I wasn't able to watch anywhere near all of either of the games last night, but did see chunks of both.
I must say, the Rangers did look like the better team, last night, but weren't able to get it past Fleury (though, admittedly, part of that was penalty differential). Who'd've thought that was going to be the case?
I watched most of the Ducks/Kings game, and that was a very good game. Both teams were definitely going all-out, in a way that the Caps never do (at least not visibly). I think part of that is coaching, though; Oates' system is just too passive. Both Western teams were very aggressively attacking the puck, wherever it was on the ice.
I think the only way to make a "collapse to the goal, play defense all game" work is to be very, very good on the breakout (and have an amazingly good/lucky goalie). Which is to say that I'm not at all sure it's feasible in hockey the way it is in soccer. There are just too many scoring opportunities in a hockey game. The defenders, no matter how good they are, just can't help out blocking shots as much as they can in soccer (just as a function of ball size, I think).
Anyway, getting back to the Ducks and Kings; I still stand by what I said about being comfortable that the Kings would be moving on. The Kings deserved the win they got (and they played Sarge, and he didn't look terribly out of place), though it should be pointed out that Quick also needed to be very good from time to time. The one goal he allowed was on a 4-on-3, where Doughty was one of the players in the box, and it still took a deflection off a defenseman to get past Quick.
At one point, Doughty took a slash to the back of the knee (from Beauchemin), and limped off. I was wondering if that was going to leave them at a point they hadn't reached all season, with three defencemen out, but Doughty came back a minute or two later.
Getting back to the Rangers loss, they were shut out in back-to-back games for the first time since Varly did it to them, and now need to win badly. I hope they can do it (though I'm getting more skeptical).
Showing posts with label ducks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ducks. Show all posts
20140506
20140428
Ducks swim on
I wasn't able to turn on the Ducks/Stars game before the second intermission, last night. The Stars were already up 4-2, had been dominant at home (so far), and it didn't seem likely to be an interesting game. But there were no other games on, and I'd already watched the Chelsea/Liverpool playoff game (and the Man City play-in game), so I watched it anyway.
As expected, it was mostly about the Ducks trying desperately to generate some offense.
To be honest, though, outside of one power play, they really didn't do much through the first seventeen and a half minutes or so. But then Colgliano and Chiasson traded a few punches, resulting in matching minors for roughing. I tweeted, at the time, that that wasn't to bright (of Cogliano), but man, did it work out well for them.
The rest of the game was all Ducks. It took them only sixteen seconds to bring the game within a goal (probably helped by pulling Hiller), and they were definitely smelling blood. They didn't get another in the four-on-four, but they were pressuring a lot, and did score two seconds after it ended (again, with Hiller pulled, of course).
That was just about it for the game, in fact. It went into overtime, of course, as that goal was scored with less than half a minute remaining. And overtime lasted a bit less than three minutes, with the first shot on goal (there were no shots that missed the goal, but too lazy to check if there were blocked shots) going in for the Ducks (Lehtinen was pretty far out of position on the goal), and securing the series win.
So congratulations, Bruce, on your second playoff series win (and second series that didn't go to seven games, I believe); good luck the rest of the way.
As expected, it was mostly about the Ducks trying desperately to generate some offense.
To be honest, though, outside of one power play, they really didn't do much through the first seventeen and a half minutes or so. But then Colgliano and Chiasson traded a few punches, resulting in matching minors for roughing. I tweeted, at the time, that that wasn't to bright (of Cogliano), but man, did it work out well for them.
The rest of the game was all Ducks. It took them only sixteen seconds to bring the game within a goal (probably helped by pulling Hiller), and they were definitely smelling blood. They didn't get another in the four-on-four, but they were pressuring a lot, and did score two seconds after it ended (again, with Hiller pulled, of course).
That was just about it for the game, in fact. It went into overtime, of course, as that goal was scored with less than half a minute remaining. And overtime lasted a bit less than three minutes, with the first shot on goal (there were no shots that missed the goal, but too lazy to check if there were blocked shots) going in for the Ducks (Lehtinen was pretty far out of position on the goal), and securing the series win.
So congratulations, Bruce, on your second playoff series win (and second series that didn't go to seven games, I believe); good luck the rest of the way.
20140422
Riding high
I also watched a bit (the whole first period, I think) of the Dallas/Anaheim game last night. And it was pretty near all Dallas; the Stars were really flying, and keeping a lot of pressure on the Ducks.
