As of November 12th, Caps Blue Line is on hiatus. The site will be up and running again by December 16th.

Regular readers may know that I am currently a graduate student - I will be finishing my Master’s degree in December and the combination of my schoolwork and my job search are making it difficult to maintain this site, both in terms of quantity of post and post quality. I love hockey and I love the Capitals but I simply don’t have the time and mental energy to devote to the site to keep the quality at a level I find acceptable.

My academic obligations will be complete by December 12th and I’ve consequently set the December 16th game against the Islanders as my target for new posts. The site may be up and running again earlier if I can get a job lined up before I complete my degree (hey, anyone wanna hire an economist?)

In the meantime I would encourage any readers to utilize the links on the left-hand side of this page to check out other sites. There are a ton of great ones out there for the Caps, for other teams, and for hockey in general.

Thank you for your readership. See you in December, if not sooner.

-DMG

Capitals 4, Lightning 2

It wouldn’t be fair to speculate on exactly what would have constituted a successful return to Washington Olaf Kolzig but it’d be a pretty fair assumption that neither allowing goals on his first two shots nor letting in three in the first period played into his ideal scenario. But that’s exactly what happened as the Capitals took advantage of an obvious mismatch in skill and skating ability to jump out early on the Lightning.

Kolzig’s performance on the night, especially in the first period, was reminiscent of his play last season: while you can’t entirely fault him for any of the three goals the Capitals scored in the first period, there’s no way he should have let all three get by him. Meanwhile, at the other end of the ice, Brent Johnson turned in another stellar effort for the Capitals.

Johnson’s play of late hasn’t created a goaltending controversy simply because his play has been good enough that there shouldn’t be any doubt that he should be playing ahead of Jose Theodore. Johnson’s never been able to hold down a starting job at the NHL level and there’s definitely not any reason to name him the starter through thick and thing, but right now Johnson’s not only making the saves he has to make (which is all anyone expected the Capitals would need their netminder to do in order to be successful this season), he’s making a lot of quality stop to bail out him teammates and inspire confidence.

Caps Blue Line 3 Stars
(1) Brent Johnson
(2) Alexander Ovechkin - 1 goal, 1 assist, 4 hits, +2
(3) Tom Poti - 1 goal, +2

Quick Hits

• It’s nice when linemates have chemistry by Ovechkin and Alexander Semin might like each other a little too much: there’s no need to be that generous with the pass/shoot decisions, guys.
• The other former Caps wearing Bolts pajamas colors was Steve Eminger, who finished with an assist, three hits, and three blocked shots but was also a -3.
• Donald Brashear’s unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, on a high-sticking call of all things, showed a tremendous lapse in judgment for a36-year-old veteran wearing an ‘A’.
  
• Eric Fehr had a goal and four shots in his 10:14 of ice time.  I know I’m not the only one who wants to see what he could do with more.
• Don VanMassenhoven’s mustache look amazing in HD.  Joe Beninati’s brown suit/orange tie combination did not.
  

There’s plenty to talk about regarding the Southeast Division rival Tampa Ba Lightning: the 2008 draft’s number one overall selection, Steven Stamkos. Barry Melrose’s return to coaching. The myriad of offseason acquisitions. Ryan Malone’s transformation from a near thirty goal scorer to enforcer (sort of).  But the story for this nationally televised game will undoubtedly be Olaf Kolzig’s return to Washington, even more so because he is tentatively scheduled to start.

Kolzig hasn’t played all that much this season, but when he has played he has played well enough to post a 1-1-1 record and a .925 save percentage and, along with fellow netminder Mike Smith, has helped the Bolts to a respectable 5-4-4 start to the season, even as many of their offseason acquisitions including Malone (three points, -2), Gary Roberts (one point, -3), and Radim Vrbata (one point) have sputtered.

Kolzig will be joined in his return to the District by fellow former Capitals Matt Pettinger, who was claimed off re-entry waivers from Vancouver, and Steve Eminger, who was traded (along with Steve Downie and a fourth round draft pick) for Matt Carle, the central piece of the trade that sent Dan Boyle to San Jose, in a move that is not being greeted warmly by Lightning fans. Jeff Halpern (injury) and Jamie Heward (AHL), both of whom are currently under contract with the Lightning, will not be playing.

Although the Lightning have been assembled in a manner more consistent with a twelve year old with a PlayStation than an NHL franchise, they are still sporting a decent record and are in third in the Southeast - although the latter may have more to do with the sorry state of the division than the talent of Tampa’s club. The Capitals need to be aware of the fact that Tampa still has guys who can score and defensemen who can move the puck and avoid going to sleep on the Lightning.

