals played another NHL regular season game at Verizon Center tonight and beat the Florida Panthers 3 - 2 in regulation. Overall it was neither the prettiest nor the ugliest Caps game this season. The Caps started slow allowing the Panthers to score first early at the 3:49 mark of the first period and that's how the first period ended Panthers 1 - Caps 0. The first period was some kid of boring hockey to watch, neither team played very well or with any real energy. The Panthers managed to out shoot the Caps in the first stanza by a margin of 6-5 and outscore them by a margin of 1-0. Fortunately for us Caps fans, our heroes came out to play the second period with visibly more energy than they played the first period with, and the hero of the Winter Classic - Eric Fehr - knotted the score one all at the 5:32 mark of the period. The Caps kept the pressure on the Panthers pretty much the entire period but Panthers backup goalie Scott Clemmensen kept his team in the game. The Caps out shot the Panthers in the second period 12-9 and outscored them 1-0; the second period ended with the game tied 1-1. The Caps came out in the third and I just had a feeling they were going to win, despite Clemmensen continuing to play well. My positive thinking and the Capitals continued good play were rewarded at the 13:07 mark of the third when Mike Green and Eric Fehr teamed up again, this time with Green getting his 8th goal of the season on the power play to put the Caps ahead for the first time in the evening. Then at the 16:05 mark, Alexander Ovechkin, broke through both figuratively and literally scoring an "Ovechkin-esque" goal to put the Capitals up by a score of 3-1. It turned out the Caps needed the insurance goal because at the Panthers' Evgeny Dadonov scored his third of the season to pull the panthers within one goal at the 18:23 mark. Then just to make things really interesting, Nicklas Backstrom was sent to the penalty box for a 2:00 minor for cross-checking just 32 seconds later at 18:55 and we got to watch a 6 - 4 power play by the Panthers when they pulled Clemmensen. The Caps held on and got their 24th win of the season and pocket the two points.

The Caps outstanding players tonight were, IMO: Mike Green - another great game, he was all over the ice , playing for 24:10 @GreenLife52 had a goal, an assist, was +1, and had 5 SOG, 3 hits and 2 blocked shots; @EricFehr16 who also had a goal and an assist, was +1 and 2 SOG in 13:29 TOI - of late Fehr has been on fire and now has 6 points in his last 6 games; Alexander Ovechkin - a goal, an assist, 20:39 TOI, 6 SOG, 1 hit, 1 blocked shot - simply put tonight "Ovie was Ovie"; and Semyon Varlamov who stopped 25 of 27 Panther SOG for a 0.926 save percentage and had another great outing to earn his 8th win of the season.

Alexander Semin left the game in the second period after a "hip on thigh" hit that caused an unspecified injury and did not play in the third period. No more details than that on Semin's condition at this time.

The Caps are now 6-1-3 in their last 10 games; that's 15 out of 20 possible points or 0.750 hockey. That's pretty solid especially considering they are coming off what was their worst streak/stretch since Bruce Boudreau took the helm. The Caps have now played 42 games this season and they have amassed 54 points. They are on track to break 100 points for the third straight regular season and defense isn't the problem of late, a little more offense from their star forwards would be nice though when they are getting the kind of goaltending they've been getting it's not too much of a problem. Right now Varlamov has a SV% of 0.928 and a GAA of 2.08 for the season 3rd and 2nd respectively in the league; and Michal Neuvirth has a SV% of 0.911 and a GAA of 2.56.

Next up ... deja vu' the Caps and Panthers meet again on Tuesday evening in Sunrise, FL. Hopefully by then all the surviving shooting victims out in Arizona will be in stable condition and on the mend.

LETS GO CAPS!!!

Caps 3 - Canadeans 0: If Bruce Boudreau Could ...

Caps 3 - Canadiens 0: If Bruce Boudreau could bottle this game and replicate it as an elixir, I bet he would be doing so this morning. First let me say despite the final score, and despite the fact that for Caps fans this was, by and large, a fun game to watch; there was one glaring short-coming ALL night long: the officiating was awful, and worse yet the officials were involved in things that affected the outcome and flow of the game even when they didn't have to be so. I'm not saying all the calls went one way or the other, they did not - both teams "got screwed", in my view evenly so or close to it. I just think that a professional sports league, especially one which is the highest level of it's sport, or at least purports to be so, can and should, do better. More on that, maybe, later in this post. For now let's get to the good, the exciting and even probably a little of the bad from last night.

