Friday, January 25, 2008

Goaltending (Yes, Goaltending) Leads Capitals to Win

Olie Kolzig, mired in a slump of career ending proportions, looked on as "backup" Brent Johnson gave Leafs' netminder Vesa Toskala a taste of his own medicine. A day after leading Toronto to a victory with stellar goaltending, Toskala was good -- but not as good as Johnson.

Adding fuel to an ever-intensifying goaltending debate in Washington with another star studded performance, Johnson has improved his record under Bruce Boudreau to 5-1-0 (the only loss occurred when Johnny came on in relief of Kolzig and stopped 14 of 15 shots -- the only one to get by was the eventual game winner.) Compare the statistics of Kolzig and Johnson since Thanksgiving and you tell me who should be the Caps' starting goaltender on the other side of the All Star break:

Had both goaltenders performed at this level all season long, Johnson would rank 2nd in the NHL in both GAA and save percentage.  Kolzig would place 44th in GAA and 45th in save percentage -- out of 45 qualifying goalies.  What more proof does Boudreau need to realize that he has the wrong guy etched in as his starter?  The coach was quoted after the game as saying, "Our goalie won us the game."  So just maybe...

In Toronto, the Capitals deserved to win but Toskala beat them.  In Washington, the Maple Leafs deserved to win but Johnson beat them.  Do you see how that works?  Goaltending wins games.  Scoring goals just makes it easier.  The latter has not been one of the Caps' problems for quite some time, but the Leafs did an excellent job of limiting the Capitals scoring chances.

Washington mustered only 20 shots on Toskala, their third lowest output of the season, but it was Alex Ovechkin and his blistering slap shots that gave the Capitals just enough offense to come away with the win.  Although Ovie didn't increase his league leading goal total, he was credited with two assists.  His first helper came when Brooks Laich deflected his bomb from the power play point.  The second assist was registered when Toskala left a huge rebound off Ovechkin's slapper, leaving Viktor Kozlov to pot the loose puck for his 5th goal in four games.

While Ovechkin's two points moved him to within one of Vinny Lecavalier's point total (which was leading the league before the day's play began,) both Southeast Division stars saw Daniel Alfredsson vault from 7th to the NHL's top spot with a three goal, four assist performance against Lecavalier's Tampa Bay Lightning.  Alfredsson now has 67 points, Lecavalier has 66, and Ovechkin ends the day at 65.

With Washington's win, Tampa Bay's loss, and Atlanta and Florida both losing in a shootout, the Capitals enter the All-Star Break as the only team in the Southeast Division with a record above .500 (23-22-5) and are now just one point behind Carolina with two games in hand.  The Caps have set themselves up for a second half run...but who will lead the way between the pipes?  We may find out on Tuesday in Montreal.  Then again, we may not.

In other news, the Caps have signed Donald Brashear to a one year extension making him a Cap through the 2008-09 campaign.

A FEW NOTES FROM THE GAME:

• Milan Jurcina played a season high 24:39. In fact, he had reached the 20 minute mark only once before since Boudreau took over. He finished the night a +1 with a team high 6 hits and was tied for the team lead with 4 blocked shots (with guess who...yep you're right, the guy with the Bobby Clarke smile.)
• Speaking of ice time, Jeff Schultz and Steve Eminger combined played fewer minutes than any of the Caps top four D-men.
• Every Cap that bowed to the task on faceoffs won more than they lost. The list even includes Matt Bradley who went 2-0 on draws. As a team, the Caps were 62 percent. They currently rank 11th in the league for the season at 50.9 percent.
• The Capitals have improved (at least temporarily) their penalty killing. Entering the two game set versus Toronto, the Caps killed off only 12 of 19 penalties in the three games prior. Against the Leafs, they were a perfect 8 for 8 -- albeit against the league's 28th ranked power play unit.

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