I don't have a whole lot to say about the last two Caps games. They've been pretty badly outplayed, and Holtby has basically won both games for them. Great that he's able to do that, but it's not a strategy to bank on.
The one really good thing is, with Burra scoring twice last night, maybe he won't get sent back down when Fehr's healthy. Maybe he'll even get moved up alongside Kuzya? That's crazy talk!
Speaking of Kuzya, he's probably a bit overconfident. He's been trying to do too much the last couple games, and it's resulted in a lot of turnovers.
Beagle's goal probably keeps him from being benched, when that happens, too, and that's less fortunate. Beag's been killing it on the dot, which is great, but he's mostly a liability outside of that. Winning the face-off doesn't help if you can't keep possession.
Anyway, the top line has been mostly invisible the last couple games; a few threats, but nothing consistent. We'll take it, as long as we're winning, but it's worrisome.
Niskanen and Alzner... I'm not sure what they're doing, but it's not working. They're just getting killed.
Green? He's actually been fantastic, but hasn't been getting enough ice time (hurt, maybe?).
Still, the Caps now have a 3-1 lead in the series. As any long-suffering Caps fan can tell you, that's a long ways from victory, but it's certainly an enviable position. It's a certainty that the Rangers will come out flying, tomorrow night. The Caps had better be ready for that.
Go Caps!
Showing posts with label win. Show all posts
Showing posts with label win. Show all posts
20150507
20150423
Caps even series
As I mentioned yesterday, I did watch the game two days ago. I thought it was a pretty uneven effort, with OV's goal being a very lucky one (deflection behind the back just going under the crossbar? Ridiculous).
Once again, the Caps were outplayed pretty solidly, and only a great game by Holtby kept them in it long enough to get to overtime.
Fehr was out, as expected. Glencross was also scratched, which surprised me quite a bit. I was glad to see Bura on the ice. It wasn't one of his best games, but he looked good when he was there. He certainly was far from the worst forward on the ice for the Caps.
Wilson was on a mission to be a one-man wrecking crew. He got called for two penalties, but one of them seemed ludicrous, while the other seemed merely a bad call. I think he might have been the only Cap who was matching the hitting of the Islanders (it amazes me that the Islanders are both winning the possession battle, and winning the hitting battle. That's damned near impossible to do).
I did think OV got away with one with an early hit to the back of one of the Islanders, but given that I'd already seen the Isles do the same thing twice without a call left me feeling rather less than gracious about it.
Anyway, the Caps need to work on their breakout. It wasn't nearly as bad as in games one and three, but it wasn't good. Not nearly enough tape-to-tape passes, and way too many forced ones. I can't say that that was particularly on any one defender, either; it was all over the place. Some of that's on the Islanders excellent forecheck, of course, but the Caps need to improve. Maybe getting hit so much is making them tentative; I'm not sure.
Ward has continued to be quietly excellent at both ends of the ice. I'm still not sold on having him on the top line, but he's done very well there in a strictly complementary role.
MarJo hasn't really been rewarded for the effort, but he's also had an excellent series. I will say that I noticed him quite a bit less in this game than in the previous ones, though.
Anyway, the important part is that the Caps did get the deciding goal in overtime (nice shot, Backs) and can head back home with home ice advantage (such as it is). I hope they can just win the next two, though; I do not look forward to the possibility of another home game seven.
A big roadblock just got put in their way, though, as Grabovsky is healthy again. I can only hope that other players on their team decide that that's an excuse for them to take it easy, though, because otherwise the Caps are likely to lose the next two (which would still avoid game seven, I guess). Much as I love Grabbo, and wish him well, generally, I'm not keen on having him suiting up against the Caps.
Go Caps!
Once again, the Caps were outplayed pretty solidly, and only a great game by Holtby kept them in it long enough to get to overtime.
Fehr was out, as expected. Glencross was also scratched, which surprised me quite a bit. I was glad to see Bura on the ice. It wasn't one of his best games, but he looked good when he was there. He certainly was far from the worst forward on the ice for the Caps.
Wilson was on a mission to be a one-man wrecking crew. He got called for two penalties, but one of them seemed ludicrous, while the other seemed merely a bad call. I think he might have been the only Cap who was matching the hitting of the Islanders (it amazes me that the Islanders are both winning the possession battle, and winning the hitting battle. That's damned near impossible to do).
I did think OV got away with one with an early hit to the back of one of the Islanders, but given that I'd already seen the Isles do the same thing twice without a call left me feeling rather less than gracious about it.
Anyway, the Caps need to work on their breakout. It wasn't nearly as bad as in games one and three, but it wasn't good. Not nearly enough tape-to-tape passes, and way too many forced ones. I can't say that that was particularly on any one defender, either; it was all over the place. Some of that's on the Islanders excellent forecheck, of course, but the Caps need to improve. Maybe getting hit so much is making them tentative; I'm not sure.
Ward has continued to be quietly excellent at both ends of the ice. I'm still not sold on having him on the top line, but he's done very well there in a strictly complementary role.
MarJo hasn't really been rewarded for the effort, but he's also had an excellent series. I will say that I noticed him quite a bit less in this game than in the previous ones, though.
Anyway, the important part is that the Caps did get the deciding goal in overtime (nice shot, Backs) and can head back home with home ice advantage (such as it is). I hope they can just win the next two, though; I do not look forward to the possibility of another home game seven.
A big roadblock just got put in their way, though, as Grabovsky is healthy again. I can only hope that other players on their team decide that that's an excuse for them to take it easy, though, because otherwise the Caps are likely to lose the next two (which would still avoid game seven, I guess). Much as I love Grabbo, and wish him well, generally, I'm not keen on having him suiting up against the Caps.
Go Caps!
20150417
Red-rockin'
I missed most of tonight's game; DVR didn't record, and I have no idea why. And we went out to dinner. Got them to put NHL Network on a TV there, so saw a tiny bit of coverage near beginning. But Caps were down 2-0 by the time we left, and I was definitely not feeling good about things.
Forgot to check on DVR upon arriving home, so when I finally turned it on (after getting kids in bed), there were only a few minutes left, and Caps were up 4-3. Spent a couple of shifts just playing defense (looked like a PK, except with five men on ice), then OV came on and jump-started offense. Had a nice shift-and-a-bit in the offensive zone before finally clearing in and missing the glass.
From there, they did a nice job killing off the remaining time.
The biggest news of the game was that Gru was in net; Holtby was apparently too sick to go. Hope he feels better by Sunday. But Gru's not bad, and held down the fort well enough, I guess.
The other thing that my twitter feed informed me of is that the Caps were completely dominant through two periods on shot attempts. No way the game should have been as close as it was, it seems. I'll need to watch highlights. Either Isles got some really lucky bounces, or Gru did much worse than I'd expect from him.
Still, the important thing is that they won. They're still not in a good position, as NY still has home ice advantage for the series, but if the dominant play came as a result of strategic changes, then they're in great shape. If not, well, at least it doesn't look hopeless.
And remember, Sunday's game is at 1230, and is on NBC (not a fan of Doc, so not thrilled with that, but we're stuck with it).
Oh, and if you're tracking such things, Riley Barber left Miami and signed his ELC. Looking forward to seeing him in red next year, although he'll be spending most of the year in Hershey, I imagine.
Go Caps! (and if you're not on a ketogenic diet, remember Papa John's code CAPS50 for tomorrow.)
Forgot to check on DVR upon arriving home, so when I finally turned it on (after getting kids in bed), there were only a few minutes left, and Caps were up 4-3. Spent a couple of shifts just playing defense (looked like a PK, except with five men on ice), then OV came on and jump-started offense. Had a nice shift-and-a-bit in the offensive zone before finally clearing in and missing the glass.
From there, they did a nice job killing off the remaining time.
The biggest news of the game was that Gru was in net; Holtby was apparently too sick to go. Hope he feels better by Sunday. But Gru's not bad, and held down the fort well enough, I guess.
The other thing that my twitter feed informed me of is that the Caps were completely dominant through two periods on shot attempts. No way the game should have been as close as it was, it seems. I'll need to watch highlights. Either Isles got some really lucky bounces, or Gru did much worse than I'd expect from him.
Still, the important thing is that they won. They're still not in a good position, as NY still has home ice advantage for the series, but if the dominant play came as a result of strategic changes, then they're in great shape. If not, well, at least it doesn't look hopeless.
And remember, Sunday's game is at 1230, and is on NBC (not a fan of Doc, so not thrilled with that, but we're stuck with it).
Oh, and if you're tracking such things, Riley Barber left Miami and signed his ELC. Looking forward to seeing him in red next year, although he'll be spending most of the year in Hershey, I imagine.
Go Caps! (and if you're not on a ketogenic diet, remember Papa John's code CAPS50 for tomorrow.)
20141219
Streak-busting
The Caps went into last night's game looking to avenge being on the losing end of the longest shootout game in league history. Again.
Meanwhile, Columbus had finally gotten most of their players healthy, and were riding a seven game winning streak, and a four-game overtime winning streak (tied for the longest in league history).
Well, the first period played out about as you'd expect, with a very hungry team and one that might be a tiny bit complacent. The result? The Caps took a 2-0 lead on the back of a 15-5 shot lead (with Columbus leading in blocked shots by 7, so it was even more unbalanced than that appears). It is true that part of that edge came from both power plays being in the Caps' favor, but they were plenty dominant at even strength as well. In fact, Ward's and Chimmer's goals were both at even strength.
That period certainly left me feeling a bit complacent, and contemplating going to sleep early, but I didn't.
And Columbus didn't either, coming out firing in the second. Nine minutes in, they scored on the power play on a nice passing play giving Jack Johnson a slam-dunk of a goal. Three minutes later, Foligno tied it, also on the power play, and then all hell broke loose.
First, Wilson was manhandled by Dalton Prout (never seen that happen before), then Boll and Latta went at it two seconds later. Half a minute later, the penalty boxes filled up as Brouwer and Tyutin exchanged a few niceties, resulting in roughing minors for each. Almost a minute later, Carlson was hit hard, and responded by going after the first Blue Jacket he could reach. A bit of a dive there, I think, but Carlson also went off for roughing (yeah, it was mighty crowded in the box at that point).
The Caps did kill the penalty successfully (finally), but Brouwer decided he wasn't done, as he and Chaput fought only a minute after that (it didn't go terribly well for Brouwer, but he wasn't hurt). Chaput got the extra call for instigation on that, but the Caps weren't able to convert.
That finally got us to the end of a period that saw the Jackets outshoot the Caps, 15-9, and left the score knotted up.
The third started very poorly for the Caps, with Foligno scoring on the rebound of Morin's shot from a sharp angle.
It took a bit over six minutes for the Caps to answer that, and the answer came in the surprising form of Karl Alzner. He found a busted clear in the high slot, skated out to the left, and shot back across the goal, sneaking it in off the inside of Bob's arm.
That left things very tense, and they got more so for the Caps, when, eight minutes later, Chaput got his first NHL goal off a rebound near the net. He put it over the sprawled Holtby to give Columbus the lead with only a few minutes left.
A minute and a half later, Green got the puck in his end, and did his old "one-man breakout" routine when he saw Columbus changing. He took it all the way into the zone, cut across to the opposite side, then threw it back across the rink where he perfectly hit Troy Brouwer, who was making a back-door cut to the open net. I really wish Green would do that sort of thing more often; it's a lot of fun to watch.
The last three minutes passed in anxious waiting for something to happen, but things were quiet.
That sent the game into overtime again, where Columbus' record is far better than Washington's.
But things worked out well. Half a minute in, Green got it back in his own end and saw a lot of open ice in front of him. He took it all the way up, staying on the same side, and threw it to the front just before he passed behind the net. Fehr was charging in, there, and put a one-timer between Bob's legs for the win.
