I've been having computer problems the last couple of days (my Mac, for reasons unknown, decided that it didn't want to talk to my Synology RAID unit, and wanted to hang all sorts of login activities because of it), so haven't been able to post.
But boy, was that a weird game on Tuesday in Raleigh. It certainly got off to a bad start, as Tlusty was able to score two goals for the Caps before the Caps were able to get on the board. Making it worse, the Caps were being outplayed over that span, and one of those goals was a power play marker (Carolina's PP has been awful, of late). Can't really blame Holtby for either; the first had Tlusty, just outside the crease, be the first one to get to a rebound that stopped about at his feet despite four Caps around him. The other was a very pretty bang-bang-bang passing play.
OV was able to stanch the bleeding a bit just before the first intermission as he and Backstrom got a two-on-two, and were able to convert.
The second period was off to a rough start at the very beginning, but Skinner went down behind the net to try to draw a tripping penalty and got called, himself, when he put the flat of his hand down on the puck briefly. Weird penalty, but we'll take it, I guess. Fifteen seconds later, the Caps had gotten set up in the zone, and Greenie put a shot from the point off the post, and into the top of the net (Caps first blueline PPG on the season, somehow). Despite that only being the Caps fifth or sixth shot of the game, things were looking pretty good.
Things looked a little worse half a minute later, though, as OV was called for hooking Skinner (yet another dive; impressive, in a way). Just over half a minute later, Tlusty completed his hat-trick by tipping in a pass from Eric Staal.
After the hats were cleared (this game had an exceptionally large amount of stoppage time), play resumed. A couple minutes later, Chimmer and Ward won a board battle at center ice back towards the middle, and Backstrom, who had just come on. Nick took it in, dropped it to Green and continued in. Greenie took that space, and found the top corner of the net with a wrist shot to tie it up again.
That was it for scoring for several minutes, although I think it was during this stretch that Pitkanen went out with a broken heel when he crashed into the boards awkwardly while beating Brouwer out for an icing call (this was the really big delay to which I alluded earlier. I believe they said it took nine minutes of delay getting him off the ice. Hopefully, he'll be ok, although what I've heard since is that it's a ten-twelve week recovery period. Yuck.
After all that, the Caps got a break when a bad breakout pass deflected off OV's skate, to MarJo, who pushed the puck ahead to Backstrom. Backstrom sucked off both defenders and passed it to a streaking (and open) OV who put it into the near, top corner to finally give the Caps a lead.
Backstrom again got onto the scoring sheet with a minute and a half left of the period when he hooked Jordan Staal. That led to a power play for the Canes. After a clear, they were bringing it back into the zone when the puck was dumped off to the right point a bit sloppily. MarJo beat the defender to it and broke down ice. Ward charged hard from the other side, and MarJo hit him with the pass when they were close to the goal. Joel pushed it into the net to give the game's final margin.
The third period was a busy one, even if nothing found the back of the net. The Caps spent a large portion of the period in their own zone, and had two stoppages of play when players were hit in the face with the puck (Erskine and Ward). Thankfully, both were ok, but it was a bit scary. The second came with about seven minutes left, and those, combined with Pitkanen's injury, had me wishing the game was called just to prevent injury.
They didn't do that, of course, but happily, no one did get hurt.
Overall, this was not really a game the Caps deserved to win. It was just one where the Caps converted almost every chance they got. That's certainly cool, but not a good predictor of future success.
The other good part was that the Jets also lost, leaving the Caps in pretty good shape for the postseason (or, at least, better than they've been in so far this season. I suspect their odds are still below 50-50).
But, that's where they were until yesterday. Next up are the Islanders, tonight.
Showing posts with label ward. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ward. Show all posts
20130404
20120430
Series Begun
Well, tonight's game was certainly much more to my liking. As expected, the game started out pretty slow, with the two teams feeling each other out. There was more shooting, and less shot blocking.
It took a while, but the Caps got on the board first. The Rangers turned over the puck on an attempted keep-in that went to Ward. He, Knuble, and Aucoin ran up ice, 3-on-2, culminating in a very pretty tic-tac-toe passing play to Knuble at the mouth of the goal. Lundqvist never had a chance on it, nor did the defenders.
