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).
Showing posts with label wild. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wild. Show all posts
20140507
20140501
First round finishes
I didn't get to watch as much as I'd've liked, last night. I watched the second and third periods of the Flyers and Rangers, and most of the first period of the Avs and Wild.
So I saw everything that mattered of the former game, and very little of the latter. And missed all of the Kings and Sharks, which was actually the series I most wanted to watch.
The Rangers got off to a quick start (well, relative to my watching) as they got a power play in less than forty seconds. They didn't score on it, but did threaten quite a bit, and managed to score shortly after it ended. Zuccarello tossed the puck toward the front of the net from the half wall, and found Carcillo's stick as he deflected it into the net.
The Rangers kept the upper hand through the rest of the period (including an impressive flurry right before time expired), but only managed one more goal, eight and a half minutes after the first.
In the third, it was clear that the Rangers were in lead-protect mode, and were mostly focused on keeping the Flyers out. I'm not at all a fan of that kind of "prevent defense" mentality; it focuses on preventing very small percentage plays, and concedes a lot of larger percentage plays (larger in aggregate, not individually). And overall, it works out much worse.
But it worked out ok, as the Rangers were able to keep the Flyers to only one goal in the third.
So the Rangers will face the Pens, which should be an interesting series.
The timing worked out pretty well, as I flipped over to the Wild/Avs game just at the opening faceoff. And it started out very well for the Avs, as they got a power play goal in the third minute. Things were looking pretty good for them until a mystery tripping penalty call was made on Wilson a minute later.
Minnesota didn't score, but they definitely seized the better of the play for the next several minutes, and Koivu put one in about five minutes later. Things looked up again for the Avs when, several minutes later, McGinn got it past Kuemper to restore their lead.
Unfortunately, that was about when I had to turn the game off, so I missed the Wild coming back and winning in overtime. Very disappointing.
I've already seen some people blaming Varly for "failing to hold the lead", but that's some terrible "analysis". It isn't any easier to hold a lead (from a goalie's perspective, anyway) than it is to build one. It's frustrating, but no goalie will ever be so predictable as to not give up a lead. Sometimes he'll make the save, sometimes he won't; whether the team is ahead, tied, or behind has no bearing on that question.
I'll go out on a limb and say that the better team won. Possessionally, the Wild were much better than the Avs this season, despite their respective records. So the Wild should have been favored (I don't really know if they were, generally), coming in. Much of the difference in records comes from Varly playing considerably over his head (ie: more than an entire percentage point better than his career average), to the tune of twenty goals over the season. And there was no reason to expect that to continue in the playoffs (it was possible, but equally possible that he'd play significantly worse than his career numbers).
Oh, and on another goalie note, I was amused to see that a) another goalie was pulled (I believe that makes twelve for the playoffs, so far), and that b) the team pulling the goalie actually won (I think that's a first for the season). It's a bit of a sign that, in the thirteen minutes and change that Bryz played, he only needed to stop one shot on goal. That's some domination.
Anyway, I was a little disappointed, both because I like Varly (domestic violence aside) and because I used to enjoy watching the Avs play (haven't had that opportunity in a long time).
Which brings us to the last game, the Kings/Sharks game that I entirely missed. I saw a bunch of tweets yesterday that the Sharks were going to fold like a cheap suit, and it would be easy to say that that's what happened. But possession numbers show that the game was very close from start to finish, and the difference really comes down to goaltending.
Quick stopped 39 of 40, while Niemi only stopped 25 of 28 (two empty net goals gave the final score).
That actually makes it look like the Sharks had a big edge in possession, but they really didn't, as their lead in Fenwick only came in the last five minutes or so, with LA focused on maintaining their lead (which is to say that you'd expect a large shot lead in that situation). In fact, 5v5 close Fenwick was dead even in the game.
I wonder how extreme the overreaction will be from Sharks fans and management. Well, actually, given the ages of the key players, there might not be such a thing as an overreaction. But if you were just to evaluate expectations, without accounting for age-related decline, you'd say they were merely unlucky (or "Caps West").
Anyway, all of that leaves us with an all-LA series and a very North-South (Chicago/Minnesota) series in the West. And a small grundge match (Rangers/Penguins) and a large one (Bruins/Habs) in the East. I feel pretty comfortable picking Chicago, LA, and Boston to win their series; I'd give a small edge to the Pens in theirs, but wouldn't go so far as to say I'm comfortable picking them to win (especially given the odds of Fleury remembering that he's a pretty terrible playoff goalie).
