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!
Showing posts with label brouwer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label brouwer. Show all posts
20130420
Finish with a Flourish
Well, I was worried about the Senators game being the start of a bad trend (at a remarkably inopportune time). But the Caps got things off on the right foot very strongly tonight at Royal Mountain.
They didn't get started right away with a lot of shots, unfortunately, but did put a lot of pressure on the Canadiens, leading to several icing calls in a row. Finally, the Caps got a forechecking turnover after one of those, and OV got the puck near the half-wall. He skated around a defender, made a nice pass fake to get Price cheating, then put it in, short-side to open the scoring.
They scored again about a minute later when Ribeiro won the draw back to Alzner, who passed it up the wall to Brouwer, circling around. Brouwer came over a little bit to improve his angle, then wristed it high, blocker-side to double the margin.
At that point, the Caps had three shots and two goals. I can't imagine Therrien was pleased with Price's performance, but he didn't give him the hook (which he's been doing a lot, lately).
The Habs got a couple of power plays the rest of the period, but were unable to convert on either of them. If I remember correctly, the first stoppage involved a lot of scrambling, several blocked shots, and a couple of close calls, but the second one was lovely, where they kept preventing the Canadiens from even getting set up.
So the Caps went into the break up by a pair. But things weren't looking great right away, as Erat got flagged for holding the stick (a really weak call, too, especially given some of the instances not called later in the game) only eighteen seconds in. But the Caps stayed strong, and kept Montreal searching.
A couple of minutes later, there was a huge pig-pile in one corner of the offensive zone; the Habs had three players there and a fourth was just coming over when MarJo found Brouwer alone in the slot. Troy took a moment to make sure he had it on his stick ok, then put it into the same corner where he'd put his first goal.
Three minutes after that, the Caps finally got a power play of their own. After getting it into the zone, Ribeiro had the puck on the right half-wall. Seeing nothing there, he moved it back to Green at the point, who held it for a second then passed along to OV. Everyone was thinking shot at this point, so Price played that, strongly. But OV saw Backstrom on the doorstep of the other side, and put it on Nicky's stick where it was deflected in. Very pretty play.
That was pretty much it for competitive play in the game; nobody else scored in the period. While the Caps tried, several times, to feed Brouwer for his second hat trick, OV got the only goal remaining for the Caps. It was also a power play, and the setup was essentially the same as Nicky's goal, except that OV did shoot it, this time.
The only disappointment in the game was that the team was unable to get Holtby his fifth shutout of the season. To Montreal's credit, it was a very pretty passing play to score it; Holtby had no chance at all.
So OV scored his 29th and 30th to gain a little bit of cushion in the race for the Richard trophy. And Brouwer now has an outside shot at breaking his season high in goals, despite only having 48 games. Holtby was again outstanding. As mentioned, he had no chance at all on the goal, and prevented a number of really tough shots against (as a side note, I hope he gets at least one game off the rest of the way).
But calling the lack of a shutout a disappointment is certainly picking nits. Silencing the Bell Center is always a sign of a strong performance. Making it even better, it was the last home game of the season for Montreal. We'll see if that gets in their heads for the playoffs. Ok, probably not, but we can hope.
The Islanders helped the Caps a little bit, earlier in the day. It took a shootout, but they did defeat the Jets. So the Caps just need to take care of business, and win Tuesday's game against Winnipeg in regulation. Things are certainly looking good for that, with the game at home and it being the third game in four nights for the Jets. But if the Caps try to overlook Winnipeg, they will lose, so let's hope they come out like they did tonight.
(Amusing bit of trivia coming out of the game; PK Subban and Lars Eller both played their 199th game tonight, so they should both hit 200 on Tuesday against the Devils.)
They didn't get started right away with a lot of shots, unfortunately, but did put a lot of pressure on the Canadiens, leading to several icing calls in a row. Finally, the Caps got a forechecking turnover after one of those, and OV got the puck near the half-wall. He skated around a defender, made a nice pass fake to get Price cheating, then put it in, short-side to open the scoring.
They scored again about a minute later when Ribeiro won the draw back to Alzner, who passed it up the wall to Brouwer, circling around. Brouwer came over a little bit to improve his angle, then wristed it high, blocker-side to double the margin.
At that point, the Caps had three shots and two goals. I can't imagine Therrien was pleased with Price's performance, but he didn't give him the hook (which he's been doing a lot, lately).
The Habs got a couple of power plays the rest of the period, but were unable to convert on either of them. If I remember correctly, the first stoppage involved a lot of scrambling, several blocked shots, and a couple of close calls, but the second one was lovely, where they kept preventing the Canadiens from even getting set up.
So the Caps went into the break up by a pair. But things weren't looking great right away, as Erat got flagged for holding the stick (a really weak call, too, especially given some of the instances not called later in the game) only eighteen seconds in. But the Caps stayed strong, and kept Montreal searching.
A couple of minutes later, there was a huge pig-pile in one corner of the offensive zone; the Habs had three players there and a fourth was just coming over when MarJo found Brouwer alone in the slot. Troy took a moment to make sure he had it on his stick ok, then put it into the same corner where he'd put his first goal.
Three minutes after that, the Caps finally got a power play of their own. After getting it into the zone, Ribeiro had the puck on the right half-wall. Seeing nothing there, he moved it back to Green at the point, who held it for a second then passed along to OV. Everyone was thinking shot at this point, so Price played that, strongly. But OV saw Backstrom on the doorstep of the other side, and put it on Nicky's stick where it was deflected in. Very pretty play.
That was pretty much it for competitive play in the game; nobody else scored in the period. While the Caps tried, several times, to feed Brouwer for his second hat trick, OV got the only goal remaining for the Caps. It was also a power play, and the setup was essentially the same as Nicky's goal, except that OV did shoot it, this time.
The only disappointment in the game was that the team was unable to get Holtby his fifth shutout of the season. To Montreal's credit, it was a very pretty passing play to score it; Holtby had no chance at all.
