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Monday, December 31, 2007
HAPPY NEW YEAR
Today we say goodbye to the year that was. Alex Ovechkin
closed his out by earning the Player of the Week award for his 5 goal,
2 assist performance over the Caps three games this past week.
Elsewhere, Buffalo readies for the Winter Classic.
Check out the weather forecast (courtesy
of the Weather Channel) for the game:
Have a safe and happy New Year!
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Wow! Caps Win a Game Reminiscent of the '80s
As Bruce Boudreau says: "A win is a win is a win is a
win." Double up that number of "wins" and that's how many goals it took
for the Capitals to finally shut the door on Ottawa's repeated comeback
attempts. The two teams combined for 14 goals on only 52 shots. More
than one out of every four shots went in the net. Throw in a Donald
Brashear beating (I counted 24 lefts landing) of Sens' tough guy Chris
Neil, and you got a game
straight outta 1985.
Alex Ovechkin had his best NHL game with career highs in
goals (4) and points (5) while playing with a stitched-up gash in his
leg. Between Ovie's night and the goals Pothier has been scoring with
his broken thumb, we oughtta send Chris Clark and his messed up groin
back into the fold. He might wind up with 40 goals this year as long as
the injury nags him all season! Hell, we should get Brent Johnson and
his sprained knee back in goal -- he certainly couldn't play any worse
than Olie Kolzig did last night.
Speaking of Olie, he has this to say after stopping just
16 of 22 shots: "It was definitely a ratings booster for the TV
stations and I'm sure the fans got their money's worth, but I'm too old
for these kind of games. It's going to force me to retire sooner than I
want." Is that really such a bad thing? Olie tried everything he could
to cost the Caps the game -- he even failed at that. His season save
percentage is down to .888, ranking him 39th of the 43 goalies who have
appeared in at least 13 contests. Remember Ilya Bryzgalov, the former
Anaheim netminder who was placed on waivers when the Caps had the worst
record in the NHL and therefore the first chance to grab him? Well, he
has a .922 save percentage (6th best in the league) and a 2.31 GAA for
the resurgent Phoenix Coyotes. Olie has been the face of this franchise
for over a decade now, but at some point you have to realize that he's
no longer a quality starting goaltender in this league. Every game he
plays, it's becoming more and more apparent.
On the farm, the youngster Daren Machesney has been
superb. A night after stopping 30 of 31 shots, he stopped 31 of 32.
That's a .968 save percentage. He has now improved his AHL record to
8-2-1 with a 2.12 GAA and a league-leading .928 save percentage.
Shouldn't HE be in Washington? What are we gonna do with Cassivi? Let
him sit on the bench and watch Kolzig stink it up? Goaltending is
Washington's biggest weakness, especially since Bruce Boudreau took
over. Washington would likely be sitting in a playoff spot at the
moment if the team's save percentage was not 2nd worst in the NHL.
Enough ranting about Kolzig for one day...the Caps beat
the league's second best team for goodness sake. And they outplayed the
Senators handily. Ovechkin scored 4 goals on 5 shots, Michael Nylander
scored 2 using 3 shots, Alexander Semin and Nicklas Backstrom each
added a goal and 2 assists, and Viktor Kozlov...no goals. I guess
nothing's perfect, but when the heck will this guy finally net one?
Matt Pettinger was finally scratched as he watched Quintin Laing (who
led the Caps with 4 hits and 2 blocked shots last night) return to the
lineup in his spot.
The Capitals follow up their second satisfying win in a
row against this Ottawa team with a New Year's Day rematch at Verizon.
Will Olie be the goalie?
WATCH ALL OF THE GAME HIGHLIGHTS **WARNING - It may
take a while!**
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Capitals Look to Close Out 2007 on a High Note
The Year 2007 has not been a kind to the Washington
Capitals. They have endured a dismal record of 26-43-12, a coach's
firing, poor free agent acquisitions, and a potentially disillusioned
superstar. The year could not be over any sooner for the Caps.
But before they say sayonara, they have an opportunity
to climb out of last place in the Southeast Division by doing what they
did so well nearly two months ago -- knocking off the Eastern
Conferences best team on their home ice. The 4-1 win was spearheaded
(believe it or not) by Viktor Kozlov. In his best game as a Cap, Kozlov
scored a goal and added two assists in what would turn out to be the
last game he has lit the lamp up until today.