Coaching and Preparation: Grade A. First let me say I saw two things from the Capitals Coach and his staff I haven't noticed all that much before (doesn't mean they weren't there, I just really never noticed them much before) that were really good and really worked out. First thing was the basic relatively calm and reasoned reaction to what was likely the worst call all night if not one of the worst so far this year - the wash out of the goal by David Steckel in the first period. Trust me when I say I certainly didn't think this was the right move by Gabby when he did it and I was going apoplectic because it was such a bad call. Apparently though the ref whistled the play dead because he lost sight of the puck and that's not a reviewable call or certainly the hardest one to get a reversal on anyway. That said: the whistle was way too fast, and if that was how the NHL Officials usually handled this situation, there would be A LOT FEWER goals through goaltender's 5-holes by guys right on the doorstep. In any case, Boudreau and the Caps merely and rightly requested an explanation and when they got it they didn't unduly delay the game, get flustered, or distracted bay it. Instead they quickly went back to work and in short order got their second goal of the night when Mike Green joined the rush and nailed a beautiful laser fast wrister past Carey Price at the 19:22 mark of the first period. The second thing that Boudreau did that frankly shocked and totally delighted me was when with about 2:00 left in the game he called a timeout. I'm sitting there, probably like most of the crowd wondering why with just 2:00 left in the game, a 2 goal lead, and the Caps playing well, their coach called a timeout. Then after the timeout, the Caps come out on the ice and immediately start playing a 1-4 trap, regardless of who they have out on the ice. That was beautiful to see, to see this ultra-talented team full of offensive powerhouses, play a 1-4 trap in a manner that would make Claude Lemiuex and/or Claude Julian happy. They were playing for the shutout for their goaltender who had played very well all night. They were just making sure they were ready for the inevitable offensive push from the Canadiens which came less than 20 seconds later when they pulled Carey Price. Best of all both coach and team were rewarded for this solid, smart play when at the 19:28 mark of the period, Team Captain Alex Ovechkin, got the empty net goal to put the Caps up by the final score of 3-0. Folks, if anybody tells you at any point between now and whenever this season ends that this Coaching staff has lost this team, pull out a video of the last three minutes of this game to show them just how absolutely wrong they probably are no matter what happens between now and then.

Offensive Game Plan & Execution: Grade B+. Bottom lines here are: i) everyone was part of the offensive game both 1st and 2nd lines as well as 3rd & 4th lines and the Blueliners. Despite the relatively low score and the fact the Caps only scored the single empty netter after the first period, they kept the pressure up all night long. The forechecking was relentless well over 55 of the 60 minutes of play. Were it not for a quick whistle in addition to call-up Jay Beagle's excellent goal to start out the night's scoring that was the result of simple, straight forward play and hard work the first period would have included two goals that are the kind of goals you really want to see if you think you are trying to get ready for the playoffs. Beagle's goal and Steckel's disallowed tally were the result of players going where they need to go and being willing to pay the price to score, plain and simple. I guess in addition to feeling the washout of Steckel's goal was a horrible call, another reason I was so upset with the call, is because it would have been Steckel's second goal in as many games - I haven't looked but has he scored in back to back games as a Cap anytime before that? The first and second lines played very well, Mike Green's goal was the result of a blue liner activating and joining the rush the way he should and when he should. As far as putting real pressure on the opposing goaltender and getting solid offensive zone time, this was one of the best games I've seen, especially five on five. Top 2 Lines: Ovechkin, Semin, Knuble, Laich, and Backstrom all had very good nights - Backstrom was 83% in the faceoff circle. Call-up Kieth Aucoin did well filling in for the injured MP85 and MoJo90 as the second line pivot. From the third and fourth lines, the performance and contributions were great from where I sat and now post-game looking over the statistics. Jay Beagle was a truly noticeable presence in the game, in a good way - all night long. David Steckel also solid all night long - in every facet of his game. Eric Fehr +2 on the night and involved in the game in every way on every shift. Matt Hendricks didn't let a weak call against him just 0:23 into the game affect his game one negative iota and was his usual solid self. Jason Chimera was +2 on the night and chased down two pucks to nullify icing calls that helped keep pressure on the Habs and give the Caps more offensive zone time. Andrew Gordon played a solid all be it relatively unremarkable game last night after being much more noticeable in the last game, that combined with the fact that if he played two more games here in DC he'd have to pass through waivers were probably while he was sent back down to Hershey. That said A. Gordon and Jay Beagle's play of late has to be keeping everyone on the Caps roster on their toes.

Defensive Game: Grade A (it was a shutout) : So ice time leaders among the Caps Blue liners last night were: Mike Green - 28:19 TOI (4:56 SH and 11:49 PP); and John Carlson 22:13 (14:32 EV). Carlson was usually on the ice with Karl Alzner (18:13 TOI, 14:01 EV). Last night was Jeff Schultz' return to the ice from injury. #55 played 13:16 TOI (2:07 SH) and was generally paired with John Erskine. Schultz was the only defenseman who wasn't in the + column, finishing the night +/- even. Green was +2 and all the rest of the blue liners were +1 on the night. Any night you are playing the "Flying Frenchmen" and you only see Brian Gionta and/or Mike Cammelari get free and skate in on your goaltender unencumbered a few times and with either a blueliner or backchecking forward in close enough pursuit there isn't any real threat from a follow-up on the initial shot is a good night defensively in my book. Also it seemed to me that Mike Green had more than the one blocked shot and had at least one hit last night but apparently not so per the score sheet. By the way, I don't think you should penalize or reduce your opinion of a guy's defensive abilities just because he also happens to be a great skater and have a great shot too. Green had an excellent night last evening and his pairing with Scott Hannan during the shifts when Hannan joined him were really, really solid - Nice to see.