So OV scored his 29th and 30th to gain a little bit of cushion in the race for the Richard trophy. And Brouwer now has an outside shot at breaking his season high in goals, despite only having 48 games. Holtby was again outstanding. As mentioned, he had no chance at all on the goal, and prevented a number of really tough shots against (as a side note, I hope he gets at least one game off the rest of the way).
But calling the lack of a shutout a disappointment is certainly picking nits. Silencing the Bell Center is always a sign of a strong performance. Making it even better, it was the last home game of the season for Montreal. We'll see if that gets in their heads for the playoffs. Ok, probably not, but we can hope.
The Islanders helped the Caps a little bit, earlier in the day. It took a shootout, but they did defeat the Jets. So the Caps just need to take care of business, and win Tuesday's game against Winnipeg in regulation. Things are certainly looking good for that, with the game at home and it being the third game in four nights for the Jets. But if the Caps try to overlook Winnipeg, they will lose, so let's hope they come out like they did tonight.
(Amusing bit of trivia coming out of the game; PK Subban and Lars Eller both played their 199th game tonight, so they should both hit 200 on Tuesday against the Devils.)
20130411
A bracing wind
Tonight's Caps/Canes tilt started with the Caps two points up on the Jets, with a game in hand, but with Winnipeg having a much easier remaining schedule. So the Caps need to keep winning to maintain their position on top.
I posited that this game, and the next one (against Tampa) should be relatively easy victories for the Caps, provided that they don't let their guard down.
Well, they seemed pretty good in that department for the first couple of minutes. But then they got a power play on a delay of game call. Then they evened it out again with a high sticking call eight seconds later. Things were still ok at that point, but then Hillen got called for tripping a minute and a half later, and things rapidly went downhill. Over the rest of the period, they were absolutely dominated, with Carolina jumping all over them and putting lots of shots on goal.
They were very lucky that the only goal allowed was when a rebound popped right to Skinner, who was on the doorstep and slid it into the net. That happened, it turns out, only ten seconds after the Hillen call, so Carolina went back on the power play very quickly.
So why did they get so lucky, about not allowing another goal? Well, given that Carolina had quite a few very close calls, we'll say that Holtby played out of his mind. While the defense was not, generally, great, they did have some big contributions a few times when Holtby was out of position. And Carlson managed to sweep the puck away from the line one time, when it was behind Holtby.
The defense was, several times, shown to be too slow, getting burned by Carolina forwards churning down the wing with speed (Erskine was the in at least two of those cases). They were also having trouble clearing the zone.
So it was pretty ugly all the way around.
The second period went much better, with the Caps having a bit better focus on keeping Carolina from entering the zone with speed. They did impressively compromise their own power play, though, with Ribeiro getting called for a high stick only four seconds after Tlusty got called for tripping Perreault as he was going through the neutral zone (without the puck; it was odd). So, at that point, they'd had three power plays covering a total of 2:12, without scoring a goal. Quite unusual, to put it mildly.
But otherwise, things continued to go pretty well, culminating in another power play almost eight minutes into the period. This one only lasted fourteen seconds, but at least it was due to scoring a goal, as Brouwer put one into the top corner, blocker side, from the slot.
Things started to get more even, although the Caps did manage another goal two and a half minutes later. Green took a pass from Beagle (programming note: forwards on the ice right then: Beagle, Wolski, OV. Huh?) at the point, crept in (around Skinner), and wristed a shot to the exact same spot where Brouwer had scored. But the rest of the period was pretty solidly Carolina's; shots for the period ended up even.
And the third period was really more of the same. Washington got a decent number of shots and chances, but were still heavily outshot by the Canes. Happily, though, the only goal was an empty netter that Brouwer put in with six seconds left.
I feel very similarly to how I did for much of the Hunter era (if not quite as much so): too much reliance on good luck and strong goaltending. It wasn't a defensive shell, like Hunter Hockey with the lead, but they were very heavily outplayed for most of the game. They just managed to get one more shot through. That's great when it happens, but not a strong predictor of future success.
Anyway, how much was that the case? The Caps had 31 shots (a decent total), along with twelve more blocked. But they allowed 44, plus another 18 blocked. Yeow. Thank goodness Holtby was on top of his game; this game easily could have (and probably should have) gone the other way.
But happily, it did go the way it went, and the Caps remain in the catbird seat (though Winnipeg pummeled Florida to maintain the gap). So now Tampa comes to visit, and then things really get ugly, if the possession numbers don't improve. We'll keep our fingers crossed.
I posited that this game, and the next one (against Tampa) should be relatively easy victories for the Caps, provided that they don't let their guard down.
Well, they seemed pretty good in that department for the first couple of minutes. But then they got a power play on a delay of game call. Then they evened it out again with a high sticking call eight seconds later. Things were still ok at that point, but then Hillen got called for tripping a minute and a half later, and things rapidly went downhill. Over the rest of the period, they were absolutely dominated, with Carolina jumping all over them and putting lots of shots on goal.
They were very lucky that the only goal allowed was when a rebound popped right to Skinner, who was on the doorstep and slid it into the net. That happened, it turns out, only ten seconds after the Hillen call, so Carolina went back on the power play very quickly.
So why did they get so lucky, about not allowing another goal? Well, given that Carolina had quite a few very close calls, we'll say that Holtby played out of his mind. While the defense was not, generally, great, they did have some big contributions a few times when Holtby was out of position. And Carlson managed to sweep the puck away from the line one time, when it was behind Holtby.
The defense was, several times, shown to be too slow, getting burned by Carolina forwards churning down the wing with speed (Erskine was the in at least two of those cases). They were also having trouble clearing the zone.
So it was pretty ugly all the way around.
The second period went much better, with the Caps having a bit better focus on keeping Carolina from entering the zone with speed. They did impressively compromise their own power play, though, with Ribeiro getting called for a high stick only four seconds after Tlusty got called for tripping Perreault as he was going through the neutral zone (without the puck; it was odd). So, at that point, they'd had three power plays covering a total of 2:12, without scoring a goal. Quite unusual, to put it mildly.
But otherwise, things continued to go pretty well, culminating in another power play almost eight minutes into the period. This one only lasted fourteen seconds, but at least it was due to scoring a goal, as Brouwer put one into the top corner, blocker side, from the slot.
