20131013

Buried

I wasn't able to watch hardly any of last night's Caps/Avs game.  Again, the DVR failed; I really need to figure out why it keeps failing.  Worse, I didn't look (we were visiting friends, then getting kids into bed) until there were only five minutes or so left in the game.  The first thing I heard (before the picture came on) was something about people in the arena leaving.  That sounded like a blowout, going the wrong way.

So much for my hopes of the Caps handing the Avs their first loss of the season, hopefully along with attendant blow-up by Patrick Roy.  Very disappointing.

From what I can see, this was a game almost entirely decided by goaltending.  Varly (yes, we miss you a bit, still, Varly) continued his fabulous early-season performance (40 saves), and Neuvy had a terrible game.  Shots and Fenwick, 5-on-5 close, were both tied, and Corsi had only a slight edge to the Avs.  Overall Corsi was heavily in the Caps favor (not surprising, given score effects, and the Caps trailing by 2+ for most of the game).  Also, for the (almost) seven minutes the game was tied, the Caps were ahead on all three measures of possession.

Watching the postgame report (which I rarely do, but made an exception to watch a little, since I missed almost the whole game), it looked like Fehr's line had a fantastic game, with lots of cycling and chances (plus the lone Caps goal).  They were also all +1, so they weren't on for any goals against (a big surprise, as they've been the worst line w/r/t goals against on the season).

OV's line was on for two against (and the primary power play unit allowed a really terrible shortie; which is to say, not a breakaway.  Also, that was definitely a terrible save attempt by Neuvy).

So, the game ended 5-1, and the Caps still have only one period that has ended with them in the lead.

If Fehr's line has gotten a hold of things in the defensive end, then I'm definitely feeling better, going forward.  They've been pretty decent outside of their own blue line up to this point, but pretty bad on the other side of that line.  Defensively, they've been the team's weak link.  Let's hope this was a sign of improvement, not just good luck.  If it was, this is a much better team, going forward.

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