It took almost five more minutes of back-and-forth for another goal to be scored. Chimmer raced into the zone when Lundqvist was handling it behind the net, got the puck, and threw it in front of the net. Hendy was there, and tried to score shooting backwards between his legs. He got it past the defender, and mostly past Lundqvist, but Lundy managed to bat it a bit sideways after it was past him. But Chimmer came back to clean up the garbage, putting it into the net.
It wasn't, by any stretch of the imagination, a pretty goal, but oh, how it made me happy. That was really the first time I felt like the Caps were going to win.
They gave back a goal with forty-three seconds left in the period, as Shultz tried to defend two guys without help. Unsurprisingly, they got it past Shultz and Holtby.
It was not the first really terrible giveaway in the period (actually, Green and Hamr had several really terrible giveaways in the game; not sure how many were in that period, but I think the two of them had the majority of the Caps giveaways for the game), but, thankfully, was the only one that led to a goal. The one good thing is that the Caps ended up with only four giveaways on the game, so they were very good tonight, by that metric.
The Caps also managed to keep play moving between the two ends of the ice, and generated very good chances when they did get to the other end. The power play was also very good; converting on one chance, but generating a lot of shots and zone time.
Anyway, the Caps went into the first break up a goal, and held onto the same score all the way through the second period. I was starting to wonder if we'd be treated to another scoreless period in the third, but the Rangers tied things up at the seven minute mark. Knuble had just gone into the box for a high-sticking call (which I was a little miffed at, because 1, it was obviously accidental, and 2, the Rangers got away with a high stick only half a minute earlier). The Rangers kept the puck in the zone the entire time from call to score, getting the goal after working the puck around efficiently and then getting the puck deflected from in front of the goal.
As I alluded earlier, the Caps got their one-goal margin restored several minutes later on the power play. Backstrom won the faceoff, following the call, cleanly back to OV. OV skated to the middle of the ice, allowing Brouwer to set up a screen, then wristed it into the top of the net.
From there, play went back and forth, but nobody else managed to find the back of the net, so the Caps skated off with the close victory.
So, a visiting team has won; therefore, the series has definitely started. Let's hope the Caps can defend the phone booth better than they did in the opening round.
Overall, this was one of the Caps better efforts of the playoffs, with good chances, tight defense, and a lot more attention to keeping possession of the puck.
I'm still a bit mystified by Hunter's ice time decisions. OV got thirteen and a half minutes; the only players with less were Knuble, Aucoin, Ward, Chimera, and Semin.
The good part of that is that I think OV is showing more defensive effort the last couple of games. The bad part is that the players with game-breaking potential aren't being given as much time as the grinders.
Beagle's a great story, and all, and I certainly admire his effort, but he should not be the forward leading in ice time.
I guess I shouldn't complain too much (it worked), but I can't see how this works out well for the team, long-term.
Well, we'll see Wednesday, when the teams return to DC, I suppose.
It took a while, but the Caps got on the board first. The Rangers turned over the puck on an attempted keep-in that went to Ward. He, Knuble, and Aucoin ran up ice, 3-on-2, culminating in a very pretty tic-tac-toe passing play to Knuble at the mouth of the goal. Lundqvist never had a chance on it, nor did the defenders.
It took almost five more minutes of back-and-forth for another goal to be scored. Chimmer raced into the zone when Lundqvist was handling it behind the net, got the puck, and threw it in front of the net. Hendy was there, and tried to score shooting backwards between his legs. He got it past the defender, and mostly past Lundqvist, but Lundy managed to bat it a bit sideways after it was past him. But Chimmer came back to clean up the garbage, putting it into the net.
It wasn't, by any stretch of the imagination, a pretty goal, but oh, how it made me happy. That was really the first time I felt like the Caps were going to win.
They gave back a goal with forty-three seconds left in the period, as Shultz tried to defend two guys without help. Unsurprisingly, they got it past Shultz and Holtby.
It was not the first really terrible giveaway in the period (actually, Green and Hamr had several really terrible giveaways in the game; not sure how many were in that period, but I think the two of them had the majority of the Caps giveaways for the game), but, thankfully, was the only one that led to a goal. The one good thing is that the Caps ended up with only four giveaways on the game, so they were very good tonight, by that metric.
The Caps also managed to keep play moving between the two ends of the ice, and generated very good chances when they did get to the other end. The power play was also very good; converting on one chance, but generating a lot of shots and zone time.
