Win one, lose one

I was at a bar last night with some friends to watch the Caps game. And we kind of did that, but I must admit that I didn't get much out of it. (Which is ok, the main goal was to talk with friends, one of whom hasn't lived in the area in quite a few years.)

The paper made a big deal out of Semin being benched for much (all?) of the third period, and not playing much of the second either. I think the goal, there, is a good one. Show that everyone, including Semin, is being held accountable, although I'm skeptical of whether it'll actually accomplish anything vis a vis Sasha. But maybe it says something to the rest of the team important enough to overlook that.

In any event, the team seemed to be doing well, and the returns were certainly good. I was shocked (though in a good way, of course), when Chimmer buried that breakaway, shorthanded. And I was amused to see Marjo get another goal from so close to the net. I'm loving that, but it's definitely not what I was expecting from him.

Tonight, I was able to watch pretty close to all of the game. I did miss them saying, at the beginning, that Green (well, he was expected, after last night) and Erskine (didn't hear what happened to him) were out, so I was a bit confused at Laich being on the blue line.

Brouwer's goal was very nice (in fact, thinking about it, maybe he should have gotten a chance in the shootout), and Chimmer did a nice job of vulturing Carlson's goal. I kid; it was well-played. It was nice to see the Caps come out of the first with a lead, for once, and without surrendering a goal, which was even nicer.

But the Caps looked terrible for most of the second period. They did have one really, really nice shift, that ended when MarJo drew a tripping penalty behind the net. I can't remember if they actually got any shots out of that shift, but I loved watching them keep it in the offensive zone for so long. But that was pretty much the only bright spot of the period. They had only two shots, which is terrible. And that's also how many goals they allowed, which is also pretty bad.

A lot of credit certainly goes to the Devils, who played an excellent period, but the Caps just didn't seem to want it nearly as bad as NJ.

In the third period, down another defender with Hamrlik in the dressing room, the Caps actually played better, and generated some chances. Not as many as I would have liked, but more than the second. And they looked much better while doing it, as well. Plus, they didn't give NJ nearly as many chances. Oh, and the top line was especially buzzing. I don't think I'd want to keep Ward up there (I'd rather keep him on the shut-down line), but he did look good there.

But nobody got on the board in the third, so we ended up with overtime. The Caps looked good for the first minute or so of overtime, but the Devils basically took over from there, getting almost all the chances from then on (helped by getting away with a lot of interference).

But again, nobody scored, so we went into the coin flip portion of the game. And that did not go so well, but it is what it is (which is to say, a terrible way to end a hockey game).

So, while the result was disappointing, in the larger picture the Caps did take three of four points in the home-and-home, and that is hard to really get upset about.

Time to start a road trip to Nashville (where I'm sure Ward will be happy to take on his old mates), Winnipeg, and Toronto. I guess we'll find out something more about all the blue-line injuries; and maybe we'll finally get a look at Orlov. We can hope, at least, although Collins is more likely, if they need someone from Hershey.