Washington Capitals Hockey
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Time for a New Plan, And Fast
A regular season ending that has created so much
optimism has taken a turn for the worse. Not only have the Washington
Capitals lost two straight, they didn't even have a chance.
Where to begin? We'll start with the most glaring stat
-- shots on goal. A game after being outshot 41-24, the Capitals showed
up flat again, this time registering just 19 shots while allowing 33.
As for the percentage of shot attempts that actually hit the mark, the
Flyers connected on 58% (33 shots, 11 blocked, 13 missed) while the
Capitals were just 31% (19 shots, 25 blocked, 18 missed).
Check out the shot charts from both games superimposed on each other:
Now that the most obvious factor is out of the way, it's
time to take a look at everything else. And, unfortunately, it's A LOT
of everything else.
First off, there is a TON of contact on Cristobal
Huet...and some crummy calls to boot. Why Daniel Briere was not given
an additional penalty for interference on those conincidental minors is
beyond me. Had the Capitals been given the man advantage, Tom Poti
likely would not have been whistled for hooking on the 4-on-4. Poti's
penalty late in the second allowed Briere to score on the power play
with less than 10 seconds in the period, giving the Flyers a 4-2 lead.
It's become clear that the Flyers have gotten into
Huet's head. He is not making those critical saves that he's made look
routine in recent weeks. Sure he can't see some of them with all the
screens the Flyers are expertly setting up, but he needed to stop that
penalty shot by Mike Richards -- and didn't. And rebound
control...don't get me started on rebound control. Is it just me or did
he absorb just one shot for a cover all game long? One out of 33.
Everything else was left in play, some of a quite juicy nature.
Now a big, big question. Is it time to consider starting
Olie Kolzig? He's a much more imposing physical presence than
the Frenchy, possibly preventing the Flyers from consistently crashing
the crease. Not to mention a mean streak that puts all but Ron Hextall
and Billy Smith to shame. Perhaps Huet is a bit fatigued from starting
10 in a row and Kolzig could provide a storybook finish. Or perhaps I'm
talking out of my behind. But I don't think so.
- Gotta start with that top line, and may as well look
straight up the middle. Nicklas Backstrom looks like a rookie, and not
a rookie of the year candidate. He's getting outmuscled and is unable
to create anything offensively. His ineptitude is allowing the Flyers
to key on Alex Ovechkin, preventing Ovie from getting any space
whatsoever.
- Viktor Kozlov hit the crossbar. That's the best thing
he did all night. He did play a little keep away down low on one shift,
but when you can't get the puck to Ovechkin who was lurking in the slot
with good inside position, there's no
point other than wasting energy.
- The top line's stats over the past two games: 0
Goals, 1 Assist, -8 Rating, 9 Giveaways, 3 Takeaways. Need I go on?
- As for the second line, Sergei Fedorov spent quite a
bit of time on defense with Jeff Schultz logging just 2:23 of ice time.
Hence, Brooks Laich was forced into the second line center role. That
didn't work so well either. Between Fedorov, Laich, Alexander Semin,
and Matt Cooke, the line was a combined -6.
- By the way, the NHL should institute a new stat. They
already have Missed Shots. To appease Semin, they need to add Whiffed
Shots. I
counted three in this game alone.
- The best player of the night for Washington (and this
is why they lost) was Eric Fehr. He played just 8 minutes but scored a
goal, blocked a shot, made a takeaway, and was a team high +2. But for
a guy projected as a power forward, he goes down far too easily.
- Honorable mention goes to Donald Brashear who set
Fehr up for his goal with some good, tough work down low. Maybe he
should have been rewarded with more than 5:31 of ice time, especially
in a physically grueling playoff series.
- Just by the way, Derian Hatcher (who the Capitals
passed over years ago in the draft when they chose John Slaney...oops)
had a wonderful return to the lineup after missing a month with a
broken leg. My how the Capitals could have used his +3, 3 hit, 4
blocked shot performance.
The Capitals need to make some drastic changes in their
gameplan. They are being schooled and are fruitlessly reacting to
everything
the Flyers are doing, not controlling the play as they have
successfully done since Thanksgiving. One poor performance is
excusable, two in a row signifies something much more maligned.
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