Pass Shoot Score

Welcome Mike Knuble!

2009-07-01T19:04:00.000-07:00

I'll be so much happier to see you in a Capitals uniform than a Flyers uniform.

I like what I've read about Knuble's vocal leadership. The Caps need that in the locker room. Thank you GMGM for finding a RW replacement for Viktor Kozlov that scored more last year and crashes the net. Whippee.

Now, onto the criticism. "At defense, we're fine." Seriously? Semyon Varlamov stole a couple of playoffs game for the Caps and covered up for the defense that didn't get the job done. Not that other players weren't responsible for that game 7 debacle against Pittsburgh. There was plenty of blame to go around, but the defense needs an upgrade. Maybe he's being the cagey GMGM that plays his cards close to his chest, but we won't know the answer to that, for a while, I suspect.

The Caps also have other needs, like a 2nd line center, but GMGM didn't say they were fine there.

I get that there isn't Cap space and there weren't really any good free agents on defense to go after so I don't hold out hope anything will happen during this period unless a trade happens. Now, I'm a huge fan of John Carlson, having tracked his growth this past season and last summer, but I don't know if he's ready to be an impact player. I'd rather play him than Jeff Schultz though for his physical play alone.

It sure was an interesting day for Caps fans today.

Let's go Caps!

It's too bad that

2009-06-12T20:11:00.000-07:00

the South Carolina Stingrays are the 2009 ECHL Champions

and the AHL Hershey Bears are the winner of the Calder Cup

and the Washington Capitals still aren't built for the playoffs.

David Steckel brings the Caps home for Game 7

2009-05-11T19:14:00.000-07:00

Being a Caps fan is not for the faint of heart, particularly, if you've watched this team for as long as I have. There are two many overtime losses, too many playoff losses to Pittsburgh and too many years that the team was neglected by its owner when they wouldn't put a truly competitive NHL team on the ice. To this day, I will never forget how badly outmatched the Caps were in their only finals appearance against the Detroit Red Wings. To have your heart ripped out in the post season seemed like an annual occurrence. See last year's game 7 against the Philadelphia Flyers for the most recent example.

Then, came Ted Leonsis, General Manager George McPhee and the ultimate gift for a fan, a young Russian rookie named Alex Ovechkin. Ovie was soon joined by Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green and Alexander Semin settled into playing here and being a Capital with his Russian teammate. They became the young guns.

Add to that, Semyon Varlamov, the young rookie net minder who has played six more playoff NHL hockey games than he played in the regular season and generated a .925 save percentage and a 2.28 GAA. His athleticism and acrobatics in net on some of his saves are eye popping to watch. And, Varlamov's calm cool demeanor make me sure the Caps have found their goalie of the future. He's living up to his billing as I've been reading about him for quite some time and saw him last summer at the Caps rookie development camp.

Then stir in the heart and soul players of this Capitals team like Matt Bradley who will gladly take a punch to rile up his team, Brooks Laich who knows how to camp out in front of the net and last night, David Steckel who has played huge, huge, huge in these playoffs with the overtime game winning goal to force game 7 last night after missing his overtime opportunity in game 5. Coach Bruce Boudreau keeps saying Steckel is a big game guy. I believe him now.

And what does all of that get you? The "cardiac Caps" an affectionate moniker widely used to describe these Capitals and it makes it painful for me to watch them, at times. Like last night. Ovie thinks the fans enjoy this, but I don't. I merely want them to win. And, by a lot of goals.

Instead, the Caps are facing another game 7, another win or go home game, against a team I hate with intense passion. I thought I'd be okay if the Caps only won one series this year, but I won't. I'll be heartbroken. Just like last year.

Let's go Caps!

Ovie takes the game with Varly's support

2009-05-05T20:55:00.000-07:00

The phone booth crowd rocked the red in a deafening cacophony of Caps fan cheering, screaming, blaring horns, taunting Fleury and going nuts. That was my most sublime live hockey experience ever. To watch Alex Ovechkin take over a game from the Pittsburgh Penguins with his two goals for the hat trick in under three minutes starting at 12:53 in the third period was awesome. The only thing better will be watching the Washington Capitals life the Stanley Cup and, no, that's not a prediction about this year. See my tagline.

Simeon Valamov, leading in GAA with 1.51, continues to impress and kept the Caps in the game last night too often for comfort. His sprawling side to side saves look like something you'd see in Olympic gymnastics.

David Steckel got another important goal last night, too. Coach Bourdreau says he gets up for big games. He is most definitely showing that during the playoffs.

I loved that game even though playoff hockey is killing me as a fan. These one goal games and being tied in the 3rd are way too stressful.

The Capitals move to Mellon Arena to battle the Penguins in their barn tomorrow night.

Let's go Caps!

p.s. Oh, and yes, Sydney Crosby had his own hat trick and played a good game to keep his team competitive, but I'm a Caps fan and have no interest in writing about him - enough other NHL venues take care of that :)

Cardiac Caps Outlast Penguins 2-1

2009-05-02T11:13:00.000-07:00

In a game as exciting as promised with the last 3 Art Ross trophy winners on the ice, the Caps escaped with a 3-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Sydney Crosby scored first at 4:09 in the first on a shot that the young net minder Simeon Varlamov should have had, but I'm going to cut the rookie some slack on that one. The defense certainly wasn't helping him out early in the game as the Caps spent far too much time battling the Penguins in the defensive zone.

