I like Nashville

They're sort of like the anti-Caps - consistent - hardworking - overachieving - battlers.  They leave it all out there on the ice every time I watch them play.  I watched many of their games during last season's playoffs and enjoyed seeing them overcome the Anaheim Ducks and push the Stanley Cup Champion finalist Vancouver Canucks to six games in round two.  All but one of those six games were one-goal games.  That says a lot for Nashville.

Maybe it's something about David Poile's teams since the last one I admired was that 1997-1998 overachieving Stanley Cup finalist Washington Capitals team led by stellar play in net from Godzilla, aka, Olaf Kolzig.  Pekka Rinne's played a similar role for Nashville with his performance during last season's playoffs. Poile's reputation is about creating hard-working teams that overachieve on small budgets and he's done it again in Nashville.  He had to do it for Abe Pollin, during his Washington years, because Pollin never really cared about the Caps.

The Predators signed Rinne to a long-term deal recently, 7-years and $49 million.  For a 29 year-old goalie, this deal could turn out to be a disaster for Nashville, but he played in the goalie zone during last season's playoffs and there's no reason to believe he won't again.  Keeping defensemen Shea Weber (Norris trophy finalist) and Ryan Suter is still an issue for this team.  They need those three to stay competitive.

But, right now, I enjoy watching the Preds, even when they play my Caps.  To give the Caps credit tonight, they battled well, for once, didn't leave Nashville much offensive space and paid attention to their transition game and defense -- until the last five minutes of the game.  That's an improvement over their play in New Jersey.  They didn't, however, crash the net, even after they knew only a garbage goal might get past Rinne.  He tracked the puck perfectly and didn't leave any rebounds. Rinne stopped 39 of 40 shots from the Capitals.

Tom Vokoun played equally strong in net for the Caps, stopping 28 of 30 shots he faced.  He left a few more rebounds out there than Rinne did, but he played solid overall.  Both goalies got lucky bounces.

Troy Brouwer broke the scoring drought at 15:14 in the third period, with a pretty goal shot above Rinne's head, off of a perfectly placed pass by Marcus Johansson.  Then, LESS THAN 30 SECONDS LATER, the Caps let the Predators score.  This is so typical of this team that it makes me want to scream.  Nichlas Backstrom should have been back sooner, John Carlson needed to stop that pass from Weber to Martin Erat and Jeff Schultz should have pushed Weber out of the way.  The checking line should have been out there anyway, holding on to a fragile one goal lead, late in the third period.  It was obvious the Predators were going to press after the Caps goal.

The 4th line gets my star of the night for the Caps.  Mike Knuble hustled all game, like it was his last chance to play hockey, and he tried, unsuccessfully, to bat a puck over Rinne's head from the back of the net.  Matt Hendricks and Jeff Halpern played just as gritty as Knuble for that line.

Even though my heart is with the Caps, I like the Predators and Coach Barry Trotz.  He gets the most out his players.  Most importantly, they're not the - inconsistent - overly talented - underachieving - non-battling Washington Capitals that drive Caps fans, like me, insane.

Other Brief Notes:

• Much has been said in the press recently about Alex Ovechkin's play this year and the fact that he needs to change his game with Coach Bruce Boudreau agreeing.  I also agree he needs to change his game, but I don't agree it's all on him to figure it out. I think he needs someone to help show him the way and a team system that puts him in the best position to succeed.  Then, it's all on Ovie to practice his "new" game so it's as natural as his "old" one used to be.  He needs to commit to it.  That's all on him, too.  I always think of the Scotty Bowman/Steve Yzerman duo when I think of Ovie as it's still my dream that Ovie turns into a late blooming Yzerman type.  I'm the Capsdreamer for a reason though.  I keep dreaming and things never change.

• Florida shutout Dallas tonight 6-0.  The Caps got shellacked by Dallas 5-2 last week.  Are there any Caps fans out there that think the Caps are a shoo-in for the playoffs this season?  Hmmm.

The Caps continue their road trip against the Winnepeg Jets on Thursday.

Let's go Caps!

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!

1 game down with 2 points, 5 more to go

After an 3-goal offensive burst (Alexander Semin, Nicklas Backstrom, Matt Bradley) in the 1st period against the Nashville Predators, the Caps slacked off and Nashville almost came back. The Predators took back the momentum in the 2nd period. They only had 1 goal that period, but they controlled the play.

Jason Arnott netted the 2nd Predator's goal 12:37 in the 3rd period and I had to stop watching. So, I didn't see Alex Ovechkin's empty netter (#58) with 4 seconds left in the game. I read on the message boards that even that goal was a doozy so I'm sorry I missed it. These games are so important that sometimes I just can't stand watching because the Caps so desperately need every 2 points they can get. Cristobal Huet played another great game in net and was awarded the 3rd star in the game.

The Caps bring their 4 game winning streak to the Chicago Blackhawks tonight. The Caps have to keep winnning because it seems like every team they're vying against for 8th place in the East or Carolina for 1st in the SE keeps winning. Caps haven't played Chicago in 4-years. Their team now features rookies Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews who are both in the running for the Calder Trophy as is Nicklas Backstrom. I'm looking forward to watching them play, but the Caps must win!

Let's go Caps!