As a team, the Capitals made the Senators look very
average in what would turn out to be the Capitals' only victory over a
ten game stretch. Perhaps Ottawa underestimated the Caps, or at least
that's what the Senators' checking line center, Mike Fisher, says "They
kind of caught us a little bit overconfident, or we took them too
lightly. But that's not going to happen again." Not quite what Caps
fans want to hear, however it's not as bad as it sounds. Dating back to
the beginning of last season, Washington has actually won 3 of the last
5 meetings between the two teams, so a wise man might assume that after
losing 2 of 4 to the Caps, Ottawa would not have taken the Caps lightly
51 days ago.
On the injury front, Ovechkin is likely to play tonight
though he has been hobbling around a bit with his stitched up thigh. He
has missed only one game since entering the league so we can expect him
to be out there by the time the puck is dropped. As far as Brent
Johnson's sprained knee, word is he may be out only a week or two as
opposed to the two to four he was originally expected to miss. Frederic
Cassivi has been recalled from Hershey to fill in the backup role. The
callup has moved 21 year old prospect, Daren Machesney, into the
starting role for the AHL Bears. Last night, he was chosen as the first
star of the Bears' victory as he stopped 30 of 31 shots en route to a
4-1 victory over Norfolk, whom the Bears host tonight in the second
game of the home-and-home series.
Checking on the goings-on of the World Junior
Championships over in the Czech Republic, the Caps' three youngsters
are back in action today after a day off yesterday as Karl Alzner and
Josh Godfrey lead Canada against Sweden and Michal Neuvirth is expected
to start in goal for the Czech Republic as they take on neighboring
Slovakia.
Also, to update the weather forecast for the New Years
Day matchup between Buffalo and Pittsburgh, the high will be 32 degrees
with some light snow showers likely. The winds, earlier forecast to be
an extremely gusty 41 mph, will still be prominent but substantially
lighter at 17 mph. Not quite as bad as the -22 degree temperature the
Montreal Canadiens
and Edmonton Oilers had to contend with during the Heritage Classic
some four years ago!
Friday, December 28, 2007
Loss to Penguins is Extra-Costly
For a while, it looked as though the Capitals would
finally
knock off the Penguins. Then Alex Ovechkin got hurt and the team went
into survival mode. A questionable penalty call (only the third penalty
all game) late in the third period signaled the beginning of the end.
The rest, as they say, is history.
The Capitals, who have now lost 9 of 10 in the Ovechkin-Crosby era, had
the Igloo booing their Penguins at several points during the game with
their staunch defense against Pittsburgh's talented, young scorers. By
the time the game ended, however, Penguins fans headed home happy.
Washington fell behind yet again, and for the second
game in a
row, came back from two separate deficits -- this time, though, to no
avail. A mere three minutes after Jeff Taffe opened up the scoring,
Boyd Gordon took an errant Sergei Gonchar bank off the boards and fed
Donald Brashear in front to tie the game at one. The score didn't hold
that way for long as Pittsburgh regained the one goal lead when Colby
Armstrong fired a no look shot from behind the goal line that glanced
off defenseman Milan Jurcina and went past goalie Brent Johnson.
Falling awkwardly into the net on the play, Johnson twisted his left
knee and is expected to miss 2-4 weeks.
Olie Kolzig came on in relief and performed splendidly,
making
several key saves to keep the Caps in the game. Brian Pothier and Alex
Ovechkin, who missed the final 15 minutes of the game with a laceration
on his leg, put Washington in front with a pair of second period goals.
The lead would hold up until the frustrated Penguins caught a break as
Shaone Morrisonn was whistled for roughing up Evgeni Malkin away from
the puck with just over four minutes remaining.
The Pens spent the majority of the power play in the
Caps'
zone, albeit mostly on the perimeter. Having survived all but seven
seconds of the power play, Brooks Laich (winner of 9 of 11 faceoffs one
night ago) was tasked with winning a defensive zone draw. He lost it
and Darryl Sydor fired a shot that again deflected off Jurcina past
Kolzig three seconds later. With the Capitals guaranteed at least one
point, the game went to overtime. Sergei Gonchar redeemed two earlier
miscues by netting the game winner, dropping Washington's record after
regulation to 2-5.