So I saw everything that mattered of the former game, and very little of the latter. And missed all of the Kings and Sharks, which was actually the series I most wanted to watch.
The Rangers got off to a quick start (well, relative to my watching) as they got a power play in less than forty seconds. They didn't score on it, but did threaten quite a bit, and managed to score shortly after it ended. Zuccarello tossed the puck toward the front of the net from the half wall, and found Carcillo's stick as he deflected it into the net.
The Rangers kept the upper hand through the rest of the period (including an impressive flurry right before time expired), but only managed one more goal, eight and a half minutes after the first.
In the third, it was clear that the Rangers were in lead-protect mode, and were mostly focused on keeping the Flyers out. I'm not at all a fan of that kind of "prevent defense" mentality; it focuses on preventing very small percentage plays, and concedes a lot of larger percentage plays (larger in aggregate, not individually). And overall, it works out much worse.
But it worked out ok, as the Rangers were able to keep the Flyers to only one goal in the third.
So the Rangers will face the Pens, which should be an interesting series.
The timing worked out pretty well, as I flipped over to the Wild/Avs game just at the opening faceoff. And it started out very well for the Avs, as they got a power play goal in the third minute. Things were looking pretty good for them until a mystery tripping penalty call was made on Wilson a minute later.
Minnesota didn't score, but they definitely seized the better of the play for the next several minutes, and Koivu put one in about five minutes later. Things looked up again for the Avs when, several minutes later, McGinn got it past Kuemper to restore their lead.
Unfortunately, that was about when I had to turn the game off, so I missed the Wild coming back and winning in overtime. Very disappointing.
I've already seen some people blaming Varly for "failing to hold the lead", but that's some terrible "analysis". It isn't any easier to hold a lead (from a goalie's perspective, anyway) than it is to build one. It's frustrating, but no goalie will ever be so predictable as to not give up a lead. Sometimes he'll make the save, sometimes he won't; whether the team is ahead, tied, or behind has no bearing on that question.
I'll go out on a limb and say that the better team won. Possessionally, the Wild were much better than the Avs this season, despite their respective records. So the Wild should have been favored (I don't really know if they were, generally), coming in. Much of the difference in records comes from Varly playing considerably over his head (ie: more than an entire percentage point better than his career average), to the tune of twenty goals over the season. And there was no reason to expect that to continue in the playoffs (it was possible, but equally possible that he'd play significantly worse than his career numbers).
Oh, and on another goalie note, I was amused to see that a) another goalie was pulled (I believe that makes twelve for the playoffs, so far), and that b) the team pulling the goalie actually won (I think that's a first for the season). It's a bit of a sign that, in the thirteen minutes and change that Bryz played, he only needed to stop one shot on goal. That's some domination.
Anyway, I was a little disappointed, both because I like Varly (domestic violence aside) and because I used to enjoy watching the Avs play (haven't had that opportunity in a long time).
Which brings us to the last game, the Kings/Sharks game that I entirely missed. I saw a bunch of tweets yesterday that the Sharks were going to fold like a cheap suit, and it would be easy to say that that's what happened. But possession numbers show that the game was very close from start to finish, and the difference really comes down to goaltending.
Quick stopped 39 of 40, while Niemi only stopped 25 of 28 (two empty net goals gave the final score).
That actually makes it look like the Sharks had a big edge in possession, but they really didn't, as their lead in Fenwick only came in the last five minutes or so, with LA focused on maintaining their lead (which is to say that you'd expect a large shot lead in that situation). In fact, 5v5 close Fenwick was dead even in the game.
I wonder how extreme the overreaction will be from Sharks fans and management. Well, actually, given the ages of the key players, there might not be such a thing as an overreaction. But if you were just to evaluate expectations, without accounting for age-related decline, you'd say they were merely unlucky (or "Caps West").
Anyway, all of that leaves us with an all-LA series and a very North-South (Chicago/Minnesota) series in the West. And a small grundge match (Rangers/Penguins) and a large one (Bruins/Habs) in the East. I feel pretty comfortable picking Chicago, LA, and Boston to win their series; I'd give a small edge to the Pens in theirs, but wouldn't go so far as to say I'm comfortable picking them to win (especially given the odds of Fleury remembering that he's a pretty terrible playoff goalie).
20140105
Holt-least?
I missed last night's Caps/Wild game completely, unfortunately. I was getting up early to take some pictures (bitterly cold at dawn, too), and the game slipped my mind.