Anderson looked very good in net for Anaheim, though, and kept the Ducks in it. Despite a number of very good chances, Benn (Jamie edition) was the only one to find the net in that period.
Koivu had an outstanding chance at one point, alone in the slot with Lehtonen down, but was unable to get it past Keri.
In general, I was impressed with the Stars, with their speed and forechecking ability (jealous might be a better word; the Caps only have one line that approaches that). The hitting was very hard, on both sides of the puck, and I have to wonder how the 40-year-olds in the series are going to do. We'll have to see on that.
Anyway, I needed to go to bed, so I missed the Stars maintaining their steady attack, and scoring two more goals while allowing none.
So we're still waiting for this series to start, I guess, given that the home team has won all three.
Anderson looked very good in net for Anaheim, though, and kept the Ducks in it. Despite a number of very good chances, Benn (Jamie edition) was the only one to find the net in that period.
Koivu had an outstanding chance at one point, alone in the slot with Lehtonen down, but was unable to get it past Keri.
In general, I was impressed with the Stars, with their speed and forechecking ability (jealous might be a better word; the Caps only have one line that approaches that). The hitting was very hard, on both sides of the puck, and I have to wonder how the 40-year-olds in the series are going to do. We'll have to see on that.
Anyway, I needed to go to bed, so I missed the Stars maintaining their steady attack, and scoring two more goals while allowing none.
So we're still waiting for this series to start, I guess, given that the home team has won all three.
20140319
Halak survives shellacking
Last night's Caps/Ducks game was a bit painful to watch. It started out well, with the Ward/Chimmer/Fehr line working their way to a tough goal in their second shift. The advantage didn't hold long, though, as Lovejoy beat Halak only a minute later (after a very questionable non-call on too many men on the ice a few seconds prior).
The rest of the period largely went Anaheim's way, but the Caps did get a power play with half a minute left, and it took only twenty-one seconds for Brouwer to clean up the trash around the goal to restore the Caps lead. I should also point out that OV caused the commotion with a great pass across the ice to Backstrom that got Hiller scrambling.
The second period had a very rocky start with Washington taking a too many men penalty two minutes in, and a delay of game penalty only ten seconds later. But the Caps packed in around the net, which frustrated the Ducks power play. So despite a huge amount of zone time, the Caps only gave up four shots on the double advantage, and Halak saved all four of those.
The rest of the period mostly went in Washington's favor (though not heavily), despite the two later penalties both going against the Caps.
In the third, the Ducks came out with a great deal of desperation, leading to an early goal by Matty P (one of these days I'll get used to him wearing 22 instead of 85). That didn't much slow down the Ducks, though, as they searched for a go ahead goal.
But Winnik tripped Green, a minute later, as he attempted to corral the puck, and very aggressive D pursuit combined with fast, on-target passes got an OV goal from the OV spot after only seven seconds.
Basically the rest of the game was a long barrage of shots on Halak, though only a few of those required amazing saves. And those amazing saves were provided, as the Capitals held on to take the 3-2 win.
According to one of the interstitial graphics in the telecast, that last goal tied OV with one of the Ducks (Perry, I think) for GWGs this season. Not that that's a terribly meaningful stat, but it's still good to see. Of course, with OV almost lapping the field on overall goals scored, it's hardly a great surprise.
That goal left OV only four short of fifty, which would be pretty amazing, given how low league scoring is (2.77 G/gm, per team). I guess that cap hit continues to look ok for a couple more years.
But, in reference to OV, that Beagle experiment has got to end. The best they've looked over the last several games together, has been to play keep-away in the offensive zone in one shift last night. The cycling was pretty good (was especially impressed by MarJo, there), but it didn't lead to any shots. Part of that is that OV is not a cycling player, generally. He wants to throw the puck over to a teammate and head to a good shooting spot. Not that that's a bad strategy, overall, but it isn't complemented by cycling.
Halak, as mentioned, looked very good, although he better get a break. I get the feeling that Oates wants him retained, probably long term. I think keeping him for one more year, to get Gru more work in Hershey, would be useful, but I can't see any reason to hold onto him beyond that. And, of course, he'd never sign for one year, so it's kind of silly to pursue him. One of the reasons the Caps have done well over the last couple years is that they've gotten good (rarely spectacular, but certainly consistently above average) goaltending for a very good cap hit. Signing Halak would be abandoning that strategy, as I can't see him signing for less than $5M (and $7M wouldn't surprise me, given how much other goalies have signed for, lately).
