Three games in, the Caps season can already be described as very up-and-down. The first period of the season, against Montreal, was one of the better ones I've seen them play in the last several years. In it, Burakovsky showed why he wasn't sent down (I was highly skeptical, at best, of this move, but he's looked very good so far).
The second period was discouraging, and you had to think the disallowed goal would give them some additional motivation, but the third period was really terrible.
They got really lucky with the second disallowed goal and with the other "goal" hitting the corner of the post (ironic that both of those were caused by Bourque (and f- that guy, anyway)), but still allowed a tying goal.
In the overtime, they actually looked quite good again (and with some interesting forward pairings. Ward and Chimmer was a bit interesting, but Kuzya (who'd been stapled to the bench for most of the game) and... Brouwer? were an odd choice. And it was a surprise to see Bura out, though he acquitted himself well), but not good enough to win the game.
The shootout seemed fairly desultory, with nobody doing anything terribly interesting, and it seemed pretty anticlimactic when Holtby allowed the final shot in. Overall, a disappointing game, but one showing promise.
The second game, against the Bruins, did not feel like a good one at all. But OV scored on the OV power play one-timer to give a lead. A few minutes later, Alzner made a great pinch to keep the puck in, Backs won possession, and immediately hit OV cutting toward the net. OV wristed the shot over Rask's shoulder to double the margin.
Possessionally, though, it was pretty terrible, and Holtby was called on to make a number of nice saves to preserve the lead.
The second period was more even, possessionally, although it felt like Boston had the better of it. But the second power play unit chipped in halfway through, with Bura in MarJo's position, passing to Kuzya in Backstrom's, passing straight across to Green in OV's position for the one-timer score. It should also be noted that Bura drew the penalty on this one.
The third period still went more Boston's way, possessionally, until the last five minutes or so, when they seemed to give up.
But Holtby continued to stand tall, especially being called on in PK situations, and kept the B's out of the net. By the end, Boston had given up, and Ward got his first of the season (from Carlson and Bura) to complete the shutout.
All in all, not the way I'd draw it up, but it's hard to be upset with the result.
The third game, last night, was back at home against the Sharks. The first period went about the way you'd expect, against a San Jose team that hadn't yet allowed a goal and got a little luck. That helped push Holtby out less than ten minutes in, as he allowed three goals on seven shots. Not his night.
Irwin had his first career multigoal game with the first two, and John Scott had his third career goal (in about 100 games, IIRC) for the third.
The Caps kept the Sharks out of the net the rest of the period, but I still waited well over an hour (maybe two) before turning the rest of the game on. And that was after long debate.
The team justified my faith less than three minutes in, with a nine-second power play. It was OV fooling the D, and passing to MarJo on the far doorstep for the tap-in, instead of taking his usual one-timer. A very nicely-played power play, as all five players touched the puck in those nine seconds.
Two and a half minutes later (does this sound familiar, perchance?), Pavelski scored to restore the three-goal margin.
Playing against type, the Caps scored back one, and one-and-a-half, minutes later (Green and OV with the honors) to make it a close game again. That was it for the scoring in the period, but the Caps continued to play hard and threaten.
Wingels extended the lead once more, only a minute and a half into the third, and it took the Caps a long time to come up with an answer. That answer finally came from OV, on the power play, but was not one of his normal one-timer slapshots. He go the puck in his normal position, and actually waited on something for a second or two. But his wrister found the top corner, near side.
The building really went crazy a minute later, when Brouwer got the defender to trip, coming down the left side, then floated to the middle, waited for Niemi to go down, and found the top-right corner for the tie.
A minor penalty on Backstrom with just over a minute left provided some additional drama, but they weathered that storm, even into the overtime. The Caps looked pretty good in the overtime, even getting the only shot on goal, but were unable to score, so things went into the shootout.
And let's just say that that did not go according to script, as all three Caps missed and Pavelski's score was the difference maker.
But really, it's hard to be upset with a shootout loss to the Sharks. Especially a game that started so poorly.
So the Caps finished the trio with four points, which would have been a pretty optimistic prediction at the beginning. They haven't looked great, or even consistently good, but they show a lot of promise. Bura is more than justifying the staff's decision to keep him on the big team; MarJo is improving on the boards. Fehr looks pretty good on the top line. The Chimmer-Laich-Ward line hasn't done much, but we know what they can do (they'll turn it around; they've had some good chances). Kuzya has looked good in pretty limited minutes (psst: he needs more ice time, and I think he'll get it).
O'Brien and Latta haven't looked bad. In fact, I'm in favor of keeping Latta in the line-up when Beagle's healthy.
The power play looks like it hasn't been tinkered with (much; OV's getting less ice time, but that's probably to the good), and is getting a lot of shots. No one has tried the "man on OV" yet; we'll see how things go when they do.
The penalty kill looks improved, though not as much as I'd hoped. They are still allowing too many shots, but it's a lot less than last year. Mostly, they need to work on clearing. They've failed on too many clearing chances already. That seems fluky; we'll hope that's true.
Given all the off-season turmoil, it's hard to be disappointed with where things stand.
