Caps look ugly and lose to the Panthers 5-3

What an ugly boring excuse for a hockey game.  The Florida Panthers are now in 3rd place in the Southeast Division after getting two points from the Capitals.  They are a team that beats the Caps often even when they're languishing at the bottom of the SE.

The Caps showed zero energy last night.  I don't care that they're, battered, bruised and playing with an AHL defense, they should still play like the professional hockey players they're paid to be.   This team is starting to tick me off.  I'll give them the injuries, but not the energy level, particularly, considering those call ups should be playing with extra energy or they might not be here too long.

The highlights:

• Hmm, can't really think of any.  Okay, one, Nicklas Backstrom netted the first goal and got an assist later.  He also was awarded the first star of the game.   It is delightful to watch his vision on the ice sometimes.  Last night was one of those nights.

The lowlights:

• The AHL defense again.  The Caps are severely missing Mike Green's ability to get the puck out of the defensive zone.
• Karl Alzner played his worst night with the big club.
• David Steckel scored for Florida off of Alzner's skate.
• The Caps spent way too much time in the defensive zone because they were incapable of clearing the puck across the blue line.
• Jose Theodore didn't play well enough to keep the Caps in the game.  To give him slight credit, the defense in front of him stunk up the phone booth.  But, once again, he gave up three goals.  Last night that happened before the mid-mark of the game.
• The offense didn't do much better and trying to make it up in the last 7 minutes of the game isn't going to get the job done. 

Ugh, ugh, ugh.

I hope to see something different tomorrow night when the New York Islanders visit.

Let's go Caps!