Its Official HOCKEY IS BACK In The 202....

Well Capitals Fans NHL Hockey and the Cardiac Capitals are back in the District, as last nights tilt with the Calgary Flames at "da Phone Boot" so aptly illustrated. Last night the Washington Capitals opened the "home portion" of the 2013-2014 NHL season against Calgary after loosing their opening game in Chicago versus the reigning Stanley Cup Champion Blackhawks at United Center on Tuesday 6-4. 
As Caps Fans know, it's been a relatively quiet off season for us fans as the Capitals have only made a few player personnel moves this off season.  I've now been to 1 2/3rds preseason games and the team seems to be shaping up nicely.  To me it looks like the roster on opening night will be:

1st  line:  Johansonn - Backstrom - Ovechkin
2nd line:  Laich - Grabowski - Brouwer
3rd line:  Chimera - Fehr - Ward
4th line:  Wilson - Beagle - Erat

1st  pair:  Erskine - Green
2nd pair:  Alzner - Carlson
3rd pair:  Hillen - Carrick

Goal:  Holtby
           Neuvirth.

Additional players: Volpatti, Olesky

I think this team is looking really solid and from what we saw in the preseason and these first two regular season games, the entire team look like they have absolutely "bought in" to Coach Adam Oates' system.  This team is required to play hard on the puck from the first puck drop until the game is over too and I love that quality in any hockey team.  So while I was/am sad to see Mathieu Perreault traded to Anaheim, and I have my fair share of concerns about the Capitals current third defensive pairing have the required experience level and seasoning, as an eternal optimist, I can have nothing but high hopes for a very solid season - could this be the year?  Well the Capitals have the talent to compete for sure, now we can only watch, wait, and see where they end up when the season really ends next June. 

However, being me I can't help but reflect on both the 6-4 loss to the Hawks and last nights comeback 5-4 shootout win over the Flames, and then look ahead and muse about what it will take for the Caps to be successful this season.  Right after the rebuild was complete we heard a few of the others around the league talk about whether or not they felt the Caps "played the game right" and whether or not the Caps style of play under then newly promoted head coach Bruce Boudreau could ever really take them to the promised land of deep playoff runs and at least one Stanley Cup.  At the time I often really wondered what the heck those guys were talking about.  Well you only have to look at the style of play under Caps current coach Adam Oates to really, really understand what they were talking about.  "Back In The Day" - right after the rebuild was complete the Caps played fun to watch, pretty, "regular season" hockey.  Shots came from the perimeter - often without any traffic in front of the net; a lot of the time, after several years o watching Glenn Hanlon coached "trapping teams" it seemed like the Caps were thinking "defense .... we don't need no stinking defense" as the back check by the wings seldom came down past the top of the circle in the defensive zone ... and the list goes on.  Then we had the opposite style for the short time Dale Hunter was here - defense first and foremost and maybe, maybe score a goal now and then if the other team doesn't beat itself to death in frustration.  I'll be honest - I really didn't enjoy watching the Hunter led Capitals as I felt the team was too talented to play hockey that way.  Now we have the Adam Oates Capitals and make no mistake this is a team playing the game the way their head coach, a hall of famer himself, wants to see the game played.  "A great offense starts with a sound defense" is clearly the way Oates want to see the game played.  Oh and the centers - the centers are essential to this style of play.  They are the cornerstone of the defense. 

Puck possession and protection is a key element of every Capitals game plan now. The degree Oates and his coaching staff have taken this now shown when you look at how lst season, then two time, now three time league MVP has adjusted his game after being a thing or four.  The staff no doubt  helped Ovechkin transition from Left to Right Wing, and go from being an awesome scoring machine to an even "awesomer" more complete, all around hockey player.  After making the transition from LW to RW last season and winning his third Hart Trophy as well as "another" Rocket Richard Trophy as the League's leading goal scorer, its easy to overlook that perhaps the even more important change to Ovechkin's game is how much better he is at protecting the puck.  Now even though he's always "played hard on the puck" throughout his seven season, to date, career, he now seems to do it with more "conservation of energy." Further, in addition to protecting the puck he seems to be better able to protect himself - which is more important then ever for he and the Capitals since the size of the target on his sweater is bigger than ever.  I don't want to take anything away from Ovechkin or his compete level - I have no doubt the majority of these changes are due to he, himself, realizing he could get even better and his work ethic to make it so.  That said there had to be some level of coaching both of the player and illustrating to him how these changes could work better for both he and the entire team; as well as then tweaking the coach's own thoughts and preconceptions about this system to fully "capitalize" on a extraordinary athletes unique talents.  It' one type and level of coaching to take a very talented junior level player and prepare him to make the transition to he NHL, it's an entirely different type and level of coaching to help one of the worlds best at anything get noticeably better than he already was and take his (or her) game to the next level.  Especially when that level is something few have ever seen let alone analyzed and dissected so as to facilitate as a coach.

I've heard it said that it took opponents around the NHL three to four seasons to figure out and adjust to counteract Ovechkin's unique combination of size, speed, skill and perhaps the best "release" in the game that resulted in the way he played LW the first five seasons of his career (when he scored 269 goals in 414 regular season GP).  My feeling is watching his transition through lst years lockout shortened season and the fist two games this season, it ma not take as long for the rest of the NHL to "figure out" his revised approach to playing the game, but it will take them a lot longer and it will be a lot harder, for them o effectively adjust and execute any sort of counteraction to his ability to positively impact the outcome of either an NHL regular season or playoff game, this time around.  I feel strongly Ovechkin's play as the Capitals team leader the first two games of this season portend well for a solid season for both himself as an individual and for the team that has, frankly been built around him these past six years.  Perhaps the most important change, in that respect, is this is no longer, "just" Ovechkin's team it's also Oates', Backstrom's, Green's, Brouwer's, Carlson's, Alzner's, Fehr's, Laich's and the list goes on ...

Now about the Blackhawks game and more significantly last evening's home opener against the Calgary Flames.  My view of the season opener on the road in Chicago is that even though it was a loss and the Capitals gave up five "real gals" and a "empty netter" against the reigning Stanley Cup Champions for the skaters it was a more significant and better executed game than last nights win against the Flames.  The only surprise for me in the Chicago game was how much faster the relatively minor rule changes this past off season have made the game in general.  The pace of the game and the "sick, unbelievable" speed of both the Hawks and the Capitals was tremendously entertaining and "good hockey" to watch and frankly up until the Hawks scored their fifth goal at the of the 13:53 minute mark of the third period this was a fast paced, back and forth game that either team could have won. And lets be clear, there is a reason why the Blackhawks opened the season atop the NHL power rankings that is entirely separate and aside from the fact they put their second Stanley Cup banner up a United Center in three seasons before Tuesday's game and its simple - they are the best team right now in the NHL.  So the fact the Capitals had to "rely" on their power play to keep them in the game really isn't an issue to me.  To be drawing penalties generally you have to be playing well and if you then make the opposing team "pay for their penalties" with extra strength goals, well that's what you are supposed to do as a good hockey team.  The fact that Chicago's Johnny Oduya was able to adjust and blunt Alex Ovechkin's efforts in 5 on 5 situations, with some help from his friends, in the second and third isn't all that surprising given the other weapons Chicago had on the ice to counteract the Capital's first line's strengths  - really not too surprising.  After all, Ovechkin still managed a two point night and also was a factor in another of Mikhail Grabovski's power play goals that he did not "point on." Finally, think about how different the outcome might have been had Braden Holtby "matched" Corey Crawford's less than spectacular 0.875 SV% and nineteen (19) year old Connor Carrick not make one of the two, understandable, "rookie mistakes" that figured in two of Chicago's five even strength goals.  When you do that you realize it wasn't a great night, but it wasn't a horrible night for the good hockey team that is "our Washington Capitals" - our team just came up a little short against a very, very good team. Oh and even though it was in a loosing cause, Capitals nw addition Grabovski had a "hat trick".

Now we switch to last nights game and for sure the first period was indeed a switch.  The Calgary Flames surprised me from the "get go" and how "not bad" they are.  However, the Caps started a little flat as a group, and lets be honest, when Braden Holtby is "on" he's really really good.  Last night though he definitely was NOT "on"  the first goal by the Flames David Jones may or may not be one Holby "wants back" but he should.  It was "stoppable" and it set the tone and tenor for the rest of his shortened appearance last night.  An outing where the 24 year old Lloydminster, SK, native let three goals by on eleven (11) SOG; a 0.727 SV% before being pulled in favor of 25 year old Czech Michal Nuevirth.  That move proved to be the right one, as the Capitals reacted by tightening up their game and "Nuevy" ended the night allowing only one more goal and had a SV% of 0.964 on 28 Shots On Goal by the Flames.  His 27 saves included both "the ones he should have made" and at least two saves "he and his team needed him" to make.

So after "spotting" the Flames a three goal lead by the end of the first period, the Capitals had their work cut out for them in order to get even one point out of last nights game.  Thankfully, the Caps started looking like the team they should and being the team they are during last night's second period.  During the second period the Caps outscored the Flames 3-1, including young "Master" Carrick's first ever regular season NHL goal which opened the Capitals scoring at 7:30 of the second period. It was a nice goal precipitated by solid outlet passes from Alzner and Johansson to Carrick as he exited the penalty box "finished" off by a cool headed Carrick as he pushed the puck into the net through Flames goaltender Ramo's five hole.  The Flames pushed back 1:35 later to again their 3 goal lead with an even strength goal by Lance Bouma before the Caps seemed to decide either "enough is enough" or "not in OUR house" or some combination of the two. The Caps then added a power play goal off an Alex Ovechkin "one timer" at 11:24 to cut the Flames led to two; before "the Great 8" then  brought the game to within one for the Caps with an even strength goal at the 15:25 mark of the period.