So I looked it up, and saw the score, thinking, "Guess they didn't play that well". Then I saw that they had taken a 2-0 lead, and that was very disappointing. Then I saw that the shots were 11-1 in the first (when the Caps took that lead), and was amazed. And those two goals were thirteen seconds apart. Way to not let up!
Then I noticed that the shots on the game were 30-11, and that the Caps led the league in possession last night (69% Corsi For, against a pretty good possession team in Minnesota). How did they lose?
Then I looked at all the gaols in the second. Four for minnie, one more for Green. Holtby had allowed four goals on only eight shots. Three of those goals were on the power play, on their only three shots with the man advantage (side note: there were five PPs for Minnesota, so the Caps did a good job restricting their shots. Excellent, in fact. But the goaltending was regressing to the mean, as one would expect. Just considerably harder than expected).
The third third period was again heavily dominated by the Caps. But Holtby let in one of the two shots the Wild managed. I don't know that I'd call it the worst goaltending performance ever (my first thought was Roy's last game in Montreal, but his nine goals allowed were on twenty-six shots), but it's in the conversation. It is the most goals allowed on eleven shots, since shots started being tracked.
I hope that isn't going to obliterate how well Holtby's played for the Caps; it was an atrocious game, but still just one. I suspect, though, it's going to keep Holtby on the bench (or scratched) for a while, with Gru getting most of the starts and Neuvy the leftover scraps. I hope I'm wrong about that.
One bit of weirdness on the game; Suter managed to be +2 for Minnesota, despite the score being tied at evens (and OV was -2). More than that, though, Suter had his first ever hat trick (yes, apparently he didn't manage a hat trick at any point before he even got to the NHL), making two games in a row the Caps gave up a hat trick. Very weird.
I don't really read anything into it, but it's certainly not a good thing.
Still, as noted, the Caps flat out dominated in possession, which is a fantastic sign for the future. My note about a trend, though? That's four games in a row the Caps have had the edge in possession, and they have only two points to show for those games. Still, if they can maintain their improved play (and I've got to think that the breakout improving has a lot to do with that), they'll win a lot of games. Despite the four consecutive losses, I'm feeling a lot better than I did a couple weeks ago.
Two other bits of weirdness I noticed last night. Mathieu Perreault is 18th in the NHL in points per minute, ahead of everyone on the Caps (Grabo is leading, and he's 28th in the league). What did he get traded for, again? And the other was that Erskine showed up as the best possession player last night (91% (!!!!) CF); I have no idea how that happened.
Unrelated note: my daughter and I went to Kettler Friday morning, to skate (her second time). When the public skate ended, we went over to see if the Caps were still practicing. They'd mostly finished, and only Wilson and Latta were left (and were goofing off). Wilson skated by the corner where we were, and Wilson hit the glass with his stick as he passed. My daughter was a bit scared; I had to reassure her a little.
Anyway, the Caps (and Holtby) have several days until the next game; it'll be Thursday in Tampa. I'd be surprised, but I hope Holtby gets another chance, so he can exorcise the memory of that stinkbomb.
Go Caps!
So I looked it up, and saw the score, thinking, "Guess they didn't play that well". Then I saw that they had taken a 2-0 lead, and that was very disappointing. Then I saw that the shots were 11-1 in the first (when the Caps took that lead), and was amazed. And those two goals were thirteen seconds apart. Way to not let up!
Then I noticed that the shots on the game were 30-11, and that the Caps led the league in possession last night (69% Corsi For, against a pretty good possession team in Minnesota). How did they lose?
Then I looked at all the gaols in the second. Four for minnie, one more for Green. Holtby had allowed four goals on only eight shots. Three of those goals were on the power play, on their only three shots with the man advantage (side note: there were five PPs for Minnesota, so the Caps did a good job restricting their shots. Excellent, in fact. But the goaltending was regressing to the mean, as one would expect. Just considerably harder than expected).
The third third period was again heavily dominated by the Caps. But Holtby let in one of the two shots the Wild managed. I don't know that I'd call it the worst goaltending performance ever (my first thought was Roy's last game in Montreal, but his nine goals allowed were on twenty-six shots), but it's in the conversation. It is the most goals allowed on eleven shots, since shots started being tracked.
I hope that isn't going to obliterate how well Holtby's played for the Caps; it was an atrocious game, but still just one. I suspect, though, it's going to keep Holtby on the bench (or scratched) for a while, with Gru getting most of the starts and Neuvy the leftover scraps. I hope I'm wrong about that.