Possessionally, the team did not look great. Thankfully, much of the discrepancy happened during special teams and after scoring the last goal. So 5v5 close Fenwick wasn't bad (47.5; not a goal, and not good, but not terrible), compared to overall Fenwick (sub-40%). One thing to note is that the third line was the only one with a positive Corsi For. The first line was a bit underwater, and the second was a lot (and the fourth was just buried).
The power play looked very good, scoring on the first two shots and generating eight shot attempts (five on net) in only two and a half minutes. Gotta love that.
The PK was not great, with twenty-two shot attempts against (twelve on net) in just over eight minutes. I don't have a breakdown on how much of that was the 5-on-3, though, so it might not be nearly as bad as it seems. In any event, it was definitely a lot of luck that they didn't allow any goals.
I want to give kudos to Lovejoy, Cogliano, and Matty P, who all looked very good for the Ducks. In Perreault's case, I was especially impressed with his tenacity around the net. He didn't back off, even after having OV clear him out at the end of one scrum. I wonder what Oates and McPhee think, when they see him play. I hope they feel rather stupid for letting him get away for (practically) nothing.
Next up is a very tough Kings team on Thursday; let's hope they can wrangle another win. Look for the Caps to go in the second period, especially, as the teams' scoring is equal in each of the first and third periods. But the Caps are close to doubling the Kings in the second (78-44). Go Caps!
The rest of the period largely went Anaheim's way, but the Caps did get a power play with half a minute left, and it took only twenty-one seconds for Brouwer to clean up the trash around the goal to restore the Caps lead. I should also point out that OV caused the commotion with a great pass across the ice to Backstrom that got Hiller scrambling.
The second period had a very rocky start with Washington taking a too many men penalty two minutes in, and a delay of game penalty only ten seconds later. But the Caps packed in around the net, which frustrated the Ducks power play. So despite a huge amount of zone time, the Caps only gave up four shots on the double advantage, and Halak saved all four of those.
The rest of the period mostly went in Washington's favor (though not heavily), despite the two later penalties both going against the Caps.
In the third, the Ducks came out with a great deal of desperation, leading to an early goal by Matty P (one of these days I'll get used to him wearing 22 instead of 85). That didn't much slow down the Ducks, though, as they searched for a go ahead goal.
But Winnik tripped Green, a minute later, as he attempted to corral the puck, and very aggressive D pursuit combined with fast, on-target passes got an OV goal from the OV spot after only seven seconds.
Basically the rest of the game was a long barrage of shots on Halak, though only a few of those required amazing saves. And those amazing saves were provided, as the Capitals held on to take the 3-2 win.
According to one of the interstitial graphics in the telecast, that last goal tied OV with one of the Ducks (Perry, I think) for GWGs this season. Not that that's a terribly meaningful stat, but it's still good to see. Of course, with OV almost lapping the field on overall goals scored, it's hardly a great surprise.
That goal left OV only four short of fifty, which would be pretty amazing, given how low league scoring is (2.77 G/gm, per team). I guess that cap hit continues to look ok for a couple more years.
But, in reference to OV, that Beagle experiment has got to end. The best they've looked over the last several games together, has been to play keep-away in the offensive zone in one shift last night. The cycling was pretty good (was especially impressed by MarJo, there), but it didn't lead to any shots. Part of that is that OV is not a cycling player, generally. He wants to throw the puck over to a teammate and head to a good shooting spot. Not that that's a bad strategy, overall, but it isn't complemented by cycling.
Halak, as mentioned, looked very good, although he better get a break. I get the feeling that Oates wants him retained, probably long term. I think keeping him for one more year, to get Gru more work in Hershey, would be useful, but I can't see any reason to hold onto him beyond that. And, of course, he'd never sign for one year, so it's kind of silly to pursue him. One of the reasons the Caps have done well over the last couple years is that they've gotten good (rarely spectacular, but certainly consistently above average) goaltending for a very good cap hit. Signing Halak would be abandoning that strategy, as I can't see him signing for less than $5M (and $7M wouldn't surprise me, given how much other goalies have signed for, lately).
