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.
  

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.

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.

Capitals 1, Flames 2

Very few people would dispute that the Washington Capitals are a more skilled team than the Calgary Flames. However, as the Capitals seem to be learning the hard way, it takes more than just skill and flair to consistently win games in the NHL.

The story of the night for the Capitals was mistakes, one after the other. Sure the Capitals made some very nice passing plays and generated some exciting scoring chances but that wasn’t enough to cover their myriad of errors: a blown nine minute powerplay, a Shaone Morrisonn clearing attempt that was picked off the put home for the first Flames goal, Mike Green getting caught behind the Flames net and giving the Flames an odd man rush…while the Capitals were shorthanded.

And then of course, there were the penalties.

In total the Capitals took ten minor penalties and gave the Flames seven powerplays, including three five-on-threes. What’s even worse is that so many of the penalties were preventable: Michael Nylander’s offensive zone holding penalty while the Capitals were on what would have been a nine minute powerplay, Shaone Morrisonn’s careless high-sticking minor, John Erskine’s unnecessary cross check with four seconds remaining in the first period, Sergei Fedorov’s holding the stick penalty, David Steckel’s brain cramp throwing the stick penalty, and Chris Clark’s slashing penalty were all avoidable. Skill can make up for an awful lot, but it’s not going to make up for that level of carelessness, or laziness, or lack of focus, or whatever else you want to call it.

Caps Blue Line 3 Stars
(1) Jose Theodore
(2) Sergei Fedorov – 1 goal, +1
(3) Jeff Schultz – 1 assist, +1, 3 blocked shots

Quick Hits

• I like the idea of Alexander Ovechkin and Alexander Semin on the penalty kill, but Tomas Fleischmann?  He’s a mediocre defensive player and doesn’t have the explosive offensive ability a player needs to be a real threat shorthanded.
• Only one Capitals player (Sergei Fedorov) won more than half of their faceoffs.
• Jose Theodore looks like he may have come around.  Now if Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom could do the same, the Caps would really be in business.
• After failing to convert on the nine minute powerplay and going 0-for-5 on the night, it might be time to start worrying about the powerplay a little.

Capitals 3, Devil 4 (SO)

Lou Lamoriello has been the general manager of the New Jersey Devils since 1987 and in the twenty-plus seasons he’s had to shape the organization a visit from the Devils has generally meant one thing: a low-scoring, defensive-minded game. But on Saturday night the Devils deviated from their typical strategy, taking the Capitals own game to them, notching thirty-seven shots and weathering eight Capitals powerplays en route to a 4-3 shootout win in a game that featured a fair amount of wide open play and teams trading scoring chances.

The major problems for the Capitals were twofold last night. One was relatively straightforward: the Capitals powerplay only converted one of eight chances. In fact, on at least two of the man advantages the Capitals didn’t even get a shot off. But the Caps have one of the best collections of skilled players in the NHL and the powerplay has still converted 18.5% of its chances this season, even after last night. Even the league’s best have a bad night every now and then.

The bigger concern is that the Capitals once again started slowly despite Bruce Boudreau’s emphasis on a quick start during the team’s preparation for the game. Obviously the team’s start against New Jersey wasn’t as dire as the ones against Pittsburgh, Chicago, or Atlanta, where the team was outscored by a combined total of 8-2 and outshot by a total of 31-23. But the Capitals were outshot by 14-9, including 11-3 at one point, and tied the period. Going into the intermission with the score level isn’t necessarily a bad thing but through five games, the Capitals still have yet to win a first period. As adept as the team has become at coming back under Boudreau, it’s not feasible to expect to win every game having to do so. Plus, comebacks take a lot out of team and come March, April, and the playoffs the Capitals are still going to want to have something left in the tank.

Caps Blue Line 3 Stars
(1) Alexander Semin – 2 goals, +1
(2) Mike Green – 1 goal, 3 shots, 2 shot blocks, 34:05 of ice time
(3) Brent Johnson

Quick Hits

• Alexander Semin’s $4.2 million salary is really starting to look like a bargain, isn’t it?
• Alexander Ovechkin is still really pressing.
• Nicklas Backstrom had his best game of the season thus far, skating the way he did in the post-Hanlon portion of last season.  It might be because he’s getting in better shape: Al Koken said that Backstrom showed up about twenty pounds heavier this season, probably not a shock to many Capitals fans, but still interesting given that he’s actually listed at twenty pounds lighter than he was last year.
• If I told you I would offer you fifty dollars if you correctly guess whether John Erskine would wind up with more puck-over-the-glass delay of game penalties or points, which would you choose?