Things started to get more even, although the Caps did manage another goal two and a half minutes later. Green took a pass from Beagle (programming note: forwards on the ice right then: Beagle, Wolski, OV. Huh?) at the point, crept in (around Skinner), and wristed a shot to the exact same spot where Brouwer had scored. But the rest of the period was pretty solidly Carolina's; shots for the period ended up even.
And the third period was really more of the same. Washington got a decent number of shots and chances, but were still heavily outshot by the Canes. Happily, though, the only goal was an empty netter that Brouwer put in with six seconds left.
I feel very similarly to how I did for much of the Hunter era (if not quite as much so): too much reliance on good luck and strong goaltending. It wasn't a defensive shell, like Hunter Hockey with the lead, but they were very heavily outplayed for most of the game. They just managed to get one more shot through. That's great when it happens, but not a strong predictor of future success.
Anyway, how much was that the case? The Caps had 31 shots (a decent total), along with twelve more blocked. But they allowed 44, plus another 18 blocked. Yeow. Thank goodness Holtby was on top of his game; this game easily could have (and probably should have) gone the other way.
But happily, it did go the way it went, and the Caps remain in the catbird seat (though Winnipeg pummeled Florida to maintain the gap). So now Tampa comes to visit, and then things really get ugly, if the possession numbers don't improve. We'll keep our fingers crossed.
20130324
Subsonic Jets
I didn't watch the rematch with the Jets live at all the other night; my wife wanted to go out for dinner, and I wanted to get up early to take pictures in the morning. Between them, it didn't seem worth getting any of it. So I turned it on the next morning, still not really looking for a win.
Well, they came out flying, with some incredible forechecking. At times, it felt like Hunter hockey last year, where the Caps couldn't get it into the offensive zone, except that it was the Caps doing the hounding.
Twelve minutes in, the Caps opened the scoring with a goal from Laich off an outstanding assist from Ribeiro. Four minutes later, the lead was extended.
Right after the Jets hit the crossbar on a shot, Brouwer managed to play through a defender trying to hold the puck in, leading to a 2-on-1 with him and Ribeiro. Brouwer played it across to Ribs at the blue line, then Ribeiro sent a beautiful saucer pass back, which Brouwer buried with authority (really, the Ribeiro pass was a complete thing of beauty, as the puck was in the air most of the way, but hit the ice just as Brouwer's slapshot was connecting).
That was all the scoring in the first, and I was certainly feeling good at that point. Six minutes into the second, the Beagle line got into the act. The Caps hadn't really done much of anything offensive up to that point, but they forced a turnover, which left Ward with the puck behind the net. He started to skate it around to the outside, when he realized that Beagle was uncovered and very close to the net. Then he threw it over to Beags, who put it past Pavelec.
That left Pavelec, who has long felt like a thorn in the Caps side, with only six saves on nine shots. Noel decided that was enough, and sent Andrej to the showers early.
Things didn't get a whole lot better for the Jets with Montoya in net. On the first shot he faced, OV put a wrist shot from the circle into the top corner to put the Caps up 4-0. At that point, my wife really needed me to watch the kids, so I turned the game off (then checked the paper to see that the final was 6-1).
I was pretty surprised to see the shot totals at the end (31-24 against), although I suppose score effects (teams behind by a lot tend to significantly outshoot their opponents) account for most of that. I should also point out that Holtby was again stellar, as he had to make a lot of saves. I don't think he was challenged as much as the night before, but you certainly don't get thirty saves on thirty-one shots by accident.
All in all, it shows a team really turning things around and doing things right. It actually left the Caps only five points out of first in the division (three out of eighth, I believe), which certainly doesn't feel like a lot. But with the number of games remaining, it's much more significant than it seems.
It seems relevant to point out something Peerless wrote over a month ago. Essentially, he looked back at teams overcoming five point deficits with 36 games remaining, and there were almost none since the previous lockout. Well, now we're looking at the same deficit with less than half as many games remaining.
All of which leaves me a bit nonplussed. It was great to see them play so well (and, let's face it, get some puck-luck), but it's likely to tempt management to hold pay at the deadline, which would not be a good thing.
Ah well, on to the Rangers (at MSG). With the Rangers in eighth, a must-win game.
Well, they came out flying, with some incredible forechecking. At times, it felt like Hunter hockey last year, where the Caps couldn't get it into the offensive zone, except that it was the Caps doing the hounding.
Twelve minutes in, the Caps opened the scoring with a goal from Laich off an outstanding assist from Ribeiro. Four minutes later, the lead was extended.
Right after the Jets hit the crossbar on a shot, Brouwer managed to play through a defender trying to hold the puck in, leading to a 2-on-1 with him and Ribeiro. Brouwer played it across to Ribs at the blue line, then Ribeiro sent a beautiful saucer pass back, which Brouwer buried with authority (really, the Ribeiro pass was a complete thing of beauty, as the puck was in the air most of the way, but hit the ice just as Brouwer's slapshot was connecting).
That was all the scoring in the first, and I was certainly feeling good at that point. Six minutes into the second, the Beagle line got into the act. The Caps hadn't really done much of anything offensive up to that point, but they forced a turnover, which left Ward with the puck behind the net. He started to skate it around to the outside, when he realized that Beagle was uncovered and very close to the net. Then he threw it over to Beags, who put it past Pavelec.
That left Pavelec, who has long felt like a thorn in the Caps side, with only six saves on nine shots. Noel decided that was enough, and sent Andrej to the showers early.
Things didn't get a whole lot better for the Jets with Montoya in net. On the first shot he faced, OV put a wrist shot from the circle into the top corner to put the Caps up 4-0. At that point, my wife really needed me to watch the kids, so I turned the game off (then checked the paper to see that the final was 6-1).
I was pretty surprised to see the shot totals at the end (31-24 against), although I suppose score effects (teams behind by a lot tend to significantly outshoot their opponents) account for most of that. I should also point out that Holtby was again stellar, as he had to make a lot of saves. I don't think he was challenged as much as the night before, but you certainly don't get thirty saves on thirty-one shots by accident.