Over the next 18:35 of regulation, the Flames impressed me with their ability to "bend but not break" and keep the puck out of the net despite a clear onslaught by the Capitals.  That is until the Caps Nicklas Backstrom was able to leverage, Captain Ovechkin's strong effort on the puck, to "finish" the Capitals second power play goal of the game and tie the game at 4 "all" with 5:50 left to play.  That's the way regulation ended after both Ramo and Nuevirth made saves their team needed them to make.  Overtime was interesting but also ended with the teams deadlocked.  Then we went to the shootout aka "the gimmick".  In the shootout the Capital's new "Russian Connection"  Grabovski, who led off, and Ovechkin both put their "trys" past Ramo with slick moves while Michal Nuevirth was rock solid "stoning" both Flames shooters: Sven Baertschi and Jiri Hudler.  The game gave Nuevy a solid outing and win he deserved and got the Capitals season at home started off in the right manner.

So lets review last evening's "good, bad, and ugly" - I like to end positively so we'll go in "bad, ugly, and good" order.

BAD:  Spotting teams three goal leads isn't the way to ensure you'll get points out of a game, nor is any team SV % under 0.900 and right now through the first two games of the season the Caps have a team SV% of 0.889 SV5. They've also allowed 73 SOG and to me that just seems like at least 14 too many, and really asking for trouble given that so many of the opposing teams shots on goal have been inside the "scoring area" and solid scoring chances.  While Holtby's SV% through his four and half periods played is not where it should be, the eight goals he's allowed are truly not even close to being the majority "his fault". The Caps need to play much, much harder on the puck and generate significantly more defensive zone takeaways to deliver on the potential this team has.  That was definitely clear during last night's game against the Flames.  Another bad is that Martin Erat continues to be a $4M salary cap hit searching for his identity and a role that can make a positive impact every time he is on the ice for the Capitals, in relatively short order something has to give here.  Erat has too much skill and experience not to be making an impact 90+% of the time he is on the ice - regardless of the number of minutes he plays a night.  I know this may sound harsh too - but I think this required change needs to start inside Erat's head and translate to him just working even harder when he's on the ice, not worrying about his ice time or who is out there with him.  I really think he has the skills to do that, he just needs to realize that needs to start with him and then everything else he is concerned with will take care of itself.

UGLY: Jack Hillen left the game with a "lower body injury" after a hit that looked like it likely badly damaged his right ACL. That was ugly and a big stick tap to Tom Wilson for taking Lance Bouma to task for the hit.  BTW Bouma finished his night with the important two thirds of a "Gordie Howe Hat Trick."

GOOD:  This was solid character game as pretty much all comeback victories.  Once the Capitals settled down they returned to their game plan and just patiently chipped away showing the skill and confidence needed to get standings points in the NHL.  The Caps stars led the way and the Caps "role players" at least the vast majority of them played solid games when you look at the full 65:00 played.  Special mention and stick tap to Jay Beagle; "Beag's" was 6 for 8 in the Face Off Circle and 4:36 of his 6:14 TOI was on the penalty kill, those faceoffs were huge as were his efforts while Connor Carrick was in the box at the start of the second period.  While the third line of Chimera - Fehr - Ward were victimized on two eve strength Flames goals, they seemed to get it together and play very strong on the puck after they yielded the goal by Bouma on Nuevirth.  The second line of Laich - Grabovski  - Brouwer had a reasonably solid outing.  The Caps were 61% in the Face Off circle for the game, that seems to be an aspect of the game they've significantly improved on since last season.  Both Tom Wilson with 5:52 (5:40 of even strength) and Connor Carrick with 17:26 including 1:33 on the penalty kill "thanks" to the early departure of Jack Hillen, both looked pretty solid, especially since they are both U20 rookies.

Cool A Two Point Night Comeback Victory Against the Islanders; #Caps 3 #Isles 2 (OT)

So the Capitals won their third game in a row for the first time since January 15th. This is also only the fourth time this season the Capitals have won more than two games in a row. That felt good, to have two point night and stay only three points behind the Florida Panthers for the Southeast Division lead, as the FlaCats also won their third in a row against the Maple Leafs in Toronto tonight. Tonight's comeback victory in overtime kept the Capitals in eighth place, within reach of the post season, in the Eastern Conference. However the Caps sure had me worried there for a while. I came home late and turned the game on the TV and just as the TV picture pooped up "BOOM," Josh Bailey scores his seventh goal of the season to put the Islanders up 1-0 at 4:14 of the first period. Then it seemed to be a pretty even game even though the Capitals were outshooting the Islanders 20 - 15 by the end of the second period. The Caps had a few scoring chances by Islander goaltender Evgeni Nabokov held them scoreless.

The third period started with the Capitals continue to trail the Islanders by a score of 1-0 but Matt Moulson of the Islanders put his team up 2-0 with a solid effort that netted his 27th goal of the season. Even though I was watching from home, I could tell that hushed the crowd and took most of the energy out of Verizon Center. However, the Capitals did not give up and kept playing their game plan as they had all night but again Nabokov held them scoreless. That is until the Capitals got a bunch of traffic in front of the net and Troy Brouwer scored his 16th goal of the season at 16:31 of the final period of the game. Could it be? Were we in for an episode of "The Cardiac Kids?" Well at about the 18:00 mark, the Capitals pulled Michal Neuvirth in favor of a sixth skater. For a while though it looked like the Islanders once again had the Capitals number as they kept the Caps off balance and didn't allow them to force the play into the offensive zone for a while. However then the Caps forced an offensive zone face off and stacked up lots of traffic once again in front of Nabokov. At first to me it looked like Brooks Laich scored the tying goal but on the replay it was once again Troy Brouwer with his seventeenth goal of the season. How's that for getting off the schneid? Awesome night and game for Brouwer, he scored two goals tonight and his total combined distance from the net couldn't have been more than five feet. That tied the game at 2-2 setup the game to go into "Sudden Victory" overtime. I like probably very other Caps fan in the world was ecstatic at the time of the goal, even though at the time I had no idea how the game would turn out when it was over, the fact the Capitals scored to tie the game and they did so by once again "playing the game the right way" made me quite happy and restored my hope in the Capitals ability to pull something out of this up and down season.

Overtime, what can you say about it? Tonight overtime ended up being "Ovi-time" and that happened at just 1:35 into the extra period. The happy end to a two point night for the Capitals. This latest three game winning streak is important thing for the Capitals, hopefully they are the first three of several more. Tonight's result means the Caps finish the month of February with a 6-7-1 (0.464) record while the other two Southeast Division teams in the race for the playoffs Winnipeg and Florida finish the month with respective records of 7-5-2 (0.571) and 8-5-1 (0.607). Also, don't look now but the Tampa Bay Lightning are 6-4-0 in their last ten games and only one point behind the stumbling Maple Leafs with 64 points in 11th place in the conference. Things are getting interesting, crowded and interesting.

Next up New Jersey on Friday evening - LETSGOCAPS!!!

What If ... The NHL Season Started On 1/1/2012 and a Few other Random Musings About Hockey ...

After last night's Caps 4-1 win over the Montreal Canadians I started thinking ... what would things in the NHL look like if the season had started on New Year's Day? Why do I care you ask - well first off our Washington Capitals remain "on the bubble" even after what was another good game against Montreal, and I think that recent trends, records, etc should be weighted more heavily when trying to forecast near future performance. I wonder what a real statistician such as Neil Greenberg (see Twitter #fancystats or @ngreenberg) thinks of that line of thinking and if long term historical data backs that thinking up. In any case because I started wondering about that topic I compiled the following updated standings - the way the standings by Division would look if the season had started on January 1st vice the current 2011-2012 standings. NHL Records Since January 1st 2012 through Midnight Last Night (2/24/2012, 24:00 Local Time):

Southeast Division:
Carolina: 10-5-6 (26 points; 0.619)
Winnipeg: 11-12-2 (24 points; 0.480)
Washington: 10-11-3 (23 points; 0.479)
Tampa Bay: 9-10-3 (21 points; 0.477)
Florida: 7-8-5 (19 points; 0.475)

Atlantic Division:
New York Rangers: 15-5-2 (32 points; 0.727)
New Jersey: 14-6-3 (31 points; 0.674)
New York Islanders: 13-10-2 (28 points; 0.560)
Pittsburgh: 13-8-1 (27 points; 0.614)
Philadelphia: 11-10-3 (25 points; 0.521)

Northeast Division:
Ottawa: 13-7-3 (29 points; 0.630)
Boston: 12-9-2 (26 points; 0.565)
Toronto: 11-10-2 (24 points; 0.522)
Buffalo: 10-10-3 (23 points; 0.500)
Montreal: 10-10-3 (23 points; 0.500)

Central Division:
Detroit: 17-5-2 (36 points; 0.783)
Saint Louis: 16-5-2 (34 points; 0.739)
Nashville: 15-5-2 (32 points; 0.727)
Chicago: 9-12-3 (21 points; 0.438)
Columbus: 7-13-2 (16 points; 0.364)

Northwest Division:
Vancouver: 16-3-4 (36 points; 0.783)
Calgary: 10-7-4 (24 points; 0.571)
Colorado: 10-9-3 (23 points; 0.523)
Edmonton: 9-11-3 (21 points; 0.457)
Minnesota: 6-12-3 (15 points; 0.357)

Pacific Division:
Anaheim: 16-4-4 (36 points; 0.750)
Phoenix: 12-5-5 (29 points; 0.659)
San Jose: 13-9-3 (29 points; 0.580)
Dallas: 11-11-3 (25 points; 0.500)
Los Angeles: 8-8-6 (22 points; 0.500).