Possessionally, the team did not look great. Thankfully, much of the discrepancy happened during special teams and after scoring the last goal. So 5v5 close Fenwick wasn't bad (47.5; not a goal, and not good, but not terrible), compared to overall Fenwick (sub-40%). One thing to note is that the third line was the only one with a positive Corsi For. The first line was a bit underwater, and the second was a lot (and the fourth was just buried).
The power play looked very good, scoring on the first two shots and generating eight shot attempts (five on net) in only two and a half minutes. Gotta love that.
The PK was not great, with twenty-two shot attempts against (twelve on net) in just over eight minutes. I don't have a breakdown on how much of that was the 5-on-3, though, so it might not be nearly as bad as it seems. In any event, it was definitely a lot of luck that they didn't allow any goals.
I want to give kudos to Lovejoy, Cogliano, and Matty P, who all looked very good for the Ducks. In Perreault's case, I was especially impressed with his tenacity around the net. He didn't back off, even after having OV clear him out at the end of one scrum. I wonder what Oates and McPhee think, when they see him play. I hope they feel rather stupid for letting him get away for (practically) nothing.
Next up is a very tough Kings team on Thursday; let's hope they can wrangle another win. Look for the Caps to go in the second period, especially, as the teams' scoring is equal in each of the first and third periods. But the Caps are close to doubling the Kings in the second (78-44). Go Caps!
20131226
Ducking into a short vacation
I watched the Caps game against the Ducks the other night, but really should not have waited so long to write about it.
I heard that the Caps didn't do any kind of tribute video for Boudreau, it being his first trip back since going to Anaheim, and (despite agreeing with his firing) that was a missed opportunity. Things might have gone a bit south (or south-east, I guess) at the end, but Bruce did improve the team a lot. And I think the team (especially when things went pear-shaped) improved Bruce as well.
One thing I will say about the game is that the Caps did do quite a bit better than I expected. Not only were shot totals much closer than I expected (49% FF 5v5, 48% close), but the Caps scored first (twice, even) and led for much of the game.
A bit surprisingly, they did very poorly on the power play; they scored once, but only managed two shots on five opportunities. Which says to me that Bruce's PK does a much better job preventing controlled entries than Oates' (I'm beginning to think that ~75% of killing penalties is keeping the other team from getting set up).
Washington's PK, meanwhile, allowed eight shots in four opportunities (and I believe that's even after one of the penalties was stopped without a shot. More and more, I think the Washington PK is really terrible, but that's getting masked by some really terrific goaltending.
I'm pretty much just waiting for the other shoe to drop, and for Washington's record to take the kind of turn that the Maple Leafs' has recently. The Caps have two terrific lines, one not-very-good one, and one terrible one. On the defensive side, I think Carlson and Alzner need to be together, playing the top lines. And Green and Orlov should probably play together as well, and Oleksy and Schmidt should take the remainder.
I've been giving it a bit of thought, and I think what the Caps need to do is stop passing D-to-D behind the net. It just seems to consistently bite them in the butt when they do (Oates' insistence on handedness probably exacerbates this).
Anyway, despite the game being better than most of the recent ones, it still wasn't good, and still doesn't give a lot of hope for the future. Let's hope things start improving tomorrow when the Rangers come to visit. Go Caps!
I heard that the Caps didn't do any kind of tribute video for Boudreau, it being his first trip back since going to Anaheim, and (despite agreeing with his firing) that was a missed opportunity. Things might have gone a bit south (or south-east, I guess) at the end, but Bruce did improve the team a lot. And I think the team (especially when things went pear-shaped) improved Bruce as well.
One thing I will say about the game is that the Caps did do quite a bit better than I expected. Not only were shot totals much closer than I expected (49% FF 5v5, 48% close), but the Caps scored first (twice, even) and led for much of the game.
A bit surprisingly, they did very poorly on the power play; they scored once, but only managed two shots on five opportunities. Which says to me that Bruce's PK does a much better job preventing controlled entries than Oates' (I'm beginning to think that ~75% of killing penalties is keeping the other team from getting set up).
Washington's PK, meanwhile, allowed eight shots in four opportunities (and I believe that's even after one of the penalties was stopped without a shot. More and more, I think the Washington PK is really terrible, but that's getting masked by some really terrific goaltending.