Ovechkin left the ice in the third period for an unknown
(at
the time) reason. He appeared to be in pain with a significant tear to
his hockey pants. It was later revealed that he had suffered a cut to
his leg and was waiting on the doctor to make it down to the dressing
room to stitch him up. My question is this: Why is there no doctor at
ice level? What the heck would happen if there was, god forbid, another
Clint Malarchuk-like injury? This is pro sports. These are
million-dollar athletes. This is big business that involves very
physical -- even violent -- play...and there is no doctor nearby?
Ovechkin is expected to suit up Saturday night in Ottawa.
As for the goaltending situation, Boudreau and the
Capitals
will likely decide between calling up 32 year old, minor league veteran
Frederic Cassivi and 21 year old Daren Machesney. I, personally, would
like to see Machesney promoted. Cassivi has been around long enough and
he has not proven himself to be anything more than a career minor
leaguer. Machesney, a 5th round pick in 2005, has played better than
"The Sieve" in Hershey and the Capitals now have an opportunity to see
if they have a Karri Ramo on their hands. (Ramo, the netminder who made
several gorgeous saves on Ovechkin and others last night for the
Lightning, was a 6th round pick in 2004 and has a .939 save percentage
in his 3 games this year.)
A few notes from the game:
- Boyd Gordon returned to the lineup after missing 12
games.
He played over 13 minutes, assisted on Brashear's first period goal,
and won 9 of 12 faceoffs. Quintin Laing was scratched to make room for
Gordo.
- Brian Pothier should have broken his thumb earlier.
He has
scored goals on wicked slap shots in both games he's played with the
fractured digit.
- Nicklas Backstrom assisted on the Caps' second and
third
goals. It was his 6th multi-point game in his career, all of which have
come since Boudreau took the team over, giving him 16 points in his
last 17 outings.
- The Morrisonn penalty may have been a poor call by
the
official, but Mo got away with one at the end of the second period.
Evgeni Malkin motored by him to the outside and Shaone dove to try and
knock the puck away. He got nothing but Malkin's feet with his stick,
causing the Russian to go crashing hard into the boards.
- Division rival Tampa Bay continues to slide with
another
loss tonight. The point the Caps earned by taking the game into
overtime has moved them into a tie with the Lightning in the standings.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
The Holidays Keep on Giving for Coach Boudreau
Bruce Boudreau's Thanksgiving Day was one he will never
forget. He
received the call he'd dreamed of getting since his coaching career
began some 17 years ago. Now,
less than five weeks later, Boudreau received a belated Christmas gift
as he officially lost the "interim" tag to become the "head coach" of
the Capitals.
Just as they had in Boudreau's first game behind an NHL
bench, the Capitals rewarded their head man with a victory following
his second round of good news in little more than a month. After
falling behind early, the Capitals again overcame the deficit
(something that has become commonplace under the new coach) to beat the
Tampa Bay Lighting, 3-2, in front over of 15,000 fans at the Verizon
Center, the largest crowd for a southeast opponent this season outside
of the home opener.
The holiday turnout was treated to an outstanding
performance by the team's so-called checking line. The group of David
Steckel, Quintin Laing, and Matt Bradley played their best game of the
season, combining for 2 goals, 4 assists, and a +7 rating. The trio of
muckers led the Capitals to the much needed "W" on a night when the
more skilled Caps' players were beaten time and time again by promising
rookie netminder Karri Ramo, a name we are likely to get tired of
hearing in the years to come.
The Capitals, who overcame two separate one-goal
deficits on their way to victory, got a fortunate call on their third
period go ahead goal that went upstairs for review. Matt Bradley's
game-winning tally crossed the goal line just as the net was knocked
off its moorings by a Lightning defenseman. In my opinion, the goal
should not have been much of a question. Had a Capitals player knocked
the puck off or if the puck would have otherwise gone wide had the net
stayed in place, the goal should not be allowed. But on a split second
play where the defending player knocks the net off, it should WITHOUT A
DOUBT count. After Brett Hull's Cup winning goal a decade ago, the foot
in the crease rule was changed -- this rule should be changed as well.
At least the rule didn't cost the Caps last night, but it easily could
have.
