The Caps two game road trip concluded tonight in Toronto, the Maple Leafs have a new General Manager, earlier this week they replaced John Ferguson with Cliff Fletcher - a "new" old face. Fletcher is 72 years old and in the Hockey Hall of Fame in the founders category. A former President, COO & GM of the Leafs, Toronto signed Fletcher to a 19 month contract while they sort out what they want to do with their hockey operations management.
The last time these two teams played was October 29th in Toronto and the Caps beat the Leafs 7-1 during a period when the Glen Hanlon era team was not doing well. Tonight's game was nothing like that, for whatever reason the energy level of both teams seemed muted. In a relatively slow paced game the Caps never led, Toronto scored early Chad Kilger had a tip in from the low slot at 7:12 of the first and the Caps didn't answer until AO scored on on a nice 26 foot wrister at 2:27 into the second period. The Maple Leafs returned the favor at 18:44 of the second shortly after Antropov steamrolled the Caps Defense and Olie Kolzig. I'm still not sure how there was no goaltender interference call but I'd rather the game be called like it was tonight rather than how the last (Caps-Pens) game was called. At the end of 2 periods it was 2-1 Maple Leafs. The Leafs played hard throughout the third period and definitely worked for the win, however at 13:07 Alexander Semin scored off a pretty sweet feed from Dave Steckel and it looked like the Caps might pull this one out. As the rest of the period proceeded it was clear the Leafs were pressing (double shifting Mats Sundin, etc.) but for the most part it seemed like it was going to be the Caps night. Then at 19:30 Alexander Steen made a break and took a nice shot that Olie Kolzig stopped with a kick save that sent the rebound out to Mats Sundin who netted the game winner. Olie made some very good stops tonight but the Leafs worked hard to clog the low slot and succeeded pretty well. All three goals came from shots on the left side of the low slot. For the most part even though I was disappointed that Olie didn't smother the rebound on the last goal, the Caps weren't playing for overtime at that point, they were still playing for the win in regulation and to a large degree the bounce to Sundin was as much luck as a goal scorer knowing where to be. The game did have some highlights, John Erskine had a great game and made the highlight reels with one of the sweetest open ice checks this year - by anyone. Steve Eminger had a solid game as Jeff Schultz was a healthy scratch and got some rest. The Caps outshot the Leafs 32-24 and did a pretty good job of clogging the low slot too but couldn't get the goals. Opposing teams have definately been watching films and are clearly no longer even thinking about letting either Mike Green or Nicklas Backstrom skate around any freer than they let Ovechkin or Semin skate. The Caps have to figure out a way to make that work for them, in the Penguins game, Victor Kozlov did so but tonight nobody seemed able to do that. Ovechkin was the strongest player on the ice for the Caps and Sundin was clearly the backbone of the Leafs. There was some talk of a trade for Sundin, something I can't understand, he's the backbone of the Leafs and has a no trade clause.
Tomorrow's game at the Verizon Center is the back end of this home and home series and hopefully both teams will have higher energy levels in the Caps last game before the All Star break and we'll see a return to some more secondary scoring. The loss tonight stopped the Caps win streak at four (4) games; tomorrow night the Caps will be working to start a new winning streak. Let's Go Caps!!!!
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Caps - Pens 1/21/2008 Wrap-Up and Running Commentary
Summary & Wrap Up
Final Score: CAPS 6, PENS 5 F/SO - A "2 Point Night"
This was a very exciting game for the Versus National TV audiance and in the end both Caps and Pens fans should be happy, though us Caps Fans will be a little happier since our team walked away with two points to the Penguins one. Both team's lineups had some major key players out with injuries - the Caps played without the following 1st level players: Star Center Michael Nylander; Defenseman Brian Pothier; Right Wing & Team Captain Chris Clark; and Defenseman Shaone Morrisonn. Pittsburgh, despite being 10-1-2 in its last 13 games, is so depleted by injuries that nearly one-third of its current roster began the season in the minors. Forwards Chris Minard and Jonathan Filewich made their NHL debuts Monday. The Penguins played without: Superstar Center Sidney Crosby, Goalie Marc Andre Fleury, Right Wing Colby Armstrong, Center Ryan Stone and Center Tyler Kennedy.
Much of the early hype centered on this game being a battle of the Russians focused on Alexander Ovechkin of the Caps vs. Evgini Malkin of the Pens. No one could of guessed how right that hype would be - not only did Malkin and Ovechkin put on a battle of "anything you can do, I can do better" on the ice while they often went head to head but Ovechkin's Russian teammates Alexander Semin and Vicktor Kozlov and Malkin's Russian teammate, elder statesman Sergei Gonchar all figured significantly in the play and outcome of the game; as did the play of Goalie Olie Kolzig, Defenseman Mike Green and Rookie phenom Center Nicklas Backstrom for the Caps and Goalie Ty Conklin, Left Wing Ryan Malone, Veteran Right Wing Peter Sykora and Centers Jordan Staal and Maxime Talbot for the Pens.
