Fun in Philly

I'm still stunned at the Caps "shock and awe" 5-2 performance against the Flyers in Philly last night.  With two goals in 1:08 to take the lead at the end of the first, after the Flyers scored first, and three goals in 2:25 at the beginning of the third period, it was a night of goals in bunches.

For two games in a row, the Caps have played hard for almost 60-minutes (that ridiculous last goal against being an exception to the playing hard theme) and that's a huge difference from last year, particularly, this early in the season.  Maybe it's the new guys, maybe it's the new "seriousness", maybe it's Tomas Vokoun standing on his head again, maybe it's Coach Bruce Boudreau matching lines when he can, maybe it's parking guys in front of the net, maybe it's Nicklas Backstrom (2nd star tonight) and Alex Ovechkin (1st star) starting to find their games again and maybe it's all of the above.  I don't care what it is, I just hope they keep it up. 

Any game the Caps play in the state of Pennsylvania that makes the fans leave early, like tonight, puts a big grin on my face.  But, I can't get too excited because it's way too early and the second season (the only one that counts in hockey) is months away. 

Players I'd like to call out with an emphasis on the 4th line:

• Matt Hendricks - loved his game against Florida and tonight (assisted on Hamrlik's goal, played +2 hockey).  That guy his hustling, as is the whole fourth line...which leads to...
• Mathieu Perreault - scored an unassisted goal and played +2 hockey.  He played a great game tonight.
• Jeff Halpern - good to see him back in a Caps uniform, especially, when he's 86% in the faceoff circle on 7 attempts, like he was tonight.  Caps faceoff win percentage is ranked 20th in the league...ugh, this is a problem that needs to be fixed.
• Ovie - loved that vintage first period goal.  More, more, more, please. 
• Tomas Vokoun - I'm so much happier seeing him a Caps uniform, than a Florida one since he burned the Caps so many times.  His laser focus on the pucks tonight was awesome.  Vokoun is playing great in net.

Detroit's coming to town for Saturday night's game.  Since my friend and fellow hockey fanatic, Steve, is a Detroit fan and is attending the game, I'm pleading for the Caps to bring some more shock and awe.   Sorry Steve :)

Let's go Caps!

Questions for the 2011-2012 Caps season

Like most, I think GMGM picked up some good players this summer in forwards Troy Brouwer, Joel Ward and Jeff Halpern and Roman Hamrlik on defense.  I watched all of them, except Halpern, at the last pre-season game yesterday against the Chicago Blackhawks and I liked what I saw.  Brouwer and Ward bring desperately needed grit to the team and I like how they battled for the puck along the boards and how they set up plays. And, Hamrlik looked good paired with Mike Green.  It's easy to see that he's faster than Scott Hannan.

After last year's epic playoff flameout, GMGM had to have a good offseason.  Time will tell if those players will help the team.  Regardless, huge questions remain about the Caps and their elusive quest for the Stanley Cup.  And, here they are:

• Will Coach Bruce Boudreau learn how to adjust his game strategies in a seven game series to effectively compete in the playoffs?
• Will Boudreau instill discipline in his players during practice and during games? Will the country club atmosphere be replaced with more seriousness this year?  Many of the players came in earlier than they did last year and in better shape, but I'm not convinced the players will listen to the same voice any better than in years past.
• Will the players police their own locker room and call out other players, when necessary?
• Will Ovie elevate his game to the next level and realize he can't do it all himself?  I was pleased to see he didn't try his signature move once yesterday, the one that every defender in the NHL has figured out. 
• Will Nicklas Backstrom return to form this year?  This is an especially important question as the Caps are thin at experience down the middle and Stanley Cup winners are typically strong at center.
• Will the power play ever improve?  Yesterday, the power play continued to look disorganized and ineffective with the Caps having to chase down pucks far too often. 
• Will Mike Green stay healthy and will Boudreau please pair him with Hamrlik and not Jeff Schultz?  Japer's Rink excellent post, with numerous video clips, shows why Green's partner is crucial to his health.
• Will all the Caps, yes, including Alexander Semin, play like they care and with heart on a consistent basis? Will they care enough to leave everything they've got out on the ice in April, May and June?

There are too many unanswered questions for me to get overly excited about this season.  And, the important ones don't matter until April.

Changing topics....kudos to Michal Neuvirth for a spectacular game in net yesterday.  My other half, Jeff, pointed out to me that it appeared like Neuvy was anticipating where the puck was going.  He was in the zone.  Yes, he's now the #1B goalie because there is no way GMGM could pass up Tomas Vokoun.  Neuvirth will learn a lot from Vokoun and I like his attitude about Vokoun coming in, but I also hope Neuvy gets lots of playing time, too.

Congrats also to Mathieu Perreault for a great pre-season with the most points of anyone on the team.

Let's go Caps!