Interesting to note that looking at the Southeast Division it's definitely a race to the bottom per say. In the 55 days this year the team in the Southeast with the most points is the Carolina Hurricanes with 26 out of a possible 42 and a 0.619 record. The Hurricanes are the only team in the Southeast with a record that's better than 0.500 since New Years Day. Ironically, they started the season so badly, they are the one team in the division who are most certainly "sellers" in the short time before the trade deadline as they are on track for a season point total that likely will end up with 86 points at best. In other words, the best they can likely hope for is to find themselves 2 points on the back side (wrong side) of the forecasted 88 point peak of the bubble. However, they can certainly play the role of spoilers for their Southeast Division rivals who they will play in 9 of their 21 remaining games. Also in case you are wondering they play the Capitals in only one of those 21 remaining games: March 6th at Verizon Center. Only 6 of the Capitals remaining 21 games are against Southeast Division foes: Carolina, once on March 6th at Verizon; Tampa Bay once in DC on March 9th and once in Tampa on April 2nd; Winnipeg once in Alberta on March 16th and once in DC on March 23rd; and Florida once at Verizon Center on April 5th the Caps final home game of the 2011-2012 regular season. Given the Caps records so far this season against their division rivals (10-6-2) it's kind of a shame they don't have more games left against those division foes, of course it's also a shame the Caps can't play the 2011-2012 Montreal Canadians at least 14 of their remaining 21 games as well.

Looking at the Northeast Division team's play since 1/1/2012 you can see the "hottest" team in the Division has been the Ottawa Senators who are playing very well after getting the season off to a relatively slow start. Also of note, eight (8) of the Senators remaining 20 regular season games are against Northeast Division rivals, including two against the Bruins who they are battling for first in the Division. If the Senators are able to win all four of their remaining games against the Maple Leafs and Bruins (three are against the boys from beantown) they could well overtake Boston and finish the season with the second seed in the Eastern Conference. Also, despite dealing with a spate of injuries this past month, Boston is still playing solid hockey and thanks to Tim Thomas and Tukka Rask never a team to give up points easily to opponents. If recent past efforts are solid predictors of future performance then Toronto will continue to struggle with getting off the bubble and end the season with between 85 and 90 points. That means tonight's game in Toronto is going to be an important one for both the Capitals and the Maple Leafs.

The Atlantic Division has been the toughest division in the Eastern Conference all season and the last eight weeks have not been any different in that regard then the first three months of the NHL season. That said the last eight weeks have seen the Philadelphia Flyers struggle while the New York Rangers continued to soar and the New jersey Devils came alive. To be clear even though the Flyers have the worst record since January 1 in the Division - EVERY team in the Atlantic has a record that is greater than 0.500, they are the only division in the NHL that can make that claim though the Pacific has two teams who are at 0.500 even since New Years Day and no one below 0.500 as well. It's pretty much a toss up in my view as to which division is the toughest in the NHL right now between the Atlantic or the Pacific. I guess that's a good thing if you like the beach. As for the battle to win this division, despite the resurgence of the Devils, the Rangers looked pretty unstoppable until their last two games, it will be interesting to see what they do in Buffalo tonight.

The Central Division led by the Detroit Red Wings and Saint Louis Blues have been the standard of consistency. Their standings remain the same wether you are looking at the entire season or just that stretch of it since January 1. Both the Red Wings and the Blues are battling each other for the Division, as well with the Canucks for as the Western Conference title. Ironically only two of the remaining 61 regular season contests the Blues, Red Wings and Canucks play are between each other so their performance against other Division and Conference foes will determine who wins the Central Division and the Conference. the most important team in that mix is likely to be the Nashville Predators who play the Blues once in Saint Louis on March 27th; the Red Wings twice more (3/10 and 3/30). Another interesting team likely to play a factor in the mix is also the Anaheim Ducks who have the third best record in the NHL since New Years Day, of the Ducks remaining 21 games, they play the Blues twice, the Red Wings twice, the Predators once and the Canucks once...

In the Northwest Division, here too the standings remain unchanged if the season had started on 1/1 instead of the first week of October. Additionally, just like the actual full season standings, the Vancouver Canucks are poised to pretty much lap their division foes. In fact Vancouver's relative between themselves and their division rivals is even great since January 1st as it has been over the full season. Since January 1st the Canucks are 6 games ahead of the Flames and since October they are 10 games (20 points) ahead of Calgary. The one difference is a likely bright spot for Calgary, they could finish the season with as few as 85 and as many as 95 points, but since New Years they are playing better and better hockey, since January they are 0.571 but over their las ten games they are playing 0.700 hockey. In short, the trend is the Flame's friend right now and thirteen of their remaining 21 games are at home in Calgary where they have they have a season long 0.625 record and where they have a 6-3-1 record in the last 10 games played in the Saddledome. As important as Calgary's own play in their remaining games is to whether or not they make the playoffs, so too is the play of the Chicago Blackhawks, Dallas Stars, San Jose Sharks and Phoenix Coyotes. The Blackhawks are 4-6-0 in their last ten games and have the worst record in that stretch of any team in the Western Conference Playoff battle not named San Jose who are 3-6-1, but again more on the Pacific Division shortly. If Calgary and Chicago continue the play they've each had over the last ten games through the next ten games, they will find themselves within a point of each other and battling for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West. In the case of Calgary that's not bad for a team who finds themselves training their division leaders by 10 complete games with just 21 games remaining in the season. In short unless something like the roof blowing off Vancouver's arena, there's pretty much no other way Calgary will be playing hockey this post season.

That all brings us to what is shaping up to be the most interesting Division in the NHL to follow for the remaining six weeks of this regular season - the Pacific. How bad was the Anaheim Ducks first three months of the 2011-2012 season, well they've played 0.750 hockey since january 1st, the third best record in the league and they are still: i) in last place in their division and ii) at best going to finish on the bubble and likely needing some help to make the playoffs. that said, for any #Caps fans, if you needed proof that bruce Boudreau knows how to coach in the NHL, well the Anaheim Ducks record since January 1 of 16-4-4 ought to be it. Further, the Ducks team goal differential over their opponents during that 24 game span is +11 also their GAA over those 24 games is only 2.04 vs a GFA of 2.92, in other words this is a team that is playing and winning stingy hockey, "the right way." As you can imagine if there's a possibility that the way things are going the team at the bottom of the division could end up on the right side of the bubble and in the playoffs, AND the rest of the division is also playing 0.500 hockey or better over the past eight weeks things could be getting pretty interesting "on the left coast" of the NHL. They are. Anaheim could finish with as many as 94 points and in the playoff race. San Jose is trending the other way, the Division leaders are 0.580 since 1/1/2012 and just 0.350 in their last ten games. It's entirely possible if San Jose doesn't turn things around they too could finish with as few as 88 points and out of the playoffs. Meanwhile the rest of the division is trending as follows. Phoenix is on fire they are 9-0-1 in their last ten games and 0.659 since New Years, they will likely win the division with between 98 and 103 points, though they could finish with as few as 94 points I just don't see that happening unless some key parts of this team gets hurt. Dallas will likely finish with between 85 and 92 points; they are in a dog fight. The Stars remaining 21 games includes playing the Vancouver Canucks four times; additionally they play the Calgary Flames, another "bubble team" three more times. As far as "four point games" against division rivals, the Stars play San Jose three times, and Anaheim once, so at least eleven of their remaining 21 games are shaping up to be potentially battle royales. That leaves us with the enigmatic, at least this season, Los Angeles Kings. The Kings are 0.500 since January 1 and 0.540 over the entire season; LA is likely to finish the season with between 83 and 90 points. How's that for a bubble team? The Kings remaining schedule involves 12 road games and 9 home games, since the Kings are 12-9-8 (0.552) on the road, vice 15-13-4 (0.531) at home that's likely not a factor in how they finish the season. The Kings' remaining schedule involves playing a pretty balanced schedule against predominately higher quality opponents, they only have 6 of their remaining 21 games against opponents who are under 0.500 since January 1. They likely need to raise their game "a little" above the 2-6-2 level they've displayed over their past ten outings to come close to being on the top, let alone the "right side" of the bubble; but that's why they actually play the games on the ice.

As for prognostications about "my team" the Washington Capitals, I am steadfastly avoiding doing that. It's clear by the fact that Alexander Ovechkin is playing through an injury, the team knows they need to play to win every one of their remaining 21 games and they are ready to try and do that. Last night's 4-1 win over a pretty hapless, or at least a Hal Gill-less, Montreal was a solid outing. Tonight's second of back to back nights, away game against a much more solid playing Toronto Maple Leafs team will be a real test. I'm hoping for another solid performance and will be watching here at home and cheering for the boys. Some things I liked about last night's game at Verizon:
1) A solid leadership performance by @Ovi8;
2) Great game and two way hockey by Sasha Semin;
3) Joel Ward - off the schneid;
4) Mike Green well on the way to getting his game and timing back;
5) Nuevy made all the saves he should have made and more than enough of the really tough ones the team needed him to make;
6) Blue liners looked pretty solid all night.

Of course it's a lot easier to be positive after a W and two points but you have to take things one game at a time. As for tonight in Ottawa:

LETS GO CAPS!!!!

Capitals 3 - Devils 0; Has The Bell Tolled In New Jersey?

Well last night at Prudential Center in Newark, the Capitals "out-deviled" the New Jersey Devils, winning a game that was likely more important for the Devils that the Capitals by a score of 3 - 0. It wasn't a pretty win. It wasn't even all that fun to watch, However it was two important standings points and an important win at an important time of year. The game was the Capitals 73rd and the Devils 71st of the season; at the start of the game, the Caps were in first place in their Division and 2nd place in the Eastern Conference and the Devils were in 4th place in their Division and 12th place in the Conference - at game's end the standings hadn't changed. In fact, the only difference in the standings at the end of the night was the Caps are now six (6) points ahead of Tampa Bay in the Southeast Division and the same distance ahead of Boston who sits in Third Place in the Conference. So what was so important about last night's game? Two things: a) "runway" - as in something New Jersey, which has been on a tear since changing back to their old coach, is likely to run out of now before the season's end before they leap over the four teams they need to pass to make the playoffs in their remaining 11 games; and b) pride - something the Capitals needed to ensure they continued to demonstrate and grow in the game they are playing leading up to this years post season. The Caps needed to demonstrate pride as mush or more than the Devils last night for two reasons. Firstly, they needed to "bounce back" from their prior game loss to Detroit in order to make sure they stay out of the habit of loosing two games in a row between now and when they are forced to hang up their skates at the end of this season's playoffs. Secondly, the last time these two teams met in New Jersey, things looked a lot differently for both of them and the Caps left "The Rock" on the wrong end of a 5-0 beating.

