Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Caps eke out 2 points against Predators

The Caps, amazingly enough, sit at the top of the SE division at this early moment in time during the long hockey season. They played an ugly game last night, other than the 1st period, against the Nashville Predators, but came away with two points on a shootout.

I actually got to see the game since I went unlike several thousands of other fans who had to listen to it on the radio because Versus had exclusive rights to hockey in that time slot last night. Instead, they featured the Philadelphia Flyers 7-0 thrashing of the Atlanta Thrashers. Great job NHL...way to interest people in hockey!

And if anyone thinks the Caps didn't miss Alex Ovechkin (he's in Russia with his ailing grandfather) because he's not scoring, think again. His presence, hard work and physical play was sorely missed last night.

What I liked:

  • Alexander Semin continues to play like a beast and he sits atop the league leader board in points and goals with 16 and 8 respectively. He was awarded 1st star of the game last night, rightfully so. He set up David Steckel on a beautiful short-handed goal and he made another spectacular goal off a feed from Nicklas Backstrom (one of his rare nice plays so far this year and in listening to Nicky post game he knows he needs to play better).
  • David Steckel played with a lot of hustle last night, throwing his body around and making the short-handed goal. He was awarded the 2nd star last night.
  • Viktor Kozlov scored his first goal of the season. I've come to appreciate the quietly effective things Kozlov brings to the Caps game because they missed him when he was out with an injury.
  • The first period where the Caps played with energy and had 19 shots on goal compared to the Predators 4.

What I didn't like:

  • The 2nd and 3rd periods where the Caps had 10 shots on goal and couldn't get the puck of their defensive zone. They played lackluster again. The crowd wasn't even that into the game. What happened to the Caps team that played with such energy last year? I realize it was a unique circumstance trying to go from last to first, but geesh, will the real Washington Capitals please show up and play 60 minutes of hockey?
  • The defense played horribly last night. I yelled Mike Green's name in frustration several times, but it wasn't just him. Shaone Morrisonn played just as bad. Tom Poti please come back soon.
  • Does referee Paul Devorsky hate the Washington Capitals? It sure seems like it.

Next up...the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday in Buffalo.

Let's go Caps!

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3 Comments:

At 3:45 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

All I can say is I hate you! LOL, I was stuck listening to Steve "I YELL AT EVERY LINE CHANGE" Kolbe do the play by play!!! And I HEART RUSSIAN HOCKEY and ESPECIALLY SASHA SEMIN...but you already knew that. I can't wait to get back to a game in person, although I guess it's too much to ask for 60 minutes of hockey and for just one or two guys to play defense (i.e. Green and hell Theodore would be a good start)!

 
At 6:30 AM, Blogger Caps Dreamer said...

I figured you weren't too happy that you didn't go to that game! Boy are they stinking it up lately though. I'm glad I didn't watch Saturday's loss since I busy. Where did our Caps go?

 
At 5:33 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

It was a miserable game and they did deserve to lose. If the defense doesn't start to pick it up, the team is going no where. Erskine, Green, Morrisson, and especially Shultz. If they can't clear the puck how can anyone expect to mount any decent offense. I couldn't agree with you more about what happened to the passion? I don't know where their heads are these days, but sure isn't on hockey.

Love your blogs and thanks!

 

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