The Blue Liners

But, first a rant. The officiating against the Caps recently makes me want to throw up. Two slashing penalties, one against Alex Ovechkin in St. Louis and one against Jeff Schultz in Dallas that both ended with broken sticks and didn't get called. Schultz got a penalty because he pushed the guy into the boards although I'm glad he did. Then, Jason Chimera is bleeding everywhere after three non-slashing calls in the game against the Atlanta Thrashers. Really refs?

Now, back to tonight's subject. The Caps much maligned blue line got better with the acquisition of Scott Hannan from the Colorado Avalanche for Tomas Fleischmann. I don't agree with columnist Adam Proteau that the Avs got the better player. Regardless of Fleischmann's potential upside as he's only 26 v. Hannan's 31, the Caps got the player they've needed for several years and Fleischmann struggled in Washington this season. He became an unnecessary spare part on a team full of talented forwards, he was not effective as the team's second line center and he gets pushed off the puck too easily, especially in the playoffs. However, I wish Fleischmann the best of luck in Colorado and I hope the change of scenery is a good one for him.

Scott Hannan, on the other hand, finally, gives the Caps a veteran stay-at-home defenseman that has 73 playoff games to his credit with the San Jose Sharks and the Colorado Avalanche, including an appearance in the Western conference finals. He's also known for his durability and consistent play. Everything I've read about him and seen, so far, including his vocal leadership on the ice, tells me that the Caps found the perfect person to mentor this young corp of blue liners starting with John Carlson.

Carlson played horribly tonight against the Toronto Maple Leafs, but, in general, has been impressive this season. There's no doubt he's going to be a super star in this league, but he's also going to have more games like tonight where he's caught out of position and isn't moving bodies out of the crease like he needs to. He's only 20 and yet he's tied for the lead among rookies in plus/minus at +8 and shares the team lead with Jeff Schultz in blocked shots with 62. Carlson is also in the running for the Calder trophy and leads all rookies in time on ice. One of his best games, worthy of the 2nd star, came against the Tampa Bay Lightning where he blasted a shot off the faceoff from Marcus Johansson past Mike Smith to start the scoring. More importantly, he and Karl Alzner shut down the Steve Stamkos, quite a feat against the top scorer in the NHL.

Karl Alzner is more confident playing at the NHL level this season. He's playing plus-1 hockey, prior to tonight, and has 31 hits and 38 blocked shots. Alzner struggled tonight, too, but the Carlson-Alzner pairing is a strong one. They play well together and appear to be taking their AHL chemistry to the next level.

John Erskine spent his summer conditioning with the goal to make more of an impact for the Caps this season and it has showed. He's been a beast on the ice, playing in all games until the last two. He's got a blast of a shot and netted a game winner and first star performance with it against the Atlanta Thrashers back on November 14th. His career high 3rd goal came in the Caps blowout and best game this season against the Tampa Bay Lightning on November 26th. Erskine's been defensively responsible, too, and has 68 hits and 43 blocked shots. I've always liked what Erskine brought to the table as he's a tough hockey player, but I like the new and improved Erskine even more.

Tom Poti's been hurt more than he's played this season so I hope that groin is fully healed as he was paired with Hannan tonight. He's a decent defenseman with a nice shot, but, there are times when he frustrates me. This year, however, he's been a steady defenseman making key poke checks or goal saving shot blocks just when it's desperately needed. He's the other veteran d on this blue line with 51 playoff games and I'd like him to stay healthy.

I left the one-two pairing of Mike Green and Jeff Schultz for last. The Caps top duo disappears during the playoffs so they both have a lot to prove this season. After a league leading plus-minus of 50 last year (and, plus-minus is not an accurate measure of defensive play as being out of position can lose a game, for ex, but it's a useful tool for comparing seasons), Schultz is only +5, more than a quarter of the way through the season. He's struggled, at times, this season. On the positive side, he's also tied for the team lead with Carlson in blocked shots with 62.

Mike Green's defensive play has improved this season and it's clear he's focusing on it, but there are still times when Green loses focus in games. He also missed another five games with a shoulder injury. One of his strongest games came against the Calgary Flames back on October 30th. Green picked up a goal, an assist, blocked 3 shots, had 2 takeaways, 3 hits and ended up the night plus-1 for a second star performance. Then, there are nights like his minus-2 with 2 giveaways to go along with his 2 takeaways night against the Toronto Maple Leafs on November 3rd.

My hope for the defense is that Mike Green and Jeff Schultz find that consistency and show up in the playoffs, that the rookies John Carlson and Karl Alzner continue to develop, that the new and improved John Erskine hangs around, that the injury prone Poti stays healthy and that newly acquired Scott Hannan teaches all of the them how to clear the crease, how to play the body instead of the puck, when needed, and how to get them all to stay focused on sound defense. I've already seen him do all of that. A tall order, I realize, but that's what I'd like to see and before April.