So how'd the Caps do? Thanks to smart, disciplined play by the entire team, and some EXCELLENT goaltending by Michal Neuvirth, the Caps did very well last night, thank you very much. In a game that was well played by both teams, the Capitals showed they could be as disciplined and patient as any team coached by a guy named Jacques. In a game that was important to win, and was just two night's after loosing to the perennial NHL benchmark that is known as Detroit, "Neuvy" out played "Maarty" - as in future Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur - stopping 33 shots and turning in a perfect SV% of 1.000 on the evening to Brodeur's 9 of 12/0.750 performance. The three stars of the game chosen by the local New Jersey media were: 1) Neuvirth (no arguments there); Mike Knuble (2 goals - no arguments there); and 3) Alex Ovechkin (2 assists and all over the ice - deserving for sure but hey NJ MSM didn't you get the memo?). The memo I'm talking about is the John Carlson memo of course. "Captain America" went all out for last night's game apparently. First he had Mama Carlson cook a really good New Jersey Italian meal at his boyhood home in Colonna for a bunch of the guys on Thursday night, then he bought 45 tickets for friends and family to the game, and then he played a superb game both defensively never being out of position, and offensively notching two assists of his own last night. I guess in order to edge out Ovechkin in that voting he should have given them some home cookin' too. Well even though according to the twtter "tweets" of the teammates who attended the dinner at the Carlson's no one left hungry, I'm okay with John Carlson still being hungry or at least a little so, the next time the Caps go to the "Rock" or the "Garden" to play either the Devils or the Rangers.

To be fair I'd guess the media picked Ovechkin over Carlson because Ovie was +3 on the night while Carlson was "merely" +2; and the Cap's first line was the best set of players when they were on the ice all evening long. Ovie was Ovie, MoJo90 was very good, and I don't know who was wearing the 22 sweater last evening, but if it was Mike Knuble he certainly didn't play like a 38 year old man. In fact, Knuble has been playing very well, even better than usual, and with a lot of energy the last couple of games. Is he making the case/trying to determine if he wants another year before he hangs up his skates? or is he playing harder to make sure he goes out with the best year possible sometime after the end of April this year? Stay tuned, hopefully it won't be until sometime in June we bring this discussion up again; and hopefully we all get a lot more chances to see just how awesome he can be between now and then. In any case Knuble scored his 18th and 19th goals of the season last night and is looking like he will probably put up the eighth (8th) 20+ goal season of his 15 year/14 season NHL career. The old man of the Capital's team certainly isn't looking like he is slowing down anytime soon and that's a great thing for we Caps fans to get to see/watch, especially this time of the year. It's yet another one of those things that is making me relish this spring even more than last. Michal Neuvirth, last night's game, one word - AWESOME. That performance, as I think back to the game, I have those silly, long drawn out movie lines going through my head like: "heeee'ssss baaaaaccccckkkkk". etc. Pretty cool. The Capitals do indeed have three young goaltenders, who are all playing very well when they are healthy. But based on Neuvy's last two outings - Detroit and New Jersey - I'm more than happy to say right now and for the rest of the season, the 22 year old Czech with the 23-11-4 record, 4 shutouts, and funny look on his face on his team headshot is the #1 goaltender. Neuvy's season long SV% is 0.916 and his GAA is 2.42 and he looked great last evening against New Jersey - especially when they were "swarming."

Did the Capitals really "out devil" the Devils last night? Hard to say when you look at every aspect of the scoresheet, except one - "the bottom line" - Caps 3 - Devils 0. Oh and the fact that Ovechkin, the third star of the game had ZERO shots on goal, yet had two assists and was +3. Against the Devils that's something. Usually when the Devils shutdown an opposing team's star they do it more effectively than that. If there is just one game we can all point to that demonstrates just how much more important team results are to Ovie this season then ever before, and just how much more mature a player he is now than say two seasons ago, last night's game should likely be "that game." When it comes to the question of out-deviling the Devils - sure the Capitals were out shoot by the Devils 33 -12 and still won the game 3-0. However it's the other aspects of the score sheet that show the Caps out mastered the Devils "at their own game" or perhaps more accurately "at Jacques Lemaire's game": a) faceoff wins: Caps 31 - Devils 28 (even with Jason Arnott out, nice to have you back Nicklas Backstrom!, oh and Knuble was a perfect 1-0 here too); b) Capitals PK unit - perfect - killed 8:00 of Devils power play; c) Capitals: 4 takeaways and 2 giveaways, New Jersey 7 takeaways and 15 giveaways; d) Caps 21 shots attempted 57% on goal. Every other place on the scoresheet the Caps are very close to the Devils as well, so yeah to me it looks like the Caps "out-deviled" the Devils last night. It wasn't all that fun to watch but hey, I liked the results and I love the looks on the faces of the hockey pundits on TV when they talk about this team. I don't really care that the Caps may be scaring other teams when they think about having to play against the Capitals in the playoffs. Nope, what I care about is I truly believe this team is constructed to and ready to make a run deep into those same playoffs.

Speaking of which next up for the Caps 72nd game of the season are the Flyers in Philadelphia on Tuesday evening. That should be a good game and it's nice to see the Caps now have three days to sort some things and/or get healthier.

LETS GO CAPS!!!

Two Days and Two Capitals Games Since My Last Post ...

Well since my last post on Monday the Capitals have played two games of their current six game road trip. On Tuesday they played in Montreal and delivered a solid game and win against the Canadiens: 4-2 in regulation. Then last night they took on the Red Wings at "The Joe" in Detroit, a place they haven't been able to win a game at for a long time. Unfortunately, once again, despite playing a decent hockey game, and getting pretty good goaltending from Michal Neuvirth (in the net for the first time since leaving the game against Tampa Bay on 3/7 with some metal in his eye after the first period), the Capitals were unable to leave Detroit with two points, or even a single point, loosing to the Wings 3-2 in regulation.

To some degree the two games were polar opposites as far as the play, tenor and tone of the two opposing teams the Caps faced in them. In Tuesday night's game the Canadiens seemed to have a way of making the Cps look even better than the lopsided scoresheet - lopsided in favor of the Capitals in almost every measure - makes the game appear in retrospect. In Montreal, every one on the Capitals team looked very good, and in fact, IMO played a very good game. Notables: Boyd Gordon - 12 of 16 (75%) in the faceoff circle; Marcus Johansson - 2 goals and buzzing around the ice like "nobody's business the entire game; John Carlson and Karl Alzner - each of them +2 and each of them with an assist; Alexander Ovechkin - basically playing like Alexander Ovechkin always seems to play in Montreal: 1 point (an assist) +1 and led the team with 4 hits; Brooks Laich with a goal off a move that demonstrated to all just "What A Boss" he can be - just ask Hal Gill; Braden Holtby - a slightly off night at least at the start but gets an Assist and his fifth straight W; and the list could go on. On the other side of the ice, as I mentioned Laich undressed Gill and for all his "chirping" Tuesday evening P.K. Suban, who will be a star in the NHL someday, was definitely not looking like one in that game. In fact were it not for Cary Price's excellent goaltending, the game could have been even more lopsided.

Last night, while Neuvy kept the Capitals close, and no one on the Capitals team had an exceptionally bad game, as has often been said, the Detroit Red Wings have a system and way about them that just can "suck the life" out of an opposing team and smother them. That's what they did last night. When you look at tthis stat sheet you can and do see it in every aspect of the game. The first thing you notice about it when you look is just how much of a "puck control" game the Red Wings play and just how well they execute it: a) Faceoffs 35-21 in favor of the Red Wings; b) SOG 35-28 in favor of the Red Wings; c) shots attempted 64 - 42 in favor of the Red Wings. Don't get me wrong elsewhere in the stats the Capitals didn't do badly and as I say other than one goal that Neuvy let in that is in the "you just have to stop those" category, the Capitals stayed in the game all night long. They even had two chances to tie the game late in the third, but alas "the hockey gods" deigned not to smile on the Capitals last evening. All that said, throughout the game, they generally looked worse than the scoresheet might lead you to believe. Also, unlike Monday in Montreal, the Capitals special teams were not their brightest light; the PK unit let Detroit score on one of their two (2) power plays; and the power play units failed to score in any of their four (4) power play chances against the Wings. Best Caps on the ice last night (IMO): Dennis Wideman, Alexander Ovechkin, and Michal Neuvirth. Alexander Semin was about 1 1/2 inches and 40 seconds away from being a hero with a game tying goal in the last minute, but alas he hit the post and ends up with a very unremarkable line on the score sheet instead. Best Red Wing on the ice last night: Henrik Zetterberg - "Z" had quite a night 2 goals, 7 SOG, 2 takeaways and was 7 for 11 (64%) in the faceoff circle. Notably, the Capitals were able to keep Pavel Datsyuk somewhat in check last evening - it seemed to me to be the one thing that Alexander Semin absolutely was determined to do when they were out on the ice together and when that matchup was there Semin won it last night. However, the following other Red Wings all also played very well and made sure their team won the game: the ageless Nicklas Lidstrom (24:10 TOI, +1); Brian Rafelski (3 assists, +2, 1 BS); Kris Draper (6 for 6 in faceoffs); Justin Abdelkader (often in Ovechkin's grill) and the list is probably missing someone. BTW speaking of Abdelkader often being in Ovechkin's grill in the first period when it looked like those two might actually do more than just push and shove each other I had two notable thoughts: a) wow that's a trade I'd love if I was Babcock Abdelkader in the box for 5:00 to put Ovechkin in the box for 5:00 but Ovechkin showed he understands the score and isn't an inexperienced kid if he ever was one; and b) that's called smart line matching when you have the last change, wonder if the Capitals coaching staff should be taking notes. Well like I said, the Caps didn't play horribly, they just succumbed to the smothering play of the Red Wings in Detroit once again. With any luck, we'll all get a chance to see them try and figure out how to overcome that situation twice more this Hockey season (think about it if you don't understand what I'm saying). Now it's on to Newark, NJ for a game against the resurgent and well playing New Jersey Devils tomorrow night at "The Rock."