Washington has been making a habit of defeating the
teams they need to in their recent rise up the Southeast Division
standings. The Capitals, now just six points out of a playoff spot, are
5-1-1 against division opponents since the coaching change and just one
point behind Tampa for 4th place in the Southeast.
The Caps head up to Pittsburgh today to take on Sidney
Crosby and the rest of those hated Penguins and, with a win, will move
to within four points of that obnoxious franchise.
A few notes from the game:
- Did Craig Laughlin spend his Christmas break in St.
Louis, Missouri? He kept referring to Munchkin Marty as SAINT LOO-IS,
not the proper French-Canadian pronunciation of SAINT LOO-EE. That was
not only annoying, but embarassing as well. Locker's been around long
enough that he knows how to say it -- and the staff at Comcast
SportsNet should give him a good ribbing for his inexcusable butchering
of the name.
- Washington dominated on face-offs, an area in which
they have had their recent struggles. They won 30 of 49 and were led by
Brooks Laich, who won 9 and lost just 2 faceoffs.
- Brian Pothier turned in a very gutty performance,
broken thumb and all. He led the Capitals with 3 blocked shots and
blasted the tying goal from the point late in the second period and,
along with Jeff Schultz, was one of only two Caps' defensemen with a
plus rating on the night. Despite spending part of the month as a
healthy scratch, he has scored 3 of his 4 goals in the month of
December.
- The Capitals power play went without a goal and has
now been shutout in their last nine opportunities. On the bright side,
Washington has done a good job of staying out of the box in the last
two games, killing off all four penalties along the way.
POST-GAME INTERVIEWS
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
The Holiday Break has Ended, Hockey Heats Up
Hopefully everyone had a good holiday, filled with
family, friends, food, and fun. For hockey fans though, the fun is just
beginning.
Not only do the Capitals kick off a three-game set over
the next four nights tonight in Washington, but the World Junior
Championships (in which three future Capitals will be competing) kicked
off this morning and will conclude the day after four opening games
have been played. Not to mention that we are now only six days away
from an event hockey fans all over North America will be glued to, the
Winter Classic on New Year's Day. The holidays just keep on giving.
The Washington Capitals entered the holiday break on a
down note, winning only one of their last five, and are still without
Chris Clark, Boyd Gordon, and not Brian Pothier. It appears that John
Erskine will again get the nod ahead of Steve Eminger to fill in for
Potsy.
A win tonight at the Verizon Center against a Tampa team
that is the worst road team in the NHL (3-12-1) will pull Washington to
within one point of the Lightning for 4th place in the Southeast
Division standings.
Across the pond, a country noted for producing Pilsener
style beers; marionette puppets; and under-achieving, mullet-wearing
hockey players (yes Jags, that means YOU!) will showcase talent that
will soon be skating for teams like the Flyers, Red Wings, Sabres,
Capitals, and 26 other NHL franchises.
The World Junior Championships kicked
off about 10 am this morning and will feature four games today. You can
find the complete schedule here. Although
we will have to settle for scores and news recaps for the opening
stages of the tournament, beginning January 2 us North American folk
can watch the later rounds on the NHL Network. It's our chance to see
the future of the NHL: guys like John Tavares, Steven Stamkos, Kyle
Turris, James vanRiemsdyk, and the Capitals' own Karl Alzner, Josh
Godfrey, and Michal Neuvirth. In fact, the Caps' trio of youngsters
will be on the same ice sheet at 2:00 pm today as Canada squares off
against the Czech
Republic to open their respective schedules.
 To
kick off the new year, hockey fans all over North America will be
watching the happenings in Orchard Park, New York. The Buffalo Sabres
will be hosting the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first outdoor game on
United States soil. Ralph Wilson Stadium (formerly Rich Stadium),
ordinarily the home for the Buffalo Bills of the No Fun League, will
hold up to 73,000 hockey aficionados. We at home are likely to have a
much better view of the action as the seats appear to be a good
distance away from the on-ice action.
With an average January high of
30 degrees and low of 13 degrees Fahrenheit, Buffalo's cold winter
weather makes it an attractive home for the contest to take place.