It was quite an exclamation point for a roller coast of a game.
The win leaves the Caps in third place in the division, and hanging on to the edge of playoff position.
Next up, the road trip continues in New Jersey, Saturday evening. Go Caps!
Meanwhile, Columbus had finally gotten most of their players healthy, and were riding a seven game winning streak, and a four-game overtime winning streak (tied for the longest in league history).
Well, the first period played out about as you'd expect, with a very hungry team and one that might be a tiny bit complacent. The result? The Caps took a 2-0 lead on the back of a 15-5 shot lead (with Columbus leading in blocked shots by 7, so it was even more unbalanced than that appears). It is true that part of that edge came from both power plays being in the Caps' favor, but they were plenty dominant at even strength as well. In fact, Ward's and Chimmer's goals were both at even strength.
That period certainly left me feeling a bit complacent, and contemplating going to sleep early, but I didn't.
And Columbus didn't either, coming out firing in the second. Nine minutes in, they scored on the power play on a nice passing play giving Jack Johnson a slam-dunk of a goal. Three minutes later, Foligno tied it, also on the power play, and then all hell broke loose.
First, Wilson was manhandled by Dalton Prout (never seen that happen before), then Boll and Latta went at it two seconds later. Half a minute later, the penalty boxes filled up as Brouwer and Tyutin exchanged a few niceties, resulting in roughing minors for each. Almost a minute later, Carlson was hit hard, and responded by going after the first Blue Jacket he could reach. A bit of a dive there, I think, but Carlson also went off for roughing (yeah, it was mighty crowded in the box at that point).
The Caps did kill the penalty successfully (finally), but Brouwer decided he wasn't done, as he and Chaput fought only a minute after that (it didn't go terribly well for Brouwer, but he wasn't hurt). Chaput got the extra call for instigation on that, but the Caps weren't able to convert.
That finally got us to the end of a period that saw the Jackets outshoot the Caps, 15-9, and left the score knotted up.
The third started very poorly for the Caps, with Foligno scoring on the rebound of Morin's shot from a sharp angle.
It took a bit over six minutes for the Caps to answer that, and the answer came in the surprising form of Karl Alzner. He found a busted clear in the high slot, skated out to the left, and shot back across the goal, sneaking it in off the inside of Bob's arm.
That left things very tense, and they got more so for the Caps, when, eight minutes later, Chaput got his first NHL goal off a rebound near the net. He put it over the sprawled Holtby to give Columbus the lead with only a few minutes left.
A minute and a half later, Green got the puck in his end, and did his old "one-man breakout" routine when he saw Columbus changing. He took it all the way into the zone, cut across to the opposite side, then threw it back across the rink where he perfectly hit Troy Brouwer, who was making a back-door cut to the open net. I really wish Green would do that sort of thing more often; it's a lot of fun to watch.
The last three minutes passed in anxious waiting for something to happen, but things were quiet.
That sent the game into overtime again, where Columbus' record is far better than Washington's.
But things worked out well. Half a minute in, Green got it back in his own end and saw a lot of open ice in front of him. He took it all the way up, staying on the same side, and threw it to the front just before he passed behind the net. Fehr was charging in, there, and put a one-timer between Bob's legs for the win.
It was quite an exclamation point for a roller coast of a game.
The win leaves the Caps in third place in the division, and hanging on to the edge of playoff position.
Next up, the road trip continues in New Jersey, Saturday evening. Go Caps!
20141216
Backstrom bolts Lightning
The first period started out very well for the Caps, if, perhaps, like an extension of the prior game. Bishop was definitely on, and was called on to make a number of good saves.
Tampa didn't get many chances, though one of those found the back of the net, when Stamkos put in a pass from behind the net. But Callahan was called for incidental contact with Holtby (he did remove Holtby from the net, unquestionably), getting the goal (and shot, which would have been their first) called back.
I'd like to say that the relative times on the power play had a lot to do with the massive shot imbalance in the period (12-2 Caps). But I'm not sure it did, since a) the Caps got, I believe, only one shot on those power plays and b) Tampa got a couple of short-handed chances, though I can't remember if those chances resulted in shots on net.
Regardless, it all felt very familiar.
The second period did not get going well at all. First, Green was called on an iffy slash a couple minutes in. No goal allowed, but they did get several shots on net (and, probably, several more blocked). Then, Green got called again, this time for hooking, a couple minutes later. That led to a scrum in which OV found himself called for roughing.
It was the Caps first time on the season, being down two men, and it wasn't fun. But they managed to kill off the whole penalty without damage (with one incredible save by Holtby assisted by Orpik blocking the swing of a shot with his skate. With his back turned), and then proceeeded to take it to Tampa.
It took a couple minutes for that to bear fruit, but Backstrom picked up the rebound of Schmidt's shot from the point, and backhanded it under the crossbar for the lead. Eight minutes later, Wilson's initial shot was stopped, but OV knocked it from under Bishop before the whistle blew, and Backstrom picked up the trash and stuffed it into the net to double the lead.
Early in the third, the top line got a 3-on-2, with Backstrom carrying into the zone and handing off to OV. He continued his rush down the middle, while OV went down the wing, when OV passed back to him. Backstrom fought off the backchecker (by turning sideways to the net), and managed to throw the puck all the way to the edge of the goal on OV's side. Bishop was already down, and covering the near side of the net by the time Backstrom let it go.
And it looked, for quite a while, like that's where the game would effectively end, with Backstrom getting his first regular-season hat trick and owning the scoresheet. I came within a hair's breadth of turning the game off with five or six minutes left.
But Tampa fought back, scoring with 4:21 left and again with 2:31 left, both with Bishop on the bench.
That led to a tense couple of minutes, until Fehr intercepted a pass across the middle at Tampa's blue line, and calmly shoved it into the net to ice the victory.
Despite giving up three goals, Bishop played a hell of a game and probably didn't deserve to lose. But the Caps certainly deserved the win, and it was good to see them bring it home.
Next up for Washington is a date with Florida in Sunrise, at sunset tonight. Go Caps!
Tampa didn't get many chances, though one of those found the back of the net, when Stamkos put in a pass from behind the net. But Callahan was called for incidental contact with Holtby (he did remove Holtby from the net, unquestionably), getting the goal (and shot, which would have been their first) called back.
I'd like to say that the relative times on the power play had a lot to do with the massive shot imbalance in the period (12-2 Caps). But I'm not sure it did, since a) the Caps got, I believe, only one shot on those power plays and b) Tampa got a couple of short-handed chances, though I can't remember if those chances resulted in shots on net.
Regardless, it all felt very familiar.
The second period did not get going well at all. First, Green was called on an iffy slash a couple minutes in. No goal allowed, but they did get several shots on net (and, probably, several more blocked). Then, Green got called again, this time for hooking, a couple minutes later. That led to a scrum in which OV found himself called for roughing.
It was the Caps first time on the season, being down two men, and it wasn't fun. But they managed to kill off the whole penalty without damage (with one incredible save by Holtby assisted by Orpik blocking the swing of a shot with his skate. With his back turned), and then proceeeded to take it to Tampa.
It took a couple minutes for that to bear fruit, but Backstrom picked up the rebound of Schmidt's shot from the point, and backhanded it under the crossbar for the lead. Eight minutes later, Wilson's initial shot was stopped, but OV knocked it from under Bishop before the whistle blew, and Backstrom picked up the trash and stuffed it into the net to double the lead.
Early in the third, the top line got a 3-on-2, with Backstrom carrying into the zone and handing off to OV. He continued his rush down the middle, while OV went down the wing, when OV passed back to him. Backstrom fought off the backchecker (by turning sideways to the net), and managed to throw the puck all the way to the edge of the goal on OV's side. Bishop was already down, and covering the near side of the net by the time Backstrom let it go.
And it looked, for quite a while, like that's where the game would effectively end, with Backstrom getting his first regular-season hat trick and owning the scoresheet. I came within a hair's breadth of turning the game off with five or six minutes left.
But Tampa fought back, scoring with 4:21 left and again with 2:31 left, both with Bishop on the bench.
That led to a tense couple of minutes, until Fehr intercepted a pass across the middle at Tampa's blue line, and calmly shoved it into the net to ice the victory.
Despite giving up three goals, Bishop played a hell of a game and probably didn't deserve to lose. But the Caps certainly deserved the win, and it was good to see them bring it home.
Next up for Washington is a date with Florida in Sunrise, at sunset tonight. Go Caps!
20141112
Columbus feeling blue from OV/MarJo double-team
I didn't watch all of the Caps game last night; I was putting the new wheels on my bike (finding that I didn't have enough vertical clearance for the 28mm tires meant I had to put the tires on twice, so it took considerably longer than it should have). Anyway, I had watched the first period live, but that delayed me until late enough that I was too tired to watch the third period on delay.
I didn't miss much, though. In fact, I wouldn't have missed much skipping the second period.
The game opened decisively, with MarJo putting the Caps on the board. The goal was a bit of a weird one; Brouwer had gotten the puck up top, in the middle, and threw it towards the goal, where MarJo was headed. The puck bounced around a bit between defenders and goalie, with MarJo swooping in, kicking it across the net to his stick, and calmly sliding the biscuit into the basket.
It took only six minutes for the Caps to strike again, this time on a 5-on-3 advantage (hey, another advantage of Trotz over Oates; the Caps can score 5-on-3). It was a normal OV PPG one-timer.
The Jackets cut the advantage in half two minutes later, when Atkinson took a one-timer shot off a clean face-off win, but the Caps still seemed fully in control.
And they asserted more of that control several minutes later when OV intercepted the puck in neutral (hey, he's playing defense now... how about that?), facing his own net. His second touch was a pass backwards to Backstrom cutting across the ice, who sent a one-touch back-pass to Beagle, charging up the other side. OV, meanwhile, has skated around behind Beagle and took the very nice drop pass (I don't take back any of what I've said about Beagle and scoring chances, but this was a beautiful drop pass) for a quick slap shot to the upper corner. Gorgeous play from start to finish. The Jackets never came close to recovering from the turnover.
So the period ended with the Caps ahead 3-1, and leading in shots 13-5 (and frankly, it felt less even than that). So there was definitely some temptation to head straight to bed after finishing with the bike.
But I did turn on the second, and though Columbus scored the only goal for the period, and even though play was much more even than in the first, it still didn't feel like Columbus had any chance of winning (especially not the way they've been brutalized by injuries). So I went to bed there.
Therefore, I missed Hartnell's breakaway (off a steal from a Beagle pass. Making up for the nice drop-pass earlier, I guess) that rang off the crossbar, and, with five minutes left, MarJo's insurance goal. He broke into the zone, dropped to Bura, kept skating around, and Bura hit him with a return pass as he was going behind the net. He carried it around and scored on a wraparound (looking much like one of a couple of goals he scored two seasons ago). Nice eyes by Bura to see it developing.
A couple of notes of interest. I've noticed the Caps, this season, have gone to a different configuration on a 5-on-3. They lay it out like a big X. OV and Green at the points, Brouwer at the apex, Backstrom on the goal-line, right, and Ward on the goal-line, left. I hadn't realized that was the configuration at the time, but this is what Ward scored one of his power-play goals on, several games ago. I had wondered how he got that pass in that position, and now we know. It's just a set position.
And to get back to MarJo a bit. It was hard not to see last season as a disappointment, even though most of his lack of scoring was due to an abysmally low (unsustainably so, especially accounting for where the shots were originating) shooting percentage. This season, he's shooting more, and scoring on a higher percentage. There was no reason to suspect he'd be tied for the team lead in goals at this point (nor is there any reason to expect him to sustain that position) in the season, but there was certainly room for a lot of optimism. Especially when he compared favorably, at the beginning of the season, to several eventual Hart Trophy winners at that age.