Goaltending: Grade A (it was a shutout). Semyon Varlomov was 25 for 25 and "pitched a perfect game". He seemed a lot calmer and more comfortable in the net than he did against Carolina the other night as well. The Canadiens had enough real scoring chances that you can't say Varly didn't earn the shutout, he did. By comparison, Carey Price was 27 for 29 and had a solid night as well, though not well enough to steal his 20th win of the season off the Caps at home.

Special Teams - Penalty Kill: Grade B+. The Canadiens had 8:30 TOI with a man advantage during five power play opportunities. Despite that large amount of time, from my perspective their best scoring chances came 5 on 5. At no time did they really threaten to score for extended periods and during really extended zone time. In fact there was only one of the five power pays where they seemed to get any extended zone time. During these time periods it's hard to say who in addition to Varly was the best penalty killer. Not because there weren't any others but rather because pretty much everybody did a very good job on the penalty kill.

Special Teams - Power Play: Grade F. The only special team on the ice last night worse than the Canadiens' power play was the Capitals' power play. It was the only aspect of last night's game that the Capitals didn't execute well. To be fair there is no doubt in my mind that Carey Price was his team's best penalty killer but the Capitals 7 times including a 4:00 double minor for a total of 14:27 of ice time. That's 24% of the game. To have that much power play time and not get at least one goal is just not good enough so you can't really even give the power play anything but an F. I don't know what the answer is to get the Capitals power play back on track but I do have faith in this coaching staff and team to figure it out or die trying and when they do, these guys will work their butts off to effectively change things and start scoring more power play goals again. That said until they do that, there's always a risk they won't win games without every other aspect of their game being as good as they were last night.

Next up is the Penguins in the Winter Classic. I'll be there with Wingman and we'll both be very psych'ed.

LETS GO CAPS!!!!

Hockey Musings - Thursday September 23rd, 2010

Well I didn't get a chance to watch or listen to the Caps first pre-season game against the Blue Jackets last evening, but I did devour the information available this morning and have a few thoughts on things...

So before the more expected musings and storey lines out of last night's Capitals pre-season opener in the Buckeye State, one has to acknowledge the "little engine that could/because an ant can't move a rubber tree plant" storey of the day - namely Free agent Matt Hendricks, formerly with the Colorado Avalanche organization, using last night to make a solid case for a roster spot with a hat trick. It might not happen but with just six pre-season games and a couple of weeks before the season begins, he certainly is making a case for why the Capitals organization might at least want to reward him with one of their 50 available contract slots and a place in Hershey, at least. I mean even though it was only a pre-season game he did score three goals in a game where the Blue Jackets put a team on the ice that included all of their top six forwards and two pretty solid goaltenders. For me it's impossible not to latch on to a storey like this - Matt Hendricks wasn't on any Caps Fan's radars until this morning and now he is.

So what else is news/things to like about last night - Semyon Varlamov's reaction to Michal Neuvirth's contract extension announcement yesterday - just 30:09 of perfect performance, nothing more, nothing less - maybe I will go see him at the Capitals Convention...

Braden Holtby's night wasn't too shabby either - giving up just two goals - one to Rick Nash and one to Nikita Filatov on 19 shots on goal over 29:51 after the Capitals have gone up by a score of 3 - 0; especially given that Nash's tally came right after Holtby entered the game and was still basically cold, is nothing to be ashamed about.

In the "battle" for the second line Center roster spot, Tomas "Flash" Fleischmann ensured everyone is fully aware he has picked up the gauntlet and intends to win the duel. Last night Flash scored twice and had a primary assist in 16:17 TOI. Flash played primarily with Alexander Semin on one wing and at least during his scoring events three other players: Brooks Laich, Eric Fehr, and Matt Hendricks on the other side. Semin had three assists, was + 2 and led all Caps forwards in TOI with 18:12 last evening - including time on both the Power Play and Penalty Kill units. He did end up with two minor penalties, hopefully he gets the majority of those things, especially minors for "Delay of Game - Puck Over the Glass" out of his system now during the Pre-Season. Also, if he and Flash are going to to play together on the second line, I'm all for this approach to the pre-season until the Chemistry between them is ingrained for to both their "muscle memory's" - however long that takes. At the beginning of last season when Semin had it with B-Mo and then during the winning streak when he had it with Flash, this was a different team than when the second line didn't have that as an anchor.

In the battle for the two or three available roster slots on the Caps amongst the six or so possibilities the winners and the losers last night from the stats perspective appear to shake out as follows. W

Winnerz:
- Matt Hendricks: 3 goals, +3, 4 SOG, 1 hit on 19 shifts and 14:47 TOI;
- Marcus Johansonn: 2 assists, +2, 1 takeaway, on 20 shifts/16:00 TOI - his only negative last night was he went 5 for 14/36% in the faceoff circle;
- Andrew Gordon: 1 assist, +2, 4 hits, 2 shots on goal, on 19 shifts and 15:44 TOI - his only negative was he had 1 giveaway.
- Cody Eakin: Anytime you score a goal against a quality goal tender and quality opponents at the NHL level, especially when you are really fighting for a spot on a team's AHL level Affiliate, you can only view that as a very good night.