The game was fast paced and high flying; overall ten (10) goals were scored in regulation and none were "cheap goals". For all my griping the Caps didn't allow that many shots at all nor did they allow many in the low slot,though it seemed like Olie was screened more than he should have been, and the Penguins scored on three (3) of four (4) shots/tip ins they made in the low slot and one (1) of two shots from the high slot. For Olaf Kolzig, Dany Sabourin, and Ty Conklin it wasn't a fun night to be them but neither Olie or Conklin got rattled, and to be honest I don't think Sabourin was rattled though after Ovie's second goal Michel Therrien was. I'm sure dmg will find fault with some of Olie's efforts since his SV% was only 66% stopping "only" 10 of 15 shots, but I reallyfeel you should only attribute two of the Penguin goals either fully or partially to Olie. At the other end Dany Sanbourin stopped just 9 of 13 shots before being replaced by Ty Conklin early in the second period. Conklin stopped 16 of 17 shots he faced including several almost miraculous saves; if Conklin could bottle his "MOJO" right now, I think every oterh goalie in the NHL would sleep in line before the store that sold it opens tomarrow. Strangely, both goals I think Olie would like back are Evgini Malkin's two tallies. However, I only really, really feel he should have had Malkin's second one dead on. Malkin's first goal - the backhand, was just a great move and even though he wasn't screened it was an impossible move for Olie to anticpate and a hard stop for ANY goalie in the league.
Despite some heartstoppping momnets, including a two man advantage Penguin Power Play for 1:07 during Overtime, you had to like the game if you were a Caps fan. By the end of the game Ovechkin had the league goal scoring lead both in total goals and power play goals; Niklas Backstrom had done something no rookie has ever done - back to back games with 4 assists. The OT penalty killing and two blocked shots by Quntin Laing will surely make this week's highlight reels - and right on the heels of him being the # 6 best player most people have never heard of in the NHL .("If he from Kahzakstan, he would have medal" - Borat.) As far as the standings go at the begining of the evening the Caps were in 11th in the conference two points behind Atlanta and third in the Southeast Division 3 points back of Carolina and two back of Atlanta. At the end of the night they are 10th in the Conference tied in points with Atlanta at 49 but with two games in hand and still three (3) points back of Carolina who has 52 points after beating the NY Islanders, However, the Caps have three games in hand (48 games played) over the Hurricanes (51 games played). The Caps are also only three points back of the eigth place New York Islanders who have 52 points in 48 games.
Based on the top level statistics, the Caps outplayed the Pens outshooting them 30-15 and won 40 of 68 faceoffs, though the Pens had 2 fewer penalties, 3 fewer giveaways and 3 more takeaways then the Caps; the Caps gave up three (3) power play goals and the Pens yield two (2) power play goals. In the battle of the Russians, the Caps won but only by a slim margin and it didn't hur that in Alexander Semin we had one more (3) Russian Aces to the Penguin's two (Malkin & Sergie Gonchar) I think after watching the game there can be no doubt that Malkin is as formidible a force as both Kovalchuk and Ovie - all three have wild moves. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad we have Ovie; with the fire in his belly I think if you can only have one of the three on your team you want number 8. But how great would it be to be the coach of the Russian National team and have Ovechkin, Victor Kozlov, Malkin, Kovalchuk, Gonchar and Ilya Bryzlagov on your team? As Napolean Dynamite would say - "SWEET".
The three stars of the game are dead nuts on and a tribute to the youth movements in both Pittsdburgh and Washington: 1) Ovechkin, 2) Malkin, and 3) Backstrom.
Runing Commentary and tidbits fromt the game:
First Period:
I hate it when I'm right about certain things - don't you? Okay, so at 4:39 into the game Green and Poti let Maxime Talbot walk up to the doorstep and slam a puck though Olie's 5 hole and appear surprised that 1) he did it and 2) that Nicklas Backstrom didn't figure a way to catch up with him.
Now less than a minute later the Caps look like they're asleep so Semin has to take a hooking penalty to prevent another waltz - this time by Evgini Malkin. Maybe the penalty kill will make the boys in Red, White and Blue wake up.
Well the Caps got through that penalty kill okay but the Pens are doing a great job clogging the passing lanes - it's 10 minutes into the first period and I'm not sure the Caps have put together two consecutive good passes yet. I do know I really HATE the current banal commentary from these VS announcers.
Fleischman just did a great second effort to tie it at one and now the Caps are awake - the game tied and things are starting to look up. Yet the very inane banter from the VS color analysts continues. I guess why talk about the game in process when you can talk about senseless, irrelavant stuff is the Versus motto or maybe it's just Joe Bennanti's way of auditioning to get out of DC and into some "hockey worthy place" like Toronto .
I missed the next two goals as the announcing so annoyed me I watched some of the Democratic Candidate Presidential debate from South Carolina on CNN - it wasn't any better than the Versus announcers. Now "blabbermouth" aka: Christine Simpson is interviewing Mike Green at the intermission. Though the two interview questions are kind of silly, personnaly if I were them after the way the first period ended I'd focus the story line on the competative nature of Malkin and Ovechkin, two off ice friends who almost got into a hockey fight at the end of the period.
Second Period:
The second period is wild! At the first real break where I can type instead of watching and it's 4-4. Ovie has scored two goals one on the first shift of the period on the power play and the second with an even strength snapshot at 7:29. The Pens have two power play goals - both on power plays from pretty weak calls (IMHO) - Malkin got his second with a good play, but the Sykora goal was textbook even without Sid the Kid in the lineup. The pace of this game has been awesome and the hitting is intese - this is just a sweet game to watch.