Anyway, the Caps went into the first break up a goal, and held onto the same score all the way through the second period. I was starting to wonder if we'd be treated to another scoreless period in the third, but the Rangers tied things up at the seven minute mark. Knuble had just gone into the box for a high-sticking call (which I was a little miffed at, because 1, it was obviously accidental, and 2, the Rangers got away with a high stick only half a minute earlier). The Rangers kept the puck in the zone the entire time from call to score, getting the goal after working the puck around efficiently and then getting the puck deflected from in front of the goal.
As I alluded earlier, the Caps got their one-goal margin restored several minutes later on the power play. Backstrom won the faceoff, following the call, cleanly back to OV. OV skated to the middle of the ice, allowing Brouwer to set up a screen, then wristed it into the top of the net.
From there, play went back and forth, but nobody else managed to find the back of the net, so the Caps skated off with the close victory.
So, a visiting team has won; therefore, the series has definitely started. Let's hope the Caps can defend the phone booth better than they did in the opening round.
Overall, this was one of the Caps better efforts of the playoffs, with good chances, tight defense, and a lot more attention to keeping possession of the puck.
I'm still a bit mystified by Hunter's ice time decisions. OV got thirteen and a half minutes; the only players with less were Knuble, Aucoin, Ward, Chimera, and Semin.
The good part of that is that I think OV is showing more defensive effort the last couple of games. The bad part is that the players with game-breaking potential aren't being given as much time as the grinders.
Beagle's a great story, and all, and I certainly admire his effort, but he should not be the forward leading in ice time.
I guess I shouldn't complain too much (it worked), but I can't see how this works out well for the team, long-term.
Well, we'll see Wednesday, when the teams return to DC, I suppose.
20120425
Warding off defeat
I've gone through this whole series with seriously low expectations, which has been very good for my sanity. A series where all seven games were decided by a single goal? Eep.
The Caps put Holtby out there in desperation, hoping he'd catch fire. Boy, did he ever. A save percentage of .943? That was better than management could have realistically hoped. Certainly, it was quite a bit better than expected. And thank goodness it was, because there was no margin for it to be worse. This was a series where the margins were so thin, it could have easily been a sweep for either team, just based on one or two bounces in each game.
Hendricks got the Caps started, with a nice deflection of a Carlson shot eleven minutes into the first period. I had to apologize to a friend, who called when that was scored. But I couldn't share the excitement, because I was only five and a half minutes into the game (my daughter had swim class that kept us from being home at the start).
I had just about caught up early in the second, when my daughter decided she didn't want to listen to us any more, so we had to send her to bed early. So I didn't get caught up to the game until well after Boston's tying score fourteen minutes into the second (Seguin was able to poke home a puck that trickled behind Holtby, which three Caps were unable to poke away). In fact, I didn't catch up until the intermission before overtime.
And I guess it was appropriate for the game to go into overtime, but I kept hoping the Caps would win one cleanly.
My low expectations kept me from getting too upset early in overtime when it seemed like the Caps couldn't clear the zone. I didn't even get too excited when they cut back to Ward and Knuble getting a turnover and rushing the Boston net. I wasn't surprised when Knuble's shot was stopped by Thomas, but I was shocked when Ward managed to cut to the rebound and put it into the net. In fact, even after one ref (or linesman, I didn't notice) indicated goal, I was still waiting for a goaltender interference call.
So my celebration was pretty restrained, but my joy wasn't.
I'd like to say something like, "this gives the Caps X days to get ready to face Y', but we don't know who or when yet. All we know is that it will be an away game, and that it won't be at Florida or Ottawa. But, no matter who it is, the Caps have a few days to heal up and recover. They'll almost certainly be underdogs, so let's hope that works in their favor. Again, the pressure on them will be pretty low.
And let's hope that Hunter's strategy doesn't turn the next series into another set of coin flips. If my expectations hadn't been so low, I'd've been ready to kill someone at several points in this series. I don't want to repeat that.
The Caps put Holtby out there in desperation, hoping he'd catch fire. Boy, did he ever. A save percentage of .943? That was better than management could have realistically hoped. Certainly, it was quite a bit better than expected. And thank goodness it was, because there was no margin for it to be worse. This was a series where the margins were so thin, it could have easily been a sweep for either team, just based on one or two bounces in each game.
Hendricks got the Caps started, with a nice deflection of a Carlson shot eleven minutes into the first period. I had to apologize to a friend, who called when that was scored. But I couldn't share the excitement, because I was only five and a half minutes into the game (my daughter had swim class that kept us from being home at the start).