Varlamov let in a deflected goal at 12:54 in the second period. I worried about what that might do to Varly's confidence, but I forgot that worry when he made that highlight reel save on Sydney Crosby's shot. Crosby had a wide open net until Varly threw himself back towards the other side of the net and deflected Crosby's shot right at the goal line with his stick. That stop saved the game and got him another #1 star.

Other observations:

Caps were terrible on faceoffs, winning only 47%. They kept throwing everyone out of the circle. I loved Alex Ovechkin's shot off the faceoff.
They also had 22 giveaways to the Penguins 6. They need improvements on those stats to win this 7 game series.
The Brooks Laich - David Steckel - Matt Bradley line is awesome. They are battling hard, crashing the net and that resulted in a goal by David Steckel to tie the game at 1-1. Steckel deservedly got the 2nd star.
I'm glad Ovie and Mike Green learned that in the playoffs you sometimes need to dump the puck in.
Nicklas Backstrom's, 2 assists, patience in feeding Tomas Fleischmann early in the 3rd period resulted in the game winning goal. Backstrom just gets better and better.

The last 17 minutes of that game were excruciatingly painful to watch as I just wanted it to be over. Thankfully it ended with the Caps still up 3-2.

I'll be Rocking the Red Monday night at the phone booth.

Let's go Caps!

Cardiac Caps Push It But Feds & Varly Win It 2-1

2009-04-28T16:43:00.001-07:00

Simeon Varlamov - Tsarlamov, From Russia with Glove, Wallamov - whatever you want to call him, has been awesome in net, 2nd only to Roberto Luongo in stats this playoff season and 1st star of the game 7 tonight. He kept the Caps in it early in this game when they started out playing like shit - okay so let me define that - listless, not hustling, not battling, and generally not acting like it's a play or go home game. Unbelievable, in fact. The Caps believe their press clips way too much. Much of the media handed the Caps the series on a silver platter. That made me anxious all day. Note - I agree that they Caps were way too anxious for this game - they just caused me a heart attack in the process. So my prior comments are reflective of being a frustrated, but passionate Washington Capitals.

Regardless, this game was all about Sergei Fedorov who got the 2nd star - he actually deserved the first star with the game winner. I was critical of his play during the first two periods because he seemed too slow and it seemed like Alex Ovechkin was always way ahead of Feds and Viktor Kozlov. I wanted him off of Ovie's line and fast before the second period ended. Don't get me wrong. I love Sergei Fedorov and couldn't believe he ended up a Capital. I mean, seriously, how did a legend end up as a Capital? Sergei got the game winning goal on an absolutely beautiful shot at 15:01.

In an eerily prescient moment, Craig Laughlin said on the broadcast something to the effect of Sergei will have something to say about how this series end. Wow. He couldn't have been more right.

On a side note, Chris Clark played an up tempo, high energy game for his first game back since January.

It took the Caps until the 3rd period to find their game. They looked downright horrible during the first two periods. And the last almost five minutes of that game after Feds scored were painful. My heart raced way above normal during that time frame. 1998 was a long time ago, damn it, and I was tired of waiting.

Tonight, I don't have to wait anymore. Thank you Washington Capitals.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are up next.

Let's go Caps!

Poti torches former team to lead Caps in 5-3 win

2009-04-26T12:29:00.001-07:00

Tom Poti torched his former team with 1 goal and 3 assists to lead the way in the Caps tying up this series. The tape to tape pass play where David Steckel set Poti up for his goal was a thing of beauty. Poti's holding his ear up for the fans on his way off the ice after his post game interview cracked me up, but the Caps need to win another game so it's no time for cockiness. He played a great game.

Observations:

I'm loving the line of Brooks Laich, Matt Bradley and David Steckel. They are playing with high energy and fighting hard. Steckel's been money in the bank on the penalty kill as he's clearing the puck regularly.
Viktor Kozlov looked Ovie like with his dipsy do around the Rangers on that goal. The 4th puck that went glove high. Caps finally figured out how to successfully shoot on King Henrik.

Nicklas Backstrom continues to hold onto the puck as if losing it would cost him his life. He gets playoff hockey.
Alex Ovechkin deflected in a beautiful Poti pass to net his 3rd goal in three games.
John Erskine also gets playoff hockey.
We like it when Milan Jurcina lets that rocket of a shot go.
Mike Green came alive today and potted his first playoff goal. He apparently feels better which is certainly helpful.
Simeon Varlamov stayed strong in net and got the 2nd star even though he ultimately let in 3 Rangers goals.

But, why is it the Caps do the polar opposite of what their coach tells them to do sometimes? They take stupid penalties (and, yes, the refs appeared to be hard on the Caps) and gave the Rangers not one, but two, 5 on 3s. Ridiculous.

The Caps need to keep game 7 against Philadelphia last year in mind as they prepare for playing the Rangers Tuesday night. It all ends in a second as Joffrey Lupul so painfully showed them and us fans.

Let's go Caps!

Fan favorite Brads solves Lundqvist in a 4-0 win

2009-04-25T10:16:00.000-07:00

The phone booth rocked last night and not even the obnoxious NY Ranger fans behind me could ruin my night, thankfully, because the Caps showed up to play. Matt Bradley scored short-handed 4:12 in the first period against Henrik Lundqvist, the Caps nemesis this series, and then got a lucky sharp angle shot past Lundqvist later in the first to put the Caps up 2-0. Lundqvist should have had that puck and the crowd serenaded him after that.