The Devils are coming to town tomorrow, and they've been scoring this year. So that should be quite a challenge. The Panthers follow that, then it's time for a three game swing out north and west (Oilers, Flames, and Canucks, in order). We'll have a much better handle on where the team is at the end of that.
Showing posts with label boston. Show all posts
Showing posts with label boston. Show all posts
20141015
20140507
Keeping up
Didn't watch much hockey last night; saw a little bit of the Boston/Montreal game, but the Habs were up 3-0 when I turned it on. I kept it on long enough to see Boston get back within two, but missed the last two goals.
So, Habs... Keep it up, guys. I'm still not convinced you can do it, but would love to see it.
And I'm glad I didn't stay up to watch any of the Wild/Hawks (that sounds like it should be the name of one team, not two, doesn't it?) game. Since all the scoring was in the third, I'd've definitely gone to sleep before any goals were scored.
But both home teams won, supporting the notion of home-ice advantage. And only one had a PP advantage. And both did it while significantly behind in Fenwick, in all situations, and in 5-on-5 close. In fact, both were further behind in 5-on-5 close than overall, which is definitely odd (though perhaps the power play discrepancy explains that for Minnesota?).
Anyway, I'm not changing my mind on who's likely to win either of these series, but it's always good to see the underdogs win (well, unless the Caps are favored, of course. But that doesn't happen often).
So, Habs... Keep it up, guys. I'm still not convinced you can do it, but would love to see it.
And I'm glad I didn't stay up to watch any of the Wild/Hawks (that sounds like it should be the name of one team, not two, doesn't it?) game. Since all the scoring was in the third, I'd've definitely gone to sleep before any goals were scored.
But both home teams won, supporting the notion of home-ice advantage. And only one had a PP advantage. And both did it while significantly behind in Fenwick, in all situations, and in 5-on-5 close. In fact, both were further behind in 5-on-5 close than overall, which is definitely odd (though perhaps the power play discrepancy explains that for Minnesota?).
Anyway, I'm not changing my mind on who's likely to win either of these series, but it's always good to see the underdogs win (well, unless the Caps are favored, of course. But that doesn't happen often).
20140502
Grudge-dome entered
I wasn't able to watch all of the Habs/Bruins game last night, but did see most of it. I think I turned it on at the beginning of the second period, and watched through the end of the first overtime (I knew I wasn't going to be able to stay away through the period break).
So I missed Subban's goal to open the scoring, but did see Bourque's goal to extend the lead (he's still dead to me, though). After that, it felt like the Canadiens kept playing well most of the way through the period, although the Fenwick chart shows that the rest of the game was pretty solidly dominated by the Bruins.
And it certainly felt like the Bruins were dominating for the last five minutes or so of the second, and solidly through the third and initial OT.
And, of course, that OT indicates that the Bruins did come back in the third. In fact, they scored three, but Montreal did match one of those so that they never fell behind.
Although the Habs did get a couple chances in that OT, they spent most of the period playing defense.
But they got a break thirty seconds or so from the end, as they got a power play. That didn't win it for them, but gave them some momentum going into the second extra time. And in the second extra period, they got another break, as they got a second power play four minutes in. And that did win it for them, as it took only seven seconds for PK to notch his second of the night and give them the lead in the series.
In the end, shots were 51-33, and Fenwick 68-44, so things don't look so good for the Canadiens, going forward. But they've got a lead now, and have seized home ice advantage, so it's not terrible either. I'm still calling it in favor of Boston, but it's much narrower, now (and it certainly wouldn't break my heart to be wrong).
So I missed Subban's goal to open the scoring, but did see Bourque's goal to extend the lead (he's still dead to me, though). After that, it felt like the Canadiens kept playing well most of the way through the period, although the Fenwick chart shows that the rest of the game was pretty solidly dominated by the Bruins.
And it certainly felt like the Bruins were dominating for the last five minutes or so of the second, and solidly through the third and initial OT.
And, of course, that OT indicates that the Bruins did come back in the third. In fact, they scored three, but Montreal did match one of those so that they never fell behind.
Although the Habs did get a couple chances in that OT, they spent most of the period playing defense.
But they got a break thirty seconds or so from the end, as they got a power play. That didn't win it for them, but gave them some momentum going into the second extra time. And in the second extra period, they got another break, as they got a second power play four minutes in. And that did win it for them, as it took only seven seconds for PK to notch his second of the night and give them the lead in the series.
In the end, shots were 51-33, and Fenwick 68-44, so things don't look so good for the Canadiens, going forward. But they've got a lead now, and have seized home ice advantage, so it's not terrible either. I'm still calling it in favor of Boston, but it's much narrower, now (and it certainly wouldn't break my heart to be wrong).
20140307
Still broken
Well, last night's Caps game was not approached with any optimism. In addition to all the problems seen the night before, Erskine (unknown) and Laich (wonky groin, again) were both out with injuries as well. So the recently-acquired Brown was called up, as was Schilling.
The result? About what you'd expect; the team looked not-good to horrible in every section of the ice. Worse, they looked worst in the defensive end, where it's most important to be together. Coverage was terrible, there was no structure, and players were even getting in Holtby's way.