I'm pretty much just waiting for the other shoe to drop, and for Washington's record to take the kind of turn that the Maple Leafs' has recently. The Caps have two terrific lines, one not-very-good one, and one terrible one. On the defensive side, I think Carlson and Alzner need to be together, playing the top lines. And Green and Orlov should probably play together as well, and Oleksy and Schmidt should take the remainder.
I've been giving it a bit of thought, and I think what the Caps need to do is stop passing D-to-D behind the net. It just seems to consistently bite them in the butt when they do (Oates' insistence on handedness probably exacerbates this).
Anyway, despite the game being better than most of the recent ones, it still wasn't good, and still doesn't give a lot of hope for the future. Let's hope things start improving tomorrow when the Rangers come to visit. Go Caps!
20130930
Perry to carry?
Right now, I own one Caps jersey, a home Ovechkin one. I've been strongly contemplating a second, which would be an away Alzner jersey. If I were to buy a third, it would probably be the little engine that could, Perreault.
Last night, I was watching NHL Network's On the Fly (a rare occurrence), when I saw the chyron show that the Caps had traded Perreault to the Ducks. On the one hand, given Matty P's limited preseason appearances, and the team's liking of Wilson, as well as Fehr and Erat getting shifted to center, this is utterly unsurprising.
On the other hand, Perreault has just been killing the (mostly; he did match up against the Stamkos/St Louis line quite a bit last season) soft minutes he's been given. Coming into the offseason, I was hoping he'd be given a chance to compete for the second center position. I'm not sure he'd be able to handle it, granted. But I would've felt a lot better with him there than with Laich, honestly. More to the point, I'm not sure he wouldn't be able to handle it.
So the trade was a major disappointment to me. And a bit of a surprise; Boudreau never seemed all that thrilled with Matty P when he was here, so I'm a bit surprised Anaheim wanted him.
Looking at the return, I'm even more confused. It said the Caps got John Mitchell and a fourth back. Given that Perreault is McPhee's only post-first-round successful draftee, the fourth seems like a bit of a joke.
Ok, I was about to write about the only John Mitchell on Hockey Reference, but there's now a second one on Capgeek. The former would have been a mind-blowingly bad trade.
The second? I still don't get it. He looks like a career AHLer at this point; three (more or less) complete seasons, with numbers that not only aren't stellar (third of a point per game as a forward), but are trending in the wrong direction. Plus, he's twenty-seven years old; I don't see how you can even call him a prospect. I don't know how these negotiations go, but I'd feel a hell of a lot better if they'd just gotten a first-round pick, without a player coming back. This just feels like giving up something for nothing.
The only rationale I can come up with is that the cap space cleared allows Wilson to stay up. And I'm sure that's why this was done. But I have to wonder if Wilson staying up is worth a roster player, this season. If he was going to be a top-line player, it'd certainly be worth it. But for someone projecting to third or (more likely) fourth line... I'm not following the reasoning.
If he keeps playing like he has this preseason, it's not a bad deal. But the odds of that? Well, less than the odds of a major leaguer getting a home run in any given at-bat (274585/14094448 ~= 1/51), I think. It feels much like the decision not to trade Ribeiro at the deadline last year. A very long shot. Just because you hit on a long shot last year (and even that's arguable, given how the playoffs went), doesn't mean you should play again.
[I should note that I wrote this this morning, deliberately before reading anything else about the trade. Yes, I don't think the part about a first was terribly realistic, though I wonder whether it should be for a cost-controlled and proven roster player. Some additional reading says that the odds of the fourth giving a useful player are about one in ten. Not good odds, but better than I thought. Also, I'd forgotten that Holtby was also a fourth (and about Eakin, who was traded so quickly).
Having said all that, it feels like giving up a useful player (his scoring rates, on a per-minute basis, are very high-end) for a bag of pucks. I wish Matty all the luck in the world (at least, when he isn't playing the Caps), but do feel like they gave up on him a bit early.]
Last night, I was watching NHL Network's On the Fly (a rare occurrence), when I saw the chyron show that the Caps had traded Perreault to the Ducks. On the one hand, given Matty P's limited preseason appearances, and the team's liking of Wilson, as well as Fehr and Erat getting shifted to center, this is utterly unsurprising.
On the other hand, Perreault has just been killing the (mostly; he did match up against the Stamkos/St Louis line quite a bit last season) soft minutes he's been given. Coming into the offseason, I was hoping he'd be given a chance to compete for the second center position. I'm not sure he'd be able to handle it, granted. But I would've felt a lot better with him there than with Laich, honestly. More to the point, I'm not sure he wouldn't be able to handle it.