Now there's a break in the action while they do a repair to the "glass". After the Ovie's second goal, a 29 foot snapshot, the Pens pulled Sabourin and put in Ty Conklin - personally I don't know why they didn't have Conklin as the starter after the way he stoned so many Caps during the last game. At the end of two it's 4-4.
At the end of the second, Donald Brashear tried to lay a big hit on Jordsan Staal but Staal turned the tables and Brash ended up on his butt. The color guys are now talking about how good the young Caps are and how Nicklas Backstrom's back to back 3+ assist games are the first time a rookie has done that in 25 years.
Peter Sykora is the interview; and for over 30 minutes of hockey I haven't heard Crosby's name mentioned more than one or two times, maybe I can stand these guys after all. Or maybe it's just a really intensely good game so I stopped caring - if we're taking a poll I'd cote for the stopped caring answer.
They talked for a couple of seconds about Ovie's contract and nobody made a stupid comment that made no sense - I guess nobody on this team has a side job working for the Toronto or Ottawa Sun or New York Post. Clearly the switch to Ty Conklin was NOT a bad move by Therrien as so far he's played excellently. His aggrssive play during the Penguin's power plays has definately compicated the Capitals penaly killing assignments and efforts.
Here we go with Christine Simpson's interview. Peter Sykora's interview was pretty good, heavily accented but better than the inane questions that she ended the Green interview with.
The Caps are outshooting the Pens 19-11 after two period so I expect the Pens to come out for the thrid period flying. The Caps definately had the momentum at the end of the second. The Caps first line has been very productive so far this game with three of the four goals. It seems about time for the second line to get their second goal, Semin has been hustling and so has Fleischman and Gordon but they only have 5 of the 19 shots between the three of them so far. Here we go...
Third Period
So now we have two really hot teams, who are playing an intensely, pretty excellent game so far coming out and taking measure of each other.
The Caps have a goal disallowed because of what from the TV vantage point looks like a horrible (as in erroneous) penalty call on Matt Bradley. Then Gonnchar takes a good wrist shot through two screening Caps, one of whom, Malone deflects it in to the net. So on the penalty kill the Caps made two mistakes - nobody challenged Gonchar - why should they? He only beat them with an OT goal that looked erily similar last game; and they let two Pens camp in the low slot including the goal scorer Ryan Malone. I hate it when I'm right.
Now with 14:30 left the Caps are flying. Of course the Pens fans are stupidly chanting "Olie" like any of these goals were on him except for Malkin's second one.
Now the Caps have a power play - they were swarming and the Pens got nervous and had to take the penalty. Hopefully Conklin's "MOJO" won't hold. The penalty is on Malkin - he and Ovechkin are really mixing it up. Oh well, even through this penalty that was quickly followed by a Delay of Game on Conklin himself - Conklin's "MOJO" is indeed holding.
Olie Kolzig has been pretty cool to watch as well - he robbed Malkin on a 1-0 breakaway earlier.
Finally after killing off 2 penalties, Conklin and the Pens slip ever so slightly but it took a nother textbook setup by Backstrom and a solid shot through a small crack in Conklin's armor by Kozlov (his second goal and fourth in two games) at 15:29, and the game is tied again at 5-5. This game is starting to feel like the one in the hockey song.
Overtime
Since we're in the world of Gary Bettman and Colin Campbell where they are working to ruin the game of hockey two basically sound plays by Tom Poti and John Erskine result in penalties to the Caps and give the Pens a 5-3 advantage. Erskine's hooking penalty was the seventh hooking call tonight and only two of those seven panalties were no doubt hooks that would have been called before the recent Betman era. Of course, I'm starting to feel like this is all just a "vast conspiracey" to make sure that the NHL gets Sidney into the playoffs. However now thanks to great shot blocking by Quintin Laing and two excellent saves by Kolzig the Caps and the Pens finish OT in a 5-5 tie and we go to the shootout.
Shootout
LETS GO CAPS!!!! and I'd like to start a campaign to get physical play once again allowed in the NHL - the call on Poti was lame - the call on Erskine was even lamer. Frankly, the "tight officiating" (14 penalties through 65 minutes of hockey tonight) and this unsubstantiated belief that higher scoring games are found more enjoyable to watch is just bogus in my opinion. I don't care about the score a fast paced game is great and so is a lot of hitting, the thing that got this game going for fans on both sides was the attempted check by Ovechkin on Malkin at the end of the first period, not any of the ten (10) goals. The way games are being called these days really is getting excessively negative on physical play.
The Caps win the shootout 2-1 on good goals on good backhand moves by Ovecin and Semin, so the Caps stop the Penguin's streak over them at 6 and leave the Igloo with two points.
Truth be told other then the officiating which is just reflective of the stupidity of Gary Bettman and Colin Campbell the game was a great one to watch. As wierd as it sounds there was some awesome goaltending by both Olie Kolzig and Ty Conklin though their numbers won't properly reflect that level of play.
Final Score: CAPS 6, PENS 5 F/SO - A "2 Point Night"
This was a very exciting game for the Versus National TV audiance and in the end both Caps and Pens fans should be happy, though us Caps Fans will be a little happier since our team walked away with two points to the Penguins one. Both team's lineups had some major key players out with injuries - the Caps played without the following 1st level players: Star Center Michael Nylander; Defenseman Brian Pothier; Right Wing & Team Captain Chris Clark; and Defenseman Shaone Morrisonn. Pittsburgh, despite being 10-1-2 in its last 13 games, is so depleted by injuries that nearly one-third of its current roster began the season in the minors. Forwards Chris Minard and Jonathan Filewich made their NHL debuts Monday. The Penguins played without: Superstar Center Sidney Crosby, Goalie Marc Andre Fleury, Right Wing Colby Armstrong, Center Ryan Stone and Center Tyler Kennedy.