There's just no way to sugarcoat it. They played like a very bad team, and were lucky that the score was as close as it was.
In fact, they looked so bad that I even fell asleep through much of the third period (that two-goal margin never seemed surmountable).
Fenwick, 5-on-5 close, was 26% for the team. It didn't feel that close.
There was some not-great officiating (Thornton got away with several cross-checks and high sticks, while Washington got called for a ticky-tack play that resulted in Boston's first goal), but I can't say as that changed the course of the game. The only difference that would have made was how much of the game was played, 5-on-5 close.
It would be nice if that concluded the tough part of Washington's schedule, but no. There's still a lot of that remaining. Next up is Phoenix on Saturday, as Washington sees several familiar faces (Erat, Ribeiro, Halpern). Let's hope some people get healthy, and it goes a bit better.
If nothing else, can we see Schmidt taking Erskine's place instead of Schilling? And it will be good to see Orlov back.
Oates, can we at least see some compete level? Rolling over and playing dead is not what we want to see, even if they're going to be losing.
GO, caps!
The result? About what you'd expect; the team looked not-good to horrible in every section of the ice. Worse, they looked worst in the defensive end, where it's most important to be together. Coverage was terrible, there was no structure, and players were even getting in Holtby's way.
There's just no way to sugarcoat it. They played like a very bad team, and were lucky that the score was as close as it was.
In fact, they looked so bad that I even fell asleep through much of the third period (that two-goal margin never seemed surmountable).
Fenwick, 5-on-5 close, was 26% for the team. It didn't feel that close.
There was some not-great officiating (Thornton got away with several cross-checks and high sticks, while Washington got called for a ticky-tack play that resulted in Boston's first goal), but I can't say as that changed the course of the game. The only difference that would have made was how much of the game was played, 5-on-5 close.
It would be nice if that concluded the tough part of Washington's schedule, but no. There's still a lot of that remaining. Next up is Phoenix on Saturday, as Washington sees several familiar faces (Erat, Ribeiro, Halpern). Let's hope some people get healthy, and it goes a bit better.
If nothing else, can we see Schmidt taking Erskine's place instead of Schilling? And it will be good to see Orlov back.
Oates, can we at least see some compete level? Rolling over and playing dead is not what we want to see, even if they're going to be losing.
GO, caps!
20140302
OV ties Bruins, Caps win
As I mentioned, I didn't watch yesterday's Caps/Bruins game until this morning (and I'm glad I went to look so soon, because I would have missed today's Flyer's game entirely, if not). I wasn't feeling at all well about the Caps prospects in the game, with it being a) in Boston, b) against a very strong Bruins team, c) without Grabo, and d) also without Erat (hurt blocking a shot, apparently).
But the Caps were much more psyched up to start this one, jumping to an early possession advantage, and keeping that for almost the first thirty minutes. And that includes a full, two-minute two-man disadvantage only seven minutes in (I still don't know what happened there, to be honest; I didn't see either of the penalties). And Laich broke his stick on the opening draw of that penalty. Somehow, the Bruins only got one shot off on that advantage. Stellar penalty killing, there.
Washington finally got a penalty of their own with just under two minutes left in the period with an interference call on Kelly (a hit after the whistle, IIRC, where Chimmer wasn't even looking at him). The Caps took up right where they'd left off against Florida, scoring in under half a minute, with the old around-the-umbrella play (Backstrom on half-wall to Carlson up top to OV on the other half-wall with the one-timer).
The fine play continued into the second period, with Chimmer drawing a second penalty in the first minute. It took quite a bit longer, and was actually done on the rush, but OV scored on another one-timer a minute-forty-five later.
Boston started clawing their way back after that, with a solid edge in play, but Washington actually scored the next goal nearly eight minutes later. It was off a center-ice face-off; Ward fought off his man when Boston won it, and intercepted a pass between the two defensemen, and fighting his way behind both of them. Rask went for his forehand shot, but Wardo pulled it back to the backhand and put it into the empty net. Mighty impressive play, from beginning to end.
But Chimmer gave back a penalty half a minute later, and Boston scored seventeen seconds later when Bergeron found himself with time in the slot and put it over Holtby's shoulder into the top corner.
Boston scored again, seven minutes later, when Thornton tipped Paille's shot between Holtby's legs to bring the margin down to one.
No goals resulted, but there was a weird situation a minute later when Washington went on the power play, and Backstrom broke Chara's stick keeping Zdeno from clearing the puck. Play continued, but Chara appealed to the ref and got the call. I've never seen that happen before. So Washington's power play only lasted five seconds as Backstrom went to the box.
But thankfully, nobody scored as a result, leaving Washington ahead at the end of the second.
The third period went quite quickly, with Washington managing almost no offense outside of the power play. The only good thing is that the "almost" there did include a play where Fehr got the puck from one of Boston's D, and sprinted past into a clean breakaway. And beat Rask between the legs with his quick wrister, restoring the Caps two-goal lead.