Earlier this week, however, they were calling for rain during game
time, but as we all know weather forecasts are continually changing and
as of now, it is looking like snow and very gusty winds. Should make
for an extremely entertaining day. Below is the current forecast, but In
Ahead will keep you updated on any
changes.
HOCKEY FANS,
REJOICE!!!
Weather Forecast courtesy of The
Weather Channel
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Lackluster Effort Fails to Bring Two Points to
Washington
There was a time, not too long ago either, when the
Washington Capitals simply owned the New York Islanders. They could
have probably sent the "Little Caps" up to Nassau Colisseum and walked
out with a win. From 1997-2003, the Caps outscored the Islanders 108-57
on their way to an astounding 25-1 record with 3 ties. Those days,
however, are long past. The Islanders' rebuilding period ended and
Washington's began. The Capitals, now 0-3 this season against their
former Patrick Division rivals, are losers of 10 of their last 13 to
the Isles.
In a game reminiscent of the first meeting in Uniondale,
N.Y., the Capitals were late getting to loose pucks, unable to free
themselves to create scoring chances, and generally looked lethargic as
a team. While the shot disparity was similar (the Capitals were outshot
31-12 back in October and 31-16 last night) the end result was not as
favorable for the Capitals. Olie Kolzig single-handedly backstopped the
Caps to their third win of the season two and a half months ago by
stopping 30 of 31 Islander shots. On this night, he turned in another
very solid performance but the Capitals' stagnant offense failed to
create enough chances to give Olie his 11th win of the season.
Whenever a team has more shots blocked by the opposing
team's players rather than by their goalie, you know that's not a good
sign. The Islanders blocked 18 of the Capitals shots, while DiPietro
only had to face 16. The only other occasion this season that this
happened? The first meeting with the Islanders when the Caps had 20
shots blocked and were only able to get 12 through to the cage. Can
someone explain why the Islanders, who entered last night's game in the
midst of a 3-7-1 slump and are the league's lowest scoring team, now
have the Capitals' number? Is it just the way nature balances things?
Does it mean we will have to endure losing to a pretty lousy franchise
for another 16 games to make up for the 29 in which the Isles could not
buy a win against the Caps? Someone, please explain!
Remember when Bruce Boudreau said that the Capitals
can't win consistently without Alexander Semin scoring? Well Semin has
scored a goal in each of the last 3 games (plus a shootout goal) and
the Capitals have not won any of the 3 games. Winning a hockey game
requires that all 20 players who dress outplay the 20 players on the
other side of the ice. When your forecheckers can't create turnovers,
your star players are bottled up all night, and you are owned inside
the face-off dots (see
the shot charts below,) you will almost always lose. And
that's just what happened last night.
 WHICH
TEAM WON? 
A few notes from the game:
- In a game that was chock-full of whistles, there were
very few penalty calls. Of the 6 penalties in the game, only 2 lasted
the full two minutes. The others were shortened by other penalty calls,
not power play goals.
- Speaking of penalties, the first goal of the game
should never have been scored. Brooks Laich was mugged from behind and
lost control of the puck. The Islanders took control and fed Miroslav
Satan who broke up ice all alone and scored on the breakaway. There
were a number of other penalties that should have been called, but the
refs preferred to let play continue.
- Viktor Kozlov was the Capitals best player last
night, the first time we can say that about him this year. While his
goalless streak increased to 20 games, he led the Capitals with two
assists, three shots, a +2 rating, and did not commit a turnover.
- Both Alexes scored -- Ovechkin had his 25th and Semin
netted his 5th -- something we saw them do alot last season.
Unfortunately, we saw something else last night that happened alot last
season, a Capitals' loss.
- The overtime game-winner was a goal Olie would have
like to have stopped, but it was created by a set of unlucky
circumstances. Mike Green got clipped in the ear by Jeff Schultz's
stick and was down and out when his defensive responsibility, Richard
Park, was all alone to score. Green required two stitches but should be
fine when the Capitals resume play after the Christmas break.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Capitals Have Some Fun on the Town
Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post spent the day with
the Capitals'
Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Mike Green, and Matt Bradley. They
took a tour through downtown D.C. on segways, those peculiar looking,
two-wheeled machines that speed people through urban streets. Watching
them, particularly Ovechkin, can be a little nerve-racking. I'm sure
Mr. Leonsis would agree.
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