One bit of weirdness on the game; Suter managed to be +2 for Minnesota, despite the score being tied at evens (and OV was -2). More than that, though, Suter had his first ever hat trick (yes, apparently he didn't manage a hat trick at any point before he even got to the NHL), making two games in a row the Caps gave up a hat trick. Very weird.
I don't really read anything into it, but it's certainly not a good thing.
Still, as noted, the Caps flat out dominated in possession, which is a fantastic sign for the future. My note about a trend, though? That's four games in a row the Caps have had the edge in possession, and they have only two points to show for those games. Still, if they can maintain their improved play (and I've got to think that the breakout improving has a lot to do with that), they'll win a lot of games. Despite the four consecutive losses, I'm feeling a lot better than I did a couple weeks ago.
Two other bits of weirdness I noticed last night. Mathieu Perreault is 18th in the NHL in points per minute, ahead of everyone on the Caps (Grabo is leading, and he's 28th in the league). What did he get traded for, again? And the other was that Erskine showed up as the best possession player last night (91% (!!!!) CF); I have no idea how that happened.
Unrelated note: my daughter and I went to Kettler Friday morning, to skate (her second time). When the public skate ended, we went over to see if the Caps were still practicing. They'd mostly finished, and only Wilson and Latta were left (and were goofing off). Wilson skated by the corner where we were, and Wilson hit the glass with his stick as he passed. My daughter was a bit scared; I had to reassure her a little.
Anyway, the Caps (and Holtby) have several days until the next game; it'll be Thursday in Tampa. I'd be surprised, but I hope Holtby gets another chance, so he can exorcise the memory of that stinkbomb.
Go Caps!
20131112
Wild game
I was able to watch last week's Caps game against the Wild, and it was the challenge that was expected. And I'm not sure if I'd call the challenge one that was met, despite the final result.
Anyway, it started out well enough, with the Caps looking pretty good, despite not getting shots. Then, the Wild got a power play. Although the Caps survived, there were a number of chances.
But they went back to it after the PK, and got their own power play chance a few minutes later. Only nineteen seconds in, Backstrom, next to the net, sent a beautiful (no-look?) pass across to OV in his normal spot. Surprising no one, OV buried it before Harding had a chance to get across to cover the net.
But Minnie was undeterred, and kept their steady attack up, eventually beating Holtby on their own power play late in the first. It felt like the Wild were basically in control for the rest of the game.
It helped that they added another goal (at evens) six minutes into the second, but my saying that isn't really based on the score. It just felt like they were the ones with all the offensive chances, although the Fenwick chart shows the Caps did manage to close the gap towards the end of the third.
There was a Wild attempt to push for a late goal to break the tie, but Washington withstood it to get a regulation point.
In overtime... well, neither team managed to get their first overtime goal, despite some good chances (and some odd line choices by Washington; Chimmer and Ward as a forward line were followed by Grabovski and Backstrom).
Again, it looked like Washington's shooters were outclassed by Minnesota's (without counting Parise; who was apparently hurt blocking a shot late in the game, and didn't appear), but Holtby didn't seem phased. Holtby held up his end of the bargain, stopping all three shooters, leaving Backstrom's lone goal as the winner.
It wasn't a terribly pretty game, although it looks like it was a bit more even than it felt, watching.
For tracking purposes, I'm going to post separate notes of the two weekend games, which I did not manage to watch at all (travelling).
Anyway, it started out well enough, with the Caps looking pretty good, despite not getting shots. Then, the Wild got a power play. Although the Caps survived, there were a number of chances.
But they went back to it after the PK, and got their own power play chance a few minutes later. Only nineteen seconds in, Backstrom, next to the net, sent a beautiful (no-look?) pass across to OV in his normal spot. Surprising no one, OV buried it before Harding had a chance to get across to cover the net.
But Minnie was undeterred, and kept their steady attack up, eventually beating Holtby on their own power play late in the first. It felt like the Wild were basically in control for the rest of the game.
It helped that they added another goal (at evens) six minutes into the second, but my saying that isn't really based on the score. It just felt like they were the ones with all the offensive chances, although the Fenwick chart shows the Caps did manage to close the gap towards the end of the third.
There was a Wild attempt to push for a late goal to break the tie, but Washington withstood it to get a regulation point.
In overtime... well, neither team managed to get their first overtime goal, despite some good chances (and some odd line choices by Washington; Chimmer and Ward as a forward line were followed by Grabovski and Backstrom).
