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...

A Look Ahead To Tonight's Game vs. Atlanta & What About That Secondary Scoring Stuff?

Tonight the Capitals travel to Atlanta to take on the Atlanta Thrashers at Phillips Arena. They'll be facing a team that they needed to hold off from a come back to win 5-4 last week. However, this will be Atlanta's first game without star, leading scorer and Captain Ilya Kovalchuk who broke his foot since the last game with the Capitals. The Thrashers will likely come out flying and "loaded for bear" since they'll want to prove they aren't a "one trick pony". While the Thrashers are no longer a "one trick pony" in the end if the Capitals play their game plan and play like they did the first two periods of last week's game and stay focused, they'll win their sixth game in a row before returning to DC to take on the Islanders tomorrow night at the Phone Booth. However, the Capitals have been juggling their own line-up to accommodate the ever changing "sick & injured" reports so it won't be a cake walk. The Caps will need to ensure that neither Nik Antropov, Bryan Little, or Slava Kozlov are allowed to make up for the lost production Kovalchuk's absence from the Atlanta lineup creates.

Prediction: Caps 4 - Thrashers 2.


There has been an increasing buzz here in the Caps blogsphere about a lack of secondary scoring, as well as the definition of it. I figured I'd take a look around the league and compare the other teams and their secondary scoring vs. the Capitals. After Tuesday night's game against the Flyers only 10 of their 41 goals (24.3%) have come from someone who is not a forward on the top two lines, if you take Mike Green's 2 tallies out of that mix it's 8 of the 41 (19.5%). So I figured I'd look at the other teams in the top of the league both in points and goals scored and compare their sources of production compared to the Capitals. Aside from the Capitals I figured I'd look at the other leading teams in the Eastern Conference, as well as the Western Conference teams with 40 or more goals scored to date for comparisons.

First let's characterize the Capitals offensive production not counting the top six forwards - 10 goals from seven (7) different players including 3 from Matt Bradley and 2 from Mike Green. Only one Capital other than "the big six" has a Game Winning Goal (GWG) thus far. However, the Capitals total offensive production of 41 goals in 11 games; 24.3% from "secondary scoring" - goals from sources other than their top two lines.

Other Eastern Conference teams who are currently in the top eight in the standings:

1) Pittsburgh Penguins - 20 points in 12 games; 43 goals scored. Of their 43 goals, 23 (53.4%) have come off of sticks that belong to players not part of their top two forward lines; 2 players other then their top 6 forwards (Sergei Gonchar and Tyler Kennedy) have scored 4 game winning goals.

2) New York Rangers - 17 points in 13 games; 47 goals scored. Of their 47 goals, 22 (46.8%) have come from secondary scoring including 11 off the sticks of their blue line corps. Of those 22 goals from secondary scorers, 5 have been game winners.

3) Philadelphia Flyers - 11 points in 1o games; 33 goals scored. Of their 33 goals, 11 (33.3%) have come from secondary scoring, however no one other than their top six have scored a game winning goal to date.

4) Buffalo Sabres - 15 points in 9 games, 30 goals scored. Of their 30 goals, 10 (33%) have come from secondary scoring, including 3 from veteran off season pick-up Mike Grier. Secondary scorers have scored 4 of their 6 game winners to date.

5) Ottawa Senators - 14 points in 10 games; 34 goals scored. Of their 34 goals scored, 16 (67.6%) have come from secondary scoring (good thing too since Jonathan Cheechoo and Jason Spezza are both yet to score their first goal of the season.) However only one (1) of their six (6) GWG's to date have come off the stick of a secondary scorer.

6) Montreal Canadeans - 12 points in 12 games; 31 goals scored. Twelve (12) of their 31 goals(38.7%) scored to date including 3 of 5 GWG have come off the sticks of secondary scorers.

7) New Jersey Devils - 12 points in 10 games; 27 goals scored. Eight (8) of their 27 goals (29.6%) have been scored by other then their top five scorers, their top "stud", Patrik Elias, has yet to play this season as he is on IR. However 3 of the 4 GWG recorded to date have been by secondary scorers.

Western Conference Teams with 40 or more goals scored to date:

1) Colorado Avalanche - 22 points in 13 games; 44 goals scored. Seventeen (17) of their goals to date (40.9%) have come from secondary scoring including 5 of their 9 GWG.

2) Los Angeles Kings - 16 points in 12 games; 44 goals scored (doesn't include goals or points from last night's late game against the San Jose Sharks). Twelve (12) of their 44 goals (27.3%) of their total production has come from secondary scoring including 4 of 8 GWG.

3) Dallas Stars - 16 points in 12 games; 41 goals scored. Fourteen (14) of their 41 goals (34.1%) have been the result of secondary scoring including three (3) of their six (6) GWG.

4) Calgary Flames - 15 points in 11 games; 43 goals scored. The Flames may be the poster children of secondary scoring this season. Twenty Two (22) of their 43 goals (51.2%), a total of seventeen (17) different Flames have scored goals so far this season. Leading the secondary scoring parade is defenseman Dion Phaneuf with five goals so far this season. Five (5) of Calgary's six (6) GWG to date have come from other than top six forwards as well.

5) San Jose Sharks - 15 points in 12 games; 42 goals scored (doesn't include numbers from last night's late game with the Kings). Fourteen (14) of their 42 goals (33.33%) scored so far this season have been the result of secondary scoring. Two (2) of seven (7) GWG have been from secondary scorers.