Much of the early hype centered on this game being a battle of the Russians focused on Alexander Ovechkin of the Caps vs. Evgini Malkin of the Pens. No one could of guessed how right that hype would be - not only did Malkin and Ovechkin put on a battle of "anything you can do, I can do better" on the ice while they often went head to head but Ovechkin's Russian teammates Alexander Semin and Vicktor Kozlov and Malkin's Russian teammate, elder statesman Sergei Gonchar all figured significantly in the play and outcome of the game; as did the play of Goalie Olie Kolzig, Defenseman Mike Green and Rookie phenom Center Nicklas Backstrom for the Caps and Goalie Ty Conklin, Left Wing Ryan Malone, Veteran Right Wing Peter Sykora and Centers Jordan Staal and Maxime Talbot for the Pens.
The game was fast paced and high flying; overall ten (10) goals were scored in regulation and none were "cheap goals". For all my griping the Caps didn't allow that many shots at all nor did they allow many in the low slot,though it seemed like Olie was screened more than he should have been, and the Penguins scored on three (3) of four (4) shots/tip ins they made in the low slot and one (1) of two shots from the high slot. For Olaf Kolzig, Dany Sabourin, and Ty Conklin it wasn't a fun night to be them but neither Olie or Conklin got rattled, and to be honest I don't think Sabourin was rattled though after Ovie's second goal Michel Therrien was. I'm sure dmg will find fault with some of Olie's efforts since his SV% was only 66% stopping "only" 10 of 15 shots, but I reallyfeel you should only attribute two of the Penguin goals either fully or partially to Olie. At the other end Dany Sanbourin stopped just 9 of 13 shots before being replaced by Ty Conklin early in the second period. Conklin stopped 16 of 17 shots he faced including several almost miraculous saves; if Conklin could bottle his "MOJO" right now, I think every oterh goalie in the NHL would sleep in line before the store that sold it opens tomarrow. Strangely, both goals I think Olie would like back are Evgini Malkin's two tallies. However, I only really, really feel he should have had Malkin's second one dead on. Malkin's first goal - the backhand, was just a great move and even though he wasn't screened it was an impossible move for Olie to anticpate and a hard stop for ANY goalie in the league.
Despite some heartstoppping momnets, including a two man advantage Penguin Power Play for 1:07 during Overtime, you had to like the game if you were a Caps fan. By the end of the game Ovechkin had the league goal scoring lead both in total goals and power play goals; Niklas Backstrom had done something no rookie has ever done - back to back games with 4 assists. The OT penalty killing and two blocked shots by Quntin Laing will surely make this week's highlight reels - and right on the heels of him being the # 6 best player most people have never heard of in the NHL .("If he from Kahzakstan, he would have medal" - Borat.) As far as the standings go at the begining of the evening the Caps were in 11th in the conference two points behind Atlanta and third in the Southeast Division 3 points back of Carolina and two back of Atlanta. At the end of the night they are 10th in the Conference tied in points with Atlanta at 49 but with two games in hand and still three (3) points back of Carolina who has 52 points after beating the NY Islanders, However, the Caps have three games in hand (48 games played) over the Hurricanes (51 games played). The Caps are also only three points back of the eigth place New York Islanders who have 52 points in 48 games.
Based on the top level statistics, the Caps outplayed the Pens outshooting them 30-15 and won 40 of 68 faceoffs, though the Pens had 2 fewer penalties, 3 fewer giveaways and 3 more takeaways then the Caps; the Caps gave up three (3) power play goals and the Pens yield two (2) power play goals. In the battle of the Russians, the Caps won but only by a slim margin and it didn't hur that in Alexander Semin we had one more (3) Russian Aces to the Penguin's two (Malkin & Sergie Gonchar) I think after watching the game there can be no doubt that Malkin is as formidible a force as both Kovalchuk and Ovie - all three have wild moves. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad we have Ovie; with the fire in his belly I think if you can only have one of the three on your team you want number 8. But how great would it be to be the coach of the Russian National team and have Ovechkin, Victor Kozlov, Malkin, Kovalchuk, Gonchar and Ilya Bryzlagov on your team? As Napolean Dynamite would say - "SWEET".
The three stars of the game are dead nuts on and a tribute to the youth movements in both Pittsdburgh and Washington: 1) Ovechkin, 2) Malkin, and 3) Backstrom.
Runing Commentary and tidbits fromt the game:
First Period:
I hate it when I'm right about certain things - don't you? Okay, so at 4:39 into the game Green and Poti let Maxime Talbot walk up to the doorstep and slam a puck though Olie's 5 hole and appear surprised that 1) he did it and 2) that Nicklas Backstrom didn't figure a way to catch up with him.
Now less than a minute later the Caps look like they're asleep so Semin has to take a hooking penalty to prevent another waltz - this time by Evgini Malkin. Maybe the penalty kill will make the boys in Red, White and Blue wake up.