Loserz:
- Mathieu Perrault: Statistically, it was basically an unremarkable evening for MP85, however, the expectations just seem higher for him in a game like this and that's why I put him on the looser side of last night. Right now when fighter for a roster slot on this talent crowded team, if you're not winning, you are by definition loosing ground in your quest for those few available roster slots. Last night, statistically, Perrault wasn't a winner and nobody reporting on the event noted anything positive to make up for that lack of clear positives. His stat line last night: zero points, -1, 6 for 11 (55%) in the faceoff circle; 1 SOG, 1 takeaway, in 18 shifts and 14:54 TOI - like I said, unremarkable.
- Kyle Greentree: Not much on his stat line for 17 shifts and 12:24, besides with a Prime Number like 43 for a Jersey Number, isn't he destined to find himself playing in the "A" at the start of this season?

To be clear the only definition and difference between winning and losing in the category above is the answer to the question: "Did this player do anything last night to proactively make cutting him/sending him to the minors a harder decision?" The answer choices are digital, either: yes, or any other answer.

Of the blue line corps my take on who had good nights/bad nights - it doesn't look to me like anybody had a bad night nor does it look to me like anybody did anything to move up or down the depth chart.

Interestingly the Caps didn't play any of the "young guns" except Alexander Semin, I think that's a good sign. I already indicated why I would play Semin, as far as the other guys and the other clear opening night roster guys like Mike Knuble, Matt Bradley, etc who didn't play, I'm all for that. The other guys, the guys who did play need the TOI against opposition outside the organization to have a chance to show the staff what they can and will do. I don't think the others need the pre-season time until the last three pre-season games to get their timing, etc. fine tuned.

Last night didn't do much else other than continue to validate just how deep the Capitals organization is currently.

Of course in other Capitals news yesterday the Organization signed contract extensions with Goaltender Michal Neuvirth and Defenseman Tom Poti. If the available information is accurate relative to terms: Poti - 2 years (through the 2012-2013 season with a cap hit of $2.875M/year; Neuvirth - 2 years (through the 2012-2013 season with a cap hit of 1.15M/year); then these seem like smart moves/good signings for the Caps to me. I know some might argue but signing a solid NHL level top 4 D-Man who has been and is likely to play ATOI 20:00/game and play solid special teams for under $3M of Cap Hit seems like a smart thing for a GM to do. Besides, take a look at the pic with this post and recognize that Poti played several playoff games looking like this in 2009 for the Capitals, then tell me the guy doesn't have "grit." As for Neuvirth, here's a guy with nothing left to learn at the AHL level, a proven winner, with solid skills, and nothing but upside - signing him for a cap hit of $1.15M seems like another smart move, even though he only has 22 games of experience at the NHL level of play.

Well what's next for the Caps? Training Camp and the pre-season continues ....

LET'S GO CAPS!!!

Stars 4 - Caps 3 (SO)

Last night it was a one point night for the Capitals at Verizon Center. The Caps didn't play their best game in that they let the Stars come back from a 2-0 deficit in the third period - one of the few home game losses and one of the few losses in a game the Caps started the third period leading in this season, they are 28-0-3 in such situations. The reason for all of the above was a 34 year old from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario named Marty Turco.

Turco a three time NHL All Star had a career best 49 Saves through overtime, more importantly he stopped 40 of 42 shots on goal and displayed superlative rebound control through the first two periods. He single-handily kept the Stars in the game through two periods, and I believe though they didn't show it too blatantly, Turco's play frustrated the Caps and knocked them off their game enough so they played one of their worst 10 minute stretches of hockey this season to start off the third period. The Caps went from being up 2 - 0 in a game they had clearly controlled to being behind 3 - 2 during the first 8:00 of the third period. To say "it wasn't pretty" about those 10:00 would be understatement. The Caps took too bad penalties and each resulted in a goal, the first Stars goal by Brad Richards, Varlamov didn't have a chance. The second one - by Daley, Varly had a chance on but not much of one. If it was the same Varly who we saw in the series against the Rangers in the 2009 Playoffs he stops it, right now that wasn't happening. The Stars third goal by Neal at the 7:53 mark, that one I'm thinking Varlamov would like back, and would likely stop at least 3 out of 4 times. After Neal's goal the Stars continued to swarm for another minute or two before the Caps "got it together" and returned the game to the Stars end of the ice.

When Ovechkin tied the game at 3-3 with his second goal of the game at 16:44, I don't know about other folks but I wondered if that didn't signal the end of Turco's good fortunes. However, any thought about that was dashed during the game's final 4:00 and the 5:00 overtime. I won't talk about the shootout, neither Ovechkin nor Semin looked great relatives to the moves they tried let alone the results there. Varly looked better than I thought he would during the shootout, but once again Turco's "Mojo" and presence with the force was stronger.

Next up: The Hurricanes come to town tomorrow evening, wonder what sort of G2 Walker and Corvo are giving their new teammates?

LETS GO CAPS!!!