Anyway, he's looked fantastic so far, and not just on those goals. He also drew one of the penalties (the second, I believe) that led to the 5-on-3. And it's certainly fair to attribute some of his success to being centered by Bura (conversely, MarJo is a significant factor in Bura looking so good, as well).
All that said, next game is Friday against New Jersey. The Devils aren't nearly as hot as they were the last time the two faced off, but they're certainly not ones with whom to be trifled.
I didn't miss much, though. In fact, I wouldn't have missed much skipping the second period.
The game opened decisively, with MarJo putting the Caps on the board. The goal was a bit of a weird one; Brouwer had gotten the puck up top, in the middle, and threw it towards the goal, where MarJo was headed. The puck bounced around a bit between defenders and goalie, with MarJo swooping in, kicking it across the net to his stick, and calmly sliding the biscuit into the basket.
It took only six minutes for the Caps to strike again, this time on a 5-on-3 advantage (hey, another advantage of Trotz over Oates; the Caps can score 5-on-3). It was a normal OV PPG one-timer.
The Jackets cut the advantage in half two minutes later, when Atkinson took a one-timer shot off a clean face-off win, but the Caps still seemed fully in control.
And they asserted more of that control several minutes later when OV intercepted the puck in neutral (hey, he's playing defense now... how about that?), facing his own net. His second touch was a pass backwards to Backstrom cutting across the ice, who sent a one-touch back-pass to Beagle, charging up the other side. OV, meanwhile, has skated around behind Beagle and took the very nice drop pass (I don't take back any of what I've said about Beagle and scoring chances, but this was a beautiful drop pass) for a quick slap shot to the upper corner. Gorgeous play from start to finish. The Jackets never came close to recovering from the turnover.
So the period ended with the Caps ahead 3-1, and leading in shots 13-5 (and frankly, it felt less even than that). So there was definitely some temptation to head straight to bed after finishing with the bike.
But I did turn on the second, and though Columbus scored the only goal for the period, and even though play was much more even than in the first, it still didn't feel like Columbus had any chance of winning (especially not the way they've been brutalized by injuries). So I went to bed there.
Therefore, I missed Hartnell's breakaway (off a steal from a Beagle pass. Making up for the nice drop-pass earlier, I guess) that rang off the crossbar, and, with five minutes left, MarJo's insurance goal. He broke into the zone, dropped to Bura, kept skating around, and Bura hit him with a return pass as he was going behind the net. He carried it around and scored on a wraparound (looking much like one of a couple of goals he scored two seasons ago). Nice eyes by Bura to see it developing.
A couple of notes of interest. I've noticed the Caps, this season, have gone to a different configuration on a 5-on-3. They lay it out like a big X. OV and Green at the points, Brouwer at the apex, Backstrom on the goal-line, right, and Ward on the goal-line, left. I hadn't realized that was the configuration at the time, but this is what Ward scored one of his power-play goals on, several games ago. I had wondered how he got that pass in that position, and now we know. It's just a set position.
And to get back to MarJo a bit. It was hard not to see last season as a disappointment, even though most of his lack of scoring was due to an abysmally low (unsustainably so, especially accounting for where the shots were originating) shooting percentage. This season, he's shooting more, and scoring on a higher percentage. There was no reason to suspect he'd be tied for the team lead in goals at this point (nor is there any reason to expect him to sustain that position) in the season, but there was certainly room for a lot of optimism. Especially when he compared favorably, at the beginning of the season, to several eventual Hart Trophy winners at that age.
Anyway, he's looked fantastic so far, and not just on those goals. He also drew one of the penalties (the second, I believe) that led to the 5-on-3. And it's certainly fair to attribute some of his success to being centered by Bura (conversely, MarJo is a significant factor in Bura looking so good, as well).
All that said, next game is Friday against New Jersey. The Devils aren't nearly as hot as they were the last time the two faced off, but they're certainly not ones with whom to be trifled.
20141110
"The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind..."
I don't have a whole lot to say about the Caps win over the 'Canes on Saturday. I missed the '+' in the channel indication beforehand, and didn't get the game recorded (plus, I was really tired that night, and probably wouldn't have watched nearly all anyway). So I turned it on to see the Caps up 3-1. Being that tired, I was tempted to turn it off immediately, and the goal scored eleven seconds later did nothing to disabuse me of that notion.
But I held on long enough to see them cough up the rest of the lead, but turn up the intensity in overtime enough to win it.
The announcers kept saying that the Caps had dominated, earlier in the game, but they definitely weren't doing so when I was watching.
Still, hard to get upset at a win, even if it wasn't the clean one that it should've been.
Looking at the box score, does look like the Caps impressively dominated the first, did well in the second, went to sleep for much of the third, and then dominated the OT. And that's certainly in line with the Caps history over the OV era. Which is not a good thing.
What is a good thing is that they kept shots against below thirty again. If they can keep doing that, and stop taking periods off, then they'll be more than fine on the season.
Next up is Columbus, on Tuesday, who have been hammered by injuries. Hopefully the Caps can keep the win streak going.
But I held on long enough to see them cough up the rest of the lead, but turn up the intensity in overtime enough to win it.
The announcers kept saying that the Caps had dominated, earlier in the game, but they definitely weren't doing so when I was watching.
Still, hard to get upset at a win, even if it wasn't the clean one that it should've been.
Looking at the box score, does look like the Caps impressively dominated the first, did well in the second, went to sleep for much of the third, and then dominated the OT. And that's certainly in line with the Caps history over the OV era. Which is not a good thing.
What is a good thing is that they kept shots against below thirty again. If they can keep doing that, and stop taking periods off, then they'll be more than fine on the season.
Next up is Columbus, on Tuesday, who have been hammered by injuries. Hopefully the Caps can keep the win streak going.
Caps bounce Hawks in Windy City
I can't say as I thought it was nearly the Caps' best game of the season, and their possession numbers certainly went down (playing the number one-possession team in the league, though, I don't see that as a large set-back), but the Caps managed to come away with the victory Friday night.
It actually started out looking like the Caps were going to dominate the game. In the first five minutes, Chicago was getting nothing without a lot of work, and the Caps were getting chances (especially the top two lines).
But Chicago kept pushing Washington, and it seemed like the Caps couldn't keep up with that push. It took a while for the chickens to come home to roost; a failed keep-in attempt by Niskanen led to a two-on-one with Hossa and Saad. Alzner couldn't keep position to block the pass (some canny skating by Saad, not skating his hardest, there), and Saad buried it, five-hole, in the eighteenth minute.
A bit over a minute later, OV got called for an elbow (not sure I agree with the call, honestly; it looked to me like it was only on the follow-through that his elbow came up). The Caps kept it out for the rest of the period, but Duncan Keith stuck home a rebound a minute into the second. At that point, things were looking very bleak, as the Hawks were carrying a sub-one GAA (terrible stat to judge a goalie on, but not so bad for judging the team) at home.
But the second line, after being torn up by that Hossa/Saad line (and not just on the goal), started to push back, hard. Fourteen minutes later, they got a two-on-one with Bura and MarJo, and Bura took it all the way himself, pounding a quick wrister into the far, top corner to bring the Caps back into contention.
Four minutes later, the same line scored on some sustained pressure. MarJo got the score, with Bura and Niskanen getting the assists, but the whole side touched the puck in the last five seconds before it went in. Very nice play, all the way around (literally, since the puck circled the zone before finding the net).
It looked like the Caps would count their blessings to go into the break all tied up, but Ward deflected in a Niskanen shot, forty seconds later, to give the Caps their first lead of the game.
In the third, there was no shortage of pressure from Chicago, and Washington wasn't doing a lot more than defending, but they managed not to break, breaking the five-game losing skid.
It certainly wasn't a pretty game, and those last two goals were some fairly lucky bounces, but no complaints about the results. I'd like to see the Caps get to the point where they can hang with Chicago possessionally, but they're definitely not there yet.
I'd like to say something about the power play, but they only got 53 seconds and did get a shot off in that time. Not bad, but too short a time to say much definitively.
The short-handed unit had much more time (4:38), and only allowed two shots (taking two of their own). That's very good, but they did allow a goal, which isn't. Still, they did well with what they could control.
If it wasn't Chicago (or one of a couple other teams), I'd be very down on them getting taken to town on shot attempts. I don't have missed shots, still, but Chicago had forty on net and another eighteen blocked, compared to Washington's twenty-four and four. That's one hell of an imbalance, especially with almost all of that at even strength. Plus, I believe that's the most shots they've allowed, all season (by quite a bit, I'm pretty sure).
So I'm a bit ambivalent, overall. The teams will play again on New Year's Day, at Nationals Stadium, and this game is certainly not portending a victory for Washington there. On the other hand, getting off the losing streak is worth quite a bit, even if only to keep the players from trying to ignore the system and freelance. Because if that happens, the possessional numbers will go down, and their odds of winning more games will, too.
Washington also played Carolina on Saturday, but I'll talk about that one separately, even though I don't have a lot to say.
It actually started out looking like the Caps were going to dominate the game. In the first five minutes, Chicago was getting nothing without a lot of work, and the Caps were getting chances (especially the top two lines).
But Chicago kept pushing Washington, and it seemed like the Caps couldn't keep up with that push. It took a while for the chickens to come home to roost; a failed keep-in attempt by Niskanen led to a two-on-one with Hossa and Saad. Alzner couldn't keep position to block the pass (some canny skating by Saad, not skating his hardest, there), and Saad buried it, five-hole, in the eighteenth minute.
A bit over a minute later, OV got called for an elbow (not sure I agree with the call, honestly; it looked to me like it was only on the follow-through that his elbow came up). The Caps kept it out for the rest of the period, but Duncan Keith stuck home a rebound a minute into the second. At that point, things were looking very bleak, as the Hawks were carrying a sub-one GAA (terrible stat to judge a goalie on, but not so bad for judging the team) at home.
But the second line, after being torn up by that Hossa/Saad line (and not just on the goal), started to push back, hard. Fourteen minutes later, they got a two-on-one with Bura and MarJo, and Bura took it all the way himself, pounding a quick wrister into the far, top corner to bring the Caps back into contention.
Four minutes later, the same line scored on some sustained pressure. MarJo got the score, with Bura and Niskanen getting the assists, but the whole side touched the puck in the last five seconds before it went in. Very nice play, all the way around (literally, since the puck circled the zone before finding the net).
It looked like the Caps would count their blessings to go into the break all tied up, but Ward deflected in a Niskanen shot, forty seconds later, to give the Caps their first lead of the game.
In the third, there was no shortage of pressure from Chicago, and Washington wasn't doing a lot more than defending, but they managed not to break, breaking the five-game losing skid.
It certainly wasn't a pretty game, and those last two goals were some fairly lucky bounces, but no complaints about the results. I'd like to see the Caps get to the point where they can hang with Chicago possessionally, but they're definitely not there yet.
I'd like to say something about the power play, but they only got 53 seconds and did get a shot off in that time. Not bad, but too short a time to say much definitively.
The short-handed unit had much more time (4:38), and only allowed two shots (taking two of their own). That's very good, but they did allow a goal, which isn't. Still, they did well with what they could control.
If it wasn't Chicago (or one of a couple other teams), I'd be very down on them getting taken to town on shot attempts. I don't have missed shots, still, but Chicago had forty on net and another eighteen blocked, compared to Washington's twenty-four and four. That's one hell of an imbalance, especially with almost all of that at even strength. Plus, I believe that's the most shots they've allowed, all season (by quite a bit, I'm pretty sure).
So I'm a bit ambivalent, overall. The teams will play again on New Year's Day, at Nationals Stadium, and this game is certainly not portending a victory for Washington there. On the other hand, getting off the losing streak is worth quite a bit, even if only to keep the players from trying to ignore the system and freelance. Because if that happens, the possessional numbers will go down, and their odds of winning more games will, too.