Despite a lot of pressure, the Caps managed to prevent any other goals (Holtby played extremely well, although he didn't have many flashy goals), and took the game by the final of 4-2.
Overall, despite missing Erat and Grabo (although they did get MarJo back, and he did look consistently dangerous), the Caps actually looked better than they did against Florida. The Caps needed to win and they did.
As mentioned, Holtby looked very good, stopping thirty-six of thirty-eight shots.
The power play was decent. The two goals were very good, but they also allowed several very good chances against. The eighteen shot attempts (fourteen on net) was also quite good, coming in less than nine minutes.
The PK was not great, allowing nine shot attempts in less than four and a half minutes, although only five were on net. Gotta say they were fairly lucky to only allow one goal.
I should also note that OV reached eight hundred career points with the five he had in the two games. I'm glad to see that he seems to have come back mad, rather than depressed, from the Olympics. Let's hope that continues.
Overall, though, at this point in the season, and especially with the schedule remaining, results are all that matter for this team. I'm still not feeling great about their chances to make the playoffs, but this was a big step in the right direction.
But the Caps were much more psyched up to start this one, jumping to an early possession advantage, and keeping that for almost the first thirty minutes. And that includes a full, two-minute two-man disadvantage only seven minutes in (I still don't know what happened there, to be honest; I didn't see either of the penalties). And Laich broke his stick on the opening draw of that penalty. Somehow, the Bruins only got one shot off on that advantage. Stellar penalty killing, there.
Washington finally got a penalty of their own with just under two minutes left in the period with an interference call on Kelly (a hit after the whistle, IIRC, where Chimmer wasn't even looking at him). The Caps took up right where they'd left off against Florida, scoring in under half a minute, with the old around-the-umbrella play (Backstrom on half-wall to Carlson up top to OV on the other half-wall with the one-timer).
The fine play continued into the second period, with Chimmer drawing a second penalty in the first minute. It took quite a bit longer, and was actually done on the rush, but OV scored on another one-timer a minute-forty-five later.
Boston started clawing their way back after that, with a solid edge in play, but Washington actually scored the next goal nearly eight minutes later. It was off a center-ice face-off; Ward fought off his man when Boston won it, and intercepted a pass between the two defensemen, and fighting his way behind both of them. Rask went for his forehand shot, but Wardo pulled it back to the backhand and put it into the empty net. Mighty impressive play, from beginning to end.
But Chimmer gave back a penalty half a minute later, and Boston scored seventeen seconds later when Bergeron found himself with time in the slot and put it over Holtby's shoulder into the top corner.
Boston scored again, seven minutes later, when Thornton tipped Paille's shot between Holtby's legs to bring the margin down to one.
No goals resulted, but there was a weird situation a minute later when Washington went on the power play, and Backstrom broke Chara's stick keeping Zdeno from clearing the puck. Play continued, but Chara appealed to the ref and got the call. I've never seen that happen before. So Washington's power play only lasted five seconds as Backstrom went to the box.
But thankfully, nobody scored as a result, leaving Washington ahead at the end of the second.
The third period went quite quickly, with Washington managing almost no offense outside of the power play. The only good thing is that the "almost" there did include a play where Fehr got the puck from one of Boston's D, and sprinted past into a clean breakaway. And beat Rask between the legs with his quick wrister, restoring the Caps two-goal lead.
Despite a lot of pressure, the Caps managed to prevent any other goals (Holtby played extremely well, although he didn't have many flashy goals), and took the game by the final of 4-2.
Overall, despite missing Erat and Grabo (although they did get MarJo back, and he did look consistently dangerous), the Caps actually looked better than they did against Florida. The Caps needed to win and they did.
As mentioned, Holtby looked very good, stopping thirty-six of thirty-eight shots.
The power play was decent. The two goals were very good, but they also allowed several very good chances against. The eighteen shot attempts (fourteen on net) was also quite good, coming in less than nine minutes.
The PK was not great, allowing nine shot attempts in less than four and a half minutes, although only five were on net. Gotta say they were fairly lucky to only allow one goal.
I should also note that OV reached eight hundred career points with the five he had in the two games. I'm glad to see that he seems to have come back mad, rather than depressed, from the Olympics. Let's hope that continues.
Overall, though, at this point in the season, and especially with the schedule remaining, results are all that matter for this team. I'm still not feeling great about their chances to make the playoffs, but this was a big step in the right direction.
20130607
Clean sweep
Without the Caps around, I've not been watching a lot of hockey, but I've caught bits and pieces of games.
I just finished watching the last two periods of the Bruins/Penguins game. It was hard to watch, in a way, as I didn't really want either team to win (in the last round, the only team in the East I could cheer a little bit for was the Sens, and that obviously didn't work out well).
But I dislike the Bruins a little bit less than the Penguins, so I generally wanted them to win. I must admit, beyond that, I was mostly hoping for a long and bruising series, preferably with a lot of overtimes. Instead, we got short and bruising, with one double-overtime.
I really was hoping the Pens would win tonight to extend the series, though. So it was with mixed feelings that I watched the puck fly into Rask's glove as time expired tonight.