Brads truly is a fan favorite because he's one of the hardest working players on the ice, he's gotten himself killed in fights against heavy weights just to get his team going and he won a shootout for the Caps being the 12th shooter to go out on the ice after practically jumping on the ice without his Coach's okay. He's also funny and the beat up Saturn he drives cracks me up. All of the fans I talked to last night wanted Brads to get a hat trick. That would have been too cool. He did get the first star, deservedly so.

The next star was Alex Ovechkin, who made another highlight reel goal to make it 4-0 to close out the 2nd and run Lundqvist back to the Ranger's bench. Ovie also had 5 hits, tied with David Steckel last night.

The third star was the spectacular and poised rookie, Sem-yon, Var-lam-ov, in net. He only had to make 20 saves, but some of those were also highlight reel material. His ability to do the splits and thrust his leg out to protect the far side of the net is fun to watch.

The other player I want to give props to is John Erskine. He's playing spectacular defense. Erskine will never be the quickest skater on the ice, but he's playing really hard and hustling out there.

The Caps controlled the neutral zone well and stepped up their forechecking. All in all it was a brilliant effort for the whole team. It's just incredibly frustrating as a fan that they get lazy when their backs are not against the wall. I give Ovie credit for promising us suicidal (kidding, but it's been rough) fans that this wasn't over yet. Thank you for keeping your promise.

Caps managed to rattle both the Rangers and their coach, John Tortorella as he had altercations with the fans and threw a water bottle into the crowd. Wow. How unprofessional is that. Let's hope the Caps are now in the Rangers head.

Keep it up boys.

Let's go Caps!

The definition of insanity...

2009-04-23T17:27:00.000-07:00

... is being a Caps fan since 1974 and still hanging around waiting for a Cup (no, I didn't expect one this year). The last and only time the Caps reached the Eastern Conference Finals was the last time the Caps won a playoff series. In 1998. 11 long years ago. Wayne Gretsky still played hockey for the New York Rangers (sigh) and got 90 points.

There probably isn't any particular hockey game that I remember with more clarity than the Caps first game against the Detroit Red Wings in that '98 finals. The Caps made a glorious ride on the back of their work horse net minder, Olie Kolzig and got some help along the way that year because the #1 seed - New Jersey, the #2 - Pittsburgh and #3 - Philadelphia got knocked out and the Caps, the #4 seed, kept rolling past Boston, Ottawa and Buffalo on its way to the finals.

That first game threw water over my oblivious love of the Capitals in spite of their flaws. Ten minutes into the game and I knew the Caps were doomed in my heart even though I continued to cheer and root for them like a crazy person. Why? Because they simply were out skilled. There was no way this Caps team would be capable of make those perfectly executed tape to tape passes up the ice that were a thing of beauty to watch if only I were a Detroit fan. (Hmmm, they still do that quite well today, 11 years later). Detroit swept the Capitals 4-0 in that series.

The Caps ownership at that time, Abe Pollin, couldn't care less about hockey. That Detroit series made me realize that he would never spend the money to field a competitive team. When he finally sold the team to Ted Leonsis all that started to change. And, then...

Fast forward to the summer I found out about Alex (Alexander at the time) Ovechkin. I read about him all summer and hoped that the sudden flicker of hope in my heart wouldn't be crushed again. When he scored "the goal" and I knew he meant to do that, my heart soared. Wow , we have a bona fide star in the making here. And, he is. From rookie year winning the Calder to his bevy of hardware from last summer - Art, Ross, Richard, Pearson - there's no doubt Ovie is a force for the Washington Capitals.

And, yet, the Caps are struggling again in this playoff series against the 7th seeded New York Rangers. Not that Ovie isn't trying because he's been a beast and, most definitely, a force on the ice in these games even though he hasn't scored much. Alexander Semin, Nicklas Backstrom and Simeon Varlamov, the young guns, have played well. Everyone else...not so much.

Ovie, I hear you and I'll be loud, proud, in red and probably losing my voice tomorrow. Please, unleash the fury.

Let's go Caps!

Caps & Varlamov Get It Done 4-0

2009-04-20T17:12:00.001-07:00

Wow. Simeon Varlamov. Wow. What else can I say. The 20-year old net minder has been nothing but impressive. A save he made with about 3 minutes left, a diving split, was a thing of beauty. Deservedly, he got the first star of the game.

I've seen this before with other young NHL goalies. They burn out (see Cam Ward's sophomore slump) or they become inconsistent (see Carey Price).

Observations:

John Erskine played one of his best games that I've ever seen. He pestered Sean Avery, got under his skin and forced him to take a couple of penalties. That was fun to watch.
We should be celebrating Alexander Semin's hat trick, but we'll settle for his two goals in the first period. Semin played an excellent game but he blew his first two scoring chances and he should have had them.
Nicklas Backstrom is one helluva a hockey player. This young pivot is very difficult to move off the puck and he's winning the battles along the boards and he's quarterbacking plays..
Alex Ovechkin made some wonderful defensive plays tonight, in addition, to his 2 assists. One of his sliding on the ice poke the puck off the defense man's stick was pretty (to be fair, he corrected his mistake of giving away the puck). His presence was felt.
Brian Pothier is sharp in his return from his long-term injury. He's providing the Caps with a steadiness and level of the experience on the blue line that they need. Their blue line is better with Pothier in it over Jeff Schultz.
The penalty kill performed killing off 7 of 7.