Keys to the Game

Washington
Move the puck around low in the Tampa Bay zone. Tampa’s defense corps is young and inexperienced and Olaf Kolzig doesn’t move all that well these days. If the Capitals keep the puck down low, and keep their forwards buzzing around the net, it’s going to be very hard for the Bolts to keep them off the board.

Tampa Bay
Limit defensive mistakes. With the aforementioned group of young defensemen and the scoring skill the Lightning have, what could really do them are turnovers, bad clearing attempts, and bad positioning.

Players to Watch

Washington
Nicklas Backstrom - he’s looking better every game and now that he’s skating with both Alex Ovechkin and Alex Semin he should start producing.

Tampa Bay
Evgeny Artyukhin - he’s a 6′5”, 254 pound forward. You can’t tell me you’re not intrigued.

Capitals 3, Rangers 1

If there was a theme from last night’s game for the Capitals it would probably be “you’ve got to be good to be lucky” as, for the first period at least, everything seemed to be going the Capitals way: Alexander Semin’s wrister gets stopped by Henrik Lundqvist but bounces off the glass behind the net and back out for Brooks Laich to tip in. Boyd Gordon loses the puck driving to the net but Tom Poti’s in the perfect position to tip it in as the net just barely stays on its pegs. And, of course, Alexander Semin scores a 190-foot goal off a spin move to seal the deal with six seconds left.

Caps Blue Line 3 Stars
(1) Brent Johnson
(2) Brooks Laich - 1 goal, 4 shots, 2 hits, +1
(3) Alexander Semin - 1 goal, 1 assist, +1

Quick Hits

• As soon as Tomas Fleischmann finds some measure of consistency, he could be a poor man’s Alexander Semin - and that ain’t bad for the second line.
• Speaking of Fleischmann, he was last night the focal point of one of the rarest moments in Capitals history.  At 9:10 of the second period Fleischmann hit an opposition player and the opposition player fell down.
• If John Erskine’s is worth $1.25 million a season, Tyler Sloan has to be worth at least $2 million.
• Brent Johnson’s pokecheck on Chris Drury’s penalty shot was impressive not only for the reflexes it took, but for the poise Johnson showed.
• Nicklas Backstrom continues to look better and better as he (presumably) gets into better shape.  In the first half dozen games of this season, there’s no way Backstrom catches the Rangers player on that shorthanded breakaway.
• The more I see him play, the more I’m convinced Aaron Voros is going to be the next Tomas Holmstrom.
• Sure, the Capitals won, they looked good, both goalies played great games, Semin scored a 190-foot goal.  That’s all well and good, but for me the highlight of the game was not having to hear “saved by zero” a single time.

Capitals 3, Hurricanes 2

At some point during his thirty-eight goal 2006-07 season, I started expecting Alexander Semin to score any time he had the puck within ten feet of the opponent’s goal or an open shot in the slot. His injury-plagued and somewhat disappointing 2007-08 campaign dampened that enthusiasm but with the way Semin’s been producing this season, he’s pretty much back to where he was in 06-07 in my book and, naturally, his two goals night against the Hurricanes didn’t hurt.

As much credit as Semin deserves, Alexander Ovechkin played a critical role in Semin’s second goal. Last season, Ovechkin made a habit of cutting across the middle and firing a shot on goal after he had gained the blue line, picking up a lot of goals in the process. This season defensemen have been more aware of this tendency and have been playing Ovechkin tighter once he starts moving towards the slot. What Ovechkin did so well on the play leading to Semin’s goal was to pass the puck rather than try and force a bad play some which Ovechkin, for all his talents, does too often.

Not to be lost in the celebration of the two Alexes is the performance Brent Johnson put in, stopping thirty-two of thirty-four Hurricanes shots and keep pace with Cam Ward. Even if that Tuomo Ruutu goal was pretty ugly.

Caps Blue Line 3 Stars
(1) Alexander Semin
(2) Alexander Ovechkin
(3) Brent Johnson

Quick Hits

• Bruce Boudreau must have had a talk with Mike Green following the team’s loss to Buffalo because Green’s played much better defense in the team’s last couple of games.
• Tomas Fleischmann continues to be an enigma and to have once again disappeared from the game.
• Ovechkin and John Erskine accounted for twelve of the Capitals twenty-one hits.

When Bruce Boudreau was promoted to the Capitals from his head coaching job in Hershey, there were a number of issues that needed to be addressed at the big club: lines that left fans scratching their heads, the team’s tendency to be outplaying the first period, and consistent defensive breakdowns, among others.  Despite this the focus on Boudreau in the aftermath of his coaching change wasn’t on the coach’s tactical ability, but rather on his attitude. Glen Hanlon’s “it’s okay to make mistakes as long as you learn from them” approach was no longer enough for a team now expected to compete for a playoff spot.