So congratulations to the Bruins on their sweep (I was impressed, they did make the Pens look downright bad for two games. And in Pittsburgh, no less), and I hope they get steamrolled by whichever team wins out West (which certainly looks likely to be Chicago).
I just finished watching the last two periods of the Bruins/Penguins game. It was hard to watch, in a way, as I didn't really want either team to win (in the last round, the only team in the East I could cheer a little bit for was the Sens, and that obviously didn't work out well).
But I dislike the Bruins a little bit less than the Penguins, so I generally wanted them to win. I must admit, beyond that, I was mostly hoping for a long and bruising series, preferably with a lot of overtimes. Instead, we got short and bruising, with one double-overtime.
I really was hoping the Pens would win tonight to extend the series, though. So it was with mixed feelings that I watched the puck fly into Rask's glove as time expired tonight.
So congratulations to the Bruins on their sweep (I was impressed, they did make the Pens look downright bad for two games. And in Pittsburgh, no less), and I hope they get steamrolled by whichever team wins out West (which certainly looks likely to be Chicago).
20130428
Poking the bear
Last night's Bruins game was another one that had no real meaning for the Caps. They were still locked into third seed no matter what, but they still wanted to do well to keep the juices flowing for the start of the playoffs. And the game was far from meaningless for the Bruins, as they looked to maintain their hold on second place in the conference.
Well, the Caps came out swinging pretty hard, and looked really good. In fact, there were long stretches of the first period where Holtby was probably getting bored, because so much of the play was down at the other end of the ice.
But he was definitely regretting one faceoff in the Caps end, where Krejci won it back to Lucic, who wristed it well wide of the goal. Unfortunately, Alzner wasn't able to get his skate out of the way (he was trying), and it caromed off his toe and into the corner of the net. Very weird all the way around.
So despite having, by far, the better of the play, the Caps went into the first intermission down a goal. Shots on net were 12-8 in Washington's favor, with Boston having eight blocked shots and Washington none.
The second period didn't feel quite as lopsided as the first (in the opposite direction), although the shots were pretty similar (15-9, although I don't have the breakdown on blocked shots). And the Bruins were up two at that point, because Lucic made a nice play that set up a really good screen of Holtby on the rush so he couldn't see the shot coming in (the screen was Lucic and both defenders).
In the third period, the refs were a lot more noticeable, and called a bunch of penalties. Thankfully, the Caps had far the better of that with three straight power plays. That pitted the top power play (41 goals heading into the night) against the top PK (18 goals allowed, heading in) in a battle royale.
Mike Green decided he had been too quiet, apparently, as he managed to net two shots from the point, one on each of the first two power plays. That left things all tied up, and despite a bit of 4-on-4 and a chunk of 4-on-3, that carried all the way through the third period.
And the penalty that caused the 4-on-3 actually carried over into the overtime (ie: went back to 4-on-3), but the Caps did manage to kill it off (I should also point out, here, that this was a matchup of the worst power play (17 goals for) against the second worst PK (35 goals for). Not exactly a world-beating mark) this time.
And they got a bit of help a minute later when Chara got thrown off by Ribeiro's shifting speed, and got called for hooking. This brought the 4-on-3 back the other way. The power play was a little sloppy as everyone seemed to want to help Greenie get the hat trick.
They kept trying to feed him (and they even put him in OV's spot at the end), but Rask was able to save them. But his ninth shot (overall, not just on that power play) bounced into the slot, where Fehr dove on it, knocking it up and over Rask for the win.
The win might not have meant much in terms of standings (although Boston was surely disappointed), but it was an awesome way to cap off an improbably up and down season.
Some ups: Green's two goals gave him the scoring title for defensemen. And OV, despite not adding another goal on the night (though still getting two points) is going to get his third Rocket Richard trophy. And he'll certainly be in the conversation for the Hart, although I can't say as I expect him to win. And the team, despite spending time at the bottom of the standings (and second to last impressively late in the season), took the final Southeast Division title and third seed with it (eighth in the league, for those scoring at home). Holtby, despite a pretty miserable beginning of the season, still showed that his performance over the last two seasons might not have been a fluke (I'm inclined to think it wasn't, but he still hasn't played enough games to be sure). He certainly appears to be an above-average starter. The power play went from wretched back to the top of the league (almost 27%).
But there were certainly some downs as well. The PK went from solid to miserable, ending at 78% (27th place). The team lost their second best prospect (which, when you've basically got three prospects, is a big deal). Laich went from team ironman to missing most of the season with injuries. Ward played very well, but finished the season on IR. Ribeiro has been a decent center (and certainly deserves a fair amoutn of credit for that power play), but pretty miserable at even strength (his possession numbers are atrocious). And the Caps need to do better in close games. Their Fenwick close% has remained below average, and was generally so even when they were winning. That's actually a discouraging factor, going forward.
But, despite the weird path to get there, it's hard to be upset with where they ended up. Let's just hope that the playoffs go more similarly to the end of the season than the beginning.
Well, the Caps came out swinging pretty hard, and looked really good. In fact, there were long stretches of the first period where Holtby was probably getting bored, because so much of the play was down at the other end of the ice.