I was scared to watch this game.

Thanks Caps.

Let's go Caps!

Caps stink it up, lose 1-0 to Rags and go down 0-2

2009-04-18T15:17:00.000-07:00

I attended my first Caps game as a child in 1974 and have been sucker punched by them every year since then. They've found every imaginable way to lose in the playoffs over the years or not make it, at all. This game, the 2nd home ice game in the best of seven series against the New York Rangers was imperative for the Caps to win. Instead, they put in a lackluster effort and are now down two games heading back to Madison Square Garden.

The game was a disaster starting with the performance of Alex Ovechkin and including Mike Green, Viktor Kozlov, Alexander Semin, Michael Nylander, Sergei Fedorov, Tom Poti, Eric Fehr, Tomas Fleischmann. The players on this team who showed up to play include Matt Bradley, David Steckel, Nicklas Backstrom and the rookie net minder Simeon Varlamov. Varlamov didn't make the only stop he needed to, but that was a 2 on 1 breakaway in his first NHL playoff game after only playing 6 regular season games. I'll give him a break on that one. He was pretty composed for the most part and he had every right to be nervous.

Observations:

Coach Boudreau needs to change it up. The lines aren't working and they're not getting past Henrik Lundqvist's body in net.
Ovie needs to stop playing like he can do it all himself. He can't and he needs to work better with his teammates. His 5 giveaways were 2nd only to Mike Green.
Mike Green played horribly with 7 giveaways, 1 penalty, minus 1 hockey in only 23:44 of ice time compared to 30+ the first game.
Surprisingly, the penalty killing unit played really well, killing off all 5 of the Ranger opportunities.
The checking line played aggressively and I always noticed Matt Bradley and David Steckel for good reasons.
Nicklas Backstrom continues to impress me in the playoffs and it's amazing how much he flies under the radar screen in the NHL. He's one helluva a hockey player and he's getting impossible to get off the puck even in the grittier environment of the playoffs.
Henrik Lundqvist is an elite net minder and is playing the part, but the Caps need to create traffic in front of the net to get scoring. The coach, writers and players have been saying this all season long and, yet, the Caps still don't do it because they do not have the players that are willing to do that except for Brooks Laich. They will be playing golf in April again if they don't start doing it.
GM George McPhee hasn't won a playoff series in 10 years with the teams he built and it's not looking good this year either.
The Caps are playing worse than last year in the playoffs, so far, and that's the part that is downright depressing.

The series heads to New York on Monday. I'm hoping to see a different team show up, like the one that gave the Boston Bruins fits this season.

Let's go Caps!

Ugh...defense and goaltending kill the Caps

2009-04-17T18:51:00.000-07:00

It was an intensely fought battle and, in the end, the Caps succumbed to poor defense and goaltending.

Highlights and observations:

Jeff Schultz got owned by Brandon Dubinsky and then Jose Theodore muffed the save. Just an unbelievably awful play.
Alex Ovechkin came to play as he had 2 assists, 13 shots, 6 hits, 3 takeaways and played +2 hockey in 26:07. Ovie got the first star for a reason.
Mike Green played 30:47 (a bit much in my opinion) and ended the night -2 with 3 hits.
Nicklas Backstrom won 72% of his faceoffs which is a huge improvement over his numbers in some games this season. He learned how to play playoff hockey last year and I expect bigger things from him this year. The Caps won 70% of their draws. That's important in the playoffs.
Viktor Kozlov finally gets a goal in the playoffs. It is about time.

Jose Theodore played unacceptable hockey in that game and everyone's talking about it. Tomorrow night is probably one of the most important games of his career.

Let's go Caps!

Three more games...

2009-04-07T08:42:00.001-07:00

Caps thankfully only have three more games left before the second season starts. They played a good 3rd period against the Atlanta Thrashers the other night generating 4 goals in the last twenty to win 6-4. Apparently, Coach Boudreau yelled at them for their lazy playing in the first two periods and they finally woke up!

Although the Caps have a win-loss record that I can't argue with and are the winners of the Southeast Division for the second year in a row they've played with a lack of energy over the last month or so. The problem with that is that they still have something to play for and thats 2nd place in the Eastern Conference if they can stay ahead of the New Jersey Devils. Today that means that the Caps would play the Montreal Canadiens versus the Pittsburgh Penguins. It would be nice for the Caps to beat the Penguins in a playoff series, but my biggest hope is that the Caps get out of the first round of the playoffs.

The Caps are certainly capable of making a playoff push, but it depends on which Caps team shows up on any given day. The one that's beaten the Eastern Conference leading Boston Bruins 3 times out of 4 (an OT loss) or the one that plays down to their level of competition and loses to teams near or at the bottom of the standings. The team that can't seem to battle effectively against the gritty physical style of play that the Flyers play (also known as playoff hockey style) or the team that beat the defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings. The team that makes blind cross ice passes that end in giveaways or the team that cycles the puck effectively for another top of the NHL leader board power play goal. We'll find out soon enough.

