Caps...the details matter

Ugh.  The Caps don't look like a team with high aspirations for the post season, so far. They started out on fire, while I worked my tail off in Las Vegas and couldn't watch.  Caps started out with a 4-1 victory over Boston and 6-4 win over Toronto which wasn't as close as it sounds.  Tonight, they blew it against the New Jersey Devils and lost in a 3-2 shootout.

Some observations:

• Jose Theodore's playing inspired in net.  He's kept the Caps in games and had some unbelievable saves in the 3rd period tonight.
• Alex Ovechkin leads the league in points, but needs to help this team take the next step.
• Mike Knuble and Brendan Morrison more than make up for an oft-injured Sergei Fedorov (don't get me wrong, I love the guy and will never forget his $4M goal to keep the Caps in the playoffs last April, but the Caps needed a net crasher) and Viktor Kozlov.  Knuble brings that crease crashing forward the Caps have desperately needed.  Morrison plays like a guy with a 1-year contract, trying to impress.
• Sloppy penalties, sloppy penalties, slopping penalties.  Need I go on.
• I'd much rather have Mike Knuble on the top line than Alexander Semin.   See bullet #3 - Caps need his net crashing on the top line and I like having a scorer on the 2nd line, too.
• I'm glad Quintin Laing is a Cap.  He gives it his all every single night and he's fun to watch when he's blocking shots even when you're wincing at the impact.
• The rest of the forwards need to step it up....hello secondary scoring anybody?
• Coach Bruce Boudreau needs to learn how to light a fire under this team and fast.
• The defense - sigh - it doesn't seem to be any better than last year. The seasoning isn't helping.  The forwards need to learn to play two-way hockey, too, and now.  That's what wins playoff hockey games.

A mediocre start based on what little I've seen, so far, and what I've read.

Now, comes a couple of usually troubling West Coast teams to taunt the Caps, starting with the San Jose Sharks.

Let's go Caps!