20111225

Bedeviled Anew

I didn't get a chance to write about the Caps game against the Devils from the other night.

It was not a very fun game to watch, as the Caps were badly outplayed in the first (though, thanks to Neuvy, escaped with no score) and completely dominated in the second (and lucky to end down by only three goals). How bad was it? They got their first sustained pressure of the game in the last minute of the second period (and yes, that includes the three power plays. I think NJ got more chances on those power plays than Washington did. And more offensive zone time. Sad). And I'm glad they did, because if they hadn't, I probably wouldn't have watched the third, at all.

And I'm glad I did watch the third, as they outplayed the Devils handily, getting nine shots against only four allowed. And, wonder of wonders, three of those nine found the back of the net. That was enough to guarantee a standings point.

And the Caps continued to outplay the Devils in the overtime, but were unable to bury any of their shots, so they went to the shootout for the second time against the Devils this season. And, unfortunately, the result was the same as last time, with the Devils scoring twice on the shootout (and Neuvy was beaten by the third, as well, but Parise put the puck over the net) while the Caps failed to record a shootout goal.

So the Caps had their second loss of the season after going into overtime (both on the shootout, and both to New Jersey), but, as badly as they were outplayed through two, it almost felt like a victory. Not a satisfying one, though.

And Chimmer continued his annus mirabilis, getting two of the three goals, with Laich getting the third (they were not playing together for most of the game, though, so we can't make a comment about it being their line being awesome).

All in all, we're left with a bit of a "two steps forward, one step back" kind of feeling, as the Nashville game felt like progress, and this one felt like regress.

I'm definitely hoping for a much better showing tomorrow night in Buffalo, though; I can't take much more of this suckage. I keep telling myself that the end result will make the pain worth it, but it's hard to be sure of that, with the way things are going.

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