Regardless of which team shows up in the playoffs, I've enjoyed the regular season. Some of my favorite highlights:

Alex Ovechkin's goal against the Habs where he banked the pass to himself and slide on the ice and got the puck to go into the net. There are too many Ovie highlights to name as he is always a joy to watch on the ice. I consider myself privileged to get to watch him night in and night out.
Participating in the standing ovation for Brian Pothier's first goal after a 14-month recovery from a concussion and eye problems.
Watching the rookie Karl Alzner play smart hockey as a call up for the too often injured Caps. He has a bright future in the NHL.
Seeing Mike Green break a defensive NHL record for goals scored in 8 games in a row, plus seeing him pot 30 goals after missing 13 games due to an injury earlier in the season. That injury gave me a great appreciation for Green's transition game as the Caps suffered without him on the blue line. He may well end up being the Norris trophy winner this year, or at the very least, a runner up.
Watching two young rookie net minders make their impressive NHL debuts. Simeon Varlamov and Michel Neuvirth make it easy for me to believe that the Caps have a long term solution to man the net.
Seeing Jose Theodore go from downright horrible his first two months to solid and, at times, spectacular in net where he often compensated for the Caps defensive lapses.
Following Nicklas Backstrom's development from a rookie into an elite class center in only his 2nd season.
Cheering for the many, many Hershey Bears that made their NHL debuts and ongoing appearances with the big club as the Caps suffered through a rash of injuries early in the season. They kept the Caps at the top of the league and it's testimony to the advantage of sharing playing systems between your AHL and NHL teams.
Watching Alexander Semin becoming a force on the penalty kill. He also played with such intensity early in the season that he was tearing up the league in scoring until he got injured. Seeing him fight made me laugh for two days...sorry Semin, it's meant with affection.
Cheering for the role guys, like Brooks Laich and Matt Bradley, who play their hearts out every shift.
Hoping to see more of next year....Milan Jurcina's slap shot with better accuracy, Tomas Fleischmann's scoring and Eric Fehr's ability to use his big body to crash the net and score more.

The Caps finish out their season on a SE Division road tour starting with the Atlanta Thrashers again tonight, then, followed by the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers to close the season out.

The second season is coming...time to step it up.

Let's go Caps!

Hmmm.who are these Caps, really?

2009-03-22T19:02:00.000-07:00

And that's a good question. Since I last wrote (and my new job precludes me from writing as often as I'd like to, but, hey I have a new avocation instead of spending too much time reading about the Washington Capitals so that's a good thing), the Caps have gotten smacked down by the Atlanta Thrashers, beaten up by the Carolina Hurricanes and Cam Ward but they also shut out Florida 3-0 and beat up on Tampa Bay 5-2. On a nightly basis it's impossible to know which Washington Capital team will show up.

The fans are losing it, as evidenced by the message boards, and are in varying degrees of mass hysteria but there's a history there. Caps fans are long suffering fans when it comes to playoff success. The Caps haven't won a round in the playoffs in ten years. If they win one playoff round this year, that, to me, would constitute a successful season.

The Caps, like Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green, may disagree with my seeming willingness to give up further playoff success so easily. But I don't see it yet. The Caps haven't yet realized that to be an elite team you have to stop playing down to bad teams and up for just the good teams. Elite teams play to win, always. The Caps don't. They sit back when they should be putting away teams.

The Caps defense will not get them very far in the playoffs. They still can't play worth a damn against gritty teams (see the Philadelphia Flyers games) and they get pushed around too easily. That is a recipe for playing golf in April.

I love this team, but I don't see them going far in the playoffs yet. Hopefully, they'll prove me wrong. I'd gleefully admit to being wrong since I'd be happier if the Caps were advancing in the playoffs than if they were out of it.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are up next for the Caps.

Let's go Caps!

Caps tough one out to get 2 points in Philly

2009-03-14T13:17:00.000-07:00

It's hard for me to decide which team from the state of Pennsylvania I hate most, the Pittsburgh Penguins or the Philadelphia Flyers. I think the Flyers have a slight edge right now as the Caps lost to them in game 7 in OT during the first round of the playoffs last year and they trounced the Caps 7-1 in December. On Thursday, at least, the Caps came out on top 2-1 at Philly for a nice mini road trip that ended with 4 points.

Alex Ovechkin scored, assisted and made the biggest defensive play of the game, by knocking the puck off a streaking Flyer's stick while sliding on the ice, for the first star. On the power play goal, Ovie shot to the net and Brooks Laich, perfectly positioned in front of the net, deflected the shot for the goal. The Caps win more games when they remember to park themselves in front of the net. Ovie's game winning 48th goal with a pass from Alexander Semin came with 2:41 left in the game. Semin interupted a Philly pass and sent it to Ovie in a beautiful move to get that goal.

The Caps penalty killers were stellar killing off 3 penalties in the first period and Jose Theodore made some highlight reel stops on Philly to get the 2nd star and keep the team in the game for the win.

The puck drops in two hours against the Carolina Hurricanes who are fighting for the 8th spot in the playoffs. They'll be hungry as every game counts for them so it'll be interesting.

Let's go Caps!

The fighters give the Caps momentum in Nashville

2009-03-13T17:22:00.001-07:00

The Caps won a hard fought game in Nashville against the Predators to get a rare win against a Western conference team. The first period between these teams erupted with two fights. The first one ended with watching Donald Brashear crumple to the ice after getting decked by Wade Belak. Brashear is one of the top fighters in the NHL and I've never seen him go down by like before. Matt Bradley went for redemption 3 minutes after the Brashear fight by going at it with Jordon Tootoo and left the ice a bloody mess. He came back after getting stitches. The fights energized the Caps and they played for their battle weary teammates.

