Caps 7, Bolts 4 - Quick Recap

It was another two point night at Verizon Center for the Washington Capitals, who started 2009 the same way they ended 2008 - on winning notes. Once again the atmosphere at Verizon Center was electric and there was a sellout crowd present to "Rock the Red." The Caps raced out to a 3-0 lead through the end of the first period before the Lightning's Vinny Lecavalier got the Bolts on the scoreboard at 00:58 of the second period, by the end of the second period the Lightning had pulled to within one and the period ended with the score Caps 4, Lightning 3. That was as close as the Lightning would get though - one goal and the game ended with a final score of Caps 7, Lightning 4. The Caps scoring was spread around and all seven goals were scored by different players. The Lighting on the other hand got two goals from Vincent Lecavalier and a goal each from Ryan Malone and Mark Recchi. The Capitals goals were scored by: 1) Sean Collins (his first NHL goal,) 2) Dave Steckel, 3) Mike Green, 4) Matt Bradley, 5) Boyd Gordon (the Game Winner,) 6) Chris Clark (his first of the season) and 7) Alexander Ovechkin. Capitals Captain, Chris Clark had another good game, missing a a"Gordie Howe Hat Trick" by an assist but finishing the evening with 11:30 TOI on 16 shifts 3 shots, a goal, 1 hit, 2 blocked shots and +1. Alexander Ovechkin had an excellent night 1 goal, 2 assists, 4 shots, 4 attempts blocked, 1 miss, 3 hits, and 1 faceoff won (0 faceoffs lost). Boyd Gordon had an exceptional night, Gordo went 7 for 12 (58%) in the faceoff circle, had a goal and an assist on the night and was +/- +2 on the night. Matt Bradley also had a super night. "Brads: had a goal, and assist, 2 hits, went 1 of 2 in the faceoff circle and was +3 on the night.

One other quick note, former Capital Jamie Heward was taken off the ice on a stretcher after being knocked unconscious by a clean hit from Alexander Ovechkin in the third period last night. Per the post game recap on the Caps website: "According to postgame reports, Heward has a concussion and he will stay overnight at Sibley Memorial Hospital for observation. "He was moving his arms," said Lightning coach Rick Tocchet. "He was unconscious for about a minute and a half. So we made sure that we called his wife. I don't know for sure, but it seems that it's hopefully positive. We'll keep him overnight."

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

HAPPY NEW YEAR

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


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


Today's NHL Games:


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

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


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


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

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


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


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


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


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







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

Caps Win Fourth In A Row, Down Sabres 4 - 2 In Buffalo

Last night, the Capitals finally did it. They went into Buffalo's HSBC Arean and played the Sabres the same way they would have played them at Verizon Center. The result? The Caps earned their fourth consecutive two point night in a row.

The Capitals led the Sabres from start to finish. Brooks Laich put the Capitals up 1-0 at just 1:57 into the first period with a power play goal assisted by Nicklass Backstrom and Victor Kozlov. The goal was Laich's 11th of the season and 6th in the last nine games. Where did he score from - need you ask - the doorstep - "if you want money go to the bank, if you want goals go to the net."

If Laich put the Caps up early, Jose Theodore made sure they stayed there for the rest of the game. Theodore kept Sabres off the board until the 7:41 mark of the third period when Mike Green missed an assignment and failed to recover fast enough. On the play the Sabres Paul Gausted and Adam Mair made the Caps pay for Green's misstep when Gausted dished a perfect pass to a perfectly positioned Mair for Mair's 5th goal of the season. However by that juncture the Sabres were down 3-1 as Chris Bourque had scored the first goal of his NHL career, an even strength tally, at 9:02 of the first period; and Nicklas Backstrom had netted his 11th goal of the season on a power play at 12:11 of the second period.