All in all, it shows a team really turning things around and doing things right. It actually left the Caps only five points out of first in the division (three out of eighth, I believe), which certainly doesn't feel like a lot. But with the number of games remaining, it's much more significant than it seems.
It seems relevant to point out something Peerless wrote over a month ago. Essentially, he looked back at teams overcoming five point deficits with 36 games remaining, and there were almost none since the previous lockout. Well, now we're looking at the same deficit with less than half as many games remaining.
All of which leaves me a bit nonplussed. It was great to see them play so well (and, let's face it, get some puck-luck), but it's likely to tempt management to hold pay at the deadline, which would not be a good thing.
Ah well, on to the Rangers (at MSG). With the Rangers in eighth, a must-win game.
20120304
Flying out of the playoff picture
Given the Caps road record so far this season, two games ago it was looking like the Caps would pretty much need to win all of their home games to have a chance to get into the playoffs. After losing the first two of those home games, they've got to win the rest of the home games, and play around .500 away. Sad that I don't think they can do it.
To be fair, though, the Caps looked quite good this evening. I actually missed the first part of the game, not realizing that the time change meant that my recording wasn't going to get the game (at least, I assume that's why the DVR didn't pick it up). I turned it on right after Brouwer crushed one of the Flyers into the bench, opening the door with the hit (and didn't get to see a replay until the period break). Apparently they picked up some momentum from that, and looked much better afterwards.
They were getting pressure, making chances, cycling well (actually, might have been the best cycling I've seen from this team all season), and getting a good forecheck. But they couldn't solve Bryz (which is amazing, considering how terrible he's been of late); he looked quite good.
Orlov had a particularly good game, with some really crunching hits and keeping the play away from the Caps net. Beagle also looked very good on the forecheck and the cycle, and created some problems for Philadelphia. Carlson and Alzner did nothing spectacular, but did a great job of shutting down Philly's top line.
But Philly was able to get one deflected shot off and past Neuvy, and was able to make that stand up.
It was not a fun game to watch, especially after that goal, but it wasn't a terrible one. I just kept expecting them to put one in the net, and it kept not happening.
Neuvy looked great; that one shot was a very, very difficult one, and he still almost made it. He was locked in, and didn't deserve the loss at all. Having said that, I hope he gets a rest next game; let's not tire him out, even if the odds of making the playoffs are tiny, at this point.
That's pretty much it for tonight. Next game is Tuesday against Carolina. I'm comfortable calling it a "must win" for the Caps.
To be fair, though, the Caps looked quite good this evening. I actually missed the first part of the game, not realizing that the time change meant that my recording wasn't going to get the game (at least, I assume that's why the DVR didn't pick it up). I turned it on right after Brouwer crushed one of the Flyers into the bench, opening the door with the hit (and didn't get to see a replay until the period break). Apparently they picked up some momentum from that, and looked much better afterwards.
They were getting pressure, making chances, cycling well (actually, might have been the best cycling I've seen from this team all season), and getting a good forecheck. But they couldn't solve Bryz (which is amazing, considering how terrible he's been of late); he looked quite good.
Orlov had a particularly good game, with some really crunching hits and keeping the play away from the Caps net. Beagle also looked very good on the forecheck and the cycle, and created some problems for Philadelphia. Carlson and Alzner did nothing spectacular, but did a great job of shutting down Philly's top line.
But Philly was able to get one deflected shot off and past Neuvy, and was able to make that stand up.
It was not a fun game to watch, especially after that goal, but it wasn't a terrible one. I just kept expecting them to put one in the net, and it kept not happening.
Neuvy looked great; that one shot was a very, very difficult one, and he still almost made it. He was locked in, and didn't deserve the loss at all. Having said that, I hope he gets a rest next game; let's not tire him out, even if the odds of making the playoffs are tiny, at this point.
That's pretty much it for tonight. Next game is Tuesday against Carolina. I'm comfortable calling it a "must win" for the Caps.
20120228
Cardiac Caps are back?
Well, tonight was quite the game for the Caps. I watched the first period without being able to pay too much attention, unfortunately (had to watch the kids), but they didn't seem all that great. And the goal allowed was some pretty terrible defense (first on Shultz, who went down too early to try to block a shot, and then on the other players who were back, who didn't pick up for him. Perreault tried to help out on the back-check, but was too far away).
But when I saw the period summary, the Caps were ahead on shots and chances pretty comfortably, so I was feeling a lot better heading into the second. The second didn't start out too well, as the Islanders were ahead on shots 8-1 at one point, but they started coming around before it was over. At the end, the Caps were way behind on shots (though ahead for the game) but still ahead on chances.
So things were still looking decent heading into the third, despite being down a goal. But a barely-deflected shot got past Neuvy a couple of minutes in, leaving the chance of walking out with a victory very slim. And the Islanders were not content to sit back and play defense after scoring, either. The Caps were trying, but couldn't get much offense for quite a while. When Brouwer took a delay of game penalty with seven and a half left, it was getting pretty dire. They killed off that penalty without any great drama, and started to generate some offensive zone time, but nothing was getting past Nabokov.
But Perreault got the puck in the corner with three and a half left, and whipped it across the crease to Brouwer on the doorstep for an easy tip-in to bring it back within one.
They pulled Neuvy shortly thereafter, and weathered some very near misses by the Lon Gislanders. New York threw the puck over the boards (onto the bench) with half a minute remaining, giving the Caps an O-zone faceoff to try to win. Halpern got the puck back, with Wideman pushing it back to Laich. Laich's shot through a metric truckload of traffic deflected off Brouwer and into the short side of the net to send the crowd into pandemonium. Unsurprisingly, both teams pretty much played four corners ball to send the game into overtime at two apiece.
Not much happened in the first minute or so of overtime, but as the line changes were just going to turn the second shift into the third, OV was sprung down the left-hand side, with just one defender. I think he was trying his old, shoot between the legs so the defender is a screen, move, but put it inside the defender. It still fooled Nabokov five-hole, though, giving OV his... 11th? I think, career overtime goal.
It was quite the finish to what had been a pretty innocuous game for fifty-six minutes. And Troy got his only two goals of the month in regulation, there.
