20110102

Caps-tone of a New Year

Haven't really felt much to say about the last several Caps games; they've played well in all of them. Matty P and MarJo have, I think, cemented their roster spots for the rest of the year (possibly barring a big trade-deadline acquisition for second center). The Caps have also adjusted their style a bit, for the first time since Boudreau came aboard, which has yielded some nice results.

They aren't playing as flashy, but more effectively, I think.

We still need both Sashas to come back to form. Neither has looked bad, but neither is playing to anywhere near their abilities, either. Well, OV might be close, other than his horrible shooting percentage, I suppose.

Other than that... Carlson and Alzner are both playing better than could have been reasonably expected. Alzner kind of punctuated that for me in the Heinz Field game, by breaking up a 3-on-1 (yes, some luck involved, but he was in the right position to be able to get lucky). The two of them are getting the toughest assignments now, and mostly coming through in fine fashion.

Fehr had a heck of a Winter Classic game. The last couple of years he's been a phenomenal scorer (near the top of the league) in points per 60 minutes. Hopefully, this game will help get him back on that track. He's definitely had a lot of good chances the last few games.

I was surprised Beagle stayed up for the WC; I expected him to be sent back. But he's been doing a good job grinding away at defenses, and had one heck of a pretty goal against the Canadiens.

In goal, both goalies have been amazing. Varly has been slightly more amazing, but it's not a large difference. I really do go back and forth on who should be considered Number One. Varly's certainly more athletic, but Neuvy's positioning is so sound... There's certainly some parallels to the situation with Ace and Kolzilla when both were on the team. Not sure the resolution will be the same, but it's definitely something to keep in mind. And also keep in mind that Holtby is pretty much tearing up the AHL as well.

I'm definitely feeling very optimistic about the club. And the results are nothing to sneeze at; as of this morning, they were only two points back of the massive pig-pile that is the President's Trophy position. Having the lead would be better, but two points out is nothing to complain about.

In fact, the only phase of the game not running well at the moment is, of all things, the power play. And that shouldn't be too hard to fix; I only see two issues. One is feeding OV too much, the other is waiting too long to take shots. That is, they get good passes to set up one-timers, but then they hold the puck for a second or two before taking the shot. Usually this allows the defense to get into position for a block. Or maybe it's just bad luck; I'm really not sure.

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