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!!!!

Looking Ahead to Today's Bruins - Caps Game in Boston

Well two struggling teams go to Boston's TDNorth Garden to try and end their current slides. The Eastern Conference eighth place Boston Bruins who are 0-2-1 in their last three games host the struggling third place Washington Capitals who will be looking to end their current loosing streak at - "Lucky #7" and avoid dropping their eighth in a row. Oh how the mighty have fallen - of course maybe not if you listen to Vicktor Federov's interview over at Japer's Rink, or read pucksandbooks over at "On Frozen Blog".

Of course while reading both I didn't find either as interesting or as useful to read as Peerless' preview of the game. Thanks Peerless for a "Fair & Balanced" blog post and set of thoughts in, from a Caps Fan's perspective, "these troubled times." In that vein I'll try and add to the intelligent, non-xenophobic, discussion about today's game - just one of 82 games the Capitals will play this regular season. First let's take a look at the games within the games we'll be seeing or at least what will probably be the top five games within games:

1) Ovechkin vs. Chara: This game with a game always seems to be a good one to watch when these two teams meet. It's always amazing to me that despite what these sort of match-ups look like when the Caps play other teams, Chara is one guy who can and does at times make Ovechkin look small. In reality its always a great thing to watch - two big, or maybe that should be BIG, men with awesome skating skills and great physical presence on the ice, basically beating the he!! out of each other, for the most part well within the rules, for 33% or more of an entire hockey game. Today assuming Alex Semin doesn't play - and at this time he's listed as questionable, things will only be harder than usual for Ovechkin as with Semin out, Knuble slowed the full guard around his jaw, and the Bruins having the final line change since they are the home team, are all things that will make this key match-up even harder for Ovechkin to "win." - Go Ovie - as Bella Karolyi has been quoted saying "You can do it..." but it won't be easy.

2) Neuvirth vs. Thomas: A more classic match up given their styles might be either Neuvy vs. Rask or Varly vs. Thomas but in any case whenever you play the very defensively stingy Bruins, the goaltender match-up is one of the games within the game to watch. There's not much question that the Bruin's goaltenders will come up with one, two or three awesome saves that can and sometimes do change the direction of the momentum of the game. That always puts pressure on the opposing goalie to do the same. Today, I'm thinking Neuvy is up to that challenge but even if he does, there's no guarantee that will be enough to win this game. In fact it's almost guaranteed that it won't be.

I'm thinking that for the Capitals to win the game it will all come down to the next three "battles" so long as the top two end in what I think they will end in - draws or even if the Ovechkin and Neuvirth only win their battles by small margins. I'm not saying that Alex Ovechkin can't dictate the play of a hockey game and drive the team to victory - he can but against Boston with the match-ups they will put on him, the rice would be very high and the outcome still no more likely than 50/50. Nor am I saying that any NHL caliber goaltender cannot have an awesome game and "steal a victory" - and with 12 wins so far this season, I'd be willing to state I feel Neuvirth has demonstrated he is an NHL caliber goaltender. That said I don't think that will happen today precisely because both teams will come out ready to play and play committed ice hockey for the entire game. So that will mean that no single player will win or lose this game for either team. That leaves the next three games within a game to decide things.

3) Blue Line Corps vs. Blue Line Corps: This might be the hardest battle for the Caps to win today given their sick and injured report. Jeff Schultz is on IR. Both Scott Hannan and Tyler Sloan have been ailing and are questionable for today's game. That leaves the Caps with: Mike Green, Tom Poti, Karl Alzner, John Carlson, John Erskine, and ????. Personally I'd love to see the ???? filled by Hannan and see him have the type of game we are all hoping for him to have since arriving here in DC from Colorado. That said even though they will both play Green still looks a little banged up and off pace and Poti still hasn't had his best game on since returning from his last injury. To compare well against the Bruins blue-liners, everyone will need to have their best game on and be ready for the inevitable physical battles with the rough and tumble Bruins forward lines the likes of which include the ever ready to battle Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton.

4) Second Line vs. Second Line: Another tough match-up for the Capitals today, given that Alexander Semin didn't make the trip and is apparently injured. The Capitals second line in practice yesterday was Laich-Perreault-Fehr/A.Gordon. This would be a really good game for Laich and Fehr to shake their recent ups and downs and have "up shifts" - preferably 17 or more "up shifts" throughout the game. It will also be a game where MP85 will need to skate full speed for every minute he is on the ice less the bigger Boston players latch onto him and use their size and physicality to neutralize his "Energize Bunny" style of play. Finally, my hope is that the second line that starts the game is Laich-Perreault-Fehr and not A. Gordon, nothing against A. Gordon, in fact I like him and the grit he brings to the game I just think the mix is better if Fehr is in the RW position as "the trigger man". I'd rather see Gordon get a Jersey on the third or fourth line for this game. Of course their opponents on the Boston side of the ledger don't care whether it's Fehr or A. Gordon, they will be working hard to play their game, their way either way and it's up to the Caps second line to not let that happen. I think this one (battle) will be determined by the answer to the question: "Who wants it more?"

5) Third & Fourth Lines vs. Each Other: What can we say about this match-up, the battle of the so called grinders will likely matter a lot in this game. In a game that is likely to be tightly played and low scoring, every goal is even more important than usual. Which of these seven guys play: Chimera, Johansson, Beagle, A. Gordon, Hendricks, Steckel, Bradley is almost a "don't care" to me. I like them all and I think they all have drive, grit and heart. Johansson is listed as questionable at this time so that might make the decision as to who doesn't play today straight-forward for Coach Boudreau. That said this could be the toughest game within a game for the Caps to win, Boston plays solid team hockey and now having gone 0-2-1 in their last three games, their depth players will be more determined than ever to not be outplayed by their opponents. However as we've seen so far this season, at least before this current bad karma streak started one thing that Jason Chimera, Matt Bradley, Matt Hendricks and David Steckel do NOT lack is heart and the other is grit. I expect these guys as much as anybody will be battling in the tough areas in front of and around the net and that means they could indeed be: "the guys who put the puck into the net for the goal that wins the game that breaks the streak that has been putting a damper onto the season as the Capitals get ready to play their most hated rivals in the biggest (at least most heavily attended) of the 2010-2011 regular season..." or however HBO will spin/hype this if the GWG is the result of secondary scoring. Personally after his last post game quote that was basically "Loosing sucks." I'm rooting fro David Steckel, even though in the back of my mind I'm thinking it could be any of the others and if it were Beagle or A. Gordon that would be a nice story too.

So there you have it what did I tell you above? Summary: This will be a hard fought game and even at the game within a game level each battle is at best a toss-up. This should be a good one.

LETS GO CAPS!!!

Balance ...

Balance is something that when a talented team like the Washington Capitals exhibit it, makes them almost unstoppable. Unfortunately balance is something that is often fleeting, at least so far this season. A lot of folks have talked about the search for the 60 minute game, something that a lot of Caps fans feel we may have seen once so far this season during the 18 games the Capitals have played. To be sure a consistent solid effort by an entire hockey team is a significant part in achieving that thing I am calling balance. Another thing is that the entire team is playing and executing their roles, such that no one or two players need to be on the ice an inordinate amount of time. When a team is balanced and executing a balanced game plan, there's no need for a couple of players to "carry the team." If you are now asking yourself: "What's this guy talking about?" Don't worry I'm ready to make my point and here it is. The Washington Capitals, the team I root for in the NHL, is dangerously close to being a balanced hockey team and in fact often during this season so far they have been a balanced hockey team hitting on all cylinders for 20 or more minutes a game.

What only 20 minutes a game? you say. Yes, I reply, take last evening, clearly during the second period the Capitals were not executing well and were unbalanced. Last night I'd say the Capitals played about 25 minutes of balanced hockey and that was more than enough to beat the Thrashers. Though parity is starting to be achieved throughout the league and the Thrashers are much improved over last season, not all their off season moves this summer are paying off well. Though the pick-up of Andrew Ladd was by far the best move the Thrashers made this summer, at least so far this season. The pickup and transition of Dustin Byfuglien hasn't always been smooth and last evening was one of those times it wasn't pretty for Atlanta when big Buff was on the ice. I say this in spite of his statistics as if you watched the game he was routinely "preyed" upon by the faster and better skaters on the Capitals team.

One of the positives and why I say the Capitals are getting close to achieving balance throughout an entire game is exhibited in their ice time report from last evening. Ovechkin total TOI: 17:52 avg/shift: 0:56; Green total TOI: avg/shift ; those are the numbers you want to see these two guys around every game; they are of course the top forward and top blue-liner on the team. But look at these numbers and also look at the per period numbers of these guys Matt Hendricks total TOI: 14:48 avg/shift: 0:52; Karl Alzner total TOI: 19:53, avg/shift: 0:51; David Steckel total TOI: 15:39, Avg/shift: 0:44; John Erskine total TOI: 12:29 avg/shift: 0:49 (and don't forget Erskine spent 5 minutes in the penalty box for what at least so far this season was the best hockey fight by a Capital. That's a pretty balanced line-up and play, certainly there wasn't a lot of line matching going on by the Capitals coaching staff or if there was it's not all that obvious.