Neuvy had a very good game, with some great saves. And while the second goal deflected so little that I'd like to say he should have had it, he made plenty of excellent stops to make up for it.
Schultz had that one gaffe, but was good otherwise. Orlov had a couple of rookie plays, unfortunately, though he also did well at the end, when the chips were down.
This felt like an '09-10 game, where the Caps were always coming from behind in the third period and OT. I'm not sure I really want to return to those days (well, I didn't like their tendency to rely on doing that, but I did love their ability to do it), but it was great to see for one night. And to see them win when allowing more than one goal.
Can't celebrate it too much, especially with Florida also winning, but we'll hope they go into Friday's Devils game riding high.
But when I saw the period summary, the Caps were ahead on shots and chances pretty comfortably, so I was feeling a lot better heading into the second. The second didn't start out too well, as the Islanders were ahead on shots 8-1 at one point, but they started coming around before it was over. At the end, the Caps were way behind on shots (though ahead for the game) but still ahead on chances.
So things were still looking decent heading into the third, despite being down a goal. But a barely-deflected shot got past Neuvy a couple of minutes in, leaving the chance of walking out with a victory very slim. And the Islanders were not content to sit back and play defense after scoring, either. The Caps were trying, but couldn't get much offense for quite a while. When Brouwer took a delay of game penalty with seven and a half left, it was getting pretty dire. They killed off that penalty without any great drama, and started to generate some offensive zone time, but nothing was getting past Nabokov.
But Perreault got the puck in the corner with three and a half left, and whipped it across the crease to Brouwer on the doorstep for an easy tip-in to bring it back within one.
They pulled Neuvy shortly thereafter, and weathered some very near misses by the Lon Gislanders. New York threw the puck over the boards (onto the bench) with half a minute remaining, giving the Caps an O-zone faceoff to try to win. Halpern got the puck back, with Wideman pushing it back to Laich. Laich's shot through a metric truckload of traffic deflected off Brouwer and into the short side of the net to send the crowd into pandemonium. Unsurprisingly, both teams pretty much played four corners ball to send the game into overtime at two apiece.
Not much happened in the first minute or so of overtime, but as the line changes were just going to turn the second shift into the third, OV was sprung down the left-hand side, with just one defender. I think he was trying his old, shoot between the legs so the defender is a screen, move, but put it inside the defender. It still fooled Nabokov five-hole, though, giving OV his... 11th? I think, career overtime goal.
It was quite the finish to what had been a pretty innocuous game for fifty-six minutes. And Troy got his only two goals of the month in regulation, there.
Neuvy had a very good game, with some great saves. And while the second goal deflected so little that I'd like to say he should have had it, he made plenty of excellent stops to make up for it.
Schultz had that one gaffe, but was good otherwise. Orlov had a couple of rookie plays, unfortunately, though he also did well at the end, when the chips were down.
This felt like an '09-10 game, where the Caps were always coming from behind in the third period and OT. I'm not sure I really want to return to those days (well, I didn't like their tendency to rely on doing that, but I did love their ability to do it), but it was great to see for one night. And to see them win when allowing more than one goal.
Can't celebrate it too much, especially with Florida also winning, but we'll hope they go into Friday's Devils game riding high.
20120113
On the Brouwer-Play...
The Caps game against the Bolts, tonight, was quite a tilt. I missed the first minute-and-a-half due to DVR issues (started by the game being on the "wrong" channel), but at least set it up so that won't happen again. And I'm glad I tried to turn it on right away, because some times I would just wait for the kids to go to bed. If I'd done that, I would have missed almost the entire game.
The other thing I missed, other than that minute and a half, was the roster shuffling. Kundratek was still up (with both Erskine and Schultz being healthy scratches tonight), and Eakin was called up as well (with Perreault being a healthy scratch; odd, since he had a very good game against the Penguins). I got distracted when I was writing the other night; what I was leading towards was observing that if Schultz is getting scratched in favor of someone making their NHL debut, he probably isn't long for the team (which makes me a little sad. He's certainly not a spectacular player, but he is a young and good one).
Anyway, when I turned it on, the Caps were already on the power play. That PP was not a good one, with the Caps unable to generate even a single shot (and very little zone time). But they kept working, and got another PP opportunity less than a minute later, as Ward was able to draw an interference on Martin St Louis. This one looked much better, although I'm not sure it got more than one shot generated, but that shot, from OV, and through Brouwer's legs, found the back of the net.
Just over a minute later, the Caps got another power play chance when the Lightning defender, Brewer, played the puck over the glass from the defensive end. The Caps put a lot of pressure on, and got the puck down low to Brouwer, who was undefended. He waited a second or two for Rolo to flinch, and put the puck between the wickets to widen the margin (I believe it was the second shot on goal for the PP).
That was it for the first period scoring; shots were even at 8, but scoring opportunities were 6-3 in the Caps favor, so it was a very good period overall. It did even out a bit after Brouwer's goal, but the Caps were still looking good. And it almost felt like they heard my complaining in my last post; they did a good job generating offensive pressure. Maybe not as much of it as I could hope, but it was very good.
The second period mostly belonged to Tampa, although the Caps (and Brouwer) got another goal five minutes in when Laich threw it to the net, Knuble cleared out the defender and goalie, and Brouwer calmly tapped the rebound into the wide-open net. Not often you see a net that wide open when you're six feet out, in the center of the ice. As I said, the period favored the Bolts most of the way, but their goal came on a steal right by the Caps net. Martin St Louis snuck up behind Knuble, took the puck from him, and threw it to the front of the net, where Pyatt moved it past Vokoun.
The shots in the second were 8-5 in favor of the Lightning, but the scoring opportunities were even at four.
I'm less upset about the shot imbalance, because the Caps were ahead by so much. You expect that. Part of the reason the shot imbalance has annoyed me so much the last several games is that the Caps were playing much of the game down.
In any event, the Caps were going into the third with a nice, two-goal cushion.
At this point, I think the Caps sat back a little too much. Like I said, you expect a team down by several goals to put a lot more shots on net, but I'm not sure the Caps got a single shot before they finally drew a power play at the ten-minute mark. And it was a nice power play; no goals, but good movement with lots of chances (including two posts and four or five shots).