Well the Caps got through that penalty kill okay but the Pens are doing a great job clogging the passing lanes - it's 10 minutes into the first period and I'm not sure the Caps have put together two consecutive good passes yet. I do know I really HATE the current banal commentary from these VS announcers.
Fleischman just did a great second effort to tie it at one and now the Caps are awake - the game tied and things are starting to look up. Yet the very inane banter from the VS color analysts continues. I guess why talk about the game in process when you can talk about senseless, irrelavant stuff is the Versus motto or maybe it's just Joe Bennanti's way of auditioning to get out of DC and into some "hockey worthy place" like Toronto .
I missed the next two goals as the announcing so annoyed me I watched some of the Democratic Candidate Presidential debate from South Carolina on CNN - it wasn't any better than the Versus announcers. Now "blabbermouth" aka: Christine Simpson is interviewing Mike Green at the intermission. Though the two interview questions are kind of silly, personnaly if I were them after the way the first period ended I'd focus the story line on the competative nature of Malkin and Ovechkin, two off ice friends who almost got into a hockey fight at the end of the period.
Second Period:
The second period is wild! At the first real break where I can type instead of watching and it's 4-4. Ovie has scored two goals one on the first shift of the period on the power play and the second with an even strength snapshot at 7:29. The Pens have two power play goals - both on power plays from pretty weak calls (IMHO) - Malkin got his second with a good play, but the Sykora goal was textbook even without Sid the Kid in the lineup. The pace of this game has been awesome and the hitting is intese - this is just a sweet game to watch.
Now there's a break in the action while they do a repair to the "glass". After the Ovie's second goal, a 29 foot snapshot, the Pens pulled Sabourin and put in Ty Conklin - personally I don't know why they didn't have Conklin as the starter after the way he stoned so many Caps during the last game. At the end of two it's 4-4.
At the end of the second, Donald Brashear tried to lay a big hit on Jordsan Staal but Staal turned the tables and Brash ended up on his butt. The color guys are now talking about how good the young Caps are and how Nicklas Backstrom's back to back 3+ assist games are the first time a rookie has done that in 25 years.
Peter Sykora is the interview; and for over 30 minutes of hockey I haven't heard Crosby's name mentioned more than one or two times, maybe I can stand these guys after all. Or maybe it's just a really intensely good game so I stopped caring - if we're taking a poll I'd cote for the stopped caring answer.
They talked for a couple of seconds about Ovie's contract and nobody made a stupid comment that made no sense - I guess nobody on this team has a side job working for the Toronto or Ottawa Sun or New York Post. Clearly the switch to Ty Conklin was NOT a bad move by Therrien as so far he's played excellently. His aggrssive play during the Penguin's power plays has definately compicated the Capitals penaly killing assignments and efforts.
Here we go with Christine Simpson's interview. Peter Sykora's interview was pretty good, heavily accented but better than the inane questions that she ended the Green interview with.
The Caps are outshooting the Pens 19-11 after two period so I expect the Pens to come out for the thrid period flying. The Caps definately had the momentum at the end of the second. The Caps first line has been very productive so far this game with three of the four goals. It seems about time for the second line to get their second goal, Semin has been hustling and so has Fleischman and Gordon but they only have 5 of the 19 shots between the three of them so far. Here we go...
Third Period
So now we have two really hot teams, who are playing an intensely, pretty excellent game so far coming out and taking measure of each other.
The Caps have a goal disallowed because of what from the TV vantage point looks like a horrible (as in erroneous) penalty call on Matt Bradley. Then Gonnchar takes a good wrist shot through two screening Caps, one of whom, Malone deflects it in to the net. So on the penalty kill the Caps made two mistakes - nobody challenged Gonchar - why should they? He only beat them with an OT goal that looked erily similar last game; and they let two Pens camp in the low slot including the goal scorer Ryan Malone. I hate it when I'm right.
Now with 14:30 left the Caps are flying. Of course the Pens fans are stupidly chanting "Olie" like any of these goals were on him except for Malkin's second one.
Now the Caps have a power play - they were swarming and the Pens got nervous and had to take the penalty. Hopefully Conklin's "MOJO" won't hold. The penalty is on Malkin - he and Ovechkin are really mixing it up. Oh well, even through this penalty that was quickly followed by a Delay of Game on Conklin himself - Conklin's "MOJO" is indeed holding.
Olie Kolzig has been pretty cool to watch as well - he robbed Malkin on a 1-0 breakaway earlier.
Finally after killing off 2 penalties, Conklin and the Pens slip ever so slightly but it took a nother textbook setup by Backstrom and a solid shot through a small crack in Conklin's armor by Kozlov (his second goal and fourth in two games) at 15:29, and the game is tied again at 5-5. This game is starting to feel like the one in the hockey song.
Overtime
Since we're in the world of Gary Bettman and Colin Campbell where they are working to ruin the game of hockey two basically sound plays by Tom Poti and John Erskine result in penalties to the Caps and give the Pens a 5-3 advantage. Erskine's hooking penalty was the seventh hooking call tonight and only two of those seven panalties were no doubt hooks that would have been called before the recent Betman era. Of course, I'm starting to feel like this is all just a "vast conspiracey" to make sure that the NHL gets Sidney into the playoffs. However now thanks to great shot blocking by Quintin Laing and two excellent saves by Kolzig the Caps and the Pens finish OT in a 5-5 tie and we go to the shootout.