Of course all those good thoughts and things aside. The second period last evening was the worst period of NHL hockey I've watched live in a pretty long time. In fact given last night was the Capitals 70th consecutive sellout and I've been there for around 53 of them, I'd say the second period in last night's game was the most painful period of hockey for me to watch live in at least 52 games. Seriously, from right after Matt Hendricks responded to Andrew Ladds' first tally of the evening at the 2:23 mark of the period until about the 15:00 mark of the period the Capitals had no chemistry let alone balance. At one point or another just about every one of the Capitals looked like they were skating in quicksand for at least one shift. Then the last five minutes of the period, well just when I thought I couldn't get more disgusted at the on ice officiating in the NHL this season, well it got worse in my opinion. There were multiple non-calls of totally obvious penalties and this is going on while the score is tied 4-4. Seriously, if you can trip a guy in the corner so bad that I'm thinking it's a marginal slew-foot, then what's the point of even having a rule? There were nights in the past when I've complained about Kerry Fraser and made fun of his hair; and Stephane Auger - don't get me started; but Dave Jackson, congratulations, you sir are why the NHL must now continue to prohibit the organists around the league from playing "Three Blind Mice..."

Thankfully, the Capitals team that returned to play the third period was much more like the team that played during the first period than the second. The truth is that the first 10 minutes of the third period was probably the best hockey that either team played last evening.

So the guys who had good games last evening, I mean good games for the entire sixty minutes:
- Matt Hendricks (+3, 3 hits, 1 goal)
- David Steckel (+3, 83% FW (19 of 23), 3 hits, 1 takeaway, 1 blocked shot, 1 goal, 1 assist)
- John Erskine (+2, 2 hits, 3 blocked shots, 1 goal (the game winner) and 1 takeaway)
- Mike Green (+2, 6 blocked shots, 1 goal, 1 assist)
- Jeff Schultz (+2, 1 assist, 2 blocked shots)
- Tyler Sloan (+2, 2 assists, 2 hits, 2 blocked shots).

Ovechkin, Semin and Backstrom owned the Thrashers in the first period and were a threat every time they were on the ice in the third period. The second period, as we say, not so much. For whatever reason last night during the second period the Thrashers basically outworked the entire Capitals team. Its hard to stay motivated with a two or three goal lead. The truth is the Thrashers first two lines are good this year. Andrew Ladd and Rich Peverley played well all night and they played hard all night. During the second period the Thrashers other young guns Evander Kane and Bryan Little also played well and came alive. In fact there were at least two instances during the second period when I wondered aloud why Mike Green didn't just stomp on Kane and on one of them he made us pay for not tying him up and neutralizing him when got the primary assist on Little's goal at the 3:07 mark of the second period to pull the Thrashers within one of the Caps. One last note on who fram the Tharshers had a good or bad night last night - statistically this season so far Nik Antropov of the Thrashers can't buy a good night. Last evening Antropov was as much a force in the Thrashers solid play in the second period as pretty much anybody other than Ladd or Peverley but he still managed to finish the evening at -3. I'm not a fantasy hockey guy but think about it so far this season Antropov is pretty much fantasy hockey death while over the last three Capitals games John Erskine has been total money. I'm thinking we'll be seeing that Fu Manchu 'stache that Erskine has been sporting for Movember until the 2011 playoffs are over the way things are going for the 30 year old Kingston, Ontario native.

In any case despite the ups and downs and ebbs and flows of the game, the Capitals managed to once again rise to the occasion and finish the night with two points as well as find themselves leading the league in the standings. To me the best coaching move of the night was leaving Michal Neuvirth in the net and letting him work his way through an evening that at one point (the end of the second period) saw him in possession of a SV% of 0.769 before recovering and progressing back towards his statical norms to finish the evening with his league leading 11th win of the young season and a SV% of 0.851 for the game. The most questionable coaching from my perspective came during the Capitals power plays late in the second period when after Bryan Little scored short handed for his second goal of the evening, the Caps juggled the power play all around trying all sorts of what to me were odd combinations while Mike Green was in the box. I just couldn't understand what the coaching staff was thinking other than something on the order of "Well since we are looking basically awful right now, let's trow the kitchen sink at 'em and see where that gets us." it didn't get us anywhere but we did manage to get out of the second period tied 4-4 and enabled us to basically play and win two points in what ended up being a 20 minute game.

Oh well, they all can't be pretty and to me the good things about last night were:

1) Michal Neuvirth fighting through his second period, where at least some of the issue was mediocre - not terrible but mediocre - rebound control and getting the victory.

2) Secondary scoring. 50% of the goals and 56.25% of the points the Capitals scored last night were done so by team members other than either top 6 forwards or Mike Green. That's a good night and a team effort by any measure.

3) Once again an active defense that is joining the rush figured in the game in a significant way. The blue line corps participated in five of the six Capitasl goals on the night. The only goal that a blue liner wasn't involved in was David Steckel's empty netter to ice the game at the 19:23 mark of the third period.

4) Alexander Semin's goal. Two reasons: a) it was the prettiest goal of the nice and it's awfully cool to see Ovie make a saucer pass to Semin in a little role reversal; and b) it was for Semin's 13th goal of the season and it moved him in front of this Crosby kid that some people out in Western Pa are always talking about. Also because it's part of the reason we're starting to see what I'd say are silly articles like this one about "the other Alex". So let me be the first or one of the first to say it - Ryan Lambert is most likely an idiot and this article is one of the silliest ones I've seen in a while. Take his statement: "But the year before that he had 14 points in 14 games and in 2007-08 he had eight in seven, right? Well, one or both of Ovechkin and Backstrom were on the ice for all but one of those." Well I was at or watched all those games and you know what you could take Ovechkin or Backstrom's playoff stats from that post season adjust the numbers slightly and move those three names into any of the other two places and say the same thing. Or how about this take Maxim Talbott, Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby and their stats from the Penguins last two season they made/won the Stanley Cup finals and in the case of Malkin and Crosby make an argument as to who facilitated whose glory. Most people tend to forget Malkin is the guy who got the Conn Smyth when Pittsburgh last won the Cup. My point/contention is that Semin is one of the top 10 or 15 players in the NHL today. He's an elite talent and paying him $8M or so a season the next couple of seasons won't likely be looked at - even in retrospect say when he's retired and his playing days are behind him in say 2022 or so - as having "overpaid" him. That's why I'm saying the article I linked you too, is dumb. That said I love articles like this. I think they serve notice to ALL the Capitals that until this team wins a Stanley Cup, they are all - including Ovechkin, Green, Semin, Backstrom, Laich, Boudreau all of them - just as likely to have their talents and their exciting style of play questioned or subject to armchair pundits adding footnotes to their accomplishments. That's got to be a great motivator for them all.

5) The race for the crown for Movember is clearly now between John Erskine's lucky Fu Manchu and Karl "Erik The Red" Alzner's full crimson beard. The fact that so far this month both players have been having very good results on the ice, and that hockey players are notoriously superstitious means we are likely to see them keeping their current looks for a while longer. If they do I think I have a suggestion as to know who should be playing Santa at the Capitals Team Christmas Party...

Okay so next up will be the Buffalo Sabres here at Verizon Center on Wednesday evening. I'll be watching the game here at home in Bristow on CSN (HD) but I'll still be Rockin' the Red. How about y'all?


LETS GO CAPS!!!

Caps 5 - Rangers 3

Last night's two point night in New York's Madison Square Garden puts the Capitals current win streak at 5 games. The game seemed like two or even three different games. To me, the first & second period were the first game while the third period was a completely different second game. During the first two periods it was a closely contested game - not the tight, low scoring game I'd anticipated but a close game where both teams played hard made some good plays and scored some goals but the score basically stayed even through two periods. During the first two periods, the Rangers would score and the Caps would answer. Then the third period rolled around and the Capitals scored two goals on 5 shots while the Rangers scored 0 goals on 9 shots and the game was over. Despite out shooting the Capitals by almost a 2-1 margin the reality was the Rangers were pretty flat during the third period while the Capitals continued to play pretty much the same game they had through the first 40 minutes of regulation.

Highlights of the game:
- Brooks Laich playing and scoring two goals including the final empty-netter, in a game where he wasn't even expected to play, because he was injured last game.
- The goaltending which was far better than the respective save percentages would lead you to believe. Nuevirth stopped 25 of 28 (SV%=0.893). Lundqvist stopped 19 of 23 (SV%=0.826). Of course the fact that in that regard Michal Neuvirth "out-dueled" Henrick Lundqvist is pretty cool to me.
- The Bradley pass to set-up the Mat Hendricks' game winning goal. That play was "money" - especially for secondary scoring.
- Mike Knuble getting off the schneid. I just hope the PETA people don't show up at his place and find any remnants of the dead goat.

Lowlights of the Game (note these would be highlights if you are a Rangers fan):
- Tyler Sloans' night (first let me say I thought Sloan played a really good game against the Flyers on Sunday, last night not so much.) especially him geting intimidated by Derek Boogard and letting Boogard skate by him freely on his way to scoring his first goal in 234 games.
- Caps giving up the first goal of the game and then basically "chasing" the Rangers to draw or stay even through the entire first 40 minutes of the game. One wonders if the outcome would have been different if a little less of the Rangers' normal firepower wasn't injured and was in their line-up last night.
- Karl Alzner's whiffed clearing attempt on the penalty kill that led to the Rangers powerplay goal by Brian Boyle for Boyle's second goal of the game. Of course it is a relief to see that John Carlson isn't the only young defenseman on the team who occasionally makes a "rookie mistake/misplay."
- There are several candidates for this last "lowlight" but I'll go with Michal Neuvirth's rebound "control" during most of the night. Despite having a better SV% last night than King Henrick, and earning his 9th W of the season (in 14 GPI), last night wasn't a stellar evening for the NHL's October Rookie of the Month.

Well that's another two points and now it's back home to face the Tampa Bay Lightning here at Verizon Center tomorrow evening. The Lightning - Caps match up should be a good one. Steven Stamkos continues to play like he's on fire, leading the league in points (21) and goals (13), and the Lightning come into the game in fourth place in the Eastern Conference with 18 points in 14 games. Thursday evening is a perfect chance for the Caps to put some distance between themselves and this Southeast Division rival.

