Wednesday, February 27, 2008

After the Smoke Clears, Laich Propels Caps

The excitement of George McPhee's maneuvering may have upstaged Washington's workmanlike effort against Minnesota, but the big news is that the Capitals finally got off the snide with a desperately needed 4-1 win. Though things began to settle down a bit after the moves were finalized, much of the dressing room remained shellshocked in regards to the arrival of goaltender Cristobal Huet.

The move may be the one that sends Washington to the postseason, but retaining both Olie Kolzig and Brent Johnson leaves the team in a very awkward situation. Not only does the trade leave Olie and Johnny with an unsettling feeling (probably a grave understatement,) but it throws some wrinkles in the direction of Bruce Boudreau.

While inserting Sergei Fedorov and Matt Cooke, the day's other acquisitions, into the lineup will be easy, manipulating a trio of veteran netminders with fewer than 20 games remaining will be a wearisome chore for the coach. Especially if Kolzig makes a habit of stopping 34 of 35 shots. Not surprisingly, Johnson feels like the odd man out, and he may be right. "As of right now it looks like I'm gonna be in the stands," said the admittedly frustrated Johnson after the game.

As much as the pickup of Huet looks to help the Capitals on paper, you can't help but think you'll be able to cut the tension in the room with a knife once he's in town. The Capitals would have been well suited to have moved either Kolzig or Johnson, even if it was for practically nothing. Then turn the reigns over to Huet and take your shot at the postseason. Instead, the Capitals have to deal with two (if not three) very perplexed goaltenders rather than one who's merely surprised.

Despite the uncertainty, and led by a very solid effort from Kolzig, the Capitals' newly formed trio of Brooks Laich, Tomas Fleischmann, and Eric Fehr provided all the offense needed for Washington to keep pace with Carolina, who beat the New Jersey Devils in overtime. The group of recent AHLers each finished a +4 on the night, with Laich leading the way by recording a career high in both goals and points. Laich, a trade deadline acquisition in his own right, put an exclamation mark on the best week of his career, finishing the the four game stretch with 4 goals and 2 assists while adding the intangibles that don't show up on the scoresheet.

On the other hand, the recently minted top line of Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, and Alexander Semin produced no offense and was on the ice for Minnesota's only tally. Semin's five game goal streak came to an end, while Ovechkin's scoreless drought has reached a career-long six games. The line has likely seen it's last full game together as Viktor Kozlov should step in at right wing, moving Semin to the second line alongside newly added Sergei Fedorov -- at least to start.

One area it was thought the Capitals would try and bolster was its' defense. With Brian Pothier is presumably out for the remainder of the season (and perhaps more) after suffering his fifth career concussion. Add the consistently inconsistent performances from the likes of Milan Jurcina, John Erskine, Jeff Schultz, and Steve Eminger, and it's been well stated that the Caps need a guy who can clear the front of the net. But the corps remains intact. And they performed well, clearing rebounds from harms way and preventing the talented Wild attack from creating good scoring chances.

Tom Poti in particular played a very sound game both offensively and defensively. Even Shaone Morrisonn stepped into the action by scoring his first goal in 76 games on what should be a newly designed play. A pass intended for Fleischmann, who completely whiffed on a one timer, found Mo for a one timer of his own. Minnesota goalie Niklas Backstrom, no relation to our own, went down to stop the Flash shot that never came, leaving himself out of position for Morrisonn's blast. The play was reminiscent of a volleyball set where a couple players jump to spike the ball with only the furthest away connecting. Ugly, but effective.

Although Washington gained no ground on the Hurricanes, the Caps are restocked and primed for a late season run. With two games in hand and two more head to head contests with Carolina, the Capitals still control their own destiny. It won't be easy as Carolina is the second hottest team in the conference and fourth hottest in the league -- the same as Washington was for the two months that got them back in the playoff hunt.

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