Capitals 4, Penguins 3

It’s not too often you’ll go into a third period trailing by two goals and come out on top against an NHL team. It’s even rarer that you’ll be able to do it against a team as talented at the current Pittsburgh Penguins squad. But then again, there aren’t too many team with the skill and tenacity of the current Washington Capitals squad, who rallied for three unanswered goals in the third period last night, outshooting the Penguins 21-6 in the game’s final frame

Of course such a dramatic comeback would not have been necessary had the Capitals not repeatedly shot themselves in the foot during the game’s first two periods, which saw a weak goal allowed by Jose Theodore, a too many men on the ice penalty, a puck-over-the-glass penalty (also known as the John Erskine special) while the team was already shorthanded, and three powerplay goals conceded, all while the Capitals managed to put only nine shots on Marc-Andre Fleury.

But give the Capitals credit: they could have cursed their luck, decided they just weren’t clicking as a team, and folded. And there’s a pretty good chance that they would have at this time last year. With that in mind, it’s nice to see that the Capitals still have the same kind of spirit they did last season and still have the ability to come back against the best teams in the league.

Here’s hoping they don’t have to do it all that often.

Caps Blue Line 3 Stars
(1) Alexander Semin - 1 goal, 1 assist, +2
(2) Tomas Fleischmann - 1 goal, 1 assist, +2
(3) Michael Nylander - 1 goal, 1 assist, +2

Quick Hits

• Alexander Semin was (again) the best Capitals player on the ice.
• Tom Poti left the game with a groin strain after eight shifts and Sergei Fedorov moved back to defense.  Meanwhile the Caps forwards who have been scratches this year performed well: Boyd Gordon notched the game winning goal and was +1 while Eric Fehr has two assists and a +2 rating.
• One more game out of this by Tomas Fleischmann and I’ll be a believer.
• Fleischmann goal, from Brooks Laich and Fehr, was a thing of beauty all the way around: Fehr’s play to keep the puck in the zone, Laich’s effort to get the puck to the front of the net, and Fleischmann’s poise to finish.  And the funny thing is, it was probably the Capitals’ third prettiest goal of the night.
• I think the Capitals/Penguins rivalry and the Ovechkin vs. Crosby angle affects Alex Ovechkin’s game. It seems like whenever the Capitals play the Penguins Ovechkin presses and ends up trying to do too much himself.
• Someone’s going to have to talk to these officials.  How is it possible that four hooking penalties, two slashing penalties, and ten minors were called in the first two periods and not a single penalty was called in the third?  Oh, right.
• Speaking of the officiating, how is it possible Hal Gill gets a roughing penalty for being the vicinity of Alex Semin and Sidney Crosby poking at each other when neither of those guys gets a penalty?
• …speaking of that little altercation: a Crosby/Semin fight would be worth the price of admission to me.
• …and speaking of fights, what was Matt Bradley thinking when he decided to go with Paul Bissonnette?  Don’t get me wrong, Bradley is tough customer and a solid middleweight pugilist but Bissonnette is a true heavyweight who logged 28 fights last year alone.
• The statistician at Mellon Arena must have a different way of computing hits than everyone else because Ovechkin was only credited with three.  Were they not counting ones on Evgeni Malkin?
• The Penguins were credited with an incredible26 blocked shots, eight of which were credited to defenseman Rob Scuderi.
• Of the Penguins 26 shots on goal, 14 were fired by either Crosby or Malkin.
  
• An interesting statistic: Mike Green leads the Capitals in shots on goal with 21.

Capitals 5, Canucks 1

In their third game of the season the Capitals faced their stiffest competition yet in a confident Canucks team that had won its first two games over the Calgary Flames by a combined score of 11-4, and the Capitals responded with what was by far their best effort this season, putting the embarrassing opening night loss in Atlanta further behind them.