Again, it looked like Washington's shooters were outclassed by Minnesota's (without counting Parise; who was apparently hurt blocking a shot late in the game, and didn't appear), but Holtby didn't seem phased. Holtby held up his end of the bargain, stopping all three shooters, leaving Backstrom's lone goal as the winner.
It wasn't a terribly pretty game, although it looks like it was a bit more even than it felt, watching.
For tracking purposes, I'm going to post separate notes of the two weekend games, which I did not manage to watch at all (travelling).
20120327
A Caps week (or so) in review
I haven't had much chance to write, lately. Lots of things have been going on, mostly for good reasons. And I've had trouble with the Caps games, for both good and bad reasons.
The Chicago game a week and change ago, I missed most of, due to DVR issues. They seemed to play a bit better in the parts I was able to watch, I think (based on comments by the announcers, and such), but they still didn't look very good. And it being 2-0 Chicago when I turned it on didn't incline me towards excessive patience. Adding to all that, I was absolutely exhausted when I finally got a chance to think about writing about it that night.
The Wings game, the night after, I was able to watch from start to finish. I didn't think the Caps were the best team in that game; the Red Wings were more consistent in their play, but the Caps did have a few really nice plays for goals. And it was good to see something like a killer instinct from the Caps for most of the game (I thought they were too content to sit back towards the end of the game).
The Flyers' game, I also managed to catch all of. It certainly got started with a bang, with OV scoring in the first thirty seconds. And the Caps did a good job of dominating play through the first two periods, even if they didn't convert any of their large number of chances, and even if they did allow the Flyers to score one in there. But they were just unlucky not to score more; I was feeling pretty good about the game at that point.
The third period, they were again way too content to sit back and play for overtime. And the habit of doing that carried over into the overtime play, where they were heavily outplayed by Philadelphia. It was mostly luck that they were able to maintain the tied score into the shootout. Because of that, I wasn't feeling good at all in the shoot-out, and wasn't surprised at the result. Hunter's choices, other than OV and Hendricks, were a bit peculiar, but there weren't exactly a plethora of options.
I had said, before the road trip, that I'd be convinced they were a playoff team if they got six points (and yes, I knew that was a stretch, but that was kind of the point). And they finished with five, meaning, I suppose, that their asses were still in the fire.
They returned home for a game they really needed, against the Jets. This one I ended up missing for mostly good reasons; my wife and I were able to go out that night and I saw the score in the paper accidentally before getting around to watching the game. But it's hard to categorize the 4-3 OT loss as anything except disappointing; if they hadn't at least made it to overtime it would have been a huge disappointment.
The homestand continued against Minnesota, and I ended up missing it due to the combination of playing with my kids (when the game was on live) and the DVR erasing the game the next night (just before I turned it on; I guess it was an NBC Sports game, and I only save one game on that channel. So the Flyers game the next night wiped it out. Ugh). I certainly couldn't be upset with that result, 3-0, and the only negative I got from the little I read about it was that OV probably shouldn't be playing 26 minutes in one game. Great that he can, and a good performance, I suppose, but you haven't accomplished much if he's totally wiped out when the playoffs arrive. We'll see.
Tonight's game I watched a good bit of, some of it even live. But there really wasn't anything to be happy about. They had ten giveaways just in the first period (that's generally a total for a so-so game), so finishing the period down 2-0 wasn't a huge shock (although scoring chances being close was a little bit surprising (8-6, bad guys)). I almost turned it off when the score got to 3-0, because they were looking worse, rather than better, to that point in the period. But Semin closed the gap a little bit shortly after that, so I was feeling a little bit of hope.
And I felt better when they finally got another power play chance. But OV made two bad plays back-to-back at the point (failing to hold the puck in, then failing to keep himself between Pominville and the goal (and falling over while trying)), leading to a 2-on-1 going the other way that was converted. I gave up hope, and turned the game off before they even got to the replay of that one.
And thank goodness I did, because the only goal remaining went the wrong way. Ugh.
Holtby had a mostly decent game, although it was his turnover that led directly to the first goal the Sabres scored. I thought he looked pretty good, outside of that one play.
Sadly, none of the skaters really jumped out at me during the game. It was a nice goal by Semin (just his 19th; man, he's been overpaid this year). And Dima looked good the one or two times I noticed him being out there. OV had a few good plays early, but man, those were some bad ones leading to that last goal.