Sergei Fedorov, once again, showed why he's a future hall of famer by taking the puck from a pretty Viktor Kozlov pass and patiently stick handling until he could make a slick move and shoot the puck around backup goalie Dan Ellis for the game winning goal. He was awarded the 2nd star of the game for his efforts. Ellis got the first star as he stymied the Caps on 42 of their 44 shots.

Nicklas Backstrom was awarded the 3rd star for his goal and overall stellar play in 23+ minutes of ice time. He is playing mighty impressive hockey these days. I don't envy defensemen trying to get him off the pucks because it stays on his stick through tough battles along the boards. Backie is playing physical playoff style hockey and it's only his 2nd year in the NHL.

The other two players playing like demons right now are Alexander Semin and Jose Theodore. Semin is playing with playoff intensity and Theodore, at times, is standing on his head to keep his team in the game. I'm not sure where this Theodore came from, but I like him a lot better than the Oct/Nov 2008 Theodore.

The Caps then traveled to Philly.

Let's go Caps!

Not a good time to slump - maybe OT loss signals a change

2009-03-09T19:39:00.000-07:00

The Caps have been playing like a team that doesn't care for the past couple of weeks other than a win over the Boston Bruins. They showed a little more heart and played a little better yesterday, coming back from 3-1 to tie the game against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 3rd period and ended up with a point in an overtime shootout loss.

This team has lost it recently and no one should think Coach Boudreau is happy with the way his team has played even if they are in first place in the SE and now in 3rd place in the Eastern conference. So, what is it? Do they believe their own hype too much as many have said? Is their defense just that bad (or that young and inexperienced) to begin with? Do they really think they're an elite team too good for the likes of the teams that are below them in the standings? And, if that's the case, why in the hell didn't they learn from their early losses against those teams? Is Coach Boudreau struggling to motivate this team? Do the Caps need new assistant coaches? Are the guys waiting for the playoffs to turn it on?

I don't know the answer, but I do know that I'd really like the Caps to win their first playoff series in 10 years this year. I have no expectations for this team beyond that because all the pieces aren't in place yet, particularly, on defense. The atrocious defense is a glaring weakness that must be addressed before this team will be a serious Cup contender.

The Caps make a rare trip to Nashville tomorrow to take on the Predators.

Let's go Caps!

Capitals choke and miss an opportunity

2009-03-01T14:25:00.000-08:00

Elite teams play as hard against teams that are behind them in the standings as they do against teams they are trying to catch in the standings. The Caps, on the other hand, seem to consistently follow up a strong game against a top opponent, see Boston yesterday, to take a team that is trying to catch them in the standings, the Florida Panthers, way too lightly. The result...they got shellacked by them for a 6-2 loss. Ugh.

Putting Sergei Fedorov on defense means Coach Bruce Boudreau got as tired of the putrid defensive play as the rest of the fans. Coach Boudreau needs to find a way to motivate this team to play better on defense, in general, play as a team, quit trying to do it as individuals, stop making stupid cross ice passes that result in giveaways and stay out of the damn penalty box. It's quite simple but this team fails to execute in a consistent manner and they give up two points.

Goaltending wasn't much better. Jose Theodore, the losing goalie, got pulled after letting in four shots. Michal Neuvirth couldn't save the Caps and let in two goals.

A disgusting loss.

The Caps play the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday.

Let's go Caps!

Cardiac Caps outlast Boston for an OT win

2009-03-01T08:39:00.000-08:00

The Washington Capitals and Boston Bruins are evenly matched teams. Most of their games are close games and they frequently go to overtime, just like yesterday. I'm tense watching because an untimely penalty or a giveaway to Marc Savard may mean the Caps lose But, they prevailed 4-3 although Boston also got a point.

The Caps had 1 penalty in the first period, none in the second period and then fell apart with three penalties in the third period with the score tied. Not the time to start playing undisciplined hockey. Boston, Zdeno Chara to be specific, scored on the last penalty. You can't give this team too many man advantage opportunities. The Caps were only in the penalty box 4 times last night which is great for them, but to have 3 of those come in the 3rd period is not good. There were also a number of non-calls made by the refs which was an irritating part of watching the game.

I'm sure Boston net minder Tim Thomas wishes he had two goals back from the Caps because, on most days, I think Thomas would have had both of them. The Caps third goal came courtesy of Tomas Fleischmann's goal off of Dennis Wideman's skate. This happened to the Caps against Boston off of Milan Jurcina's skate. The overtime game winner came courtesy of Alexander Semin's 80 foot puck toss. Semin was hungry for scoring yesterday. You could see it in his face, at times.

Nicklas Backstrom's goal from Semin and Mike Green caught Thomas on the wrong side of the net. Backstrom's on an 8 game scoring streak, his personal best a 9 game streak, happened earlier this season. He is one helluva of a hockey player and I think he flies way under the radar screen of the NHL. Backstrom's game has developed significantly this season even though he started out slow. He's a strong puck handler and is tough to get off the puck. He battles hard against the boards and wins more than he loses. He's a consistent point scorer and his passes are beautiful. His vision on the ice is spectacular, too. His faceoffs are his weak point as evidenced by yesterday's 33% win percentage on 15 tries. I have faith he'll improve there. He's +14 so he's defensively responsible although he has room for improvement there, too. He is in his 2nd season so I can't wait to watch him become even better.