LETS GO CAPS!!!

An Ugly Two Points In November Counts The Same As a Smooth Two Points In March ...

Well last night's Capitals - Maple Leafs game ended with the Caps garnering two points while allowing the Maple Leafs to escape the District of Columbia with one. The game ended during the shootout with Alexander Semin winding up and looking like he was trying to blast the puck with a wicked slap shot through the net in a little sliver of the goal that existed between Jonas "Monster" Gustavsson's left arm and the left goalpost. Semin's final game ending goal came after he tied the game at 4 all on the power play at the 14:22 mark of the third period. I'm not sure what Alexander Ovechkin would actually say about that tying goal by Semin, his seventh of the season, but I'll hazard a guess - "sick, absolutely SICK" - though of course if they were talking to each other it would be the Russian translation of "sick, absolutely, totally SICK, Sasha." Seriously it was the move of the game to me. Semin was able to pull the puck back from behind the goal line just past the right side post and "roof it" under the crossbar in what was literally fractions of a second. As Caps coach Bruce Boudreau was quoted in today's Washington Post "When he scored his goal on the power play, there aren't too many guys in the National Hockey League that have hands like that - that can put it there that quickly."

While it was unfortunate the Caps ever got themselves into a situation that required them to come back and tie the game at 4 after leading 3-1 at the start of the third period, I'm not one of those folks who feels like there was any sort of total let down by the Caps at the start of the third period. It wasn't a total let down, it was a poor reaction to the adjustments made by the Maple Leafs at the intermission and a failure to properly match the intensity of the Leafs at the start of the game's final stanza though that gave Toronto the "room" and opportunities they needed to take the lead with three unanswered goals in 7:17 though. It was also a night where the hockey gods didn't smile on the Capitals young goaltender Michal Neuvirth. Neuvey didn't have a bad game but this was certainly his own worst game in a while. None of the goals scored on him were total failures on his part, and at just 22 years of age giving up three even strength goals and one power play goal to a much improved over last season Toronto Maple Leafs team isn't a bad night. Not at all. It's just that Neuvy's last several games have probably spoiled me. Even with last night's game he is 8-3-0, has a GAA of 2.31 and a SV% of 0.920. Contrast that with last night GAA 4.00 and SV% of 0.857. On a positive note for the season going forward I think last night's game might mean that Caps coach Bruce Boudreau might actually let the NHL's October Rookie of the Month have at least one game off this coming weekend, even if Semyon Varlamov isn't back and healthy. Don't get me wrong, I'm totally down with Nevey and the way he is playing but it is a long season and we are only twelve games into it.

Last night's first star according to the press was Alexander Semin, I couldn't agree more. Semin was awesome, even taking into account his two minor penalties. I can't really complain about the refereeing last night - it was consistent - I mean just as I thought the first slashing penalty called against Semin was weak, I also thought the tripping penalty against Luke Schenn on Ovechkin could have gone either way too. The linesmen on the other hand, in particular Tim Nowak ... well if you're going to call icing like he did on two, not one, but by my count two occasions where Alexander Ovechkin beat the Leafs to the puck, then it may as well be an automatic. In fact, given the potential for what is/are basically often pointless injuries to defensemen because of racing to the puck; I am actually all for no-touch icing as a rule change. Yes last night's game was a showcase for why my first two rule changes if I were able to make them would be: 1) every game is worth three points (Regulation Win = 3 points; OT/SO Win = 2 Points; and OT/SO Loss = 1 point); and 2) No Touch Icing in the NHL just like everywhere else in the ice hockey universe today. So in addition to Alexander Semin, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that last night's #2 Star of the Game was, deservedly, Jason Chimera. I could easily go on as to how well both Chimera and Semin have started this season but I'm choosing to reserve judgement and grading performance trends until at least 25% of the season has been played. That said, last night both Chimera, Semin and Mike Green all had very solid games, as did John Carlson, in my opinion, even though Green finished the evening at -2, he did have 30:20 TOI after all.

The one thing I'd close with relative to commentary on last night's Caps-Maple Leafs game is I had wondered until last night "if the Leafs were for real" this season. They started the season out of the blocks extremely well but have "sputtered" a little of late. That said after watching last night I'm feeling pretty confident in saying they are indeed for real this season. They played pretty well last night and could have won. To be sure, they forced the Capitals to play or attempt to play 60+ minutes and anytime the Caps let up a little, the Maple Leafs were there trying to capitalize on the openings Washington afforded them. The other thing you can get looking at the event summary is that the Leafs are playing as a balanced team - just look at the TOI distribution for them versus the same stats for the Capitals. The Caps need to be able to get more minutes and productive minutes from their third and fourth lines as well as their third defensive pairing then they got last night. The Leaks were playing a full bench last night while the Capitals played a short one, that's why the game went all the way to a shoot out, even though the Capitals had 1:55 of a 4 on 3 man advantage in overtime, in my view.

Well that said two points is two points regardless of whether they are pretty or "gritty" and whether they are obtained in early November or late March. Because of the other action around the league, the Capitals are now tied in points and 1/2 game behind both Tampa Bay and Los Angeles for the lead in the NHL standings. Speaking of which tonight Tampa Bay takes on the Kings in LA that should be a good game to watch, I'm glad I got the Center Ice package...

Elsewhere around the other eight games played in the NHL last night here's what my understanding is of what happened:

Boston @ Buffalo: Bruins 5 - Sabres 2
- Tim Thomas gave up more than one goal against in a game for the first time this season but still skates out of Buffalo with a 7-0-0 start to the season and a league leading 0.720 GAA, a 0.977SV% and 3 shutouts so far this season. The only goaltending category Thomas isn't leading in is Wins, his 7 are one less than Capitals rookie Michal Neuvirth's 8.
- Buffalo gave up two short handed goals in the game, maybe Lindy Ruff would like the option to refuse penalties like you can in football be discussed as a possible rule change?
- The Sabres are now 0-5-1 at home this season.

Pittsburgh @ Dallas: Penguins 2 - Stars 5
- Gotta highlight this hockey fight Sidney Crosby vs. Matt Niskanen. So how's this exchange work - the Penguins loose the services of one of the premiere players in the world and a key to their offense for five minutes while the Stars loose the services of a second pairing d-man for five minutes. How do you guess Dan Bylsma felt about that trade-off?
- The number one "Star" of the game was Loui Ericksson who had two goals and an assist on the night. Both of the twenty five year old Swedish Left Wing's goals were unassisted in that he scored his first on a penalty shot and his second was an even strength unassisted goal.
- Last night's win over Pittsburgh means the Stars are off to a solid 7-4-0 start this season.

Detroit @ Calgary: Red Wings 2 - Flames 1
- Mikka Kiprusoff bounced back from his pasting by the Capitals but it wasn't enough.
- Jimmy Howard's regular season unbeaten streak continues.

Tampa Bay @ Anaheim: Lightning 2 - Ducks 3 (OT)
- Tampa Bay is for real, but even more so than the Maple Leafs.
- Stating the obvious, Stamkos is one of those pretty special players and can make some pretty "sick" moves himself.
- Both Dan Ellis and Jonathan Quick played solid games.
- Selanne to Getzlaf for the game winner in OT, now that's a combo.

New Jersey @ Chicago Devils 5 - Blackhawks 3
- Kovy two assists and looked really good quarterbacking the Devils power play last night.
- Broudeur left the game in the second period with a bruised right elbow but says he will be back in the net next game.
- Hedberg comes in and was victimized for two goals before the Devils battled back.
- Two of the Devils five goals were into an empty net, during the other three when you look at the highlight reel see if you aren't wondering as was I, why Marty Turco was playing so deep in his net at the time.
- The Devils leave the Windy City with a much needed win, does this mean they will start to turn things around? They are now currently 27th out of 30 in the NHL.

Nashville @ Phoenix: Predators 3 - Coyotes 4
- A quick goal by Nashville had the Predators up early.
- The Coyotes battled back and got four goals, all by their blue liners to win the game.
- Three of the four Coyote's goals came off the stick of veteran all-star Ed Jovanovski who got his first career hat trick.

Atlanta @ Florida: Thrashers 4 - Panthers 3
- The Panthers fail to get a point at home despite firing 55 shots on goal.
- For the night Thrashers goaltender Dan Ellis stopped 52 of 55 Panther shots for a SV% of 0.945; Panthers goaltender Tomas Vokoun stopped 19 of 23 for a SV% of 0.826.
- Even though I'd say at least two of the Thrasher goals were gritty, I'd pin this failure to win on the Panther's star goaltender. I'm not saying vetren center Freddy Modin isn't good but Vokoun allowed the 36 year old Swedish winder to put two goals past him and into the twine - including those two goals, Modin has scored just 76 goals in 283 NHL games since the lockout and he's not known as the high scorer he was earlyier in his career, of course much of his post lockout play was in the wide open Ken Hitchcock system in Columbus too... Bottom line is this season for Florida to win, Vokoun needs to play better than he did last night.

New York Islanders @ Carolina: Islanders 2 - Hurricanes 7
- Isles loose their 5th in a row.
- Islander goaltender Rick DiPietro has had much, much better games than he played last night.
- The fast skating Hurricanes went out to a 5-0 lead before the slanders seemed to even start skating with them.
- I'd put the goal by Hurricane's Captain Eric Staal as one of the "prettiest" of the night.

Well there are six games on tap in the NHL tonight. I'll be watching "The Big Bang Theory" - sorry I just love those guys and "she's not bad to look at/watch either - as well as part of the Rangers @ Flyers and Tampa Bay at Los Angeles Kings games. Next up for the Capitals the Bruins return to Verizon Center tomorrow night to take on the Caps for the third time this season. The Caps will be looking to begin to try and split this season's series with the Bruins by besting them for the first time this year. I'll be there for that game as well as Sunday's contest against the Broad Street Bullies.

