Bad bounce finishes homestand with loss

I just realized I haven't written about Friday's game with the Devils yet, hence the out-of-order posting.

It was a typical Devils game, with lots of clogging, close defensive play, and few good scoring chances.  It was also Schneider's seventeenth straight game shouldering the load of the crossbar.

You'd think that'd mean Schneider was tired.  Well, if so, he didn't show it.  He had one hell of a night, stopping everything the Caps could get through to him (the defense blocked 19).

Holtby had as good a night in stopping the puck.  Unfortunately, in the middle of the third period, he corralled the puck behind the net, then failed to get it past Camalleri in the corner, who fired it on a one-timer, into the open net.

So Holtby literally stopped every shot thrown at him, and still lost the team the game.  Hockey's a weird game, sometimes.

Because despite the Caps big advantage in shots, that was the only goal in the entire game.  Such an anticlimactic way for a tense, defensive struggle to end.

The Caps did well, overall, though.  It's hard to get too upset about outplaying an opponent through almost an entire game, and one small mistake losing it.

But make no mistake, the Caps do need to improve.  They're still at seventeen points through seventeen games, and that isn't going to get them a sniff of the playoffs.

Their dominant possession numbers should get them there, though.  I just wish they were doing a better job of converting those possession numbers into wins.  It should follow, so I'm not hugely worried, but it hasn't yet, so I am (a little).

Next up will be Arizona, tomorrow night.  Go Caps!