Washington also played Carolina on Saturday, but I'll talk about that one separately, even though I don't have a lot to say.
20141020
Escaping the cat
The one thing I didn't understand, going into the Caps game against the Panthers, Saturday night, was why Holtby got the night off. There was a night off on either side, so it didn't seem necessary. Peters was fine, and I don't think it hurt them, but I was surprised.
I wrote that I was worried about a mental let-down facing Florida the other night. Well, they managed to avoid that fate; they heavily dominated possession for the first two periods. They only got one goal to show for it, but they forced a number of very good (or very lucky, in a couple cases) saves out of Montoya. And that's really the best you can ask; sometimes you just don't get the bounces.
And I should also mention that that was with the Cats holding a 127-7 advantage in seconds of power play time. So really nothing to complain about over that span.
Oh, and I should point out the goal itself; the Chimmer-Ward line doesn't tend to get pretty goals, but this one was. Ward worked the puck around the boards, behind the net, over to Fehr in the corner. The entire defense collapsed on that side, and Fehr found Chimmer just at the far side of the net, all alone. He had a perfect set-up for a one-timer, but faked it and brought it back to the other side for a completely open backhand. I joke about Chimmer being "Stonehands" from time to time, but that was really nice work.
And I should also point out that that line was on fire, all night, getting a lot of good chances. It might not've worked out, beyond that one tally, but that wasn't the fault of effort. Just excellent goaltending and a little bad luck.
In the third period, with Florida lengthening its lead in power play time, the game was tied up. It was a largely uneventful period, shot-wise, but on the power play, Boyes found the rebound of a Bergenheim shot, and slotted it home. Pretty sure Peters didn't know where the puck was, with all the bodies around him.
Anyway, that was enough to send the game into overtime, where both teams got some chances, but nobody was able to tally.
Which sent us back to the shootout again; I'm already getting tired of that. Twenty-five percent last season was quite enough; we don't need to "improve" on that, this year.
On the plus side, the results were much better, this time around. Kuzya, Backis, and OV all tallied, which Huberdeau getting the lone score for Florida. So, the result was good, even if the method of getting there was a little less than ideal.
Oh, and Backstrom failed to record a point in his 500th career game; disappointed for him, in that respect.
I wrote that I was worried about a mental let-down facing Florida the other night. Well, they managed to avoid that fate; they heavily dominated possession for the first two periods. They only got one goal to show for it, but they forced a number of very good (or very lucky, in a couple cases) saves out of Montoya. And that's really the best you can ask; sometimes you just don't get the bounces.
And I should also mention that that was with the Cats holding a 127-7 advantage in seconds of power play time. So really nothing to complain about over that span.
Oh, and I should point out the goal itself; the Chimmer-Ward line doesn't tend to get pretty goals, but this one was. Ward worked the puck around the boards, behind the net, over to Fehr in the corner. The entire defense collapsed on that side, and Fehr found Chimmer just at the far side of the net, all alone. He had a perfect set-up for a one-timer, but faked it and brought it back to the other side for a completely open backhand. I joke about Chimmer being "Stonehands" from time to time, but that was really nice work.
And I should also point out that that line was on fire, all night, getting a lot of good chances. It might not've worked out, beyond that one tally, but that wasn't the fault of effort. Just excellent goaltending and a little bad luck.
In the third period, with Florida lengthening its lead in power play time, the game was tied up. It was a largely uneventful period, shot-wise, but on the power play, Boyes found the rebound of a Bergenheim shot, and slotted it home. Pretty sure Peters didn't know where the puck was, with all the bodies around him.
Anyway, that was enough to send the game into overtime, where both teams got some chances, but nobody was able to tally.
Which sent us back to the shootout again; I'm already getting tired of that. Twenty-five percent last season was quite enough; we don't need to "improve" on that, this year.
On the plus side, the results were much better, this time around. Kuzya, Backis, and OV all tallied, which Huberdeau getting the lone score for Florida. So, the result was good, even if the method of getting there was a little less than ideal.
Oh, and Backstrom failed to record a point in his 500th career game; disappointed for him, in that respect.
20141017
Caps bedevil New Jersey
Last night's game was another with big between-period transitions. So big, that I wonder if mid-game transitions might be one of Trotz's strengths, as a coach.
The game started out really well, with a nice Brouwer rush down the right side, and OV cleaning up his rebound in pretty fashion, resulting in a goal only thirty-six seconds into the game. But the rest of the period was basically all New Jersey.
The only exception was a nice rush, again down the right side, by Chris Brown, but he capped it himself with a laser of a shot to the roof of the net. Quite unexpected from him (for me, at least).
The rest of the period, though, was New Jersey just attacking in waves. Tons of zone time, a lot of shots, and a couple of power plays. Plus two goals, both on point shots from rookie Severson.
Aside from those two shots (both heavily screened by OV as he attempted blocks), Holtby was unbelievably good. Seriously, he had at least three "I can't believe he got that" stops (two on Cammalleri, and one on Jagr from point-blank. The latter was at the tail-end of a gorgeous run of four straight one-touch passes across the zone by the Devils).
So, almost completely undeserved, the Caps took a tie into the intermission.
The second period was actually even more unbalanced than the first, but in the opposite direction, ending with the Caps leading in shots on goal. There was much less scoring, however, as only MarJo was able to find the netting. Good on him for firing the shot; last year he probably wouldn't have.
The third period also went the Caps way, although not by as much, shot-wise. But less than a minute in, Backstrom extended the lead by deflecting a Niskanen point shot to the near side of the net (it was headed across), and that was pretty much the end of the game seeming competitive.
Ward got on the scoreboard a couple minutes later, and his shot off the back boards, off the back of Schneider's skate, sent Corey to the bench. Clemmenson finished it respectably, although he was beaten by a seeing-eye wrister from Burakovsky five and a half minutes later.
That was it for the scoring, and I think the Caps were the only ones to threaten, thereafter, despite the Devils getting the only remaining power play.
The top line definitely deserves mention for kudos, as they were the three top shooters in the game, with thirteen shots between them.
The team, as a whole, deserves praise for keeping the shots against down (after the abysmal first period, especially). The team hasn't allowed more than thirty shots in a game yet, which is impressive. Maybe that investment in D is paying off.
The PK improved a little bit. I don't think they've yet managed to kill a penalty without allowing a shot, but they did drop below two shots per PK for the night. That's still not great, but it's definitely improvement.
The power play continues to look lethal, even when OV's getting a breather. That latter is especially impressive. The Devils actually kept OV from getting any great shots off, but the Caps responded to the pressure there by feeding the interior. They didn't get any goals off those attempts, but they did get a number of good chances. I feel good about it.
And Burakovsky continues to play beyond his years. He took Nick's spot on the power play for a bit, and looked very calm and controlled in doing it. Again, I was skeptical, but he's making a believer out of me (of course, a point a game will do that). The big question remaining with him is how he'll respond when things go less well. If he doesn't get discouraged, then he should stay at that position for the rest of the season.
Laich moved up to Bura's wing, with Fehr dropping back to center Ward and Chimmer. Those moves both worked well, with Laich getting a pair of assists, and the third line doing yeoman's work against the Devils top line.
Basically, there was nothing not to like about last night's game. And nothing really to dislike about how the season's gone, so far. The Caps opponents, so far, are 12-6-1 (10-4-1 in non-Caps games), so the Caps are getting it done against some pretty stiff competition.
The book on the Caps, though, for the entire OV era, is that they play to the level of their competition. So we'll have to see how they respond to Florida coming to town on Saturday (with the Panthers putting Montoya in goal, according to a reporter on Twitter). If they play hard, we'll know that Trotz has really instilled a new mentality in the team. If not... well, we'll try not to dwell on it.
The game started out really well, with a nice Brouwer rush down the right side, and OV cleaning up his rebound in pretty fashion, resulting in a goal only thirty-six seconds into the game. But the rest of the period was basically all New Jersey.
The only exception was a nice rush, again down the right side, by Chris Brown, but he capped it himself with a laser of a shot to the roof of the net. Quite unexpected from him (for me, at least).
The rest of the period, though, was New Jersey just attacking in waves. Tons of zone time, a lot of shots, and a couple of power plays. Plus two goals, both on point shots from rookie Severson.
Aside from those two shots (both heavily screened by OV as he attempted blocks), Holtby was unbelievably good. Seriously, he had at least three "I can't believe he got that" stops (two on Cammalleri, and one on Jagr from point-blank. The latter was at the tail-end of a gorgeous run of four straight one-touch passes across the zone by the Devils).
So, almost completely undeserved, the Caps took a tie into the intermission.
The second period was actually even more unbalanced than the first, but in the opposite direction, ending with the Caps leading in shots on goal. There was much less scoring, however, as only MarJo was able to find the netting. Good on him for firing the shot; last year he probably wouldn't have.
The third period also went the Caps way, although not by as much, shot-wise. But less than a minute in, Backstrom extended the lead by deflecting a Niskanen point shot to the near side of the net (it was headed across), and that was pretty much the end of the game seeming competitive.
Ward got on the scoreboard a couple minutes later, and his shot off the back boards, off the back of Schneider's skate, sent Corey to the bench. Clemmenson finished it respectably, although he was beaten by a seeing-eye wrister from Burakovsky five and a half minutes later.
That was it for the scoring, and I think the Caps were the only ones to threaten, thereafter, despite the Devils getting the only remaining power play.
The top line definitely deserves mention for kudos, as they were the three top shooters in the game, with thirteen shots between them.
The team, as a whole, deserves praise for keeping the shots against down (after the abysmal first period, especially). The team hasn't allowed more than thirty shots in a game yet, which is impressive. Maybe that investment in D is paying off.
The PK improved a little bit. I don't think they've yet managed to kill a penalty without allowing a shot, but they did drop below two shots per PK for the night. That's still not great, but it's definitely improvement.
The power play continues to look lethal, even when OV's getting a breather. That latter is especially impressive. The Devils actually kept OV from getting any great shots off, but the Caps responded to the pressure there by feeding the interior. They didn't get any goals off those attempts, but they did get a number of good chances. I feel good about it.
And Burakovsky continues to play beyond his years. He took Nick's spot on the power play for a bit, and looked very calm and controlled in doing it. Again, I was skeptical, but he's making a believer out of me (of course, a point a game will do that). The big question remaining with him is how he'll respond when things go less well. If he doesn't get discouraged, then he should stay at that position for the rest of the season.
Laich moved up to Bura's wing, with Fehr dropping back to center Ward and Chimmer. Those moves both worked well, with Laich getting a pair of assists, and the third line doing yeoman's work against the Devils top line.
Basically, there was nothing not to like about last night's game. And nothing really to dislike about how the season's gone, so far. The Caps opponents, so far, are 12-6-1 (10-4-1 in non-Caps games), so the Caps are getting it done against some pretty stiff competition.
The book on the Caps, though, for the entire OV era, is that they play to the level of their competition. So we'll have to see how they respond to Florida coming to town on Saturday (with the Panthers putting Montoya in goal, according to a reporter on Twitter). If they play hard, we'll know that Trotz has really instilled a new mentality in the team. If not... well, we'll try not to dwell on it.
20140324
Game is a push in San Jose?
Well, not really. As I mentioned, I was not at all optimistic about the Caps' chances against the Sharks. In fact, the Caps hadn't won there since '93 (a couple of players in the game hadn't been born yet). But the Caps got one they definitely didn't deserve the other night.
The lines were basically the same as the game before, although Halak wasn't feeling great and didn't start (this was a last-minute decision; it was assumed after practice that he would be). That didn't worry me, although I wonder if it did, Coach Oates.