So the trade was a major disappointment to me. And a bit of a surprise; Boudreau never seemed all that thrilled with Matty P when he was here, so I'm a bit surprised Anaheim wanted him.
Looking at the return, I'm even more confused. It said the Caps got John Mitchell and a fourth back. Given that Perreault is McPhee's only post-first-round successful draftee, the fourth seems like a bit of a joke.
Ok, I was about to write about the only John Mitchell on Hockey Reference, but there's now a second one on Capgeek. The former would have been a mind-blowingly bad trade.
The second? I still don't get it. He looks like a career AHLer at this point; three (more or less) complete seasons, with numbers that not only aren't stellar (third of a point per game as a forward), but are trending in the wrong direction. Plus, he's twenty-seven years old; I don't see how you can even call him a prospect. I don't know how these negotiations go, but I'd feel a hell of a lot better if they'd just gotten a first-round pick, without a player coming back. This just feels like giving up something for nothing.
The only rationale I can come up with is that the cap space cleared allows Wilson to stay up. And I'm sure that's why this was done. But I have to wonder if Wilson staying up is worth a roster player, this season. If he was going to be a top-line player, it'd certainly be worth it. But for someone projecting to third or (more likely) fourth line... I'm not following the reasoning.
If he keeps playing like he has this preseason, it's not a bad deal. But the odds of that? Well, less than the odds of a major leaguer getting a home run in any given at-bat (274585/14094448 ~= 1/51), I think. It feels much like the decision not to trade Ribeiro at the deadline last year. A very long shot. Just because you hit on a long shot last year (and even that's arguable, given how the playoffs went), doesn't mean you should play again.
[I should note that I wrote this this morning, deliberately before reading anything else about the trade. Yes, I don't think the part about a first was terribly realistic, though I wonder whether it should be for a cost-controlled and proven roster player. Some additional reading says that the odds of the fourth giving a useful player are about one in ten. Not good odds, but better than I thought. Also, I'd forgotten that Holtby was also a fourth (and about Eakin, who was traded so quickly).
Having said all that, it feels like giving up a useful player (his scoring rates, on a per-minute basis, are very high-end) for a bag of pucks. I wish Matty all the luck in the world (at least, when he isn't playing the Caps), but do feel like they gave up on him a bit early.]
20111101
Duck, duck, duck... Goose!
Tonight's Caps game seemed a bit off, from the start. Erskine was back, which was good, but it led to shuffling the D combos, which wasn't. On the forward side, Knuble got demoted to the fourth line, Halpern was benched, and Eakin was playing off-wing with MarJo and Semin.
The play was not pretty, particularly at the start. The Caps were doing ok, although they were spending way more time in their own zone than you'd prefer.. To make matters worse, there were two defensive breakdowns between Hamr and Wideman that led to goals by the Selanne line.
Actually, this morning, I took a peek back at Selanne's numbers. I've always liked him, and I knew he'd had a good year, last year. So I was wondering how he was doing this year. Answer: pretty good. And tonight he was the wrecking crew with a pair each of goals and assists (I imagine he's probably among the league leaders at the moment). Ugh. Good for him, but I wish he'd picked a different night.
In any event, at the end of the first, the Caps were down 2-0, but looking decent outside of those breakdowns.
The Caps came out looking pretty good, but weren't able to score before Selanne got his second goal, nine minutes in. A cross-ice pass found him alone in the circle with an open net, and he buried it, as you'd expect.
At this point, Anaheim had three goals on less than eleven shots. The really bad part is that none of the goals were Vokoun's fault. He'd actually played well.
But the Caps finally started playing like a desperate team, and working hard. And the checking line was the one to start things going in the right direction, getting a goal from Ward and another from Wideman (with Laich and Ward assisting; if there had been a third assist, it would have gone to TVo, who had wisely iced the puck to Ward).
That left the Caps down a goal with a period to play, so things weren't looking too bad. Not great, but not terrible.
Just over nine minutes in, though, things were looking a bit worse. The Ducks got a power play, which started out looking very good for the Caps. But they got the puck into the zone, and put it in the net in a scrum with Vokoun down.