But things went downhill pretty quickly after that. Brouwer got a pair of penalties (one of which was a boarding call that I think was only made because he was hitting Martin St Louis, over whom he has a huge size advantage. Predictably, MSL went flying, and that drew a penalty.
They killed off that penalty quite nicely, but Hamr threw the puck over the glass eleven seconds later.
And then, great irritation set in for me, as my DVR stopped recording during the commercial break after the puck left the rink. So I missed Stamkos' goal thirty-six seconds later. I also missed Brouwer finishing off his (first career) hat trick with an empty netter with exactly a minute remaining. And then I also missed Lecavalier's goal with eleven seconds left. Can you believe that? Four minutes (on the nose), and three goals. Ugh.
So it was quite an exciting finish to the game, but, thankfully, the Caps held on for the regulation win.
Pittsburgh mauled the Panthers tonight, as well, so the Caps picked up a game on the Panthers, and are now only a game behind the Cats. If the Caps can keep playing like they did in the first period tonight (I know, big if), then they'll be back in the Cat's-Bird seat in no time.
One other point: I know that Backstrom was put on IR to make room for Kundratek (who, by the way, played well again tonight, paired with his countryman Hamrlik), but I don't know how they made room for Eakin. I'm guessing it was putting Green on IR, but I haven't heard anything about that.
Also, note that tonight was Vokoun's 7th or 8th consecutive game in goal. I hope he's going to get a breather soon. He might only be with us for this season, but we still want him to be fresh for the playoffs. Plus, you have to figure that Neuvy's getting a bit rusty (not to mention irritated. I certainly would be).
The other thing I missed, other than that minute and a half, was the roster shuffling. Kundratek was still up (with both Erskine and Schultz being healthy scratches tonight), and Eakin was called up as well (with Perreault being a healthy scratch; odd, since he had a very good game against the Penguins). I got distracted when I was writing the other night; what I was leading towards was observing that if Schultz is getting scratched in favor of someone making their NHL debut, he probably isn't long for the team (which makes me a little sad. He's certainly not a spectacular player, but he is a young and good one).
Anyway, when I turned it on, the Caps were already on the power play. That PP was not a good one, with the Caps unable to generate even a single shot (and very little zone time). But they kept working, and got another PP opportunity less than a minute later, as Ward was able to draw an interference on Martin St Louis. This one looked much better, although I'm not sure it got more than one shot generated, but that shot, from OV, and through Brouwer's legs, found the back of the net.
Just over a minute later, the Caps got another power play chance when the Lightning defender, Brewer, played the puck over the glass from the defensive end. The Caps put a lot of pressure on, and got the puck down low to Brouwer, who was undefended. He waited a second or two for Rolo to flinch, and put the puck between the wickets to widen the margin (I believe it was the second shot on goal for the PP).
That was it for the first period scoring; shots were even at 8, but scoring opportunities were 6-3 in the Caps favor, so it was a very good period overall. It did even out a bit after Brouwer's goal, but the Caps were still looking good. And it almost felt like they heard my complaining in my last post; they did a good job generating offensive pressure. Maybe not as much of it as I could hope, but it was very good.
The second period mostly belonged to Tampa, although the Caps (and Brouwer) got another goal five minutes in when Laich threw it to the net, Knuble cleared out the defender and goalie, and Brouwer calmly tapped the rebound into the wide-open net. Not often you see a net that wide open when you're six feet out, in the center of the ice. As I said, the period favored the Bolts most of the way, but their goal came on a steal right by the Caps net. Martin St Louis snuck up behind Knuble, took the puck from him, and threw it to the front of the net, where Pyatt moved it past Vokoun.
The shots in the second were 8-5 in favor of the Lightning, but the scoring opportunities were even at four.
I'm less upset about the shot imbalance, because the Caps were ahead by so much. You expect that. Part of the reason the shot imbalance has annoyed me so much the last several games is that the Caps were playing much of the game down.
In any event, the Caps were going into the third with a nice, two-goal cushion.
At this point, I think the Caps sat back a little too much. Like I said, you expect a team down by several goals to put a lot more shots on net, but I'm not sure the Caps got a single shot before they finally drew a power play at the ten-minute mark. And it was a nice power play; no goals, but good movement with lots of chances (including two posts and four or five shots).
But things went downhill pretty quickly after that. Brouwer got a pair of penalties (one of which was a boarding call that I think was only made because he was hitting Martin St Louis, over whom he has a huge size advantage. Predictably, MSL went flying, and that drew a penalty.
They killed off that penalty quite nicely, but Hamr threw the puck over the glass eleven seconds later.
And then, great irritation set in for me, as my DVR stopped recording during the commercial break after the puck left the rink. So I missed Stamkos' goal thirty-six seconds later. I also missed Brouwer finishing off his (first career) hat trick with an empty netter with exactly a minute remaining. And then I also missed Lecavalier's goal with eleven seconds left. Can you believe that? Four minutes (on the nose), and three goals. Ugh.
So it was quite an exciting finish to the game, but, thankfully, the Caps held on for the regulation win.
Pittsburgh mauled the Panthers tonight, as well, so the Caps picked up a game on the Panthers, and are now only a game behind the Cats. If the Caps can keep playing like they did in the first period tonight (I know, big if), then they'll be back in the Cat's-Bird seat in no time.
One other point: I know that Backstrom was put on IR to make room for Kundratek (who, by the way, played well again tonight, paired with his countryman Hamrlik), but I don't know how they made room for Eakin. I'm guessing it was putting Green on IR, but I haven't heard anything about that.
Also, note that tonight was Vokoun's 7th or 8th consecutive game in goal. I hope he's going to get a breather soon. He might only be with us for this season, but we still want him to be fresh for the playoffs. Plus, you have to figure that Neuvy's getting a bit rusty (not to mention irritated. I certainly would be).
20111117
Nash-ing Teeth
The Caps game a couple of nights ago was an interesting one to watch. It started out very frustrating, as the Caps were getting outworked, outhustled, and outplayed (gee, where have I heard that before) for the first ten to twelve minutes. Over that time, the Caps had one shot on goal, a blast from the point by Erskine, and gave up many scoring chances the other way. TVo was excellent over that time, though, and the score stayed even.