Caps vs. Canadeans Tonight at Le Centre Bell ... A Lookahead and A Review of the Season To Date

Tonight in Montreal the Capitals (aka the Red, White and Blue) take on Les Candeans (Le Bleu, Blanc, et Rouge) in the second of four regular season games and the Caps first visit to Montreal this season. The two teams met just eight days ago in DC with the Canadeans handing the Caps a 3-2 Loss at home in Verizon Center; how's that for motivation, Caps fans?

The story of tonight's game is both teams are coming into it pretty banged up. The Caps still have 6 players from the opening night roster who are doubtful, and they are still carrying Michael Nylander on the payroll. The Caps injury list currently reads as follows per Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post: 1) Alexander Semin, 2) Tom Poti, 3) Mike Knuble, 4) Shoane Morrisonn, 5) Boyd Gordon, and 6) Quintin Laing (over $8M of Salary Cap though with the rules and various people on LTIR the Caps are working quite hard to stay under the Cap). Add to the above Michael Nylander ($5.5M of salary, $4.875M of Cap hit) who isn't playing because the Caps are trying to deal him and Tyler Sloan who has returned to Calgary due the death of a close family member and you have eight players who were either potential opening night or were on the opening night roster out just 8 weeks into the season. Thankfully for us Washington fans, the Capitals are quite deep as has been noted around the league and despite the injuries that have plagued them most of this month, they are still 6-3-3 (0.625) for November.

The Habs have their share of players out as well. The injured or suspended Canadeans who won't be playing in tonight's contest consist of: Brian Gionta, Scott Gomez (possible return to the lineup tonight), Matt D'Agostini, Georges Laroque (suspended), Andrei Markov, Benoît Pouliot (recent pickup from Minnesota, possible but has yet to play a game for Montreal), Andrei Kostitsin (skating but listed as unlikely) and Jaroslav Spacek (who may return to the lineup tonight). In fact per Habs Inside Out, Canadiens head coach Jacques Martin has said he will use seven defencemen and 11 forwards because of the lack of healthy bodies.

This season so far for the Capitals has been a little up and down. The Caps opened the season with an 8-2-3 record and 19 points in October (0.731) and so far for November they are 6-3-3 (0.625). That's 14-5-6 on the season for 34 points and technically they lead the Eastern Conference though Pittsburgh also has 34 points, since the Caps have a game in hand on the Penguins. For the season the Caps are playing 0.680 hockey, that's on pace for a 111 point season, and even their more recent pace of 0.625 is on pace for 103 points. In their last game against the Sabres the Caps showed that even with this spate of injuries if they play disciplined hockey and within the abilities of the players available on the ice, on any given night, they can skate with and beat any other team in the NHL. As the injuries heal the results should also improve. However, as we've all seen as well this season, there are no "gimme" games in the new, improved, salary capped NHL. It continues to be a good season to be a Capitals fan but boy wouldn't $4.875M of salary cap space be nice if the Capitals can find a way to get it before the trade deadline, heck if he continues to play like he did against the Sabres, even keeping enough Cap Space to keep Karl Alzner up here in DC would be pretty nice too...

The rumour is that Semyon Valramov will again get the nod and start tonight, Varly has been quite hot lately and of course notched his first NHL shutout last game against the Sabres. It's also likely that Carey Price will again be in the nets for Montreal tonight, Price has been hot of late though he did apparently look human in the Hab's last game, a loss at Pittsburgh. The last time these two teams met, the Habs did a good job of keeping Alexander Ovechkin bottled up, expect Canadeans coach Jaques Martin to use the home ice advantage of last change to again do the same. However, I also expect the Capitals to play a more disciplined game, one like they played their last game against the Sabres when they used the 1-4 to hobble a speedy Buffalo team, especially if all the potential returnees to the Habs lineup appear on the ice in Montreal tonight. It's entirely possible that tonight's game ould be a goaltender's duel, if it is, expect the difference to be - - - Alexander Ovechkin, Chris Clark and Brooks Laich. The Habs kept Ovechkin off the board last game, if they can do it again and Carey Price stays pretty hot, tonight will be tough going for the Caps unless the Caps star responds and gets some drive to the net from Clark and Laich to keep some pressure on the Habs goalie.

It should be a fun game to watch. I'll be Rockin' the Red from the comfort of my den in Bristow, VA. How about y'all?

After musing, my prediction is Caps 4 - Canadeans 2. GWG - Brooks Laich.

LETS GO CAPS!!!!

A Couple More Thoughts On Last Night's Loss To Toronto

This could be titled "Another Reason To 'Love' Alexander Ovechkin As A Hockey Player."