So while I've been asking how many other leading teams have at least 10 goals from secondary scoring so far this season, the answer is - 10 of them. That said the Caps 10 goals from secondary scoring while fewer than any of those other 11 teams except the New Jersey Devils, it is basically a respectable absolute number since the range is 8 (the Devils) to 23 (Pittsburgh). However only five teams have 15 or more goals as a result of secondary scoring: Pittsburgh, Calgary, the Rangers, Colorado, and Ottawa. Some of the reason for the Caps being somewhat off the pace (24% vs 33%) on secondary scoring so far this season may well be the fact they really haven't had a big need for it so far this season, though it would be nice to know if they needed it, it was there. There's really no reason it should be off since the current Caps lineup has more then enough firepower both on the third and fourth lines as well as on the blueline, this season.

Now on to Atlanta ...

LETS GO CAPS!!!

I Believed You Jose

The quote of the night last night after the Caps 4 - 2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers came from Jose Theodore who stopped 41 of 43 shots on goal, including all 20 he faced in the third period. Theodore told the media:

"I said during training camp that this is the best I've felt since the lockout, and sooner or later people are going to realize that I wasn't just saying that for fun."

As regular readers of this blog will attest I've always been happy that the Capitals choose to sign Theodore as a Free Agent in 2008 and I've always been rooting for him. As I watched last night's game from my seat in Section 103 I couldn't help but think how underrated and over-critiqued I feel both Theodore and Flyers goaltender Ray Emery are at this juncture of their careers. Both had early successes and then a series of let downs. Yet this season both seem to be on track and recovering their flair and getting solid results from their intensity. Last night to be sure Jose Theodore out dueled Ray Emery, hands down. However, Emery isn't the reason the Flyers lost, in fact the Flyers did not loose the game. Flyers fans and bloggers in fact have been quoted as saying they feel their team won 55 of the 60 minutes. To be sure it didn't look that way from my seat. The first period ended in a tie game 0-0; I didn't feel either team overwhelmed or won that period by any significan margin. The second period - the Flyers won the first 15 minutes of it 2-0 then the Caps won the last 5 minutes 2-0 as well causing the game to be knotted 2-2 at the end of two. So using Buffalo scoring at the end of two period the game is still tied after two periods.

The third period the Caps scored two goals, the Flyers 0, the Caps sure weren't outplayed by much in that period, yes they were outshot 20 - 10, but given the Caps went up by a score 3-2 at the 5:24 mark of the period, and the Caps took two penalties to the Flyers 0 in the period, is that all too surprising? No doubt about it, Jose Theodore was "lights out" all night long so if you want to conclude that Theo stole a game from the Flyers I'd be hard pressed to argu. However, the Caps also had 36 SOG for the night, so it's not like the Flyers shut the Capitals offense down all night, or even 55 minutes of it, IMO.

This was a well played game by both teams. On the defensive side of the ice Theodore had a 0.953 SV% while the Capitals had 20 blocked shots, 7 takeaways and 24 hits. Emery posted a 0.914 SV% while the Flyers had 13 blocked shots, 4 takeaways and 19 hits. In the Faceoff Circle, the Caps won 59% of the 69 draws. So even discounting the Capitals stats by some percentage for some sort of home team bias, the Capitals sure seem to have played a lot more of last night's game to better than a draw for more than 5 minutes of it. However, if you are predisposed to decide that Jose Theodore stole the game from the Flyers for the Capitals, as I said I'm more than fine with that, he deserved the game's first star of the night, and I actually like the idea of knowing he still has the ability to do that (steal a game). I've been intimating it for some time now, and I definitely felt that last night I got to see the guy who won the Hart, Vezina, and Crozier Trophies in 2001 - 2002 play at his highest level. Like I said last night Theodore was "lights out'. Yes I know the Flyers hit the post three times, but good goaltenders have a way of making good forwards do that, the fact that the Flyers had 43 SOG, 20 attempts blocked and 19 misses while Theodore allowed only 2 goals against ought to tell you just how good he was last night. From 2000 through 2004 Theodore averaged 62+ games played per season and had a combined SV% of 0.924 for those 4 seasons - my point - when he's in the zone, fit and healthy, he's capable of being a real workhorse AND he's scary good! A few more games like last night and I'm thinking I won't be the only guy in the "blogsphere" who is a big fan of his and a believer.

LETS GO CAPS!!!!!

Sometimes, Though Not Always Patience Is Rewarded: Caps 4 - Flyers 2

The answer is in - the Caps can raise their level of play as much to meet the level of an opposing team as they can lower it. Tonight at Verizon Center an excellent game of ice hockey was played by both the Philadelphia Flyers and the Washington Capitals. At the end of the game the scoreboard read Capitals 4 - Flyers 2 - in short a two point night for the boys in red and a no point night for their opponents.

However, some folks are this joint are still not happy common complaints include:

a) no secondary scoring;

b) allowed the Flyers too many shots on goal;

c) didn't smile when they pirouetted during the swimsuit portion of the competition;

d) didn't score on the 5 on 3 even though Flyers Goaltender Ray Emery clearly was rooting for them [NOT];

e) and the list could go on.

To all those concerns I say - nothing wrong with Coach Boudreau and these highly paid professional athletes striving for perfection but we fans should step back and enjoy the game and the victory just a tad don't you think?

The following Washinton Capitals had really good nights:

1) Jose Theodore - stopped 41 of 43 Flyers Shots on Goal including 20 in the third period.

2) the SOB (Semin-Ovechkin-Backstrom) line was super with a combined 4 goals and 9 points.

3) Mike Gren and Shoane Morrison had good nights as well.

4) Tom Poti has had bettter games but his 5 blocked shots tied Mike Green for tonight's team lead.

The three stars of the game were: 1) Jose Theodore; 2) Nicklas Backstom (goal, 3 assists, and a + 3 on the night); 3) Alexander Ovechkin (2 goals, + 3 on the night) - Honorable Mention: Alexander Semin (1 goal, 2 assists, +3 on the night).

Next up - the Thrashers in Atlanta on Thursday evening.