After Mair's goal, the Caps responded by sending the high energy Bourque-Steckel-Fehr line out and they controlled the play and kept things down in Buffalo's end the entire next shift to stifle any momentum Buffalo might have otherwise been able to derive from the late score. At about the 18:35 mark, Sabres coach Lindsey Rupp pulled Goalie Ryan Miller in favor of a sixth skater; the Sabres got some action going and Shaone Morrisonn was called for hooking at the 18:53 mark. The Morrisonn penalty gave the Sabres a 6 - on 4 situation and brought everyone watching the the edge of their seats. However, at 19:17, Caps center Boyd Gordon got the puck, took it up to just about the Caps own blueline and threw it into the empty net to put the Caps up 4-1. The Sabres weren't done for the night though as they still had a man advantage. Sabres coach Lindy Ruff put their second power play unit out on the ice and hard working left wing Clarke MacArthur got a power play goal past Theodore at 19:49. Jose Theodore had another good night in goal stopping 31 of 33 shots (0.939 save percentage) including all the shots he should have stopped and some where he robbed Buffalo. Basically, there was little he could do on the two goals that got by him, on the first he was basically left "naked" and on the second the Sabres' second power play unit was swarming and moved the puck very well to setup MacArthur.

Last night's win meant the Capitals finished the year 2008 with:

i) an overall record of 24-11-3 and 51 points,

ii) leading the Southeast Division by 11 points and in sole possession second place in the Eastern Conference,

iii) the month of December with an 11-3 record after finishing the months of November and October with records of 8-5-2 and 5-3-1 respectively, despite battling injuries to key players virtually all of November and December and having played lengthy west coast road trips in both October and November,

and iv) are now 9-1-0 in their last 10 games played.

Through all the adversity they have been facing - injuries to key players, etc., the Caps just keep getting better.

At the end of November they were on track for a 103-105 point season, today they are on tack for a 110 point season. Perhaps most significant, at the end of November their away record was a "challenged" 4-8-2 (0.357 hockey); at the end of December the Capitals away record is an "improving" 9-10-2 (0.476 hockey) overall and 4-2-0 in December (0.667 hockey). While not nearly as good as the Capitals home records (15-1-1 overall and 6-1-0 in December) 0.600+ hockey will position the Caps to capture at least 24 of the 40 available road points between now and the end of the season. Consider that of the 20 remaining games only one is against a Western Conference team and that's the Predators in Nashville on March 10th; and of the 20 remaining away games on the Caps schedule only extended stint of consecutive road games is a five consecutive game streak between March 16th through the 24th and only two of those games are on consecutive nights - Atlanta on the 16th and Florida on the 17th of March, and there is reason to start believing the Caps could finish with at least 105 points.

Next up - the Tampa Bay Lightning, Thursday Night at Verizon Center.

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

A Look Ahead to Tonight's Game In Buffalo and A Look Around the NHL This Morning

Tonight the Washington Capitals take on the Buffalo Sabres for the second time in five days. So far this season the Caps and Sabres have played twice and the season series is tied 1-1; both teams have won one game on their home ice. Buffalo beat Washington 5-0 on November 1st at HSBC Center, and Washington won last Friday night's game 3-2 at Verizon Center. Tonight, the Capitals will be looking to extend their current winning streak to 4 in a row, finish the month of December 11-3-0, and solidify their hold on second place in the Eastern Conference; the Sabres will be trying to start a winning streak with their second in a row, finish December above 0.500 with a record of 7-5-2, and solidify their hold on 8th place in the Eastern Conference.

Tonight's game in Buffalo, will likely be much like Friday night's game in Washington, a hard fought, closely played game between two solid, high octane, determined teams. It's likely both teams will have a few of the players who were injured and didn't play on Friday in the lineup tonight. Washington will have Mike Green and Jeff Schultz who returned to the lineup for Sunday's win over Toronto on the blueline once again; and it's likely that center Paul Gaustad will be back on the ice for Buffalo. Both team's sharpshooters, Russian born Alexander Ovechkin and Austrian-born Thomas Vanek will be on the ice looking to extend their scoring streaks against each others teams and drive their side to victory. Both men are currently tied for second among the league's leading goal scorers each with 25 tallies. Ovechkin has scored in five straight meetings with the Sabres, totaling six in that span - he did not play in the November 1st game between the two teams. The goaltending match up will likely be Jose Theodore, in his fourth straight start, versus Ryan Miller. Theodore will be looking to reverse his fortunes against the Sabres, he has struggled in Buffalo with a 1-7-0 record and a 3.58 goals-against average. That includes a 5-0 loss on Nov.1, when he allowed three first-period goals on his way to tying a season high. Miller who has been inconsistent at times this season is coming off a rocky game where he allowed the New York Islanders to score twice in the final 1:34 of regulation on Saturday, but stopped both shooters in the tiebreaker to salvage a 4-3 win for Buffalo. On the other hand until their last three four meetings, Miller and the Sabres have been a consist ant thorn in the Capitals sides in the recent past, especially at HSBC Center where they have won seven of the last nine at home against the Caps.