The numbers tell the story of the game in a number of ways: a second period in which the Capitals scored three times while allowing only one shot on goal, the fact that the Capitals had at least as many shots in each period as the Canucks had all night (ten), that fact that nine Capitals players registered at least one point, the final shot tally of 35-10. But sometimes a picture can just say it all, as is the case with the shot chart from last night’s game:

Caps Blue Line 3 Stars
(1) Alexander Semin – 2 goals, +2, 6 shots, 4 takeaways
(2) Michael Nylander – 1 goal, 2 assists, +2, 3 takeaways
(3) Sergei Fedorov – 1 assist, +3, 4 shots

Quotable

“This is going to be delicious!”

- Versus color commentator Andy Brinkley, on the possibility of an Alexander Semin vs Roberto Luongo penalty shot.

Quick Hits

• Alexander Semin was (again) the best player on the ice. It’s gotten to the point where when he touches the puck within ten feet of the opposition’s net I expect a goal.
• Speaking of Semin, call me crazy but I think he has as much offensive talent as Alex Ovechkin and that Ovechkin’s freakish athleticism and tenacious attitude are all that make him the better player.
• The defense looked a lot smoother and moved the puck a lot better with Sergei Fedorov back there.  If I were Bruce Boudreau, I’m definitely considering keeping him back there until Karl Alzner is ready to play in the NHL.
• I still think he looks lost in the defensive zone far too often but it’s nice to see Milan Jurcina taking advantage of his hard shot on a regular basis.  His four shots against the Canucks give him eight on the season.  Jurcina only had 58 in 75 games last year.
• The Capitals were credited with 18 takeaways to the Canucks 14.  They were also assessed 26 giveaways to the Canucks four.
• Alexander Ovechkin led the Caps in hits with five, and a number of those were big ones.  That’s part of what makes him the best player in the NHL: even when he isn’t on the scoresheet he has a significant impact on the game.
• The Capitals’ defensemen accounted for 14 shots on goal.
  
• Update on my “players to watch”: Shane O’Brien had one shot, one penalty, and was -1.  Tomas Fleischmann had an assist…apparently.  I guess I’m not so hot at this so far this season.

Capitals 3, Panthers 1

DMG’s 3 Stars
(1) Sergei Fedorov - 1 goal (the game winner), 1 assists, +1 and some fine penalty killing work
(2) Alexander Semin - 1 goal, 1 assist, +1, 8 shots
(3) Cristobal Huet - 25 saves on 26 shots (.962 save %)

All photos AP/Getty by way of Yahoo!

Capitals 4, Lightning 1

Well, the Red Out didn’t seem to be quite as prominent last night as it was on the first against Carolina, but the Capitals pulled out a win against a frustrated Tampa Bay team and put themselves, for tonight at least, in the Eastern Conference’s eight spot.

Even with the two points going to the Capitals, much of the discussion about this game will center on Brooks Laich’s disallowed goal in the first period. I’m sure it will be discussed in detail elsewhere, but I’ll just say that it was simply a bad call - if the referees were going to rule that Tomas Fleischmann had interfered on the play, he should have received an interference minor. To waive off the goal but not call Fleischmann for a penalty is exactly the kind of indecisive need-to-please-everyone attitude that referees need to avoid.

DMG’s 3 Stars
(1) Cristobal Huet - 18 saves on 19 shots (.947 save %)
(2) Alex Ovechkin - 2 goals, 5 shots, 3 hits, +1, 2 blocked shots
(3) Viktor Kozlov - 2 assists, +1, 7 shots

Quick Hits

• As an American hockey fan, it bothers me that John Tortorella is going to coach the U.S. in the World Championships, and his team’s pathetic display at the end of last night’s game didn’t do much to enamor me to him.
• Speaking of which,like any sane Caps fan I love Bruce Boudreau, but he made a big mistake not having Donald Brashear on the ice after Doug Janik’s roughing penalty on Fleischmann.
• If not for a combination of Kari Ramo and the Caps missing by inches, it could have been 5-1 by the end of the first.
• Got to love Matt Cooke because even when he’s not scoring he makes his presence felt, and he had 6 hits last night.
• On the Lightning side, 5 of their 15 hits were from defenseman Matt Smaby.