Still Singing the Blues

Didn't get to watch the third period of the Caps game tonight, and was frequently distracted during the first two, but...

The team didn't look much better tonight. They still spent way too much time hemmed in in their own end (ONE scoring chance in the first period??? Yes, Backstrom buried the nice feed from OV, but egads). Way too many giveaways again. Not nearly enough shots on goal.

The effort was a bit better overall, but not hugely so.

The only person who really stood out, in my mind, was Backstrom. As mentioned, he had the goal. He also managed to start a 2-on-1 when down two men. He and Knuble weren't able to score on the break, but they did draw a penalty which negated the second man advantage.

The forwards were a little more involved defensively, I think, but it wasn't a huge change.

Well, as I said, tonight wasn't going to be a big test of Hunter's abilities. He hadn't had enough time to instill whatever changes he wanted, so we don't know about improvements. I was a little disappointed, though, insofar as I expected a large improvement on effort tonight. There was an improvement, but it wasn't nearly as big as I'd thought it'd be.

Anyway, I guess we'll need to wait for Thursday, and Pittsburgh, for a little bit better assessment. To be honest, though, I'm not optimistic about the Caps chances that night. And OY. The Caps are now out of playoff position. Oof! They're only seven points out of first, but that's still depressing. Oh, and seven points out of last place, as well. *sigh*