Following last night's game in Toronto Alexander Ovechkin, the lone goal scorer on the Capitals team was reportedly interviewed and quoted as saying: "We didn't move our legs [including] me," he said. "I'm not happy how I play today. I'm not happy how my line play today. We score one goal, but we have to score more. We have more ice time than everybody, so we have to use it. We had a couple of chances on the power play, we don't score." It's nice to see a team's star taking responsibility for a loss, especially when it's clear he's still on the mend and he didn't have a bad night though he clearly could have had a better one. "The Great Eight's" stat line for last night was: 1 goal, +1, total ice time 26:38, average shift 01:09, 6 shots on goal, 4 attempts blocked, 2 missed, 1 hit, 1 giveaway, 1 takeaway, 1 shot blocked. Comparatively relative to the rest of his teammates he looked pretty good. However, as he's clearly willing to admit he's not comparing himself to most other players in the NHL and he and his top line teammates are getting more ice time and chances to do more and it's okay for all of us including himself to expect more. That's why he is no doubt one of the best, if not, THE best hockey player in the world today. You just gotta love it though that a highly paid athlete isn't looking for any excuses, he's just looking inward and at his teammates and saying hey guys, it's "showtime", it's "Take No Prisoners Time." That's the way he plays the game and that's why no matter whether you think he's merely one of the best or THE best, he'll always be great to watch.


On a separate note, another person noted that the Caps record with Semin out hasn't been too hot - by my count it's 1-1-1 and if you add New Jersey, a game when Semin was clearly playing hurt it's 1-2-1. Just a thought but maybe someone besides me ought to realize that despite his frequently pointed out "streakiness, etc., the other Alex takes pressure off of "The Great Eight" even when he's not on the ice that gives Ovechkin some time and space. Of course you could also look at the Caps record over the same time frame and say the missing key ingredient was Mike Knuble as well. I'd say you're right on both counts. With Knuble and Semin in the lineup - Ovechkin, Backstrom, and Laich are given more space. With them in the lineup a team's better shutdown guy can't spend ALL night focusing on Ovechkin.





One thing folks can't point to as an issue these past four games has been goaltending - that was again true last night, Varlamov, like Neuvirth on Friday night, deserved better. Even though you might point to the 5-2 loss to New Jersey and say they might have gotten a better game there out of Jose Theodore, I still don't think the real issue there was goaltending, there were other missing key ingredients and missteps that were more likely the root causes that resulted in that loss.

Here's hoping the Caps use today and tomorrow morning's skate to get things like lines and defensive pairings sorted out. A few of the combinations last night just didn't work too well as the team and coaching stuff sorted them out during the game.

Next up the Ottawa Senators in Ottawa, Monday at 7:30PM EST.

LETS GO CAPS!!!

A Two Point Night In The Big Apple For Washington..

So I watched tonight's game on Versus HD on the new 52" LCD Sharp Aquos that Mrs Mark gave me as an early Christmas gift - SWEET! The game I watched was pretty cool too. If you read this blog you probably watched the game as well but hey I gotta be me so my recap follows.



Ranger sharpshooter Marian Gaboriak put his team up 1 - 0 at the 1:16 mark. It was one of those where Semyon Varlamov would like to have the shot taken by Dan Giradi back so he wouldn't have to put the rebound right on to Gaboriak's stick at point blank range and a nice space between he and the post available to him so he could net his 14th goal of the season. In any case, as a sign to the continuing maturation of Varlamov, he shook that goal off and played solid very solidly the rest of the game. At the 13:17 mark Mike Green drew a tripping penalty on Ranger's "bad boy" Sean Avery that oput the Caps on their second powerplay of the evening. The Caps got things going for the night with a well played, smart power play goal by their young guns. Alex Ovechkin was on the point first he put the puck in to Tomas Fleischmann in the left side face off circle as both Brooks Laich and Flash were in front of the net. Backstrom didn't have a shooting lan so he put the puck back to Ovie, no shooting lane. Ovie dishes to Mike Green; Green moves in but has no lane, he makes like he is going to shoot pulling Henrick Ludqvist just a little to the right. Green instead of shooting put the puck back to Ovechkin in the perfect positoin for a one-timer. Ovechkin buries it in the basket just therough the small amount of space the lanky Ranger netminder gives him. Welcome back to the lineup Ovie, goal #15 on the season ties it up 1-1. From what I saw the Caps were playing their game and outplayed the Rangers the first period out shooting them 15-5 and if not for the Rangers super goaltender Henrick Lundqvist would likely have been up by at least a goal against a lot of other teams in the league. But as it was the team went into intermission looking ahead to a 40 minute game after they would come back onto the ice.



Hey wait a minute - what about the fight? What fight? The one between Matt Bradley and Aaron Voros. Oh yeah that fight well at the 10:35 mark of the period Brads and Voros dropped em. It looked for a while that Brads was going to win his first hockey fight of the season but then Voros came back and caught Brads with a right that cut him above Brads' left eye and I'd think youy'd have to say that despite probably winning the fight if this were real boxing based on points scored, since Bradley had to go to the dressing room and get cleaned up, you'd have to score this one for Voros. It did accent the grittiness of the game and help establish that the Caps weren't going to be pushed around tonight though, so once again you have to really like that both Bradley and Erskine were in the lineup tonight and they came to play.