Shootout
LETS GO CAPS!!!! and I'd like to start a campaign to get physical play once again allowed in the NHL - the call on Poti was lame - the call on Erskine was even lamer. Frankly, the "tight officiating" (14 penalties through 65 minutes of hockey tonight) and this unsubstantiated belief that higher scoring games are found more enjoyable to watch is just bogus in my opinion. I don't care about the score a fast paced game is great and so is a lot of hitting, the thing that got this game going for fans on both sides was the attempted check by Ovechkin on Malkin at the end of the first period, not any of the ten (10) goals. The way games are being called these days really is getting excessively negative on physical play.
The Caps win the shootout 2-1 on good goals on good backhand moves by Ovecin and Semin, so the Caps stop the Penguin's streak over them at 6 and leave the Igloo with two points.
Truth be told other then the officiating which is just reflective of the stupidity of Gary Bettman and Colin Campbell the game was a great one to watch. As wierd as it sounds there was some awesome goaltending by both Olie Kolzig and Ty Conklin though their numbers won't properly reflect that level of play.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Caps Travel to the Igloo in Search of an Elusive Win vs. "Crosby-less" Pens
Tonight's Caps game against the Pittsburgh Penguins will be nationally televised on Versus. No doubt the talking heads will be disappointed in not being able to compare Crosby to Ovechkin for three hours. However, there will be a lot of exciting match ups to fixate on in any case.
How will Malkin stack up against Ovechkin and Semin? Who will play goal for the Caps - will it be Brent Johnson whose last outing in the Igloo saw him go down and out for several weeks in the first period or traditional #1 Olie Kolzig who is coming off several days rest? Will the Caps break a six game losing streak vs. the Penguins or will the Pens again find some way to thwart the surging Caps just as they did in the last meeting? Both teams are playing very well in spite of having several key players injured.
I was pleased to see the Pens put Sidney Crosby on IR - not because I don't like him but because I do. Now he might have the time to see that high ankle sprain heal to 100% before returning to the Pens lineup. One note to the Caps defense for tonight's game - in case you need any refresher in basics - Please Clear the Slot - ESPECIALLY the Low Slot - stats like THIS don't lie. Here's where the Caps got beat the on Saturday when they played the Panthers; and Thursday night by the Oilers. Notice anything? The last several games opponents have gotten the better of the Caps from that area of the Defensive zone that guys like Tom Poti, Jeff Schultz, Milan Jurcina and John Erskine get paid to turn in to "No Man's Land". Clearing the slot has to become not just a priority but an imperative for the Caps, especially when Penalty Killing. I'm not suggesting getting tied up in the corners with foolish two and three on one checks that let guys roam free in the Caps zone. I'm suggesting what everyone who has played hockey from mites on ice knows - setup the box then collapse one awesome D-Man to the low slot to tie up the inevitable opposing forward whose camped out on the doorstep. Of course, in this era of Gary Bettman, lets turn in basketball and football scores era, the rules work against that, but frankly these stats show the more things change the more they stay the same. Just to make a point here's where the Pens scored from in their last game, which they won without Sid the Kid in the lineup. Jeff Taffe scored a wrister in the first period from? You guessed right if you said low slot in the first, Danny Sabourin made 31 saves to shutout the Canadiens and Evgeni Malkin iced it with an empty netter in the third period. The Pens showed no lack of confidence against the Habs on Saturday and killed 4 of 4 penalties though their own power play was 0 for 3 without Crosby.
If the Caps play the Pens with the same intensity they played them the last game between the two - a 4-3 OT loss for the Caps at the Igloo on 12/27/2007, the Caps should win. In that last game, the Pens needed 2 assists by Crosby on 25 shifts and 24:43 of ice time; along with an awesome OT goal by Sergi Gonchar and 22 solid saves including a couple of amazing ones by Alaskan born veteran Ty Conklin who has had an amazing season so far. The best part of tonight's game is that without continual banter comparing Ovie and Sid the Kid; the TV folks might talk about the bigger stories like the great play by both teams since Thanksgiving or maybe the coming of age of Evgeni Malkin and/or Mike Green or Alexander Semin. One thing for certain is that if this game is like the recent contests between these two team it'll be a good one. LETS GO CAPS!!!
How will Malkin stack up against Ovechkin and Semin? Who will play goal for the Caps - will it be Brent Johnson whose last outing in the Igloo saw him go down and out for several weeks in the first period or traditional #1 Olie Kolzig who is coming off several days rest? Will the Caps break a six game losing streak vs. the Penguins or will the Pens again find some way to thwart the surging Caps just as they did in the last meeting? Both teams are playing very well in spite of having several key players injured.