Jose Theodore made some spectacular saves and survived some serious flurries of activity in front of the net but should have saved the shot from Chara that forced the game to go into overtime.

The Florida Panthers come into town this afternoon. Can I just say that I'm sick of having to be around to watch so many day games. It makes it tough to get things done on the weekend.

Let's go Caps!

1 ugly loss followed by a close win over Atlanta

2009-02-26T17:55:00.000-08:00

My new job is keeping me way too busy to blog on a timely basis, but I'm still able to watch (or go) to the games. The ugly loss against the Philadelphia Flyers had me yelling at the TV and throwing my glasses as usual. The Caps lost that game in a few minutes during the 3rd period when Philly scored 3 times. Although those goals were scored at even strength (total defensive breakdowns by the Caps), the Caps also spent 18 minutes in the penalty box which has got to stop. They're assessed the 4th most minor penalties in the NHL and that shows the lack of discipline from this team, at times.

The Caps played a more disciplined game against the Atlanta Thrashers on Thursday as they only ended up in the penalty box 6 times. But, they should have put away the team sitting in 14th place in the Eastern conference instead of letting them get within 1 goal with two minutes left in the game. It was a short-handed goal no less.

Goalie Michal Neuvirth got his 2nd win in a row. The Caps future looks bright on the goal tending front. Alexander Semin, 1 power play goal, 1 assist and no penalties got the first star of the game. Mike Green, 1 power play goal and 1 assist got the second star of the game.

Let's go Caps!

A fun win after Friday night's debacle

2009-02-22T17:13:00.000-08:00

Since the Caps beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in a satisfying 5-2 win this afternoon, I'm not going to dwell on that disastrous game against the Colorado Avalanche which I, unfortunately, attended on Friday night. The best part of that game was hanging out with my other half's old hockey teammates. It sounds like Coach Boudreau made the boys pay for that ugly game at practice yesterday, as he should have, so I'll let it go.

Today, however, was pure fun if you're a Caps fan since it was the Pittsburgh Penguins and the NHL's marketing star, Sydney Crosby, getting pushed around by the Caps. The Caps chased Marc-Andre Fleury from the net after goals 4 and 5 went past him from Shaone Morrisonn and Brooks Laich not quite midway through the 2nd period. I have no idea how Brooksie got that sharp angle shot that squeezed between the post and arm of Fleury but it was pretty.

The Alex Ovechkin-Sydney Crosby show provided the drama to the game and my favorite moment after they jawed at each late in the 2nd was Ovie waiving good-bye to Sydney. It was awesome. Read more about it here courtesy of Slava Malamud from Soviet Express on Tarik's blog. My favorite line, "What, I can't play hard against him? What is he going to do, cry?" Ovie, we love you!

Other random thoughts:

The Russians got the stars today, Ovie (2nd), Alexander Semin (3rd star and he played a great game and ended up with 1G and 1A, and Sergei Fedorov (1st star and 1G, 1A) who played his best game since coming back from his ankle injury.
Jose Theodore got steadier as the game went on, but scared me to death earlier. I felt like he was pretty useless on the Sergei Gonchar goal but others said he never saw it. I don't know, but Theo didn't even move on that shot. After complimenting him over and over again recently, he went back to scaring me that he's in net.
All of the Caps look far more disciplined than they did on Friday even though they took 9 penalties. Some of the calls against the Caps were definitely questionable.
Jeff Schultz was credited with 4 hits. Wow, the world must be getting ready to end.
David Steckel played his best game in a long time. I noticed him in a good way, clearing the puck out on the penalty kill often as an example. He played well way more than he frustrated me, which has happened often lately.
The penalty killed played spectacularly killing off 8 of 9 penalties and spending a fair amount of time playing keep away and pursuing short-handed chances.
Sydney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were held to 1 point, assists on Gonchar's goal. Nothing makes me happier.

Thanks boys. I enjoyed this one.

The Philadelphia Flyers visit the phone booth on Tuesday.

Let's go Caps!

Caps win skills competition against Habs to get 2 pts

2009-02-18T19:00:00.000-08:00

Caps came out sloppy against the Montreal Canadiens, but persevered to win in the shootout 4-3. The highlight reel of the night was Alex Ovechkin's goal which rivaled "The Goal". Ovie passed to himself off the boards, made Habs defenseman Roman Hamrlik look silly, got tangled up and fell to the ice, shot the puck and celebrated his goal while still sliding on the ice. Wow, it's fun to be a Caps fan and it's a thrill to watch Ovie play his game.

Nicklas Backstrom made a beautiful play with a pass to Sergei Fedorov that came back to him to pot the 2nd goal in net for the Caps. David Steckel got the 3rd goal (and 3rd star) by deflecting a shot from Tom Poti.

Now, for the rest of the game:

Caps passing.....phew.
Alexander Semin's hooking penalties...we've seen enough of those.
Delay of game penalties...yes, Mike Green and many others, we've had enough of those, as well.
Caps penalty kill (Habs scored 3 of 3) and two of them came within 4 and 5 seconds of starting the penalty kill...yuck. That won't do for the playoffs boys.

The Caps and Habs came to a draw at the overtime period and went to the skills competition to decide the game. Alexander Semin and Nicklas Backstrom (Coach Boudreau - why don't we use Backie more on the shootout?) scored for the Capitals and Caps goalie, Jose Theodore, stopped Montreal's shooters for the win.