Washington started out quite strong, taking it to the Sharks, and finally getting a lucky goal from the third line in the twelfth minute. They were applying strong pressure, and a shot rebounded from Neimi to the same-side defenseman, who tried to clear it. But his shot rebounded, almost immediately, off his defensive partner's leg and over the shoulder of a stunned Niemi. After much debate, Fehr was credited with the goal.
Things continued to look pretty good for the Caps, until a last-minute flurry resulted in a San Jose goal with six seconds left, as Marleau got a rebound in front of the net and put it home.
The second period started out being almost all Sharks (greated aided by a pair of power plays). On one of those power plays, they did a very good job keeping San Jose from setting up in the zone, but the other was basically a shooting gallery. But Holt-beast was in full effect, and kept the game tied.
The second half of the period had the Caps catching up a bit. I'd like to say that they were helped by the two power plays they got during that time, but the truth is that they looked terrible. I think they got one shot on net on the two PPs combined. The one time they managed to get set up, a nice (lucky?) deflection of a cross-ice pass sent them out of the zone again. Other than that, it was continual rewinds as they dumped in and had it immediately cleared. San Jose even got a strong forecheck in on one of those power plays; that was just ugly.
The third period played basically even, with each team scoring one. Sheppard scored on an unassisted breakaway five minutes in (and Holtby definitely wanted that one back), and Brown scored on another fluky goal seven minutes later (with nice assistance from Wilson and Penner). Brown's goal was fluky because it deflected off two San Jose players before it went in. Niemi couldn't've been terribly pleased with the team in front of him.
OV's high sticking call with two minutes and change left provided quite a scare, but Holtby again looked like a wall.
Washington did a very nice job, comfortably outplaying the Sharks, when the game went into overtime, but they did not manage to score their fifth OT goal of the season.
So it went into the coin flip, where Couture started things off by getting stopped. Oates again started with his Russian enigma, and got the advantage when Kuzya put it past Niemi. Pavelski and Fehr continued, and were both stopped to make it very tight. Marleau put his second past Holtby after that, keeping the Sharks alive.
At that point, I tweeted:
Not a pretty game, although Holtby looked fabulous, especially with how he's been treated over the past several weeks. I wonder if the thirty-four saves are enough to get him another start tomorrow or Saturday. I hope so. Halak's been great, but Holtby's had similarly good stretches. Actually, thinking about it, I bet this gets Holtby the start against Boston, as he has only one regular season loss against the Bruins.
As I said, the Caps power play looked pretty terrible. They were reduced almost entirely to dump-ins, and they're just not a good dump and chase team. Well, not without Chimmer on the power play, they aren't. The end result was only eight shot attempts (actually, I'm amazed it was that many, although only three of them were on-net) in six minutes. That's massively off their normal pace, which is quite a credit to the penalty killing of the Sharks.
The PK got the job done, technically, although that's mostly a credit to Holtby. They allowed fourteen shot attempts in just over six minutes of power play time (actually, I'm not sure how they calculate that. There were three power plays, and none were ended prematurely. Only thing I can think of is a little bit of 6-on-5 on a delayed call being credited as power play time), with eleven of those shots being on net. Saying the Caps were lucky there is a massive understatement.
All in all, you just have to say that the Caps were incredibly lucky to win the game. Lucky not to give up an power play goals and lucky to score both of the times Niemi was beat.
Really, they just looked outclassed through most of the game. 5-on-5 close Fenwick was 55% in favor of the Sharks, and I'm actually surprised it was that close. It didn't feel like it, when I was watching.
But I'm not complaining. At this point in the season, as I've said, there are no more style points. It took an immense amount of luck, but the Caps managed five out of six points on the West Coast swing. That puts them into a position where it's believable that they might make the playoffs. The odds are still against it, but no longer overwhelmingly so.
If they can pull a pair of points out of the next two games, then I think they'll probably make it. Go pointless, and I'd bet against it pretty strongly.
Anyway, as alluded earlier, tomorrow is the next game, and it's at home against the Kings. Another very tough one. I'd like to hope that this marks the end of the OV/Beagle line, but practice this morning suggest no. Go Caps!
The lines were basically the same as the game before, although Halak wasn't feeling great and didn't start (this was a last-minute decision; it was assumed after practice that he would be). That didn't worry me, although I wonder if it did, Coach Oates.
Washington started out quite strong, taking it to the Sharks, and finally getting a lucky goal from the third line in the twelfth minute. They were applying strong pressure, and a shot rebounded from Neimi to the same-side defenseman, who tried to clear it. But his shot rebounded, almost immediately, off his defensive partner's leg and over the shoulder of a stunned Niemi. After much debate, Fehr was credited with the goal.
Things continued to look pretty good for the Caps, until a last-minute flurry resulted in a San Jose goal with six seconds left, as Marleau got a rebound in front of the net and put it home.
The second period started out being almost all Sharks (greated aided by a pair of power plays). On one of those power plays, they did a very good job keeping San Jose from setting up in the zone, but the other was basically a shooting gallery. But Holt-beast was in full effect, and kept the game tied.
The second half of the period had the Caps catching up a bit. I'd like to say that they were helped by the two power plays they got during that time, but the truth is that they looked terrible. I think they got one shot on net on the two PPs combined. The one time they managed to get set up, a nice (lucky?) deflection of a cross-ice pass sent them out of the zone again. Other than that, it was continual rewinds as they dumped in and had it immediately cleared. San Jose even got a strong forecheck in on one of those power plays; that was just ugly.
The third period played basically even, with each team scoring one. Sheppard scored on an unassisted breakaway five minutes in (and Holtby definitely wanted that one back), and Brown scored on another fluky goal seven minutes later (with nice assistance from Wilson and Penner). Brown's goal was fluky because it deflected off two San Jose players before it went in. Niemi couldn't've been terribly pleased with the team in front of him.
OV's high sticking call with two minutes and change left provided quite a scare, but Holtby again looked like a wall.
Washington did a very nice job, comfortably outplaying the Sharks, when the game went into overtime, but they did not manage to score their fifth OT goal of the season.
So it went into the coin flip, where Couture started things off by getting stopped. Oates again started with his Russian enigma, and got the advantage when Kuzya put it past Niemi. Pavelski and Fehr continued, and were both stopped to make it very tight. Marleau put his second past Holtby after that, keeping the Sharks alive.
At that point, I tweeted:
Ok. One shot to break twenty year losing streak
— AMusingFool (@AMusingFool) March 23, 2014
And Backstrom calmly skated in and beat Niemi for the win. And the crowd went wild. Well, the Caps fans who were still awake did, at least.Not a pretty game, although Holtby looked fabulous, especially with how he's been treated over the past several weeks. I wonder if the thirty-four saves are enough to get him another start tomorrow or Saturday. I hope so. Halak's been great, but Holtby's had similarly good stretches. Actually, thinking about it, I bet this gets Holtby the start against Boston, as he has only one regular season loss against the Bruins.
As I said, the Caps power play looked pretty terrible. They were reduced almost entirely to dump-ins, and they're just not a good dump and chase team. Well, not without Chimmer on the power play, they aren't. The end result was only eight shot attempts (actually, I'm amazed it was that many, although only three of them were on-net) in six minutes. That's massively off their normal pace, which is quite a credit to the penalty killing of the Sharks.
The PK got the job done, technically, although that's mostly a credit to Holtby. They allowed fourteen shot attempts in just over six minutes of power play time (actually, I'm not sure how they calculate that. There were three power plays, and none were ended prematurely. Only thing I can think of is a little bit of 6-on-5 on a delayed call being credited as power play time), with eleven of those shots being on net. Saying the Caps were lucky there is a massive understatement.
All in all, you just have to say that the Caps were incredibly lucky to win the game. Lucky not to give up an power play goals and lucky to score both of the times Niemi was beat.
Really, they just looked outclassed through most of the game. 5-on-5 close Fenwick was 55% in favor of the Sharks, and I'm actually surprised it was that close. It didn't feel like it, when I was watching.
But I'm not complaining. At this point in the season, as I've said, there are no more style points. It took an immense amount of luck, but the Caps managed five out of six points on the West Coast swing. That puts them into a position where it's believable that they might make the playoffs. The odds are still against it, but no longer overwhelmingly so.
If they can pull a pair of points out of the next two games, then I think they'll probably make it. Go pointless, and I'd bet against it pretty strongly.
Anyway, as alluded earlier, tomorrow is the next game, and it's at home against the Kings. Another very tough one. I'd like to hope that this marks the end of the OV/Beagle line, but practice this morning suggest no. Go Caps!
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!
20140318
Strong start leads to ekeing out victory
Before the Sunday tilt with the Maple Leafs, I was certainly feeling like this was the Caps best chance to pick up some easy points, as the Leafs are a terrible team, possessionally. But a team PDO of 102 will certainly mask a lot of deficiencies and lead to a lot of points in the standings. So I was definitely feeling like the Leafs record is not terribly indicative of their overall talent.
And the first period certainly seemed to bear that out. The Leafs only managed four unblocked shots, which did give them one goal. But Washington had eighteen, which led to three goals of their own and a nice lead (especially as Toronto's goal was scored well after Washington's third).
Those Washington goals came from Brouwer and Ward on the power play (Ward's goal had the second power play unit on ice to start the power play, for unknown reasons, but which featured a really pretty setup from Penner, parking himself in front of the goalie). Chimmer had the other one (the second, for those keeping score at home), and his skate tapped in a shot from Ward that beat Reimer between the pads.
The first fifteen minutes of the second period was about the mirror image of the first, as the Leafs had sixteen unblocked shots to the Caps two (three power plays helped in that cause). Happily, Halak was up to that challenge, and stopped all but one. That led to a lot of time for the Leafs to try to get a tying goal, but play was largely in the Caps favor. In fact, the Leafs weren't able to pull Reimer until very close to the end (last 30 seconds or so), because the Caps kept the puck down at the other end.
It was good to see, especially as Brouwer finally managed to ice the game with an empty netter that slid in with a screen from Backstrom (who generously didn't touch the puck on the way) with four seconds left.
Overall, a good game, with Halak doing an excellent job holding off Toronto's big push in the second. Ward and Brouwer also each hit twenty goals on the season. And 5v5 close Fenwick was almost 57/43, which is great.
The power play looked decent, with two goals in four chances. But that came on only seven shot attempts (five on net) in five and a half minutes, which isn't terribly good.
The PK got the job done again, holding Toronto off the board in their three chances. But that was with fourteen attempts (eight on net) in six minutes. That's not a sustainable way to kill penalties. Very lucky there.
Other than that, the broadcast did have a couple of interesting notes. May and Locker were sharing coloring duties, which was pretty good. What I found interesting, though, were the three different age cracks May got in on Locker. Anyway, it also had me wondering if they're looking at replacing Locker; I can't say as I would mind, if so.
The other interesting part was talking about how many of the players (all but three, although I forget the three) use skates with a quick-release mechanism on the blades, to make changing blades about a six second operation. That can certainly be helpful, but I wonder if it helps explain the several instances I've seen, this season, of players losing a skate blade. I particularly remember watching Oleksy struggle over to the bench when he lost his blade back at the end of October.
Anyway, it was a good game, especially to see the players working hard all night. I still don't understand why Beagle and OV are frequently together on a line, as it seems frightfully ineffective. I also don't understand why Holtby is in Oates' dog-house again (still?). All signs point to him being an excellent (read: above league-average starter), and I hope his confidence has been unaffected by being sat so many times. I'm not even convinced that Halak is better than Holtby, let alone enough better to justify this kind of workload distribution.
Anyway, now comes the real gauntlet for the season, with four games against California teams followed by a final game against the Bruins. They need to win at least three of those games to have even a tiny shot at the playoffs, and that's a tall order, given what we know of the teams. First up, the Ducks, tonight. Go Caps!