So don't expect the Sabres to make it easy for the Caps to achieve their first 11 victory month in 9 years. Per the Caps Website game preview the possible line combos and defensive pairings look like this.

Buffalo Forwards
41-MacArthur, 9-Roy, 21-Stafford
26-Vanek, 55-Hecht, 29-Pominville
20-Paille, 22-Mair, 12-Kotalik
76-Peters, 37-Ellis, 61-Afinogenov

Buffalo Defensemen
6-Sekera, 44-Spacek
5-Lydman, 10-Tallinder
27-Numminen, 34-Butler
Goaltenders
30-Miller (starting), 40-Lalime

Washington Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 19-Backstrom, 25-Kozlov
21-Laich, 92-Nylander, 17-Clark
56-Bourque, 39-Steckel, 16-Fehr
33-Giroux, 15-Gordon, 10-Bradley

Washington Defensemen
55-Schultz, 52-Green
27-Alzner, 23-Jurcina
26-Morrisonn, 62-Collins
Goaltenders
1-Johnson, 60-Theodore (starting)

Start Time: 7:00PM EST -
LETS GO CAPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Looking around the NHL as the first three months of the 2008-2009 season winds down it seems like the league's team's now fit into four or possibly five "strata". The top echelon consisting of six teams, though one could argue the "creme de la creme" is really the two top teams San Jose and Boston followed by the next four teams. After that their seem to be two tiers of 9 and 10 teams followed by those teams likely to vie for the lottery pick to see who gets the 2009 first draft pick. Basically things look like this:


Top Six Teams and their record over the last ten games

1) San Jose Sharks/6-1-3
2) Boston Bruins/9-1-0
3) Detroit Red Wings/6-3-1
4) Washington Capitals/8-2-0
5) New York Rangers/ 5-4-1
6) Chicago Blackhawks/9-0-1

Second "Nine"
7) Montreal Canadeans/5-3-2
8)Calgary Flames/6-1-3
9) Philadelphia Flyers/6-3-1
10) New Jersey Devils/6-3-1
11) Vancouver Canucks/5-4-1
12) Pittsburgh Penguins/4-6-0
13) Anaheim Ducks/5-4-1
14) Colorado Avalanche/7-3-0
15) Buffalo Sabres/5-3-2
16) Phoenix Coyotes/5-2-3

Third Ten:
17) Carolina Hurricanes/5-3-2
18) Edmonton Oilers/6-3-1
19) Nashville Predators/3-6-1
20) Florida Panthers/5-3-2
21) Minnesota Wild/2-7-1
22) Columbus Blue Jackets/5-4-1
23) Los Angeles Kings/4-4-2
24) Dallas Stars/6-3-1
25) Toronto Maple Leafs/5-5-0

Lowest Five:
26) Saint Louis Blues/2-8-0
27) Ottawa Senators/2-7-1
28) Tampa Bay Lightning/4-5-1
29) Atlanta Thrashers/3-6-1
30) New York Islanders/1-7-2.

Looking at this list and the recent last 10 game results a couple of obvious things jump out at you. First in the top six teams it's very possible that after a fast start, the New York Rangers could drop down to the "Second Nine Tier" and any one of the next four teams: Canadeans, Flames, Flyers or amazingly the Martin Brodeur-less New Jersey Devils could take their spot, if the Rangers don't turn things around quickly and any of those four teams get a little "hotter". Looking at the second nine, you have to ask yourself: "What's going on with the Pittsburgh Penguins? and "How about those Avs?" Looking at the third tier of ten teams Edmonton and Dallas are working hard to move up and play to their potential while Minnesota continues to underachieve while fighting off injuries. At the bottom tier, Tampa Bay, thanks in large part to Mike Smith and a renewed work ethic among its veteran lineup seems poised to make a move up the standings and play a spoiler to some.

Oh yeah and looking back again at those top six teams, doesn't the view look nice and "doncha' just gotta say":

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