I was pleased to see the Pens put Sidney Crosby on IR - not because I don't like him but because I do. Now he might have the time to see that high ankle sprain heal to 100% before returning to the Pens lineup. One note to the Caps defense for tonight's game - in case you need any refresher in basics - Please Clear the Slot - ESPECIALLY the Low Slot - stats like THIS don't lie. Here's where the Caps got beat the on Saturday when they played the Panthers; and Thursday night by the Oilers. Notice anything? The last several games opponents have gotten the better of the Caps from that area of the Defensive zone that guys like Tom Poti, Jeff Schultz, Milan Jurcina and John Erskine get paid to turn in to "No Man's Land". Clearing the slot has to become not just a priority but an imperative for the Caps, especially when Penalty Killing. I'm not suggesting getting tied up in the corners with foolish two and three on one checks that let guys roam free in the Caps zone. I'm suggesting what everyone who has played hockey from mites on ice knows - setup the box then collapse one awesome D-Man to the low slot to tie up the inevitable opposing forward whose camped out on the doorstep. Of course, in this era of Gary Bettman, lets turn in basketball and football scores era, the rules work against that, but frankly these stats show the more things change the more they stay the same. Just to make a point here's where the Pens scored from in their last game, which they won without Sid the Kid in the lineup. Jeff Taffe scored a wrister in the first period from? You guessed right if you said low slot in the first, Danny Sabourin made 31 saves to shutout the Canadiens and Evgeni Malkin iced it with an empty netter in the third period. The Pens showed no lack of confidence against the Habs on Saturday and killed 4 of 4 penalties though their own power play was 0 for 3 without Crosby.
If the Caps play the Pens with the same intensity they played them the last game between the two - a 4-3 OT loss for the Caps at the Igloo on 12/27/2007, the Caps should win. In that last game, the Pens needed 2 assists by Crosby on 25 shifts and 24:43 of ice time; along with an awesome OT goal by Sergi Gonchar and 22 solid saves including a couple of amazing ones by Alaskan born veteran Ty Conklin who has had an amazing season so far. The best part of tonight's game is that without continual banter comparing Ovie and Sid the Kid; the TV folks might talk about the bigger stories like the great play by both teams since Thanksgiving or maybe the coming of age of Evgeni Malkin and/or Mike Green or Alexander Semin. One thing for certain is that if this game is like the recent contests between these two team it'll be a good one. LETS GO CAPS!!!
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Caps 5 - Panthers 3; Caps Are 7-2-1 in Last 10 Games
It's an awesome evening - because of the weather and other commitments I watched tonight's Caps game on TV from home so can only comment from the vantage point one gets via Comcast.
Tonight's game was exciting to watch and I'm not sure that was such a good thing. When the Panthers scored their third goal of the evening I felt exactly like Coach Boudreau and if my lip reading skills are any good - we said the same thing too. But this isn't the same team it was in early November so instead of folding the Caps came back to take the lead 4-3 on another beautiful goal by Alexander Semin on a rebound off an AO wrist shot after a great setup pass by Nicklas Backstrom.
The Caps were dominate except for the first 10 minutes of the second period, and how the Panthers got back in to the game during that time is a testament to their offensive capabilities. The Caps ended the first period leading 3-0; at the end of two it was 4-3 and of course at the final horn it was 5-3 Caps. For the evening Victor Kozlov had two goals on 4 shots; Ovechkin had goal and an assist on 9 shots; Backstom had 4 assists and 3 shots, 3 takeaways and won 9 of 20 face offs - the four assists tied a Caps rookie record according to Laughlin and Bennati; and Semin had a goal on two shots and put on two stick handling clinics for the Panthers defense. Brent Johnson had a solid night between the pipes for the Caps turning back 25 of 28 shots. Collectively the Washington pucksters out shot their Florida foes 35 - 28, won 61% of the face offs, killed 4 of 6 penalties (66.6%) and scored 3 power play goals on 5 chances (60%). Tom Poti logged 29:27 of ice time and according to super stats had a hit. I didn't see the hit and didn't see him finish a check all evening. From what I saw this wasn't number 3's best game, though he did end up +/- +2 for the night and he led the Caps in ice time by more than 4:00 on a night where they got a two goal win. Mike Green logged 25:10 of ice time had 2 assists but was +/- -1 for the evening since for the statistics he was on the ice for 1 Panthers goal at even strength and all three Caps power play goals. One of two pleasant surprise of the night was John Erskine's play. Erskine logged 18:31 of ice time on 30 shifts, scored a goal, and was +/- +2 for the night. Additionally Erskine did a good job playing a physical game and holding his own. The pleasant surprise was Jeff Schultz's play and his willingness to mix it up when the Panthers started taking liberties with Brent Johnson. The sixth defenseman tonight was Milan Jurcina (vice Steve Eminger); Jurcina had a decent night logging 15:16 of ice time on 21 shifts, 3 hits and a blocked shot.
Tonight's win means the Caps have played 0.654 hockey (a 107 point pace) since the coaching change; and when they wake up tomorrow, they will wake up in 11th place in the Eastern Conference with 47 points one point ahead of both the Florida Panthers and the Buffalo Sabres who both lost tonight. They will also be two points out of the playoffs, behind the eighth place Boston Bruins, the ninth place ninth place New York Rangers and the tenth place Atlanta Thrashers, all of whom have 49 points. They also now find themselves only three points behind the Southeast Division leading Carolina Hurricanes; however the Hurricanes have played 50 games so far this season, and Atlanta 49 games while the Caps have only played 47.
