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!
Showing posts with label neuvy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label neuvy. Show all posts
20140203
20140201
Red in the face
I wasn't able to watch last night's Caps game at the Joe until very late. And for much of the game, I was wishing I hadn't bothered.
Washington actually got the first shot, with OV trying a wraparound, of all things. And it was pretty even for the first seven minutes or so. But then Detroit got a power play, and just started pouring it on. By the end of the period, Neuvy probably felt like he was at the wrong end of a shooting gallery, as he had stopped twenty-two shots (IIRC, 12 of those shots were on the power play), and seen several more fly wide.
But he probably was feeling decent about that, since he'd stopped everything, and since Washington had cashed in on their lone power play of the period (on the only shot, I believe. And one of five shots in the period).
But that kind of discrepancy is going to catch up, and it did, as both Miller and DeKeyser scored in the second, despite the Caps only being two behind in Fenwick on the period (and only one behind in penalties).
The third period's final numbers were pretty close, but almost all of Washington's action was in their one power play (seven shots, I believe, and didn't score), whereas Detroit's was spread across the period. And three of Washington's remaining shots came in consecutive seconds, as Wellman got the puck in the slot, sliding across, and fired three times, putting the third into the net. That left only six unblocked attempts across the remaining 17:57 of the period. That isn't horrible, but it isn't good, either.
And two minutes (and a few seconds) after Wellman's goal, Detroit scored again to retake the lead to force the Caps into desperation mode. But they still didn't manage to muster much, until that penalty was called, six minutes and change later. And they still didn't manage to tie it up, despite that very impressive outburst.
But they pulled Neuvy a short while after, and managed to even the game with only seven seconds left. We thought OV had scored it, although Ward was eventually credited with a tip-in (seeing the replay, it was obvious there was a tip, but it was less than obvious that Wardo touched it, and he certainly didn't act like he had). In any event, it was quite a rollercoaster several minutes.
And the overtime? Well, more of what we'd been seeing, as Detroit dominated, but wasn't able to score.
So on to the "skills competition" (personally, I'd call it the coin flip). And the only real skills seen there were by the goalies, who each stopped the first six attempts (several of which, on each side, were really terrible; OV actually had his best attempt in quite a while, but it still didn't work) they faced. Then Eaves scored for Detroit, and Beagle came up. I gave up as soon as I saw who was taking it. And I was not surprised at all at the result. Has Oates not yet learned that Beagle is where scoring chances go to die?
After that shooting gallery of a first period, the PK did well (I'd count them as extremely lucky not to've given up a goal in the first, but deserved it the rest of the way).
The power play was pretty good; they only had two chances, and scored on one and had many chances in the second. In just over three minutes of power play time, they had more than half the shot attempts that Detroit had in ten minutes on the man advantage. Nothing to sneeze at, there.
And a lot could be written about Neuvy. Despite the three goals, he's the only reason they were even in the game at all. This game could have easily been a blow-out, with forty-five shots on net.
Anyway, a slightly disappointing, though well-deserved result of the game. And again, the Caps need to start winning a lot of games, really quickly, if they hope to make the playoffs.
The quest resumes tomorrow, again with Detroit, back at the phone booth. Go Caps!
Washington actually got the first shot, with OV trying a wraparound, of all things. And it was pretty even for the first seven minutes or so. But then Detroit got a power play, and just started pouring it on. By the end of the period, Neuvy probably felt like he was at the wrong end of a shooting gallery, as he had stopped twenty-two shots (IIRC, 12 of those shots were on the power play), and seen several more fly wide.
But he probably was feeling decent about that, since he'd stopped everything, and since Washington had cashed in on their lone power play of the period (on the only shot, I believe. And one of five shots in the period).
But that kind of discrepancy is going to catch up, and it did, as both Miller and DeKeyser scored in the second, despite the Caps only being two behind in Fenwick on the period (and only one behind in penalties).
The third period's final numbers were pretty close, but almost all of Washington's action was in their one power play (seven shots, I believe, and didn't score), whereas Detroit's was spread across the period. And three of Washington's remaining shots came in consecutive seconds, as Wellman got the puck in the slot, sliding across, and fired three times, putting the third into the net. That left only six unblocked attempts across the remaining 17:57 of the period. That isn't horrible, but it isn't good, either.
And two minutes (and a few seconds) after Wellman's goal, Detroit scored again to retake the lead to force the Caps into desperation mode. But they still didn't manage to muster much, until that penalty was called, six minutes and change later. And they still didn't manage to tie it up, despite that very impressive outburst.
But they pulled Neuvy a short while after, and managed to even the game with only seven seconds left. We thought OV had scored it, although Ward was eventually credited with a tip-in (seeing the replay, it was obvious there was a tip, but it was less than obvious that Wardo touched it, and he certainly didn't act like he had). In any event, it was quite a rollercoaster several minutes.
