Seems awfully weird to say it after a 2-1 win, but the defense was pretty bad last night. Green and Sarge did well (Green looked even better than usual handling the puck); hopefully the shoulder injury he got with that hit in the corner late in the game is very minor. But the rest of the defense did not do well; Neuvy was hung out to dry several times. Thankfully for the rest of the club, he was up to those challenges.
And while I'm at it, I'd like to point to a post at Japer's about how good Neuvy is at home, and mention that he improved those numbers across the board last night, as difficult as that was. I have to think he's considered the #1 goalie for the team until he comes back to earth, hard.
Great game by Backstrom; he looked much more like we expect from him last night. I wonder, too, if Gabby's experiment with mixing up the lines might have actually worked, even though the mixed-up lines didn't work too well. Hard to say on that one.
And Ovie is continuing his run as the silent assassin this year, where he just disappears for quite a while, only to chip a goal or two in late. Dunno what to make of that. I hope it's a strategic decision, lulling the other team into complacency. If it is, it's certainly working.
Other than that, the Caps really only had one good period; they were very lucky to escape with the two points. We'll certainly take them, but we didn't deserve them.
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