The second perid, the Rangers took things up a notch but the Caps responded as well. During the second period the Caps out hit the Rangers 9-3 and the teams each notched 6 shots on goal. The difference for the period was penalties and penalty killing. The Rangers gave the Caps two power plays in the second period and the Caps only gave the Rangers one, better yet, assuming you are a Caps fan, the Caps capitalized on the second power play chance they were given during the period. Through the first two periods the Caps successfully held the Rangers power play scoreless on all three power plays they had to face. In fact the Capitals PK tonight was quite impressive. The one goal of the period by the Caps came at the 15:44 mark with the Caps on the power play. At 14:11 the Energizer Bunny Mathieu Perrault drew a hooking penalty on Ales Kotalik. After Boyle cleared the puck into the Capitals end, Mike Green brought the puck up ice and into the zone. As he entered the zone he ran into heavy traffic and passed the puck off to Alexader Ovechkin who threaded the needle over to Chris Clark in the right side circle. Clark then dished the puck back to Green who was driving the net. Green didn't have an opening as he skated past Lunqvist so he put the puck back to Brooks Laich who was trailing him to the net as well. Lundqvist stopped the pass to Laich but couldn't control the puck as Laich buried it into the net through his five hole for his 9th goal of the season. That goal put the Caps up 2-1 which is how the period ended.



During the third period the Caps and Rangers each got 3 chances to score with a man up on the power play. Unfortunately, during the Rangers second power play chance of the evening their Magician, Marian Gaboriak scored on a shot that I venture to guess only one other player on the ice could have taken and scored on with any regularity. It was one of those shots where goaltender Semyon Valamov had to make the percentage choice, he chose correctly but the sniper got it by him anyway - that type of goal that was discussed ad nuseum and intelligently just this afternoon over at Japer's Rink - how's that for irony. In any case it was a beuty, one of those goals where no matter how many times I watch the replay and shake my head and say how did he do that. It was a goal worthy of Ovechkin or Semin; it was a goal the likes of which are why the Rangers went and got Gaboriak from the available free agents this summer. The goal was Gaboiraik's 15th of the season, it tied the game at 2-2 and tied the Ranger Ace with OV for the league lead in goals. It was a tough tightly played period and the Caps hung in and played hard even though they were outshot for the period ( ) the Caps once again outhit the Rangers 14-8. Their determination was no better displayed then at the 15:09 mark Matt Bradley took the puck away from Wade Redden, got a step on him, then used his body to protect the puck and skate in on Henrick Lundvist. Lundqvist dropped his shoulder slight to square up on Brads and the gritty 31 year old winger from Stittsville, Ontario fired his 4th goal of the season into the top shelf of the net like a 50 goal scoring sniper. Brads finished the evening an assist shot of a Gordie Howe hat trick. The Rangers continued to challenge the Caps and tried to tie the game, pulling Lundqvist for the extra skater at the 18:53 mark. They pressed and had the Caps penned into their zone pretty well util the 19:43 mark when Brian Pothier lobbed the puck up to get some fresh bodies on to the ice and ended up getting his third goal unassisted by netting what is listed in the stat sheets as a 165 foot backhand for a goal. The game ended Caps 4 - Rangers 2.



The NY Media voted the three stars of the game as:

1) Alexander Ovechkin

2) Marian Gaboriak

3) Matt Bradley.



All in all not a bad set of Stars of the Game. With a stat line of 1 SOG, 1 Goal Scored, 2 attempts blocked, 4 misses, 7 hits, and 1 takeaway; Ovechkin certainly made his presence in the game felt during the 22 shifts where he logged 19:23 in his return to the lineup after a 6 game hiatus. As the only Ranger to find the back of the net there's no argument with Marian Gaboriak who 24:03 TOI during 27 shifts and led everyone except Mike Green on both teams in ice time tonight. Matt Bradley had 2/3RDs of a "Gordie Howe" including the game winner and also finished the game +1 and had 3 hits as well during his 13:23 TOI, that has to be looked at as a very good game for the 4th liner, I'd bet he got the hard hat tonight but several other guys also put in good nights. After starting out by yielding a goal, Semyon Varlamov out played Lundqvist turing in a save percentage of 0.900 stopping 18 of 20 tonight including a couple of tough saves to keep the Caps in the lead. Brian Pothier had 3 block shots in addition to his empty net goal and played well except for taking a High Sticking minor in the third period. Mike Green's 2 assists, +1, 5 shots on goal and 2 blocked shots in 24: 55 TOI was a solid night "for sure." David Steckel was once again a beast in the faceoff circle (winning 8 of 11); "Stecks" also had 3 shots on goal, 1 attempt blocked and 1 miss - including 2 that were close, it's only a matter of time before the pucks start finding the back of the net for Steckel. Mathieu Perreault won 5 of 7 draws and drew a penalty that resulted in a power play goal for the Caps in just 8:57 TOI.



On the negative side of things per Tariq's blog: "Coach Bruce Boudreau said he thinks Quintin Laing suffered a broken jaw when he was struck in the face by a Michal Rozsival shot in the third period. The team has not provided an official diagnosis yet, but Boudreau said Laing will remain in New York overnight for observation." Here's hoping all is okay with "Q."



Next up Montreal at Verizon Center on Friday evening. Tom has the tickets for that game so I'll be watching once again on the new TV here in Bristow.



LETS GO CAPS!!!!