So things were definitely not going well, but the team was still working hard, and was getting quite a few chances. Two and a half minutes later, they finally buried one of those chances. Brouwer got the goal, assisted by Erskine and Wideman. The weird part of that whole setup is that Brouwers line-mates at the time were Perreault and ... Hendricks, I think.
The team kept working hard, but time was winding down. They did get a power play when Fowler accidentally shot the puck over the glass when trying to clear, but they looked really bad on that man advantage. But they finally managed to tie the game with less than a minute left, after pulling Vokoun. Backstrom did the honors, with Chimmer and Laich getting the assists.
In overtime, the play was fairly even, going up and down steadily. But the Caps were the ones to finally convert, with Backstrom again potting the vulcanized rubber (helped by OV and Schultz).
For the most part, the Caps actually looked quite good throughout this game. The two first-period defensive breakdowns were very frustrating. I wonder if Selanne's second period goal should also be considered a defensive breakdown, although not as bad a one as those in the first.
We are definitely missing Green. I thought we wouldn't be (well, not a huge amount, anyway), because we're so deep on defense (Erskine, for all his flaws, is excellent as a seventh defenseman, if, perhaps, a little expensive for that role). I thought, with Carlson, WIdeman, and Hamr, that we wouldn't have any trouble moving the puck up-ice. But with Wideman and Hamr mostly playing together, we're left with a third pairing that has a lot of trouble dealing with a strong forecheck. And the other pairings have been far from flawless, as well. I'm a little puzzled, really.
In any event, the good part is that the team was working hard through the game, never sitting back on their heels. Even at three-nil, they showed no signs of discouragement, and were rewarded for it.
All four lines looked good, at times. Eakin looked ready to contribute to the big club. I don't think he'll spend a lot of time up (and I'm not sure he should, particularly without significant injuries), but he looked ready for it. His line generated some very nice chances, and he was definitely part of that.
Perreault still looked very good. He was having a bit of trouble with the Ducks' size, but he was still making it work, and playing well at both ends.
Half the defense was on the scoresheet, which is nice. But they also hung TVo out to dry several times, which isn't. I'm not sure what to make of them, as a whole. I definitely don't want to see Alzner and Carlson split up again. Let's chalk that up as a failed experiment (for which I'm still not seeing the reason why), and move on.
The important part, though, is that we got the standings points we needed. And with the Ducks being out of conference, I don't much care about their consolation point. So things are good, I guess.
I just hope that Green's back for the Canes on Friday, the team is just a lot less dangerous without him.
The play was not pretty, particularly at the start. The Caps were doing ok, although they were spending way more time in their own zone than you'd prefer.. To make matters worse, there were two defensive breakdowns between Hamr and Wideman that led to goals by the Selanne line.
Actually, this morning, I took a peek back at Selanne's numbers. I've always liked him, and I knew he'd had a good year, last year. So I was wondering how he was doing this year. Answer: pretty good. And tonight he was the wrecking crew with a pair each of goals and assists (I imagine he's probably among the league leaders at the moment). Ugh. Good for him, but I wish he'd picked a different night.
In any event, at the end of the first, the Caps were down 2-0, but looking decent outside of those breakdowns.
The Caps came out looking pretty good, but weren't able to score before Selanne got his second goal, nine minutes in. A cross-ice pass found him alone in the circle with an open net, and he buried it, as you'd expect.
At this point, Anaheim had three goals on less than eleven shots. The really bad part is that none of the goals were Vokoun's fault. He'd actually played well.
But the Caps finally started playing like a desperate team, and working hard. And the checking line was the one to start things going in the right direction, getting a goal from Ward and another from Wideman (with Laich and Ward assisting; if there had been a third assist, it would have gone to TVo, who had wisely iced the puck to Ward).
That left the Caps down a goal with a period to play, so things weren't looking too bad. Not great, but not terrible.
Just over nine minutes in, though, things were looking a bit worse. The Ducks got a power play, which started out looking very good for the Caps. But they got the puck into the zone, and put it in the net in a scrum with Vokoun down.
So things were definitely not going well, but the team was still working hard, and was getting quite a few chances. Two and a half minutes later, they finally buried one of those chances. Brouwer got the goal, assisted by Erskine and Wideman. The weird part of that whole setup is that Brouwers line-mates at the time were Perreault and ... Hendricks, I think.