And the first period certainly seemed to bear that out. The Leafs only managed four unblocked shots, which did give them one goal. But Washington had eighteen, which led to three goals of their own and a nice lead (especially as Toronto's goal was scored well after Washington's third).
Those Washington goals came from Brouwer and Ward on the power play (Ward's goal had the second power play unit on ice to start the power play, for unknown reasons, but which featured a really pretty setup from Penner, parking himself in front of the goalie). Chimmer had the other one (the second, for those keeping score at home), and his skate tapped in a shot from Ward that beat Reimer between the pads.
The first fifteen minutes of the second period was about the mirror image of the first, as the Leafs had sixteen unblocked shots to the Caps two (three power plays helped in that cause). Happily, Halak was up to that challenge, and stopped all but one. That led to a lot of time for the Leafs to try to get a tying goal, but play was largely in the Caps favor. In fact, the Leafs weren't able to pull Reimer until very close to the end (last 30 seconds or so), because the Caps kept the puck down at the other end.
It was good to see, especially as Brouwer finally managed to ice the game with an empty netter that slid in with a screen from Backstrom (who generously didn't touch the puck on the way) with four seconds left.
Overall, a good game, with Halak doing an excellent job holding off Toronto's big push in the second. Ward and Brouwer also each hit twenty goals on the season. And 5v5 close Fenwick was almost 57/43, which is great.
The power play looked decent, with two goals in four chances. But that came on only seven shot attempts (five on net) in five and a half minutes, which isn't terribly good.
The PK got the job done again, holding Toronto off the board in their three chances. But that was with fourteen attempts (eight on net) in six minutes. That's not a sustainable way to kill penalties. Very lucky there.
Other than that, the broadcast did have a couple of interesting notes. May and Locker were sharing coloring duties, which was pretty good. What I found interesting, though, were the three different age cracks May got in on Locker. Anyway, it also had me wondering if they're looking at replacing Locker; I can't say as I would mind, if so.
The other interesting part was talking about how many of the players (all but three, although I forget the three) use skates with a quick-release mechanism on the blades, to make changing blades about a six second operation. That can certainly be helpful, but I wonder if it helps explain the several instances I've seen, this season, of players losing a skate blade. I particularly remember watching Oleksy struggle over to the bench when he lost his blade back at the end of October.
Anyway, it was a good game, especially to see the players working hard all night. I still don't understand why Beagle and OV are frequently together on a line, as it seems frightfully ineffective. I also don't understand why Holtby is in Oates' dog-house again (still?). All signs point to him being an excellent (read: above league-average starter), and I hope his confidence has been unaffected by being sat so many times. I'm not even convinced that Halak is better than Holtby, let alone enough better to justify this kind of workload distribution.
Anyway, now comes the real gauntlet for the season, with four games against California teams followed by a final game against the Bruins. They need to win at least three of those games to have even a tiny shot at the playoffs, and that's a tall order, given what we know of the teams. First up, the Ducks, tonight. Go Caps!
Just Kuz; that's why
Friday's Caps/Nucks game was not exactly a model of decorum and tranquility. Nor a model of a modern major general. In fact, it really wasn't a terribly good model of much of anything.
I guess it was a pretty close game, for most of its length. The Caps opened the scoring, with the third line pocketing one thanks to some good, persistent work in front of the net from Wardo. Fehr did a good job throwing it towards him, and Ward knocked it down then pushed it into the net from between the skates of his defender.
The Caps were a little slow, as it took them three and a half minutes (instead of the usual two and a half) to give up a goal, as Beagle and OV collided in the defensive zone, giving up the puck to the forecheck. A quick pass found Schroeder uncovered in the slot for a quick wrister past Halak.
The rest of the period was pretty even, but with nobody putting the squat cyclinder in the net.
It took eight and a half minutes (remarkably similar timing to Washington's first goal, now that I think about it), but Washington retook the lead on an OV power play goal from the OV spot (only thing different there was the second assist coming from Kuzya, playing Backstrom's position).
Four minutes later, Kuzya had a really pretty assist to Wilson (who displayed excellent hands to corral the puck quickly and get the shot off). That finished off the scoring in the second, with Vancouver quickly catching up on shots.
And that's where the third went, too, as Washington had almost no sustained possession against the 'Nuck-leheads, and Halak faced a barrage. That barrage did net a pair of goals, but Washington (in the form of Game Over Green, from Kuzya) got one back less than three minutes after the second one to provide the final victory margin.
Overall, shots looked horribly unbalanced (41-21 in favor of Vancouver), but most of the difference came with the game not "close". So the Caps actually looked pretty good, possessionally, up 59-41 in 5v5 close Fenwick. But I wonder if they should have done better when they were up. I'm minded to think so, because that's an awfully big full-game gap.
Because of that huge gap, Halak ended up having a very good game. The first and second goals would have required hella good saves, although I suspect Jaro would've wanted the third one back. Still, that's a very good game.
The power play was pretty good, with one goal in two chances, and attempting nine shots (five on net) in their three and a half minutes. Nothing to be disappointed in, there.
The PK was... not as good. They did keep Vancouver from scoring, but that was allowing eighteen attempts (eight on net) in six minutes. Those are not good rates. It worked out, but that was a lot of luck.
Overall, hard to be upset with how things played out (other than, perhaps, bafflement at Beagle and OV being on the same line with any regularity). Well, it'd be nice if the Caps would stop giving up leads so frequently, but that's really the only major issue.
I'll cover the Sunday Maple Leafs game separately.
I guess it was a pretty close game, for most of its length. The Caps opened the scoring, with the third line pocketing one thanks to some good, persistent work in front of the net from Wardo. Fehr did a good job throwing it towards him, and Ward knocked it down then pushed it into the net from between the skates of his defender.
The Caps were a little slow, as it took them three and a half minutes (instead of the usual two and a half) to give up a goal, as Beagle and OV collided in the defensive zone, giving up the puck to the forecheck. A quick pass found Schroeder uncovered in the slot for a quick wrister past Halak.
The rest of the period was pretty even, but with nobody putting the squat cyclinder in the net.
It took eight and a half minutes (remarkably similar timing to Washington's first goal, now that I think about it), but Washington retook the lead on an OV power play goal from the OV spot (only thing different there was the second assist coming from Kuzya, playing Backstrom's position).
Four minutes later, Kuzya had a really pretty assist to Wilson (who displayed excellent hands to corral the puck quickly and get the shot off). That finished off the scoring in the second, with Vancouver quickly catching up on shots.
And that's where the third went, too, as Washington had almost no sustained possession against the 'Nuck-leheads, and Halak faced a barrage. That barrage did net a pair of goals, but Washington (in the form of Game Over Green, from Kuzya) got one back less than three minutes after the second one to provide the final victory margin.
Overall, shots looked horribly unbalanced (41-21 in favor of Vancouver), but most of the difference came with the game not "close". So the Caps actually looked pretty good, possessionally, up 59-41 in 5v5 close Fenwick. But I wonder if they should have done better when they were up. I'm minded to think so, because that's an awfully big full-game gap.
Because of that huge gap, Halak ended up having a very good game. The first and second goals would have required hella good saves, although I suspect Jaro would've wanted the third one back. Still, that's a very good game.
The power play was pretty good, with one goal in two chances, and attempting nine shots (five on net) in their three and a half minutes. Nothing to be disappointed in, there.
The PK was... not as good. They did keep Vancouver from scoring, but that was allowing eighteen attempts (eight on net) in six minutes. Those are not good rates. It worked out, but that was a lot of luck.
Overall, hard to be upset with how things played out (other than, perhaps, bafflement at Beagle and OV being on the same line with any regularity). Well, it'd be nice if the Caps would stop giving up leads so frequently, but that's really the only major issue.
I'll cover the Sunday Maple Leafs game separately.
20140310
Lucky in Glove?
I wasn't able to watch Saturday's Caps/Yotes game; we were having friends over to watch the Duke/Carolina game (my wife went to Duke). I tried to avoid finding out what happened; I ignored the TV that had the game on when I went to pick up food. I did watch five or so minutes of the beginning while waiting for people to come downstairs for the basketball game (and the Caps looked pretty good). When I saw a hockey score on the chyron during the basketball game, I resolutely ignored it. But towards the end of the game, I happened to look down right as the Caps score came up.
Knowing the result, I haven't yet gotten myself to watch the whole game.
There was certainly some scary stuff in the lead-up to the game. Beforehand, the Caps needed about a 106-pt pace for the remaining games to hope to make the playoffs. I also saw the lines, and the centers were (in order, top to bottom): Backstrom, Beagle, Fehr, and Stoa. After Nicky, that's a scary bunch, and not for the opposition (Beagle, 2C? Really?).
Also, Kuznetsov finally signed with the Caps, but wasn't available for the game (no practicing, I would guess, although I didn't hear a reason given).
So I was shocked when the Caps looked pretty good for those few minutes. And I was similarly shocked when I found out they had won, 3-2.
So how did they do it? Well, they did outplay Phoenix for the first ten minutes or so. Then, they flat-lined for the rest of the period (yes, zero (!) fenwick events), and were still outplayed for most of the rest of the game. But Halak stood strong (never thought I'd be happy to say that), and only allowed two goals, and it looks like the Coyotes went to sleep in the middle of the third.
In that bed-a-bye time, Alzner and Laich (Huh? and huh?, respectively) scored, with Brouwer picking up a power play tally a few minutes later for the decider. The three scorers had five shots, between them, although Alzner and Brouwer were one and two in CF% on the team (Chimmer, Ward, and Hillen were the bottom three).
So, overall? Well, we'll take the result, unlikely as it was.
Next up are the Penguins, home and home, tonight at the phone booth. Let's hope Kuzya (fourth line, to start) shines, and Caps abuse the Pens bottom two lines, because that's what it'll take for them to win. Go Caps!
Knowing the result, I haven't yet gotten myself to watch the whole game.
There was certainly some scary stuff in the lead-up to the game. Beforehand, the Caps needed about a 106-pt pace for the remaining games to hope to make the playoffs. I also saw the lines, and the centers were (in order, top to bottom): Backstrom, Beagle, Fehr, and Stoa. After Nicky, that's a scary bunch, and not for the opposition (Beagle, 2C? Really?).
Also, Kuznetsov finally signed with the Caps, but wasn't available for the game (no practicing, I would guess, although I didn't hear a reason given).
So I was shocked when the Caps looked pretty good for those few minutes. And I was similarly shocked when I found out they had won, 3-2.
So how did they do it? Well, they did outplay Phoenix for the first ten minutes or so. Then, they flat-lined for the rest of the period (yes, zero (!) fenwick events), and were still outplayed for most of the rest of the game. But Halak stood strong (never thought I'd be happy to say that), and only allowed two goals, and it looks like the Coyotes went to sleep in the middle of the third.
In that bed-a-bye time, Alzner and Laich (Huh? and huh?, respectively) scored, with Brouwer picking up a power play tally a few minutes later for the decider. The three scorers had five shots, between them, although Alzner and Brouwer were one and two in CF% on the team (Chimmer, Ward, and Hillen were the bottom three).
So, overall? Well, we'll take the result, unlikely as it was.
Next up are the Penguins, home and home, tonight at the phone booth. Let's hope Kuzya (fourth line, to start) shines, and Caps abuse the Pens bottom two lines, because that's what it'll take for them to win. 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.
Brouwer-power play puts Caps over Cats
I knew that the Caps had a tough schedule coming out of the Olympic break, although I hadn't realized just how quickly it got going. I watched last Thursday's game against Florida after putting the kids to be that night, but missed yesterday's Bruins game until today (part of that was being a bit sick), and almost missed today's Flyer's game entirely.
But first, let's talk about that Cats game.