But he was definitely regretting one faceoff in the Caps end, where Krejci won it back to Lucic, who wristed it well wide of the goal. Unfortunately, Alzner wasn't able to get his skate out of the way (he was trying), and it caromed off his toe and into the corner of the net. Very weird all the way around.
So despite having, by far, the better of the play, the Caps went into the first intermission down a goal. Shots on net were 12-8 in Washington's favor, with Boston having eight blocked shots and Washington none.
The second period didn't feel quite as lopsided as the first (in the opposite direction), although the shots were pretty similar (15-9, although I don't have the breakdown on blocked shots). And the Bruins were up two at that point, because Lucic made a nice play that set up a really good screen of Holtby on the rush so he couldn't see the shot coming in (the screen was Lucic and both defenders).
In the third period, the refs were a lot more noticeable, and called a bunch of penalties. Thankfully, the Caps had far the better of that with three straight power plays. That pitted the top power play (41 goals heading into the night) against the top PK (18 goals allowed, heading in) in a battle royale.
Mike Green decided he had been too quiet, apparently, as he managed to net two shots from the point, one on each of the first two power plays. That left things all tied up, and despite a bit of 4-on-4 and a chunk of 4-on-3, that carried all the way through the third period.
And the penalty that caused the 4-on-3 actually carried over into the overtime (ie: went back to 4-on-3), but the Caps did manage to kill it off (I should also point out, here, that this was a matchup of the worst power play (17 goals for) against the second worst PK (35 goals for). Not exactly a world-beating mark) this time.
And they got a bit of help a minute later when Chara got thrown off by Ribeiro's shifting speed, and got called for hooking. This brought the 4-on-3 back the other way. The power play was a little sloppy as everyone seemed to want to help Greenie get the hat trick.
They kept trying to feed him (and they even put him in OV's spot at the end), but Rask was able to save them. But his ninth shot (overall, not just on that power play) bounced into the slot, where Fehr dove on it, knocking it up and over Rask for the win.
The win might not have meant much in terms of standings (although Boston was surely disappointed), but it was an awesome way to cap off an improbably up and down season.
Some ups: Green's two goals gave him the scoring title for defensemen. And OV, despite not adding another goal on the night (though still getting two points) is going to get his third Rocket Richard trophy. And he'll certainly be in the conversation for the Hart, although I can't say as I expect him to win. And the team, despite spending time at the bottom of the standings (and second to last impressively late in the season), took the final Southeast Division title and third seed with it (eighth in the league, for those scoring at home). Holtby, despite a pretty miserable beginning of the season, still showed that his performance over the last two seasons might not have been a fluke (I'm inclined to think it wasn't, but he still hasn't played enough games to be sure). He certainly appears to be an above-average starter. The power play went from wretched back to the top of the league (almost 27%).
But there were certainly some downs as well. The PK went from solid to miserable, ending at 78% (27th place). The team lost their second best prospect (which, when you've basically got three prospects, is a big deal). Laich went from team ironman to missing most of the season with injuries. Ward played very well, but finished the season on IR. Ribeiro has been a decent center (and certainly deserves a fair amoutn of credit for that power play), but pretty miserable at even strength (his possession numbers are atrocious). And the Caps need to do better in close games. Their Fenwick close% has remained below average, and was generally so even when they were winning. That's actually a discouraging factor, going forward.
But, despite the weird path to get there, it's hard to be upset with where they ended up. Let's just hope that the playoffs go more similarly to the end of the season than the beginning.
20130420
Senselessness in Beantown
I don't know that I have much to say about what happened in Boston, but I did want to comment on it a little bit.
I had heard, the morning it happened, the things they were doing for the marathon to honor the victims from Newtown. So my first thought when I heard about the explosions was that it was some gun nuts in some sort of senseless protest.
I was very happy to be wrong about that.
But I'm not sure I understand what did happen any better. I'm very glad they got the younger brother alive; I hope he sheds some light on why they did this.
But I really don't understand why a couple of Chechens would do anything like this. I mean, if they were attacking something Russian, it would make a little more sense to me. But this? No comprehension at all.
I hope the motive comes out; however it happens. Just so senseless; my heart goes out to the families affected (especially that of the boy who was killed, and whose mother and sister were also badly injured. I literally can't imagine how they're coping).
I had heard, the morning it happened, the things they were doing for the marathon to honor the victims from Newtown. So my first thought when I heard about the explosions was that it was some gun nuts in some sort of senseless protest.
I was very happy to be wrong about that.
But I'm not sure I understand what did happen any better. I'm very glad they got the younger brother alive; I hope he sheds some light on why they did this.
But I really don't understand why a couple of Chechens would do anything like this. I mean, if they were attacking something Russian, it would make a little more sense to me. But this? No comprehension at all.
I hope the motive comes out; however it happens. Just so senseless; my heart goes out to the families affected (especially that of the boy who was killed, and whose mother and sister were also badly injured. I literally can't imagine how they're coping).