The Caps finally realized they were going to have to work hard to win, however, and did a very nice job of turning it around. By the end of the period, the stats were pretty even, with the Caps even having a slight edge in scoring chances.
The second period continued to go mostly in the Caps favor, but there was still no scoring, as both goaltenders were excellent.
And a large part of the third period went the same way, culminating in Brouwer getting a goal off a turnover forced by Eakin and Johansson at 15:14.
But things went downhill, fast, after that. On the next shift, the top line came out (huh?) and laid a goose-egg, leaving Shultz with half the ice and two attackers to deal with. And it wasn't, theoretically, an odd-man break. No fault to Vokoun on that one, Carlson on the back side and the forwards should have broken up the play.
Again, the Preds seemed the more motivated team, and managed to score again with half a minute left. And again, it was a defensive breakdown that left a forward with an open net into which to shoot (perhaps TVo was too aggressive taking away the angle of Erat, who passed to WIlson, who scored).
And then the Preds won the resulting face-off and buried a half-rink shot into the empty net to ice the game five seconds later.
So a depressing end to a promising game (and, frankly, a game the Caps should have won).
Let's hope that killer instinct shows up against Winnipeg tonight.
The Caps finally realized they were going to have to work hard to win, however, and did a very nice job of turning it around. By the end of the period, the stats were pretty even, with the Caps even having a slight edge in scoring chances.
The second period continued to go mostly in the Caps favor, but there was still no scoring, as both goaltenders were excellent.
And a large part of the third period went the same way, culminating in Brouwer getting a goal off a turnover forced by Eakin and Johansson at 15:14.
But things went downhill, fast, after that. On the next shift, the top line came out (huh?) and laid a goose-egg, leaving Shultz with half the ice and two attackers to deal with. And it wasn't, theoretically, an odd-man break. No fault to Vokoun on that one, Carlson on the back side and the forwards should have broken up the play.
Again, the Preds seemed the more motivated team, and managed to score again with half a minute left. And again, it was a defensive breakdown that left a forward with an open net into which to shoot (perhaps TVo was too aggressive taking away the angle of Erat, who passed to WIlson, who scored).
And then the Preds won the resulting face-off and buried a half-rink shot into the empty net to ice the game five seconds later.
So a depressing end to a promising game (and, frankly, a game the Caps should have won).
Let's hope that killer instinct shows up against Winnipeg tonight.
20111112
Win one, lose one
I was at a bar last night with some friends to watch the Caps game. And we kind of did that, but I must admit that I didn't get much out of it. (Which is ok, the main goal was to talk with friends, one of whom hasn't lived in the area in quite a few years.)
The paper made a big deal out of Semin being benched for much (all?) of the third period, and not playing much of the second either. I think the goal, there, is a good one. Show that everyone, including Semin, is being held accountable, although I'm skeptical of whether it'll actually accomplish anything vis a vis Sasha. But maybe it says something to the rest of the team important enough to overlook that.
In any event, the team seemed to be doing well, and the returns were certainly good. I was shocked (though in a good way, of course), when Chimmer buried that breakaway, shorthanded. And I was amused to see Marjo get another goal from so close to the net. I'm loving that, but it's definitely not what I was expecting from him.
Tonight, I was able to watch pretty close to all of the game. I did miss them saying, at the beginning, that Green (well, he was expected, after last night) and Erskine (didn't hear what happened to him) were out, so I was a bit confused at Laich being on the blue line.
Brouwer's goal was very nice (in fact, thinking about it, maybe he should have gotten a chance in the shootout), and Chimmer did a nice job of vulturing Carlson's goal. I kid; it was well-played. It was nice to see the Caps come out of the first with a lead, for once, and without surrendering a goal, which was even nicer.
But the Caps looked terrible for most of the second period. They did have one really, really nice shift, that ended when MarJo drew a tripping penalty behind the net. I can't remember if they actually got any shots out of that shift, but I loved watching them keep it in the offensive zone for so long. But that was pretty much the only bright spot of the period. They had only two shots, which is terrible. And that's also how many goals they allowed, which is also pretty bad.
A lot of credit certainly goes to the Devils, who played an excellent period, but the Caps just didn't seem to want it nearly as bad as NJ.
In the third period, down another defender with Hamrlik in the dressing room, the Caps actually played better, and generated some chances. Not as many as I would have liked, but more than the second. And they looked much better while doing it, as well. Plus, they didn't give NJ nearly as many chances. Oh, and the top line was especially buzzing. I don't think I'd want to keep Ward up there (I'd rather keep him on the shut-down line), but he did look good there.
But nobody got on the board in the third, so we ended up with overtime. The Caps looked good for the first minute or so of overtime, but the Devils basically took over from there, getting almost all the chances from then on (helped by getting away with a lot of interference).
But again, nobody scored, so we went into the coin flip portion of the game. And that did not go so well, but it is what it is (which is to say, a terrible way to end a hockey game).
So, while the result was disappointing, in the larger picture the Caps did take three of four points in the home-and-home, and that is hard to really get upset about.
Time to start a road trip to Nashville (where I'm sure Ward will be happy to take on his old mates), Winnipeg, and Toronto. I guess we'll find out something more about all the blue-line injuries; and maybe we'll finally get a look at Orlov. We can hope, at least, although Collins is more likely, if they need someone from Hershey.
The paper made a big deal out of Semin being benched for much (all?) of the third period, and not playing much of the second either. I think the goal, there, is a good one. Show that everyone, including Semin, is being held accountable, although I'm skeptical of whether it'll actually accomplish anything vis a vis Sasha. But maybe it says something to the rest of the team important enough to overlook that.
In any event, the team seemed to be doing well, and the returns were certainly good. I was shocked (though in a good way, of course), when Chimmer buried that breakaway, shorthanded. And I was amused to see Marjo get another goal from so close to the net. I'm loving that, but it's definitely not what I was expecting from him.