And the overtime? Well, more of what we'd been seeing, as Detroit dominated, but wasn't able to score.
So on to the "skills competition" (personally, I'd call it the coin flip). And the only real skills seen there were by the goalies, who each stopped the first six attempts (several of which, on each side, were really terrible; OV actually had his best attempt in quite a while, but it still didn't work) they faced. Then Eaves scored for Detroit, and Beagle came up. I gave up as soon as I saw who was taking it. And I was not surprised at all at the result. Has Oates not yet learned that Beagle is where scoring chances go to die?
After that shooting gallery of a first period, the PK did well (I'd count them as extremely lucky not to've given up a goal in the first, but deserved it the rest of the way).
The power play was pretty good; they only had two chances, and scored on one and had many chances in the second. In just over three minutes of power play time, they had more than half the shot attempts that Detroit had in ten minutes on the man advantage. Nothing to sneeze at, there.
And a lot could be written about Neuvy. Despite the three goals, he's the only reason they were even in the game at all. This game could have easily been a blow-out, with forty-five shots on net.
Anyway, a slightly disappointing, though well-deserved result of the game. And again, the Caps need to start winning a lot of games, really quickly, if they hope to make the playoffs.
The quest resumes tomorrow, again with Detroit, back at the phone booth. Go Caps!
20140127
Bedeviled in the swamp
I don't have a whole lot to say about the Caps game against the Devils, the other night. OV was out, Neuvy was in. Schmidt was also out, with Erskine coming in; I understood that decision, but didn't agree with it.
The stats say it was a very close game (5v5 close FF% dead even, difference of one in shots), and I guess the 2-1 score reflects that, but I must admit that it didn't feel that close, especially once NJ went up by a pair. It really never felt like the Caps were going to come back (granted, the penalties didn't help that), so I guess, in that sense, the Chimmer goal was almost like a present. Just not a very good one, since it wasn't enough to tie the score.
Neuvy played a very good game; I thought he (and Erskine and Carrick) badly overplayed Jagr on Henrique's power play goal, but that was really his only mistake. Dima really needs to stay out of the box, because Erskine and Carrick are an adventure out there at evens; the PK is really not the place for them.
The power play was kind of interesting for the Caps, if only mediocre effective (no goals, twelve shot attempts, nine on net). Green twice ended up playing OV's normal position, which seemed like a decent fit for him (Carlson does a slightly better job on keep-ins at the point, but Green's passes across are better. Not sure which to favor, overall). Fehr ended up in Brouwer's position a couple of times, which I like (even though he didn't do much in this game). And Brouwer ended up in OV's position during one stretch, which I didn't think much of.
The PK was pretty decent, with thirteen shot attempts against and three for (all of the latter on net). Of course, defending five power plays is just too many. If I remember correctly, they did a very good job against the first two, and things went a bit south from there on out.
One thing I didn't like was that the Caps were completely dominated on the boards; they did very little cycling of their own, which was particularly bad for the third line.
Oh, and things got even worse about eleven minutes into the second, when Grabovski's leg got rolled over in front of the net. He didn't return, and didn't play against the Habs, although there was one slight sign of encouragement there, as they showed him in the press box and he wasn't using crutches. Yeah, that's a slim hope to hang onto, but we'll just have to take what we can get.
Anyway, that's about it, although I should doff my cap to Schneider, who had an excellent game in goal for Jersey. (And as a side note, I still don't understand why he wasn't on the goalie list for the US Olympic team.)
I'll write up my thoughts about the Habs game separately.
The stats say it was a very close game (5v5 close FF% dead even, difference of one in shots), and I guess the 2-1 score reflects that, but I must admit that it didn't feel that close, especially once NJ went up by a pair. It really never felt like the Caps were going to come back (granted, the penalties didn't help that), so I guess, in that sense, the Chimmer goal was almost like a present. Just not a very good one, since it wasn't enough to tie the score.
Neuvy played a very good game; I thought he (and Erskine and Carrick) badly overplayed Jagr on Henrique's power play goal, but that was really his only mistake. Dima really needs to stay out of the box, because Erskine and Carrick are an adventure out there at evens; the PK is really not the place for them.
The power play was kind of interesting for the Caps, if only mediocre effective (no goals, twelve shot attempts, nine on net). Green twice ended up playing OV's normal position, which seemed like a decent fit for him (Carlson does a slightly better job on keep-ins at the point, but Green's passes across are better. Not sure which to favor, overall). Fehr ended up in Brouwer's position a couple of times, which I like (even though he didn't do much in this game). And Brouwer ended up in OV's position during one stretch, which I didn't think much of.