Things are getting interesting around the "Phone Booth" and they are also getting more fun to watch every game. If you were counting the Caps went 4-1 during this home stand and they are 6-1-1 versus Southeastern Division opponents and 13-7-3 against Eastern Conference opponents. Even more promising, if you are looking to be optimistic is the fact that of the 35 remaining games, the Caps will play Eastern Conference Teams 30 times (none of which will be against the best team in the east, the Ottawa Senators who the Caps beat 4-0 in this years series.) Additionally of the 35 remaining games, the Caps play Southeast Division opponents 13 more times (Atlanta: 4 times - 2 home, 2 away; Carolina: 3 times - 1 home - 2 away; Florida: 3 times - 1 home, 2 away; and Tampa Bay: 3 times - 1 home, 2 away) . Finally should the Caps find themselves really surging to solidify a playoff berth or the Southeast Division lead they finish the season with a three game home stand at Verizon Center against Carolina, Tampa Bay and Florida during the first week of April. Given the fact that this season they are 9-8-2 overall against Southeast Division rivals (even including the horrible month of November where they went 1-7-2 against SE foes), you have to at feel the Caps a realistic chance of making the playoffs.
Next up: Pittsburgh (without injured Sidney Crosby) in the Igloo in Steeltown on Monday; then a home & home against the Toronto Maple Leafs who have won their last three on Wednesday and Thursday. The next home game is Esskay dollar dog night on Thursday against the Maple Leafs. It's all good - LETS GO CAPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!,
Tonight's game was exciting to watch and I'm not sure that was such a good thing. When the Panthers scored their third goal of the evening I felt exactly like Coach Boudreau and if my lip reading skills are any good - we said the same thing too. But this isn't the same team it was in early November so instead of folding the Caps came back to take the lead 4-3 on another beautiful goal by Alexander Semin on a rebound off an AO wrist shot after a great setup pass by Nicklas Backstrom.
The Caps were dominate except for the first 10 minutes of the second period, and how the Panthers got back in to the game during that time is a testament to their offensive capabilities. The Caps ended the first period leading 3-0; at the end of two it was 4-3 and of course at the final horn it was 5-3 Caps. For the evening Victor Kozlov had two goals on 4 shots; Ovechkin had goal and an assist on 9 shots; Backstom had 4 assists and 3 shots, 3 takeaways and won 9 of 20 face offs - the four assists tied a Caps rookie record according to Laughlin and Bennati; and Semin had a goal on two shots and put on two stick handling clinics for the Panthers defense. Brent Johnson had a solid night between the pipes for the Caps turning back 25 of 28 shots. Collectively the Washington pucksters out shot their Florida foes 35 - 28, won 61% of the face offs, killed 4 of 6 penalties (66.6%) and scored 3 power play goals on 5 chances (60%). Tom Poti logged 29:27 of ice time and according to super stats had a hit. I didn't see the hit and didn't see him finish a check all evening. From what I saw this wasn't number 3's best game, though he did end up +/- +2 for the night and he led the Caps in ice time by more than 4:00 on a night where they got a two goal win. Mike Green logged 25:10 of ice time had 2 assists but was +/- -1 for the evening since for the statistics he was on the ice for 1 Panthers goal at even strength and all three Caps power play goals. One of two pleasant surprise of the night was John Erskine's play. Erskine logged 18:31 of ice time on 30 shifts, scored a goal, and was +/- +2 for the night. Additionally Erskine did a good job playing a physical game and holding his own. The pleasant surprise was Jeff Schultz's play and his willingness to mix it up when the Panthers started taking liberties with Brent Johnson. The sixth defenseman tonight was Milan Jurcina (vice Steve Eminger); Jurcina had a decent night logging 15:16 of ice time on 21 shifts, 3 hits and a blocked shot.
Tonight's win means the Caps have played 0.654 hockey (a 107 point pace) since the coaching change; and when they wake up tomorrow, they will wake up in 11th place in the Eastern Conference with 47 points one point ahead of both the Florida Panthers and the Buffalo Sabres who both lost tonight. They will also be two points out of the playoffs, behind the eighth place Boston Bruins, the ninth place ninth place New York Rangers and the tenth place Atlanta Thrashers, all of whom have 49 points. They also now find themselves only three points behind the Southeast Division leading Carolina Hurricanes; however the Hurricanes have played 50 games so far this season, and Atlanta 49 games while the Caps have only played 47.
Things are getting interesting around the "Phone Booth" and they are also getting more fun to watch every game. If you were counting the Caps went 4-1 during this home stand and they are 6-1-1 versus Southeastern Division opponents and 13-7-3 against Eastern Conference opponents. Even more promising, if you are looking to be optimistic is the fact that of the 35 remaining games, the Caps will play Eastern Conference Teams 30 times (none of which will be against the best team in the east, the Ottawa Senators who the Caps beat 4-0 in this years series.) Additionally of the 35 remaining games, the Caps play Southeast Division opponents 13 more times (Atlanta: 4 times - 2 home, 2 away; Carolina: 3 times - 1 home - 2 away; Florida: 3 times - 1 home, 2 away; and Tampa Bay: 3 times - 1 home, 2 away) . Finally should the Caps find themselves really surging to solidify a playoff berth or the Southeast Division lead they finish the season with a three game home stand at Verizon Center against Carolina, Tampa Bay and Florida during the first week of April. Given the fact that this season they are 9-8-2 overall against Southeast Division rivals (even including the horrible month of November where they went 1-7-2 against SE foes), you have to at feel the Caps a realistic chance of making the playoffs.
Next up: Pittsburgh (without injured Sidney Crosby) in the Igloo in Steeltown on Monday; then a home & home against the Toronto Maple Leafs who have won their last three on Wednesday and Thursday. The next home game is Esskay dollar dog night on Thursday against the Maple Leafs. It's all good - LETS GO CAPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!,
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