As soon as Boudreau arrived in Washington “accountability” become a buzz word amongst Capitals fans. Blogs and message board offered tentative hope that a coach with at least a little bit of taskmaster in him could turn the team around. Tarik El-Bashir and Eric McErlain both commented on Boudreau’s mantra of accountability. Boudreau himself both talked the talk, saying, “I’m fairly demanding. I may smile and joke with them, but if they don’t do what is needed and necessary, they know they’ll have to pay the price” and walking the walk, benching Brian Pothier less than a month into his tenure, ostensibly for a bad pass in a loss to New Jersey but more generally because Boudreau believed Pothier was playing below his potential. The message to the team was clear: you’re a group of talented, NHL-caliber players and you are expected to play as such.

With their abundance of bad penalties and bad decisions, the Capitals of early 2008-09 are all too often eerily reminiscent of the team Hanlon coached last season, which makes it only natural to wonder if accountability has again become an issue. To Boudreau’s credit, he hasn’t completely turned a blind eye to members of the team who are struggling, recently scratching an underperforming David Steckel, calling out Mike Green for his poor defensive effort in the 5-0 loss to the Sabres on Saturday night, and putting the onus on Chris Clark to not only step up his game but his locker room presence as well.

The problem this season has been that actions speak louder than words. Boudreau may have called out Green, but the twenty-three year old has played most of this season with only a passing interest in defense and is still seeing the fourth most ice time in the NHL, more than Zdeno Chara, Brian Campbell, Scott Niedermayer, and Nicklas Lidstrom, and 9:06 more than any other defenseman on the Capitals. Nicklas Backstrom, who reportedly upset Capitals management when he showed up to camp twenty pounds heavier than last year, has only four points in ten games, has yet to score either a goal or an even strength point, and has only one primary assist, but has played the entire season on either the first or second line and the top powerplay unit and is third one the team in ice time for forwards (excluding Sergei Fedorov, who has been frequently used on defense). Shaone Morrisonn has looked awful, frequently out of position and allowing opposition scoring opportunities and has more minor penalties than anyone else on the team, but is fourth in ice time and second in shorthanded ice time. There hasn’t seemed to have been a whole lot of accountability for these players this season.

That, apparently, is changing.

Tarik El-Bashir and Cory Masisak are both reporting that Boudreau let the Capitals have it today, both in the locker room and on the ice, in an effort to jump start the team (and necessitating a change from the original title of this post, “Is “accountability” still the word in Washington?”).  Boudreau’s brought accountability back to the team and to the player he’s been willing to call out in the press.  As for following through with regards to ice time for players who don’t perform?  I wouldn’t bet against it. 

As Boudreau’s trademark accountability returns, so should last season’s Capitals team, and anyone playing the Caps in the next couple of weeks should take notice.

Capitals 0, Sabres 5

As last night’s shutout at the hands of the Buffalo Sabres wore on I found myself increasingly believing in a rather unsettling thought: with how the Capitals have played this season, they’re lucky to be 5-4-1 after their first ten games. It isn’t necessarily that the Caps are picking up a ton of points in games they should be losing (though you could argue the wins against Pittsburgh and Dallas were lucky to at least some degree), but that the team continues to make the same bad decisions, take the same types of lazy penalties, and make the same mistakes game in and game out, and often in abundance.

Each of the Sabres’ three first period goals was a direct result of a play where a Capital player lost focus and made some kind of unnecessary error: Thomas Vanek scored by getting behind Mike Green and fending off the Capitals defenders attempts to disrupt his puckhandling; Derek Roy scored after the Capitals had killed off a minute and half of a five-on-three powerplay after back-to-back bad penalties by Donald Brashear and Jeff Schultz; Jason Pominville scored after a poor pass by John Erskine was mishandled by Green.  Without a stellar performance from Alexander Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, or Jose Theodore to bail them out, the Capitals were all but finished after the first period.  Ryan Miller’s fourteen-save second buried whatever hope the Caps had left.

There was some good that deserves mention as well,  Tomas Fleischmann seems to getting more and more comfortable each game, and his willingness to move in high-traffic areas bodes well for for future, Nicklas Backstrom looked as sharp as he has at any point this season, and Brooks Laich continued his consistently solid play.

Quick Hits

• Ten Sabres players registered points; twelve had at least one blocked shot.  Only three Sabres did not either have a point or a blocked shot.
• Somehow the Sabres managed to rack up twenty-six giveaways to Washington’s eight.
• Only two Capitals players (John Erskine and David Steckel) did not have a negative plus/minus on the night.