The Caps started the first period very slowly. In fact, I don't think they managed any offensive zone possession until they got their first power play, five minutes in. Fortunately, they held Florida to only one shot over that time as well (I have no idea how, as the Cats had quite a bit of zone time). Even worse, Grabo was injured in that time, and was out for the rest of the game (and maybe the season? I need to find out).
But things went well on that power play, with several quick shots resulting in Brouwer pocketing a rebound to give the Caps a lead. Two and a half minutes later.... the Caps scored again, as Orlov jumped a pass and fired it ahead to OV for a 2-on-1 with Laich. That ended in Laich's nicest goal of the season, as he rifled the pass behind Thomas to double the lead.
Play went back and forth for the rest of the period, with a small edge to Florida in possession, but the Panthers did manage to score on a very pretty pass from Winchester in the corner to Flash out front.
The second period started pretty slow for the Caps as well, with Florida scoring in the first minute to tie the game up. But Washington retook the lead three minutes later on an innocuous-seeming play that finished with Erat shooting it into Thomas, and Backstrom cleaning up the rebound into an unguarded goal.
Washington looked pretty good, with play going back and forth for much of the rest of the period. But they got another power play with a minute and a quarter left, as Jovo-cop had to trip Brouwer to keep him getting in alone behind the defense. That resulted in another power play goal half a minute later, with Brouwer tipping in OV's shot to get back to another two-goal lead.
The third period didn't seem to start with a big lull like the first two periods, but there still wasn't much happening for quite a while. Unfortunately, when something did happen, it followed Holtby accidentally putting the puck over the glass, and Shore found the back of the net on the resulting power play. Just over a minute later, Boyes also found the twine to tie the game up again (ugh!).
Thanks largely to several more power plays, the rest of the period went largely in Florida's favor, although Washington did manage to score again when Backstrom sprung Laich and OV on another 2-on-1 and OV scored on pretty much the mirror of Laich's earlier goal.
One bit of fun in there came half a minute earlier as Green was sprung coming out of the box on one of those penalties, and got a clean breakaway. His subtle move actually got Thomas to trip himself, but Tim stayed with the play and got his glove on the final shot (oh, to have gotten that shot up just a little bit) for the save. Very disappointing.
But the Caps did hold on for the win, happily. It wasn't impressive looking (though Fenwick 5-on-5 close did favor the Caps, slightly), but they got the job done.
Holtby looked pretty good; it was hard to fault him for any of the goals scored, although that delay of game penalty certainly didn't help.
The power play was certainly cooking. They got two goals in less than a minute and a half of total man-advantage time, after generating ten shot attempts (eight (!) on net). Gotta love that!
The penalty kill looked pretty good at first glance, with only the one goal in almost ten minutes of time short-handed. But that was with twenty-two shot attempts (eleven on net), which is far too many. So we'll have to chalk the results up to good luck and good goaltending.
Overall, the only thing to be upset about was that they twice failed to hold two-goal leads, which is not exactly a new situation with the Caps. The old trope about it being "the most dangerous lead in hockey" is certainly crap, but it didn't feel like it in that game.
But first, let's talk about that Cats game.
The Caps started the first period very slowly. In fact, I don't think they managed any offensive zone possession until they got their first power play, five minutes in. Fortunately, they held Florida to only one shot over that time as well (I have no idea how, as the Cats had quite a bit of zone time). Even worse, Grabo was injured in that time, and was out for the rest of the game (and maybe the season? I need to find out).
But things went well on that power play, with several quick shots resulting in Brouwer pocketing a rebound to give the Caps a lead. Two and a half minutes later.... the Caps scored again, as Orlov jumped a pass and fired it ahead to OV for a 2-on-1 with Laich. That ended in Laich's nicest goal of the season, as he rifled the pass behind Thomas to double the lead.
Play went back and forth for the rest of the period, with a small edge to Florida in possession, but the Panthers did manage to score on a very pretty pass from Winchester in the corner to Flash out front.
The second period started pretty slow for the Caps as well, with Florida scoring in the first minute to tie the game up. But Washington retook the lead three minutes later on an innocuous-seeming play that finished with Erat shooting it into Thomas, and Backstrom cleaning up the rebound into an unguarded goal.
Washington looked pretty good, with play going back and forth for much of the rest of the period. But they got another power play with a minute and a quarter left, as Jovo-cop had to trip Brouwer to keep him getting in alone behind the defense. That resulted in another power play goal half a minute later, with Brouwer tipping in OV's shot to get back to another two-goal lead.
The third period didn't seem to start with a big lull like the first two periods, but there still wasn't much happening for quite a while. Unfortunately, when something did happen, it followed Holtby accidentally putting the puck over the glass, and Shore found the back of the net on the resulting power play. Just over a minute later, Boyes also found the twine to tie the game up again (ugh!).
Thanks largely to several more power plays, the rest of the period went largely in Florida's favor, although Washington did manage to score again when Backstrom sprung Laich and OV on another 2-on-1 and OV scored on pretty much the mirror of Laich's earlier goal.
One bit of fun in there came half a minute earlier as Green was sprung coming out of the box on one of those penalties, and got a clean breakaway. His subtle move actually got Thomas to trip himself, but Tim stayed with the play and got his glove on the final shot (oh, to have gotten that shot up just a little bit) for the save. Very disappointing.
But the Caps did hold on for the win, happily. It wasn't impressive looking (though Fenwick 5-on-5 close did favor the Caps, slightly), but they got the job done.
Holtby looked pretty good; it was hard to fault him for any of the goals scored, although that delay of game penalty certainly didn't help.
The power play was certainly cooking. They got two goals in less than a minute and a half of total man-advantage time, after generating ten shot attempts (eight (!) on net). Gotta love that!
The penalty kill looked pretty good at first glance, with only the one goal in almost ten minutes of time short-handed. But that was with twenty-two shot attempts (eleven on net), which is far too many. So we'll have to chalk the results up to good luck and good goaltending.
Overall, the only thing to be upset about was that they twice failed to hold two-goal leads, which is not exactly a new situation with the Caps. The old trope about it being "the most dangerous lead in hockey" is certainly crap, but it didn't feel like it in that game.
20140211
Devilish challenge
I actually forgot about the Devils game entirely on Saturday, but it was on the normal channel, so I was able to watch it yesterday evening after getting back from the hospital.
The lineup was the same as the Jets game right before, right down to Holtby starting in net again. On the other side, Schneider seems to have grabbed the starter's mantle from Brodeur with his excellent play, and he got the start.
And it was a frustrating game to watch (not helped by being frequently distracted by the kids). Outside of a brief flurry of chances around five or six minutes in (on the power play), they were solidly dominated all the way through the second intermission.
But Holtby brought his A game, and stopped everything thrown at him.
For the first ten minutes of the third, the Caps finally started catching up in possession, and had some excellent shifts. After that, possession was more even, although the Caps finally broke through and scored in the eleventh minute, with a Brouillette slapshot from the point finally getting past Schneider.
From there, the game was very tense, with both teams getting chances, but both goalminders standing tall. With two and a half minutes left, I was starting to think that the Caps might finally win a game without scoring three goals (it was pointed out to me, late last week, that they hadn't managed that. h/t to @Peerless, I think). But Schneider was pulled right after that, and a rough - but effective - breakout led to Erat finally scoring on the empty net (I think he kept the puck, too, which surprised me a little. First as a Cap, maybe?).
And then, almost forty seconds later, Brouwer fought hard along the boards near the red line, and got a shot off that slipped into the goal for a second empty netter.
Holtby was up to the remaining challenges as well, and got his tenth career shutout just over a minute later (despite Jersey finishing that on the power play).
The power play was not good at all. The first power play wasn't too bad, but they had only two more shots over the remaining three times on the advantage. Overall, they had nine shot attempts for (and two against), with five of those on net. A lot of credit for that goes to the NJ PK, but that isn't likely to get the job done.
On the other side, the Devils had a bit less than five minutes with the advantage, getting ten shot attempts (four on-net). Again, that isn't going to get the job done if Holtby doesn't have an awesome game.
Holtby was fantastic, and seems to be back to where he was (they seem to have given up on the experiment of having him try to play deeper in the net). I don't remember any truly spectacular saves, but he was just always where he needed to be. Awesome to see.
Overall, though, this was another not-great game for the Caps. We'll take the points without complaining, of course, but it's not boding well. The last two games were both ~46% FF 5-on-5, close. That's not going to get it done, either, unless Holtby remains near-flawless. I'd love to see that, but hope it won't be necessary (and it ain't the way to bet, regardless).
So the Caps go into the Olympic break tied for fourth in the division (ninth in Conference), with the toughest schedule in the league for March. Somehow, despite that brutal schedule, they need to make up ground on at least one team in front of them, while also getting separation from both of the teams with whom they're currently tied (because they sure ain't getting any tiebreakers). The only thing leading to any optimism at all is that they do have a better goal differential than three of the teams ahead of them (although maybe that counts shootout "goals"), but that's pretty weak tea.
But we'll see; maybe OV will win Olympic gold, leading into twenty-five goals down the stretch to drag the team, kicking and screaming, into the playoffs. And maybe Schmidt will get called up to solidify the third line (though there's really nothing to complain about with Brouillette's results so far. Hard to argue with a point-a-game defenseman), and Green and Grabo both return from injury at 100%. And Wellman could stay up, allowing Beagle to be scratched a lot.
Hey, we can hope. Go Caps!
The lineup was the same as the Jets game right before, right down to Holtby starting in net again. On the other side, Schneider seems to have grabbed the starter's mantle from Brodeur with his excellent play, and he got the start.
And it was a frustrating game to watch (not helped by being frequently distracted by the kids). Outside of a brief flurry of chances around five or six minutes in (on the power play), they were solidly dominated all the way through the second intermission.
But Holtby brought his A game, and stopped everything thrown at him.
For the first ten minutes of the third, the Caps finally started catching up in possession, and had some excellent shifts. After that, possession was more even, although the Caps finally broke through and scored in the eleventh minute, with a Brouillette slapshot from the point finally getting past Schneider.
From there, the game was very tense, with both teams getting chances, but both goalminders standing tall. With two and a half minutes left, I was starting to think that the Caps might finally win a game without scoring three goals (it was pointed out to me, late last week, that they hadn't managed that. h/t to @Peerless, I think). But Schneider was pulled right after that, and a rough - but effective - breakout led to Erat finally scoring on the empty net (I think he kept the puck, too, which surprised me a little. First as a Cap, maybe?).
And then, almost forty seconds later, Brouwer fought hard along the boards near the red line, and got a shot off that slipped into the goal for a second empty netter.
Holtby was up to the remaining challenges as well, and got his tenth career shutout just over a minute later (despite Jersey finishing that on the power play).
The power play was not good at all. The first power play wasn't too bad, but they had only two more shots over the remaining three times on the advantage. Overall, they had nine shot attempts for (and two against), with five of those on net. A lot of credit for that goes to the NJ PK, but that isn't likely to get the job done.
On the other side, the Devils had a bit less than five minutes with the advantage, getting ten shot attempts (four on-net). Again, that isn't going to get the job done if Holtby doesn't have an awesome game.
Holtby was fantastic, and seems to be back to where he was (they seem to have given up on the experiment of having him try to play deeper in the net). I don't remember any truly spectacular saves, but he was just always where he needed to be. Awesome to see.
Overall, though, this was another not-great game for the Caps. We'll take the points without complaining, of course, but it's not boding well. The last two games were both ~46% FF 5-on-5, close. That's not going to get it done, either, unless Holtby remains near-flawless. I'd love to see that, but hope it won't be necessary (and it ain't the way to bet, regardless).
So the Caps go into the Olympic break tied for fourth in the division (ninth in Conference), with the toughest schedule in the league for March. Somehow, despite that brutal schedule, they need to make up ground on at least one team in front of them, while also getting separation from both of the teams with whom they're currently tied (because they sure ain't getting any tiebreakers). The only thing leading to any optimism at all is that they do have a better goal differential than three of the teams ahead of them (although maybe that counts shootout "goals"), but that's pretty weak tea.