The PK was pretty decent, with thirteen shot attempts against and three for (all of the latter on net). Of course, defending five power plays is just too many. If I remember correctly, they did a very good job against the first two, and things went a bit south from there on out.
One thing I didn't like was that the Caps were completely dominated on the boards; they did very little cycling of their own, which was particularly bad for the third line.
Oh, and things got even worse about eleven minutes into the second, when Grabovski's leg got rolled over in front of the net. He didn't return, and didn't play against the Habs, although there was one slight sign of encouragement there, as they showed him in the press box and he wasn't using crutches. Yeah, that's a slim hope to hang onto, but we'll just have to take what we can get.
Anyway, that's about it, although I should doff my cap to Schneider, who had an excellent game in goal for Jersey. (And as a side note, I still don't understand why he wasn't on the goalie list for the US Olympic team.)
I'll write up my thoughts about the Habs game separately.
20131004
Snatching victory...
I don't have a lot of time to write this, but I wanted to jot down a few notes about last night's Caps game, which I was finally able to watch tonight. I wasn't feeling great about it, as last night I turned it on a few seconds after the Flames opened the scoring.
And it didn't really go all that well after. The Flames scored more before seventeen minutes had been reached, and Hillen suffered a leg (probably knee) injury in there as well. Wilson responded to that with a few good punches and a nice takedown on the person delivering the hit that caused the injury (on replay it looked pretty clean, but in full speed I didn't think so). But Holtby was pulled after that third goal.
The Caps did get a few chances in there (OV was close a couple times), but nothing sustained. It really wasn't looking good by the end of the period. The only encouraging thing was that the shots were close (in fact, the Caps were up one, which surprised me quite a bit).
And things didn't look much better for a while in the second. Then Carrick got a hooking minor (weird call; looked like Carrick was the one being fouled). The PK did well this time (the third goal in the first was a PPG, so it hadn't started well), and at the expiration, MarJo got the puck and found Carrick at the other blue line. Carrick took it in on the breakaway and deked Ramo down, calmly depositing the puck behind him.
But, a minute and a half later, Neuvy misplayed the puck behind the net fairly badly, and gave up an open-net goal to restore Calgary's three-goal margin. And the play still wasn't looking too good for the home team, although they did have the occasional chance. Then Jones hit Carlson in the face with his stick to give the Caps the man advantage (and I'm impressed the refs saw this one. It was there, but was very quick).
The Caps won the faceoff, worked it around for a bit, then fed OV for the one-timer for a goal on the first shot (sadly, though, it was the Caps first shot since Carrick had scored).
The Caps got within one four minutes later with OV again finding the back of the net. Off an icing call, Backstrom won the faceoff over to MarJo, who dumped back to OV, who rocketed it into the net.
And the Caps looked great for the remaining four minutes or so of the period. Lots of chances, many of them very close. But none were converted, which took us into the third (other than the bench minor with thirteen seconds left).
The team was doing a good job killing that penalty for the first 59 seconds, then Erskine (with time) cleared it the length of the ice, and over the glass at the far end. How often does that happen? Well, for the Caps, this season, every game, apparently. To their credit, the team did a great job killing the two-man advantage. The remainder of the delay of game wasn't quite as smooth, but they got the job done.
The Caps drew two more penalties, and the second of those provided the tying score. OV wristed it into a defender laying in front of him, the puck bounced around some skates to Grabo, who calmly passed over to Backstrom, who settled it and wristed it between the defender's legs, and past Ramo.
Things didn't look too good after that, but they managed to get into overtime with the tie. The overtime felt pretty heavily Calgary's way, but shots were equal. In fact, they were equal for the entire game, which surprised me. The Caps really didn't seem to have equal control of the play, other than five or six minutes at the end of the second. Although score effects would, normally, help equalize quite a bit. I'm sure it wasn't nearly even when the score was close.
Anyway, they managed to drag it out into the shootout, where Grabo and OV both deked forehand, then scored on the backhand. And Neuvy stopped Baertschi and Hudler to cement the win.
It wasn't pretty (though you've got to figure that being short a defender didn't help with that), but they got the job done. It was actually less encouraging than the Chicago loss, but the result was better.
Holtby definitely had a bad game. Neuvy, outside of that one puck-handling misadventure, looked very good. Erskine did not; he mostly looked pretty terrible (though I'm surprised to see he was even on the night). MarJo was, quietly, very good. In addition to his beautiful helper for Carrick, he had assists on both of OV's goals. And OV was a force; the two goals, nine more shots, second assist on Backstrom's goal, and the shootout winner. The only weakness was taking his second slashing minor, but at least he had company going to the box, this time.