20130306
A Night of Surprises
Tonight's Caps game started out similarly to expectations, with the Bruins pretty solidly outplaying the Caps. When the Caps got the first power play, I was feeling a little more optimistic, but then Carlson misplayed the puck at the point, slightly, then lost an edge, leaving OV trailing Marchand on the back-check as the only defender. It went about as well as it could, until the shot was released. Then OV got called for hooking (a perfectly reasonable call), which became a penalty shot (not quite so reasonable in my mind, as the penalty was after the shot was released).
On the ensuing shot, Holtby committed to going all the way across a hair early, and Marchand was able to tuck it under him for an early 1-0 lead.
Things did not improve for the Caps, after that, as the Bruins continued to tilt the ice with Holtby at the bottom of the slope. Ten minutes after their first goal, Chara took a wrister from the point that hit Krejci (screening Holtby), and bounced back to Chara, who had followed his shot towards the net. He was able to slide the short rebound under Holtby to double their lead.
On the subsequent face-off, Erskine decided to dance with Thornton for no apparent reason. It didn't seem to give any real advantage to either team, nor was it even a decisive fight. Total waste of time. Maybe Ersk just needed to get to the bathroom early.
OV took another penalty a minute later (on a really suspect call, as he hit Kelly just after Kelly lost possession of the puck), giving Boston their first chance with the man advantage. The Caps did well at first, clearing the zone (I think twice) until Boston got it in to stay. Once they did, they worked it around a little until Hamilton took a slapper (their first shot on goal in the power play) from the point that beat Holtby up high.
At that point, it was time to put the kids to bed, so I turned it off for a while. Normally, when that happens, I change the channel so it won't go right back to the game (and I can resume play with the recording). This time, however, I didn't bother.
It took quite a while to get them to bed, and by the time I made it back, it was right in the middle of the statistical summary of the game. I was shocked to see that shots were almost tied, and the score nearly was, as well (3-2), but it gave me hope, so I kept it on to see the third period.
It's interesting, looking at the shot totals (15-8); it looks like the Caps were utterly dominated territorially (and maybe they were), but it didn't feel like it at the time. I kept thinking they'd find a way to tie things up.
And, about 3/4s of the way through the period, they did. Fehr carried into the zone, and shoveled ahead to Wolski, who was charging down the wing. Hamilton (the defender) tried to stop the puck with his leg, but it slipped through, leaving Wolski alone with Rask. One quick, back-handed shot to the upper corner, and the score was tied.
For the rest of the period, it was nail-biting time as the Caps tried to hold on into overtime. Perhaps that was where the shot totals got so distorted, because the Caps definitely didn't manage much for the rest of the period, offensively.
But Holtby was fantastic, and carried them into the extra period.
As it was starting, I was thinking, "well, we've got two shootout wizards (Wolski and Hendricks), so we should be in good shape, if it goes that long". And, frankly, that's how hopeful I was, as that seemed best case.
But the Caps surprised me, and on their second break-out of the extra period, Backstrom lofted a beautiful saucer pass to Fehr, who was, essentially, in the middle of the four Bruins. Fehr bulled his way between Seidenberg and Hamilton (don't think it would have worked so well if Chara had been there), and got off a top-shelf shot that caught Rask off-guard for the win.
So there was quite a bit to like, on the game, and a few things to be frustrated by. The power play, especially on that first one (where Marchand ended up scoring on the short-handed penalty shot), did not look very good (in fact, they gave up twice as many shots as they took). The penalty kill did not look that good, allowing a goal on only two chances. On the plus side, they did a better job of staying out of the penalty box than usual.
OV had an uneven game, taking two minors and committing the foul that led to the penalty shot (as noted above, not entirely his fault). But he also made some great drives to the net that led to some good opportunities. They probably would have worked a lot better if it hadn't been Chara defending, though.
Brouwer was sick, and was missed.
Holtby was only decent in the first period, but was awesome in the third.
Perreault and Beagle swapped lines, and that definitely didn't help the team. I hope that was a one-game message to Perreault about his shortcomings in the game before. If not, it does not bode well for the future. Related, I don't think the fourth line played at all in the third period (and only the second line played in overtime).
Fehr continued his excellent play. He's almost looking like the guy who got drafted one slot ahead of Getzlaf (almost).
Wolski has been possessionally very good of late, and it was good to see him finally convert. I will be very disappointed if he and Brouwer don't play, leaving Crabb in the press box.
Backstrom had a very good game, with three assists. He's still short of where we'd like him to be at this point in the season, but maybe there's been too much worrying about him.
Hamr got waived before the game started. Given that his start went to an AHL'er (Oleksy, #61) who was signed earlier in the day, you've got to think, even if he doesn't get claimed, that his time on the team is done.
Anyway, winning the game was a huge boost for the team, as it was quite a big surprise. Plus, if they had lost, they'd be ten points behind the Canes, and you'd have to stick a fork in them. Actually, I haven't been watching the standings closely enough; I hadn't realized they were eight points behind, as is. Even worse, they've gained two points in the last ten games.
Ok, I now completely agree with the people who've been saying the Caps need to trade Ribeiro now (I was previously on the fence about it, but leaning towards yes).