Other Caps notes:

....Caps took a four goal lead into the 3rd period against the Toronto Maple Leafs and blew the game against the 16th seed in the Eastern conference in a shoot out. Once again, the Caps let off the gas and collapsed in the 3rd period. This is an all too frequent occurrence and the players should be held accountable for it. Whether or not they will be is another question.

....The Captain. After giving up an empty netter goal to end his goal drought by passing to his teammate Nicklas Backstrom, Ovie outdid himself as captain tonight. Colton Orr harassed Ovie early on in the game against the Maple Leafs so DJ King took him to task and they both went off with 5-minute fighting majors. Ovie scored and skated over to the penalty box to tap his stick against the glass in a salute to King. Classy move.

...Mathieu Perrault announced his intention to compete for the second line center with his energetic two goal and 2nd star performance in his latest call up from Hershey. Here's hoping he can show the consistency he needs to stay.

The Caps play the Florida Panthers on Thursday. I hope they show up for it since they're no longer number one in the East and Florida's ranked 13th.

Let's go Caps!

Feeling lackadaisical about the Caps

I love hockey. I love the Caps. Those facts are undisputed. But, I can't seem to get excited for this season and maybe it's because of the way the Caps are playing. Their woes are well know - a lot of injuries, a too young defense that has a lot to learn, a first line that isn't clicking and a power play that couldn't find the back of the net if the net covered the entire end of the rink.

But, that's not what concerns me the most. Despite their 5-3, 10 point record, they look rough out there. There's too much waiting around for the puck, dumping it in and losing the puck, turnovers and a lack of flow to their game. For a team that's supposed to "Stay angry. Believe in yourself." they aren't displaying a lot of emotion.

I'm sorry I missed watching Saturday night's game against the Atlanta Thrashers only because I would have liked to see Mattieu Perreault (Matty P!) feed Alexander Semin for two of his three hat trick goals, one of which he got to Semin while being tripped. Not to mention witnessing his success at the dot. He won 64% of his faceoffs and he took 14. Gee, you think the Caps need a little more Matty P? I like the energy he plays with and he makes things happen. I understand, maybe, that there's not room for him here full-time now and I understand he faded after playing twenty games last year, but I still think he has what it takes to be a full-time NHL'er. Think Martin St. Louis.

Step it up Caps and please get healthy.

Let's go Caps!

The Case for Mathieu Perreault

This is the first game since he got called up from the AHL to play for the Caps that Mathieu Perreault didn't play.  He's out with food poisoning.  The Caps miss him badly.   They look lethargic, sloppy and without an ounce of effort in the game going on right now against the Buffalo Sabres. They need Perreault.

The 21-year old center was a late round draft pick in 2006 and the Caps signed him to a three-year entry level contract in March 2008.  General Manager George McPhee hasn't drafted too many successful late round picks yet.  Perreault may prove to be an exception.  

Since he's played 16 games for the Caps, he has 2 goals and 4 assists for 6 points, while playing mostly on the third line.  But, it's his intangibles that impress me even more, so far.  He's a small guy, at 5'9, and plays with a chip on his shoulder because of everyone who ever told him he'd never make it to the NHL.  And, it shows in the heart, energy and grit with which he plays every shift. He'll grind it out against the boards for a puck against anyone, regardless of how big they are.

  

Perreault's also playing +5 hockey and is an effective forechecker.  I like what he bring to the Caps.  He's quickly becoming a fan favorite and that's a hard thing to do with that mercurial lot. Hard core Caps fans, and I'm one of them, are an insane lot and we just want a Cup.

I'm grateful Perreault doesn't have to clear waivers so he can stay.  He should stay.

Let's go Caps!

The Ovie-less Caps aren't Pretty

After two overtime losses in a row against the New York Islanders (a team that is playing well above expectations) and the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Alex Ovechkin less Capitals debuted tonight against the New Jersey Devils and, what else, penalties did them in.  Alexander Semin took three penalties, Mike Knuble and Brendan Morrison took one each and New Jersey took one (I'm not counting the fighting majors) and if the Caps think they're going to win games that way, they're sadly mistaken.

This team needs to learn how to play hard.  There has been many from the media and fans that have commented that Ovie's injury was an opportunity for this team to show what kind of character it has.  Well, tonight showed that they still can't play without making stupid penalties at the wrong time.   

The bright spots in an otherwise dismal game:

• The Caps plus/minus leader, who made a perfect saucer pass onto Tyler Sloan's stick for his first NHL point, Mathieu Perreault, played a great debut game.  He's fast, he mucks it up along the boards and he's motivated. I liked what I saw.
• Brooks Laich and Matt Bradley who always play hard, played hard tonight.
• Semyon Varlamov played a decent game in net, but couldn't win the game for the Caps. 

A home and home series against the Florida Panthers is next.

Let's go Caps!