The Colorado Avalanche come to the phone booth on Friday and I'm going to be there.

So, please, let's not play down to a struggling team Caps.

Let's go Caps!

A visit to Florida nets Caps 4 points & Green into history books

2009-02-15T19:50:00.000-08:00

What a satisfying weekend if you're a Caps fan. Mike Green broke an NHL record by scoring in 8 games in a row in front of his father on dads weekend, a feat not accomplished since 1984 by the Boston Bruins Mike O'Connell. Oh, and the Caps won 5-1 over the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Michal Neuvirth started in net for the Caps, the 8th player to debut for the team this season and got his first NHL win. His glove hand is something to behold. Neuvirth stonewalled Vinnie Lecavalier with that glove and he used it often during his first NHL win. In fact, he would have had a shutout if Caps new blue liner Staffan Kronwall hadn't been credited with putting the puck into his own net. Oh, well, every win can't be perfect as much as Caps fans wish it so. It was two points on the road with Neurvirth letting in 1 shot out of 32 and garnering the 3rd star of the game. Wow, nice to see the Caps have two good goalie prospects.

The Caps traveled to the Florida Panthers for a 5:00 start today less than 24 hours after that 7:30 start against Tampa Bay. It was an U-G-L-Y game, the Caps spent 16 minutes in the penalty box, but it was a game that made Caps fans happy because Alex Ovechkin is a Capital. Not only did he score the game winner on a shot that I still can't believe went past Tomas Vokoun by using a defender as his screen again, but he ended up with a hat trick on an empty netter by clearing the puck out of the defensive zone in the last 21 seconds of the game.

Have I mentioned how much I love Alex Ovechkin? I've been watching the Washington Capitals since 1974 and it's never been nearly as entertaining as the Ovie years. He's the league leader in game winning goals because the guy wants nothing more than to win hockey games. Wow, just wow. He's unreal and I marvel at the fact that I get to watch him play night after night.

The other person from today's game that deserves mention is Jose Theodore, 3rd star of the game. I've been one of his most vocal critics, but he's played great in net lately and it's been quite a while since I've complained about him.

Bottom line....this Caps team is fun to watch. Do I think they're going to win a Stanley Cup this year? No. Their defense is far too suspect for that (and if I have to eat those words, I'll do it gladly) but I'll be thrilled if they win a series or two in the playoffs.

The Caps have a rough stretch coming up with Montreal, Flyers, Penguins, Atlanta, Avalanche for a 5 game home stand (I'll be there on Friday for the Avs game) and at the Bruins right after that.

Let's go Caps!

Cap eke out a point against Rangers

2009-02-11T19:01:00.000-08:00

That was a frustrating game to watch to say the least. It was also a chippy game as both Donald Brashear and Matt Bradley threw down the gloves. The Caps escaped with a point but the New York Rangers won 5-4 to prevent the Caps from sweeping the series.

2nd star went to Mike Green who is on an unbelievable goal scoring roll, tying the NHL defenseman record of scoring goals 7 games in a row. He scored 2 goals in this game. He first fired a bomb past Henrik Lundqvist on a pass from Alex Ovechkin. The other two goals came from Tomas Fleischmann and Eric Fehr as they fed each other for goals in the 1st period.

The Caps need to stay out the damn penalty box and Shaone Morrisonn that particularly applies to you. He's had a double minor and a 5-minute major penalty in the past two games. Why Karl Alzner and Milan Jurcina are sitting out the game tonight versus Morrisonn is beyond me.

Surprising stats:

Ovie was credited with 13 hits. Seriously? I mean I saw him hitting a lot, but that stat stood out.
Karl Alzner, David Steckel and Boyd Gordon played -3 hockey.
Matt Bradley won a fight.

It's a Florida weekend for the Caps starting with the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight and the team that is creeping up in points, the Florida Panthers. I hope the Caps take these games seriously.

Let's go Caps!

An intense 5 minutes seals Caps 3-1 win over Florida

2009-02-08T12:56:00.000-08:00

Shaone Morrisonn's 5 minute major left the Caps playing a 5-3 penalty kill for 1:05 following by the other 3:55 on a 5-4 to finish out the last 5:06 of the game. To say that the Caps penalty kill has struggled would be an understatement. They've let in goals in 13 straight games on the penalty kill so this situation presented a challenge.

As the phone booth vibrated with cheering Caps fans who had just "unleash(ed) the fury", the penalty killers did their job. David Steckel made a couple of the great clearing plays and Mike Green's 168 foot empty netter goal threw the crowd into a frenzy. David Steckel was awarded the 2nd star of the game since he blocked 4 shots, got credited for 3 hits and won 64% of his faceoffs in addition to making the great clearing plays on the extended penalty kill.

Mike Green should have been awarded a star in my opinion. He got the 2nd goal of the game off a beauty of a pass from Alex Ovechkin and his empty netter play at the end of the game sealed the victory for the Caps. He's on a roll and leads all defense men in goals and points.

The bad part of the game...the first period. The Caps looked awful and their passes were not hitting the market, at all, during that period. But, the Caps needed that SE divisional win and they got it. I'm glad since the Panthers give the Caps a fit all the time.

Caps head to New York to see the Rangers on Wednesday.

Let's go Caps!