Wow, seeing they're that far behind completely takes the wind out of my sails. The only (slight) amelioration is that they have a game in hand. Bleh.
Well, next chance: Florida, in DC, tomorrow evening.
On the ensuing shot, Holtby committed to going all the way across a hair early, and Marchand was able to tuck it under him for an early 1-0 lead.
Things did not improve for the Caps, after that, as the Bruins continued to tilt the ice with Holtby at the bottom of the slope. Ten minutes after their first goal, Chara took a wrister from the point that hit Krejci (screening Holtby), and bounced back to Chara, who had followed his shot towards the net. He was able to slide the short rebound under Holtby to double their lead.
On the subsequent face-off, Erskine decided to dance with Thornton for no apparent reason. It didn't seem to give any real advantage to either team, nor was it even a decisive fight. Total waste of time. Maybe Ersk just needed to get to the bathroom early.
OV took another penalty a minute later (on a really suspect call, as he hit Kelly just after Kelly lost possession of the puck), giving Boston their first chance with the man advantage. The Caps did well at first, clearing the zone (I think twice) until Boston got it in to stay. Once they did, they worked it around a little until Hamilton took a slapper (their first shot on goal in the power play) from the point that beat Holtby up high.
At that point, it was time to put the kids to bed, so I turned it off for a while. Normally, when that happens, I change the channel so it won't go right back to the game (and I can resume play with the recording). This time, however, I didn't bother.
It took quite a while to get them to bed, and by the time I made it back, it was right in the middle of the statistical summary of the game. I was shocked to see that shots were almost tied, and the score nearly was, as well (3-2), but it gave me hope, so I kept it on to see the third period.
It's interesting, looking at the shot totals (15-8); it looks like the Caps were utterly dominated territorially (and maybe they were), but it didn't feel like it at the time. I kept thinking they'd find a way to tie things up.
And, about 3/4s of the way through the period, they did. Fehr carried into the zone, and shoveled ahead to Wolski, who was charging down the wing. Hamilton (the defender) tried to stop the puck with his leg, but it slipped through, leaving Wolski alone with Rask. One quick, back-handed shot to the upper corner, and the score was tied.
For the rest of the period, it was nail-biting time as the Caps tried to hold on into overtime. Perhaps that was where the shot totals got so distorted, because the Caps definitely didn't manage much for the rest of the period, offensively.
But Holtby was fantastic, and carried them into the extra period.
As it was starting, I was thinking, "well, we've got two shootout wizards (Wolski and Hendricks), so we should be in good shape, if it goes that long". And, frankly, that's how hopeful I was, as that seemed best case.
But the Caps surprised me, and on their second break-out of the extra period, Backstrom lofted a beautiful saucer pass to Fehr, who was, essentially, in the middle of the four Bruins. Fehr bulled his way between Seidenberg and Hamilton (don't think it would have worked so well if Chara had been there), and got off a top-shelf shot that caught Rask off-guard for the win.
So there was quite a bit to like, on the game, and a few things to be frustrated by. The power play, especially on that first one (where Marchand ended up scoring on the short-handed penalty shot), did not look very good (in fact, they gave up twice as many shots as they took). The penalty kill did not look that good, allowing a goal on only two chances. On the plus side, they did a better job of staying out of the penalty box than usual.
OV had an uneven game, taking two minors and committing the foul that led to the penalty shot (as noted above, not entirely his fault). But he also made some great drives to the net that led to some good opportunities. They probably would have worked a lot better if it hadn't been Chara defending, though.
Brouwer was sick, and was missed.
Holtby was only decent in the first period, but was awesome in the third.
Perreault and Beagle swapped lines, and that definitely didn't help the team. I hope that was a one-game message to Perreault about his shortcomings in the game before. If not, it does not bode well for the future. Related, I don't think the fourth line played at all in the third period (and only the second line played in overtime).
Fehr continued his excellent play. He's almost looking like the guy who got drafted one slot ahead of Getzlaf (almost).
Wolski has been possessionally very good of late, and it was good to see him finally convert. I will be very disappointed if he and Brouwer don't play, leaving Crabb in the press box.
Backstrom had a very good game, with three assists. He's still short of where we'd like him to be at this point in the season, but maybe there's been too much worrying about him.
Hamr got waived before the game started. Given that his start went to an AHL'er (Oleksy, #61) who was signed earlier in the day, you've got to think, even if he doesn't get claimed, that his time on the team is done.
Anyway, winning the game was a huge boost for the team, as it was quite a big surprise. Plus, if they had lost, they'd be ten points behind the Canes, and you'd have to stick a fork in them. Actually, I haven't been watching the standings closely enough; I hadn't realized they were eight points behind, as is. Even worse, they've gained two points in the last ten games.
Ok, I now completely agree with the people who've been saying the Caps need to trade Ribeiro now (I was previously on the fence about it, but leaning towards yes).
Wow, seeing they're that far behind completely takes the wind out of my sails. The only (slight) amelioration is that they have a game in hand. Bleh.
Well, next chance: Florida, in DC, tomorrow evening.
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