So the Caps stay three points behind the Panthers, and are now two points behind the Sabres. At this rate, they'll be lucky to make the playoffs. And no danger to make any noise if they do get there. I don't know what's up with the Caps' state of mind, but it's pretty terrible.
Barring some impressive collapses, they'll need to win at least four of the remaining five games (three of which are on the road). I'm not holding my breath over their chances. But the first look will be Thursday, against the Bruins in Beantown.
The Chicago game a week and change ago, I missed most of, due to DVR issues. They seemed to play a bit better in the parts I was able to watch, I think (based on comments by the announcers, and such), but they still didn't look very good. And it being 2-0 Chicago when I turned it on didn't incline me towards excessive patience. Adding to all that, I was absolutely exhausted when I finally got a chance to think about writing about it that night.
The Wings game, the night after, I was able to watch from start to finish. I didn't think the Caps were the best team in that game; the Red Wings were more consistent in their play, but the Caps did have a few really nice plays for goals. And it was good to see something like a killer instinct from the Caps for most of the game (I thought they were too content to sit back towards the end of the game).
The Flyers' game, I also managed to catch all of. It certainly got started with a bang, with OV scoring in the first thirty seconds. And the Caps did a good job of dominating play through the first two periods, even if they didn't convert any of their large number of chances, and even if they did allow the Flyers to score one in there. But they were just unlucky not to score more; I was feeling pretty good about the game at that point.
The third period, they were again way too content to sit back and play for overtime. And the habit of doing that carried over into the overtime play, where they were heavily outplayed by Philadelphia. It was mostly luck that they were able to maintain the tied score into the shootout. Because of that, I wasn't feeling good at all in the shoot-out, and wasn't surprised at the result. Hunter's choices, other than OV and Hendricks, were a bit peculiar, but there weren't exactly a plethora of options.
I had said, before the road trip, that I'd be convinced they were a playoff team if they got six points (and yes, I knew that was a stretch, but that was kind of the point). And they finished with five, meaning, I suppose, that their asses were still in the fire.
They returned home for a game they really needed, against the Jets. This one I ended up missing for mostly good reasons; my wife and I were able to go out that night and I saw the score in the paper accidentally before getting around to watching the game. But it's hard to categorize the 4-3 OT loss as anything except disappointing; if they hadn't at least made it to overtime it would have been a huge disappointment.
The homestand continued against Minnesota, and I ended up missing it due to the combination of playing with my kids (when the game was on live) and the DVR erasing the game the next night (just before I turned it on; I guess it was an NBC Sports game, and I only save one game on that channel. So the Flyers game the next night wiped it out. Ugh). I certainly couldn't be upset with that result, 3-0, and the only negative I got from the little I read about it was that OV probably shouldn't be playing 26 minutes in one game. Great that he can, and a good performance, I suppose, but you haven't accomplished much if he's totally wiped out when the playoffs arrive. We'll see.
Tonight's game I watched a good bit of, some of it even live. But there really wasn't anything to be happy about. They had ten giveaways just in the first period (that's generally a total for a so-so game), so finishing the period down 2-0 wasn't a huge shock (although scoring chances being close was a little bit surprising (8-6, bad guys)). I almost turned it off when the score got to 3-0, because they were looking worse, rather than better, to that point in the period. But Semin closed the gap a little bit shortly after that, so I was feeling a little bit of hope.
And I felt better when they finally got another power play chance. But OV made two bad plays back-to-back at the point (failing to hold the puck in, then failing to keep himself between Pominville and the goal (and falling over while trying)), leading to a 2-on-1 going the other way that was converted. I gave up hope, and turned the game off before they even got to the replay of that one.
And thank goodness I did, because the only goal remaining went the wrong way. Ugh.
Holtby had a mostly decent game, although it was his turnover that led directly to the first goal the Sabres scored. I thought he looked pretty good, outside of that one play.
Sadly, none of the skaters really jumped out at me during the game. It was a nice goal by Semin (just his 19th; man, he's been overpaid this year). And Dima looked good the one or two times I noticed him being out there. OV had a few good plays early, but man, those were some bad ones leading to that last goal.
So the Caps stay three points behind the Panthers, and are now two points behind the Sabres. At this rate, they'll be lucky to make the playoffs. And no danger to make any noise if they do get there. I don't know what's up with the Caps' state of mind, but it's pretty terrible.
Barring some impressive collapses, they'll need to win at least four of the remaining five games (three of which are on the road). I'm not holding my breath over their chances. But the first look will be Thursday, against the Bruins in Beantown.
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