Tonight, I was able to watch pretty close to all of the game. I did miss them saying, at the beginning, that Green (well, he was expected, after last night) and Erskine (didn't hear what happened to him) were out, so I was a bit confused at Laich being on the blue line.
Brouwer's goal was very nice (in fact, thinking about it, maybe he should have gotten a chance in the shootout), and Chimmer did a nice job of vulturing Carlson's goal. I kid; it was well-played. It was nice to see the Caps come out of the first with a lead, for once, and without surrendering a goal, which was even nicer.
But the Caps looked terrible for most of the second period. They did have one really, really nice shift, that ended when MarJo drew a tripping penalty behind the net. I can't remember if they actually got any shots out of that shift, but I loved watching them keep it in the offensive zone for so long. But that was pretty much the only bright spot of the period. They had only two shots, which is terrible. And that's also how many goals they allowed, which is also pretty bad.
A lot of credit certainly goes to the Devils, who played an excellent period, but the Caps just didn't seem to want it nearly as bad as NJ.
In the third period, down another defender with Hamrlik in the dressing room, the Caps actually played better, and generated some chances. Not as many as I would have liked, but more than the second. And they looked much better while doing it, as well. Plus, they didn't give NJ nearly as many chances. Oh, and the top line was especially buzzing. I don't think I'd want to keep Ward up there (I'd rather keep him on the shut-down line), but he did look good there.
But nobody got on the board in the third, so we ended up with overtime. The Caps looked good for the first minute or so of overtime, but the Devils basically took over from there, getting almost all the chances from then on (helped by getting away with a lot of interference).
But again, nobody scored, so we went into the coin flip portion of the game. And that did not go so well, but it is what it is (which is to say, a terrible way to end a hockey game).
So, while the result was disappointing, in the larger picture the Caps did take three of four points in the home-and-home, and that is hard to really get upset about.
Time to start a road trip to Nashville (where I'm sure Ward will be happy to take on his old mates), Winnipeg, and Toronto. I guess we'll find out something more about all the blue-line injuries; and maybe we'll finally get a look at Orlov. We can hope, at least, although Collins is more likely, if they need someone from Hershey.
20111104
Sweeping debris
The Caps faced the Hurricanes tonight. Green is still out, Brouwer was questionable until gametime (we almost got an Eakin, MarJo, Perreault second line. Boy, would that have been some speed and scoring touch. Plus, a combined age of what? 62? 63?), but Halpern was back. In the event, Perreault was scratched for Brouwer.
The game started out pretty even; the Canes were outplaying the Caps, but not by a huge margin. They did get the first goal, on a deflection of a shot from the point. In fact, that ended up being the only goal of the period.
Things were slightly tilted in the Caps favor in the second period, despite penalties favoring Carolina. Halpern got a goal by literally diving at a rebound to put it in. And MarJo and Brouwer combined on a very pretty 2-on-1 with a nice saucer pass that Brouwer buried in the top corner of the net (very reminiscent of the goal Semin scored on the Rangers in the playoffs last year (game 5, I think); Eakin had the pass that sprang them). The Caps did get a big break on one of those power plays, though, where the goalie blew the whistle when he couldn't see the puck, and Skinner pushed it into the net just after the whistle.
Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that Knuble looked very good on the penalty kill (well, the whole unit looked good, but he had an especially good night of it).
In the third period, the Caps really turned on the Jets, and just dominated. It was beautiful; lots of zone time, some efficient cycling (especially from the third and fourth lines), and solid play all around. Backstrom had a very nice goal on a 3-on-2 generated by a nice forecheck (OV had the pass), and Eakin scored his first NHL goal on a 2-on-1 with Semin (I think the goalie must have been playing pass on that, because it was an unobstructed wrist shot. The release was really nice, though). Carlson had the other goal (the first of the period, actually), on the power play from Backstrom and OV.
I think the third period was the best period the Caps have played all season; they weren't taking it easy, even when up by four. If they can play like that with any regularity, they'll win a disgusting number of games. I've got my fingers crossed.
Tonight is the front end of the Caps' first back-to-back games this season. Let's hope the Islanders don't put up a huge fight tomorrow night; if not, and Pittsburgh and Toronto lose, the Caps could end up back in first, with 2-3 games in hand. Not likely, but it would be cool. I know, I'm getting greedy. Let's hope the Caps don't try to look past the Islanders, also.
The game started out pretty even; the Canes were outplaying the Caps, but not by a huge margin. They did get the first goal, on a deflection of a shot from the point. In fact, that ended up being the only goal of the period.
Things were slightly tilted in the Caps favor in the second period, despite penalties favoring Carolina. Halpern got a goal by literally diving at a rebound to put it in. And MarJo and Brouwer combined on a very pretty 2-on-1 with a nice saucer pass that Brouwer buried in the top corner of the net (very reminiscent of the goal Semin scored on the Rangers in the playoffs last year (game 5, I think); Eakin had the pass that sprang them). The Caps did get a big break on one of those power plays, though, where the goalie blew the whistle when he couldn't see the puck, and Skinner pushed it into the net just after the whistle.
Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that Knuble looked very good on the penalty kill (well, the whole unit looked good, but he had an especially good night of it).
In the third period, the Caps really turned on the Jets, and just dominated. It was beautiful; lots of zone time, some efficient cycling (especially from the third and fourth lines), and solid play all around. Backstrom had a very nice goal on a 3-on-2 generated by a nice forecheck (OV had the pass), and Eakin scored his first NHL goal on a 2-on-1 with Semin (I think the goalie must have been playing pass on that, because it was an unobstructed wrist shot. The release was really nice, though). Carlson had the other goal (the first of the period, actually), on the power play from Backstrom and OV.
I think the third period was the best period the Caps have played all season; they weren't taking it easy, even when up by four. If they can play like that with any regularity, they'll win a disgusting number of games. I've got my fingers crossed.
Tonight is the front end of the Caps' first back-to-back games this season. Let's hope the Islanders don't put up a huge fight tomorrow night; if not, and Pittsburgh and Toronto lose, the Caps could end up back in first, with 2-3 games in hand. Not likely, but it would be cool. I know, I'm getting greedy. Let's hope the Caps don't try to look past the Islanders, also.
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