The team kept working hard, but time was winding down. They did get a power play when Fowler accidentally shot the puck over the glass when trying to clear, but they looked really bad on that man advantage. But they finally managed to tie the game with less than a minute left, after pulling Vokoun. Backstrom did the honors, with Chimmer and Laich getting the assists.
In overtime, the play was fairly even, going up and down steadily. But the Caps were the ones to finally convert, with Backstrom again potting the vulcanized rubber (helped by OV and Schultz).
For the most part, the Caps actually looked quite good throughout this game. The two first-period defensive breakdowns were very frustrating. I wonder if Selanne's second period goal should also be considered a defensive breakdown, although not as bad a one as those in the first.
We are definitely missing Green. I thought we wouldn't be (well, not a huge amount, anyway), because we're so deep on defense (Erskine, for all his flaws, is excellent as a seventh defenseman, if, perhaps, a little expensive for that role). I thought, with Carlson, WIdeman, and Hamr, that we wouldn't have any trouble moving the puck up-ice. But with Wideman and Hamr mostly playing together, we're left with a third pairing that has a lot of trouble dealing with a strong forecheck. And the other pairings have been far from flawless, as well. I'm a little puzzled, really.
In any event, the good part is that the team was working hard through the game, never sitting back on their heels. Even at three-nil, they showed no signs of discouragement, and were rewarded for it.
All four lines looked good, at times. Eakin looked ready to contribute to the big club. I don't think he'll spend a lot of time up (and I'm not sure he should, particularly without significant injuries), but he looked ready for it. His line generated some very nice chances, and he was definitely part of that.
Perreault still looked very good. He was having a bit of trouble with the Ducks' size, but he was still making it work, and playing well at both ends.
Half the defense was on the scoresheet, which is nice. But they also hung TVo out to dry several times, which isn't. I'm not sure what to make of them, as a whole. I definitely don't want to see Alzner and Carlson split up again. Let's chalk that up as a failed experiment (for which I'm still not seeing the reason why), and move on.
The important part, though, is that we got the standings points we needed. And with the Ducks being out of conference, I don't much care about their consolation point. So things are good, I guess.
I just hope that Green's back for the Canes on Friday, the team is just a lot less dangerous without him.
20101216
A Whole New World
Ok, not really. Last night was barely a blip on the Caps season. And it didn't break the losing streak, even if the Caps did get a point.
The plus was that the team did look much better than the last few games, but that's certainly in the category of damning with faint praise.
Semin and MarJo were both out with the flu.
Brooksie had a pretty good game; a goal, quite a few shots (seven on net, plus six more). OV looked a bit better, although he's still trying to stick-handle through defenders too much. He was also unlucky with another shot hitting the crossbar.
Hannan had a pretty poor game, again. How did this guy get a $4.5M annual contract, again? He's been on the ice for ten goals against since coming over. He also passed straight to a Duck only a few feet from the goal early in this game. Fortunately, the Duck was behind the net and no damage was done, but it still looked pretty bad. At the rate he's going so far, no danger of us trying to re-sign him next year; hopefully, that'll change.
Varly had a decent game, average, I think, by his standards. I'm guessing that he started as a way for Bruce to show that he wasn't upset about last game; I assume Neuvy will start next game.
Other than that, not much to be said about it. Not another disaster, but certainly nothing to celebrate, either. Hopefully, things will go a bit better against Boston on Saturday.
The plus was that the team did look much better than the last few games, but that's certainly in the category of damning with faint praise.
Semin and MarJo were both out with the flu.
Brooksie had a pretty good game; a goal, quite a few shots (seven on net, plus six more). OV looked a bit better, although he's still trying to stick-handle through defenders too much. He was also unlucky with another shot hitting the crossbar.
Hannan had a pretty poor game, again. How did this guy get a $4.5M annual contract, again? He's been on the ice for ten goals against since coming over. He also passed straight to a Duck only a few feet from the goal early in this game. Fortunately, the Duck was behind the net and no damage was done, but it still looked pretty bad. At the rate he's going so far, no danger of us trying to re-sign him next year; hopefully, that'll change.
Varly had a decent game, average, I think, by his standards. I'm guessing that he started as a way for Bruce to show that he wasn't upset about last game; I assume Neuvy will start next game.
Other than that, not much to be said about it. Not another disaster, but certainly nothing to celebrate, either. Hopefully, things will go a bit better against Boston on Saturday.
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