LETS GO CAPS!!!

What A Differance A Day (and a season) Make... Caps 7 - Devils 2

Well I'm not sure I watched the same team in the live game I attended last night at Verizon as I watched sitting here in Bristow on CSN HD play in Atlanta on Friday evening. No I'm not talking about the minor change of Boyd Gordon in the line-up last night with David Steckel in the press box, either. I'm talking about the fact that last night at Verizon Center I and 18,276 other Washington Capitals fans watched a team that didn't abandon their game plan and didn't get flustered or frustrated despite being down 2-1 through the first period and being out shot throughout the game by the New Jersey Devils last evening.

Last night after the first period, instead of getting frustrated and trying to get too fancy and play outside their own very considerable abilities and talents, the Capitals came out ready to play in the second period. The adjustments and changes between the first and second period, were simple and straight-forward from what I could see, they resolved to not get out-worked and they simplified their game. The result was that just 1:59 into the second stanza, Tomas Fleischmann tied it up, and the battle was on. To be clear, this game was two separate games to me - the first game was from the opening face off through the 14:31 mark of the second period to put the Capitals up for good. Once the Great Eight scored his first goal of the game and the Capitals took the lead, frankly in something very uncommon for playing the Devils - they really never looked back. While the Devils continue to out shoot the Capitals, Michal Neuvirth played very well and he did get help from his blueline corps clearing out the front of the net - to the extent that is possible in "the new NHL" without getting penalized too often so the Caps responded. At the other end the Devils --- well, not so much. Through two periods Devils starter and future Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur had a 0.750 SV%, yes you read that correctly. During the last 5:30 of the second period Brodeur allowed 3 pucks to find the back of the net, including loosing a penalty shot duel with Capitals Captain Alexander Ovechkin with just 48 seconds left in the period. Ovechkin's second goal of the game put the Capitals up 5-2 and set the stage for the Devils to replace Brodeur with back-up Johan Hedberg for the final 20 minutes of the game. When was the last time that happened, you know he of 110 career shutouts getting pulled from a game? Of course when was the last time that Glory Days had to fork over free wings for us Caps fans when we played Marty and the Devils? (I'm honestly asking that question since I'm not going to research that one, rather I'll just enjoy my wings compliments of the Devils.)

Well the third period was another instance of "what a difference a ... this time: season ... makes. The Capitals really did not let up at all. The game started to get a little "scrappy" right off the bat and as a result, the Capitals ended up with a Too Many Men on the Ice penalty at the 2:16 mark into the third period. The Devils tried to mount some pressure and get at least one of the three goals they were down back but the Capitals were doing a pretty good job on the Penalty Kill. Then at the 3:07 mark the Caps cleared the puck the length of the ice and Hedberg decided he'd come out of the net, play the puck and try and tack advantage of the Capitals new more aggressive penalty killing style since the forwards on the PK unit were pursuing the two NJ defenders coming back for the puck, you know ala Marty Turco style. However since Hedberg is decidedly NOT Marty Turco or Marty Brodeur when it comes to puck handling skills, when he totally flubbed the clearing attempt, Brooks Laich had virtually no choice but to put the puck into the basically empty net afforded him - Caps 6, Devils 2.

After scoring their sixth goal of the evening, the Capitals did seem to try and change their style of play a little to be more of a safe, defensive game. However, for whatever reason, the Devils seemed determined to try and turn thins around, or maybe they we a little embarrassed or insulted by this because from that point of the game on, the Devils really seemed to be trying to get something, anything going; however they certainly weren't playing any sort of disciplined hockey. First I think to both try and spark his team and to finish up a side battle that had been going on at some level all evening Devils heavyweight and designated agitator in front of the net David Clarkson and the guy I'd say is as close to him in role for the Capitals - Jason Chimera dropped the gloves and went at it, earning coincidental fighting majors at the 4:03 mark of the third period. That fight really didn't do much to change the tenor of the game or get the Devils fired up, and what little it did was squished when at the 8:34 mark of the period Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblonde got his first of 2 minutes of 21 penalty minutes (more on that in a few sentences) of the game, and Eric Fehr scored the Capitals seventh goal of the evening at the 10:27 mark of the period just as the power play was getting ready to end. That said with the score now 7-2 in favor of the Capitals, why did we need to "Unleash The Fury" - I mean that cheer works so well in close games at this juncture but did it really fit the moment when it was played last night?

At this point one might have thought that the last nine minutes of the game should be allowed to expire uneventfully and these two beasts of the East go on to regroup for their next opponents. However, that was not to be. I have to say of all the things I didn't expect to see and that surprised me last night up until the 15:43 mark of the third period it would have been the simple legend on the scoreboard - Capitals 7 - Devils 2. Then at the 15:43 mark just when I thought I'd seen it all in this game, Ilya Kovalchuck of the Devils and Mike Green of the Capitals decide to "go at it" - no simple quick get into hockey fight for these two, why should it be - when you fight as seldom as these two, you may as well "do it right." By that I mean - stop, put down your stick, drop your gloves, and remove your helmet and visor, then square off and go for it. Really but the surprises were through yet, while I'm inclined to call it a draw, if I had to pick a winner I'd go with Mike Green even though he's 2" shorter and 25# lighter than Kovy - it really just wasn't the Devils' night now was it?

Of course now here's where stories like this either end or get REALLY bizarre and ... well this one got really bizarre. After Green and Kovy were sent to the dressing room, just 4 seconds later Rod Pelley and Matt Hendricks decided to drop the gloves, a nice simple enough hockey fight that I'll again say was one where both guys got in a few good "licks" and went to the dressing room at the 15:47 mark. Are we done yet? Short answer no, just another two seconds and at the 15:49 mark Matt Bradley takes exception to something David Clarkson did or said, so Clarkson has his second fight of the evening and Bradley his first. Again this is a fight that if you were handicapping it before it happened you'd bet on Clarkson, but maybe his arms were tired from his scuffle with Chimera, I don't know but Brads got in two really good shots including an upper cut that appeared to "rock" Clarkson before they wrestled each other to the ice to end the fourth bout on the evening's "card".

Are we through yet? We should have been, I mean at this point I can't believe the referees didn't tell the two Captains - Alex Ovechkin and Jamie Langenbrunner - "Enough!, play hockey or else..." and maybe they did and Pierre-Luc Letourneu-Leblonde decided he didn't get the word or something. Because just off the next faceoff, just 4 seconds after the resumption of play, Leblonde basically mugged Marcus Johansson from behind with a move that looked like he was trying to rip his helmet off. At this point, John "Captain America" Carlson decided to finish off his night by translating his one goal and two assists into a Gordie Howe hat trick, so he came to the aide of the young Swede as Johansson was trying to figure out "where did that come from?" The basic melee that ensued took a couple of minutes to sort out and when the dust settled the penalty tally was:

- for Letourneau-Leblonde: 2 minutes Instigator; 2 minutes Slashing, 5 minutes Fighting, and 10 minutes Game Misconduct ...
- for Carlson: 2 minutes roughing; 10 minutes Game Misconduct.

Okay, so Carlson didn't get a 5 minute fighting penalty I'm still saying it was a Gordie Howe hat trick, I was there and I think he deserves it. Anybody else who was there that is reading this is free to chime in since I'm not sure what was and was not shown on TV. I'm also going to say that I think the league should review the action by PL Letourneau-Leblonde, IF the on ice officials had spoken to the Team Captains about how it was time to play hockey vice continue fighting, and if so Leblonde would get a couple games suspension. That's just my gut reaction, I haven't thought about what in place rules do and do not apply here.

I felt there were lots of good takeaways from last night's game:
#1 - Michal Neuvirth's goal tending was very good. He came up with several big saves when he had to and he played a very "tight" game right from the opening face-off..
#2 - Lots of "grit" and lots of simple, straight forward hockey. The reason the Capitals played better than New Jersey last night wasn't because they "out-finessed" them. It was because they played within themselves, didn't get frustrated and they out worked the Devils, and from where I sat it seemed like they did that for a full 60 minutes.
#3 - During the first two periods there were only five (5) minor penalties 3 for the Capitals and 2 for the Devils. Even though two of the three Caps minors were on Alexander Semin, I didn't feel like any of the three (Semin's two or Chimeria's) were "dumb" penalties. In fact I'm still trying to see why Semin was called for Interference the first Caps Penalty, but hey that's just me.
#4 - Scoring by lots of different Capitals
#5 - As a complete opposite to Friday night, virtually all the Defensive Pairings worked, actually from what I saw and can tell now, all of them did, there was no virtually about it#6 - ALL the young guns showed up and played well.
#7 - Alex Ovechkin actually makes a big lateral move on his penalty shot and then puts the puck in the net with a perfect shot past Marty Brodeur that only about 5% of the players in the NHL could make.
#8 - John Carlson: 'Nuff said.
#9 - Mike Green playing what I thought was a totally responsible game and ending up +2 on the night with 6 hits and 3 blocked shots.
#10 - Anton Volchenkov skating off the ice under his own power after taking a shot to the choppers. Never like to see something like that but glad that it looks like he'll be okay

Honorable Mention - For a crazy game with a total of 21 penalties called, I'd have to say the officiating was good, fair and balanced.

Sure it's easy to be happy when "your team" wins by a score of 7-2 in an Ice Hockey game, but this game was close and hard fought for the entire first period and the first 15:00 of the second period, and even thorough that first game within a game, the Capitals ended up leading by a score of 3-2.

Yesterday was a beautiful day so I took a couple of pictures on the way to the game and I had a few other images from the game that follow this post.

Next up: The Ottawa Senators at Verizon Center tomorrow -

LETS GO CAPS!!!


On the way to the game - what a nice afternoon.


A bizzare sight, the "Red Dress Run"... on H Street Just Before the Game...



Most of these people were in an even better mood as they left Verizon Center since the majority are Capitals Fans... LETS GO CAPS!!!