Caps 3 - Wild 1 Another 2 Point Night At Verizon Center

Last night's game was another keeper if you're a Capitals fan. The Caps came out pretty slowly (being out shot 7 - 1 during the first 9:40 of the first period.) However, from the 10:00 minute mark of the first period on, if not for Wild goal tender Josh Harding, the Capitals would have raced out to a lead. As it was the game ended in regulation with the Capitals taking a 2 point victory from the Wild in what was a one goal tight game until Brooks Laich put the Capitals two goals ahead with an insurance empty net tally at the 19:23 mark of the final stanza.

Also despite outplaying the Wild from the 10:00 mark of the first period, the Caps gave up the first goal to the Wild's Cal Clutterbuck at 1:31 of the second period and trailed until at 5:35 of that stanza Mike Green got his third goal of the season when he poked a nice feed from Tomas Fleischmann through Harding's Five Hole on the power play. The second period ended with the score knotted at 1-1 despite the Capitals out shooting the Wild 31-16 up to that point of the game. However, when the third period opened, the Caps came out determined to press their advantage and take the lead. That occurred at the 2:00 mark when Brian Pothier joined the rush, as he had several times earlier during the night. Pothier got a pass from Mathieu Perreault (as one of my neighbors in 103 calls him - "The Energizer Bunny") and put a nice wrister past Harding's stick side low for his second goal of the season to put the Capitals up 2-1. The Caps continued to play clean, driven hockey for the remainder of the period staying out of the "Sin Bin" for the entirety of the third period and keeping the Wild off the board. There were a couple of Wild scoring chances during the third period where Caps goalie Semyon Varlamov earned his pay for the night, in fact Varly ended the evening with a solid "W" having stopped 29 of 30 and a SV% of 0.967. However Varly's excellent performance was apparently eclipsed in the eyes of the Mainstream Media present who voted Wild Goaltender Josh Harding the evening's first star. To be sure Harding deserved one of the night's stars having stopped 38 of the 40 shots he faced (a SV% of 0.950 for the night) and was the best Wild player on the ice last night but the first star? to an opposing goalie who let up two goals in a loosing effort? and statistically wasn't the best goaltender on the ice for the game?

To follow up again to the Semin haters out there - last night the "other Alex" again had a solid night. Despite being kept off the scoreboard for the night, because he spent the night with virtually always one, usually two, and at times as many as three Wild players draped on his back, he finished his night +1, got four good shots, drew a penalty when Nick Schultz felt forced to trip him during the first period to keep him away from the play, and he stayed out of the box. Semin also played 1:27 on the PK unit and as I've mentioned before i always feel having him out there a couple of times a game helps keep him more mindful of his defensive responsibilities for the rest of the game. Last night he played really smart hockey and made a few sick moves. On all four of his shots on goal, Harding had to earn his pay. I'm certainly happier having Semin on our roster for $4M then I would have been having Martin Havlat for $5M. Havlat despite getting 8 of the Wild's 30 shots on goal just didn't seem to be all that noticable or a threat often last night; to be sure the Caps kept aware of where he was but they sure didn't seem to feel the need to hang all over him like the Wild did Semin.

Other Capitals notables last night: Brian Pothier of course the second star of the game, Potsy had a goal, 2 hits and 3 blocked shots in 19:24 TOI. Tomas Fleischmann had an assist, and was even on the night in 18:35 TOI. John Erskine was +1, and had 3 hits and 2 shots on goal in 18:10 TOI. Brooks Laich had an empty net goal, was 60% (3 of 5) in the faceoff circle, and had 5 shots on goal in 20:23 TOI. David Steckel was a beast in the face off circle taking 15 of 18 (83%) of his draws and had 4 SOG, 1 A/B, 2 hits and 1 takeaway in 13:15 TOI. Quintin Laing had a great night finishing +1, 1 SOG, 1 A/B, 2 missed attempts, 1 hit and 2 blocked shots in 13:08 TOI. Mike Green who scored his 3rd goal of the year in 20:21 TOI had a solid outing as well. Overall it was a well played game all around and good prep for tonight's game against the Devils in New Jersey.

Looking towards tonight, back to backs are always tough and back to backs against two solid defensive teams are even tougher. OV had been listed as a game time decision, but just a short time ago Tarik indicated that he would miss his sixth game tonight but will likely return for Tuesdays game against the Rangers; and after last night's game the Caps announced Mike Knuble will be out 4 weeks or more with a broken finger. Tonight's game in Newark will be a real test for the Caps but they have to feel driven given the last time the two teams met in NJ, the Devils handed the Caps a no point night.

LETS GO CAPS!!!

Caps 4 - Thrashers 3 (corrected), a Two Point Night...

The Capitals won 4 -3 tonight over the Atlanta Thrashers keeping their winning streak alive at 6. The first period and a half the Capitals dominated. Then for the last half of the game the Thrashers showed resilience and outworked the Caps; however Semyon Varlamov had a good night and kept Atlanta out of the net most of the rest of the way. To put things in context about how hard the Thrashers worked the second half of the night, their third goal, Zach Bogisian's second of the evening came at the 19:59 mark of the third period .....

I'll post more about the Caps game later but now it's over to the World Series Game - Lets' Go Phillies...