But we'll see; maybe OV will win Olympic gold, leading into twenty-five goals down the stretch to drag the team, kicking and screaming, into the playoffs. And maybe Schmidt will get called up to solidify the third line (though there's really nothing to complain about with Brouillette's results so far. Hard to argue with a point-a-game defenseman), and Green and Grabo both return from injury at 100%. And Wellman could stay up, allowing Beagle to be scratched a lot.
Hey, we can hope. Go Caps!
Sweat of the Brouw
I've been having trouble watching Caps games, lately, with my dad having health problems. But I was able to watch the Caps/Jets game the other day only a couple of hours after initial puck-drop.
It was a game with some definite surprises beforehand. A slight surprise was that Holtby was in net, but the big surprises were at the blue-line. Green and Erskine were both out (still don't know why for Erskine, although Green's injury is a concussion), and Strachan was sent back down, so Wey and Brouillette were called up to be the third pairing. This was a bit concerning, as Wey was underwhelming in his previous game, and Brouillette was getting his first NHL action (after four years mostly spent in the AHL).
I'm not sure why Wey and Brouillette were called up, rather than Oleksy and Schmidt, but it did work out ok.
In fact, the game started out pretty well for the Caps, with play more often in their offensive end. And the MarJo, Wellman, and Brouwer line had a couple of good shifts, culminating in a Brouwer goal (helped by Pavelec playing with a broken stick) five minutes in. Things were significantly downhill after that, and for quite a while. Eight minutes later, Little deflected a Ladd shot past Holtby, and Byfuglien scored six minutes into the second.
But Holtby was huge, and kept the Caps in the game until the end of the second. At that point, they were actually getting outplayed so badly that I was tempted to turn the game off. And that's despite Washington getting three of the four power plays up to that point.
But the Caps woke up a bit in the third. After a small flurry a couple minutes in, they solidly dominated the rest of the way. And that paid off with a Wey->Brouillette->Wilson (?!?) goal in the fourth minute (Wey played across to Brouillette, who shot wide, with the rebound going to Wilson as he skated into the slot). OV added his fortieth four minutes later, when he backhanded in a rebound of a Backstrom shot (itself a rebound of an Alzner shot).
And Brouwer finished out the scoring eight minutes later when he got on a 2-on-1 with MarJo, and MarJo passed to Brouwer so Troy could backhand it over Pavelec from only a few feet out. Interestingly on this one, Carrick had the second assist as he passed ahead to them, and Laich was on the ice by the time the goal was scored (unknown what happened to Wellman being with the other two).
The two goals led to Brouwer getting first star of the game, despite a Corsi For under 30% (5-on-5). MarJo was at the same level. Bad process, good results.
On the flip side, Wey and Brouillette were both a hair over 50%, so that was encouraging. And there was a funny note there, as that goal they both got assists on was the first NHL point for each. Speculation was rampant that they'd be cutting the puck in half, and giving each of them part. Haven't heard anything since on what was done.
The power play for the game was only ok, with eight shots (thirteen attempted) over their eight minutes with the advantage. That's not bad, but a bit less than I'd like to see. They also had two shots against, which is definitely more than I'd prefer.
The PK was not terribly good, with three shots against (and one blocked) in only two minutes. They kept the puck out of the net, but wouldn't do so if they kept allowing that shot rate against for much longer.
But the better part was that they stayed out of the box, and only gave up those two minutes.
And Holtby was again excellent, with only those two goals on thirty-six shots. Granted, worse than he did over two or three games against Winnipeg last year, but nothing to sneeze at.
Overall, a not-terribly-good game for the Caps, but at least Holtby stole one for them.
I'll write about the Devils game separately.
It was a game with some definite surprises beforehand. A slight surprise was that Holtby was in net, but the big surprises were at the blue-line. Green and Erskine were both out (still don't know why for Erskine, although Green's injury is a concussion), and Strachan was sent back down, so Wey and Brouillette were called up to be the third pairing. This was a bit concerning, as Wey was underwhelming in his previous game, and Brouillette was getting his first NHL action (after four years mostly spent in the AHL).
I'm not sure why Wey and Brouillette were called up, rather than Oleksy and Schmidt, but it did work out ok.
In fact, the game started out pretty well for the Caps, with play more often in their offensive end. And the MarJo, Wellman, and Brouwer line had a couple of good shifts, culminating in a Brouwer goal (helped by Pavelec playing with a broken stick) five minutes in. Things were significantly downhill after that, and for quite a while. Eight minutes later, Little deflected a Ladd shot past Holtby, and Byfuglien scored six minutes into the second.
But Holtby was huge, and kept the Caps in the game until the end of the second. At that point, they were actually getting outplayed so badly that I was tempted to turn the game off. And that's despite Washington getting three of the four power plays up to that point.
But the Caps woke up a bit in the third. After a small flurry a couple minutes in, they solidly dominated the rest of the way. And that paid off with a Wey->Brouillette->Wilson (?!?) goal in the fourth minute (Wey played across to Brouillette, who shot wide, with the rebound going to Wilson as he skated into the slot). OV added his fortieth four minutes later, when he backhanded in a rebound of a Backstrom shot (itself a rebound of an Alzner shot).
And Brouwer finished out the scoring eight minutes later when he got on a 2-on-1 with MarJo, and MarJo passed to Brouwer so Troy could backhand it over Pavelec from only a few feet out. Interestingly on this one, Carrick had the second assist as he passed ahead to them, and Laich was on the ice by the time the goal was scored (unknown what happened to Wellman being with the other two).
The two goals led to Brouwer getting first star of the game, despite a Corsi For under 30% (5-on-5). MarJo was at the same level. Bad process, good results.
On the flip side, Wey and Brouillette were both a hair over 50%, so that was encouraging. And there was a funny note there, as that goal they both got assists on was the first NHL point for each. Speculation was rampant that they'd be cutting the puck in half, and giving each of them part. Haven't heard anything since on what was done.
The power play for the game was only ok, with eight shots (thirteen attempted) over their eight minutes with the advantage. That's not bad, but a bit less than I'd like to see. They also had two shots against, which is definitely more than I'd prefer.
The PK was not terribly good, with three shots against (and one blocked) in only two minutes. They kept the puck out of the net, but wouldn't do so if they kept allowing that shot rate against for much longer.
But the better part was that they stayed out of the box, and only gave up those two minutes.
And Holtby was again excellent, with only those two goals on thirty-six shots. Granted, worse than he did over two or three games against Winnipeg last year, but nothing to sneeze at.
Overall, a not-terribly-good game for the Caps, but at least Holtby stole one for them.
I'll write about the Devils game separately.
20140203
Narrow escape
I had a family emergency yesterday morning, so I didn't get to watch the Caps/Wings game until after half-time for the SuperBowl. On the plus side, I got to watch the entirety of the competitive part of the Super Bowl.
The Caps game had almost the same personnel as the prior game (which included Strachan getting called up for Green, as I forgot to mention). The only change was that Laich was out (guess he really wasn't healed, huh?), with Volpatti coming in.
Despite those changes (collectively, Green, Grabo, and Laich out; Strachan, Volpatti, and Wellman in), the Caps got off to an awesome start. By the time the Caps had gotten their second goal, seven minutes and change in, the Wings had only one missed shot (though I don't have the number, I think they did have a couple of blocked shots).
I was thinking that there was a hope of the Caps getting a fenwick-close shutout (they've suffered two already), but of course not. In fact, they ended up not even getting a majority of fenwick-close (though it was a close call).
For the rest of the game, the Caps were nearly incapable of stopping the Zetterberg, Nyquist, Abdelkader line.
Fortunately, they did have an edge in power play time, which at least slowed down Detroit. And they did finally score in overtime on the power play.
So Washington did win, in overtime. Their scoring was a lot more spread around than Detroit's (that top line had four of Detroit's five goals). The Ward/Chimmer line had three, the top line had one (by Carlson), Brouwer had one, and OV had the overtime PPG.
What was there to like? Well, at this point, winning is hard to overstate as being needed. Neuvy actually had several really awesome saves, although his overall numbers aren't great.
The special teams weren't all that good, though. In eight minutes, the PP had sixteen shot attempts (a bit low), nine on net (quite low). The PK held Detroit to seven shot attempts, leading to two goals (one of which is so-so, the other is terrible).
In terms of specifics, Detroit was putting a man on OV (told to ignore everything except OV, I think), and OV didn't move around enough to cause havok with that. Alternatively, he could have just migrated further from the net, and left a lot of space for Brouwer/Ward. One thing we did see, is that the few times he did migrate a bit, Brouwer couldn't take advantage of that space, but Ward did. For that reason alone, Ward should take the PP1 slot position, I think.
Much of the game really felt like the Caps were just holding on for dear life; praying they would get enough pucks in the net. After the first period, it never really felt like they were going to win. Certainly not comfortably.
I'd like to say something about the injuries, and how that factored in, but Detroit was also hurting, from that perspective. Datsyuk is still out, in particular.
I guess we'll just have to be happy with the result, and move on. And hopefully get healthy (if not immediately, we can at least hope that everyone is back after the Olympics). Next up, the Islanders will be coming to visit on Tuesday. The Caps will need to take advantage of that. Go Caps!
The Caps game had almost the same personnel as the prior game (which included Strachan getting called up for Green, as I forgot to mention). The only change was that Laich was out (guess he really wasn't healed, huh?), with Volpatti coming in.
Despite those changes (collectively, Green, Grabo, and Laich out; Strachan, Volpatti, and Wellman in), the Caps got off to an awesome start. By the time the Caps had gotten their second goal, seven minutes and change in, the Wings had only one missed shot (though I don't have the number, I think they did have a couple of blocked shots).
I was thinking that there was a hope of the Caps getting a fenwick-close shutout (they've suffered two already), but of course not. In fact, they ended up not even getting a majority of fenwick-close (though it was a close call).
For the rest of the game, the Caps were nearly incapable of stopping the Zetterberg, Nyquist, Abdelkader line.
Fortunately, they did have an edge in power play time, which at least slowed down Detroit. And they did finally score in overtime on the power play.
So Washington did win, in overtime. Their scoring was a lot more spread around than Detroit's (that top line had four of Detroit's five goals). The Ward/Chimmer line had three, the top line had one (by Carlson), Brouwer had one, and OV had the overtime PPG.
What was there to like? Well, at this point, winning is hard to overstate as being needed. Neuvy actually had several really awesome saves, although his overall numbers aren't great.
The special teams weren't all that good, though. In eight minutes, the PP had sixteen shot attempts (a bit low), nine on net (quite low). The PK held Detroit to seven shot attempts, leading to two goals (one of which is so-so, the other is terrible).
In terms of specifics, Detroit was putting a man on OV (told to ignore everything except OV, I think), and OV didn't move around enough to cause havok with that. Alternatively, he could have just migrated further from the net, and left a lot of space for Brouwer/Ward. One thing we did see, is that the few times he did migrate a bit, Brouwer couldn't take advantage of that space, but Ward did. For that reason alone, Ward should take the PP1 slot position, I think.
Much of the game really felt like the Caps were just holding on for dear life; praying they would get enough pucks in the net. After the first period, it never really felt like they were going to win. Certainly not comfortably.
I'd like to say something about the injuries, and how that factored in, but Detroit was also hurting, from that perspective. Datsyuk is still out, in particular.
I guess we'll just have to be happy with the result, and move on. And hopefully get healthy (if not immediately, we can at least hope that everyone is back after the Olympics). Next up, the Islanders will be coming to visit on Tuesday. The Caps will need to take advantage of that. Go Caps!
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