And Grabo looked great. He had a number of nice passes, and was regularly threatening. Fehr's line, I noticed several times looking good, although I suspect I'm forgetting several (maybe many) not-so-good plays. Erat and Wilson looked pretty good; unfortunately, Beagle was centering them. They managed to get a few pretty good chances despite him. But again, I suspect I'm forgetting a number of not-so-good times.
Anyway, hard to know what to make of the game. It was a win, which was nice, but it was a butt-ugly one. Not to mention feeling a bit like the old Cardiac Caps. And I never liked that feeling. Still, we'll take it. Dallas is tomorrow night; we'll get to see Eakin again. Hopefully, the game will go a bit better.
And it didn't really go all that well after. The Flames scored more before seventeen minutes had been reached, and Hillen suffered a leg (probably knee) injury in there as well. Wilson responded to that with a few good punches and a nice takedown on the person delivering the hit that caused the injury (on replay it looked pretty clean, but in full speed I didn't think so). But Holtby was pulled after that third goal.
The Caps did get a few chances in there (OV was close a couple times), but nothing sustained. It really wasn't looking good by the end of the period. The only encouraging thing was that the shots were close (in fact, the Caps were up one, which surprised me quite a bit).
And things didn't look much better for a while in the second. Then Carrick got a hooking minor (weird call; looked like Carrick was the one being fouled). The PK did well this time (the third goal in the first was a PPG, so it hadn't started well), and at the expiration, MarJo got the puck and found Carrick at the other blue line. Carrick took it in on the breakaway and deked Ramo down, calmly depositing the puck behind him.
But, a minute and a half later, Neuvy misplayed the puck behind the net fairly badly, and gave up an open-net goal to restore Calgary's three-goal margin. And the play still wasn't looking too good for the home team, although they did have the occasional chance. Then Jones hit Carlson in the face with his stick to give the Caps the man advantage (and I'm impressed the refs saw this one. It was there, but was very quick).
The Caps won the faceoff, worked it around for a bit, then fed OV for the one-timer for a goal on the first shot (sadly, though, it was the Caps first shot since Carrick had scored).
The Caps got within one four minutes later with OV again finding the back of the net. Off an icing call, Backstrom won the faceoff over to MarJo, who dumped back to OV, who rocketed it into the net.
And the Caps looked great for the remaining four minutes or so of the period. Lots of chances, many of them very close. But none were converted, which took us into the third (other than the bench minor with thirteen seconds left).
The team was doing a good job killing that penalty for the first 59 seconds, then Erskine (with time) cleared it the length of the ice, and over the glass at the far end. How often does that happen? Well, for the Caps, this season, every game, apparently. To their credit, the team did a great job killing the two-man advantage. The remainder of the delay of game wasn't quite as smooth, but they got the job done.
The Caps drew two more penalties, and the second of those provided the tying score. OV wristed it into a defender laying in front of him, the puck bounced around some skates to Grabo, who calmly passed over to Backstrom, who settled it and wristed it between the defender's legs, and past Ramo.
Things didn't look too good after that, but they managed to get into overtime with the tie. The overtime felt pretty heavily Calgary's way, but shots were equal. In fact, they were equal for the entire game, which surprised me. The Caps really didn't seem to have equal control of the play, other than five or six minutes at the end of the second. Although score effects would, normally, help equalize quite a bit. I'm sure it wasn't nearly even when the score was close.
Anyway, they managed to drag it out into the shootout, where Grabo and OV both deked forehand, then scored on the backhand. And Neuvy stopped Baertschi and Hudler to cement the win.
It wasn't pretty (though you've got to figure that being short a defender didn't help with that), but they got the job done. It was actually less encouraging than the Chicago loss, but the result was better.
Holtby definitely had a bad game. Neuvy, outside of that one puck-handling misadventure, looked very good. Erskine did not; he mostly looked pretty terrible (though I'm surprised to see he was even on the night). MarJo was, quietly, very good. In addition to his beautiful helper for Carrick, he had assists on both of OV's goals. And OV was a force; the two goals, nine more shots, second assist on Backstrom's goal, and the shootout winner. The only weakness was taking his second slashing minor, but at least he had company going to the box, this time.
And Grabo looked great. He had a number of nice passes, and was regularly threatening. Fehr's line, I noticed several times looking good, although I suspect I'm forgetting several (maybe many) not-so-good plays. Erat and Wilson looked pretty good; unfortunately, Beagle was centering them. They managed to get a few pretty good chances despite him. But again, I suspect I'm forgetting a number of not-so-good times.
Anyway, hard to know what to make of the game. It was a win, which was nice, but it was a butt-ugly one. Not to mention feeling a bit like the old Cardiac Caps. And I never liked that feeling. Still, we'll take it. Dallas is tomorrow night; we'll get to see Eakin again. Hopefully, the game will go a bit better.
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