I had just about caught up early in the second, when my daughter decided she didn't want to listen to us any more, so we had to send her to bed early. So I didn't get caught up to the game until well after Boston's tying score fourteen minutes into the second (Seguin was able to poke home a puck that trickled behind Holtby, which three Caps were unable to poke away). In fact, I didn't catch up until the intermission before overtime.
And I guess it was appropriate for the game to go into overtime, but I kept hoping the Caps would win one cleanly.
My low expectations kept me from getting too upset early in overtime when it seemed like the Caps couldn't clear the zone. I didn't even get too excited when they cut back to Ward and Knuble getting a turnover and rushing the Boston net. I wasn't surprised when Knuble's shot was stopped by Thomas, but I was shocked when Ward managed to cut to the rebound and put it into the net. In fact, even after one ref (or linesman, I didn't notice) indicated goal, I was still waiting for a goaltender interference call.
So my celebration was pretty restrained, but my joy wasn't.
I'd like to say something like, "this gives the Caps X days to get ready to face Y', but we don't know who or when yet. All we know is that it will be an away game, and that it won't be at Florida or Ottawa. But, no matter who it is, the Caps have a few days to heal up and recover. They'll almost certainly be underdogs, so let's hope that works in their favor. Again, the pressure on them will be pretty low.
And let's hope that Hunter's strategy doesn't turn the next series into another set of coin flips. If my expectations hadn't been so low, I'd've been ready to kill someone at several points in this series. I don't want to repeat that.
20120226
Caps on Fire
I haven't wanted to talk about the Caps too much, of late.
I watched the Sens game in a near-total state of disgust; following my normal pattern, I turned it off at 4-0 (although I thought about doing so at 2-0, and wish I had). It wasn't quite as wretched a performance as the one against the Canes, and it certainly helped that they showed a bit more life after I turned it off. But they still laid an egg in a game they should have been desperate to win. More to the point, they didn't even show any energy. My only regret was that I would have liked to have seen Perreault scoring with his tongue.
The Montreal game, on the other hand, was great. I didn't talk about that one right away because I only watched the first period that night; I was too tired to stay awake after putting the kids to bed.
Things were already going quite well at that point, with Perreault having scored (thanks to some terrible defending and goaltending, but we'll take it), but they blew the game open nine minutes after I turned it on yesterday morning. Chimmer and OV scored sixteen seconds apart to remove any doubt of the outcome.
Bourque did get a shorty early in the third to make it a little more interesting, but the competitive part of the game was still over.
I was really happy to see Ward get the empty netter with half a minute left. For one, it was good for him; for another, this team has done a terrible job of taking advantage of empty cages under Hunter.
Without getting too bogged down in the details, it was a very well-played game from start to finish. Neuvy had a great game. The Caps were getting offensive pressure, and shots, until the third period. The power play did decently, until the terrible play that led to the shorty (I would have said they did great, if it hadn't been for that). The PK only allowed two shots on four man advantages. As I said, a very good game.
And despite my feelings that the Caps should unload talent at the deadline this year (the Canadiens game did nothing to change that), and despite being the second game of a back-to-back, the Caps really came out firing last night against the Maple Leafs.
MarJo got things started only 32 seconds in with a wraparound (ok, that was more a matter of bad goaltending than anything great MarJo did, but at least he took advantage) score that demoralized the Leafs faithful. And Semin kept the hits coming three minutes later with a great takeaway in the faceoff circle (set up by Perreault forcing the man to stop right when Semin was coming up from behind), and turning to fire it into the bottom corner before Reimer knew it was coming.
The Caps kept regular, though not constant pressure up, and got goals from Halpern and Aucoin in the second period, ending any possible suspense. The Coiner goal was a particularly pretty passing play, with OV coming down the left wing, passing all the way across to MarJo, who dumped it immediately to Aucoin charging the net. He played it off a skate to his stick, and into the net, probably before Reimer knew he was there.
Up to that point, Neuvy had had a fantastic game, even stopping several odd-man rushes and breakaways, but he did give up two in the third. We won't really hold either against him, though; one would have been a really amazing save, and the other was just impossible.
Aucoin was named player of the game, although I think that was mostly because he's pretty much a career AHL'er. He had a good game (1G, 1A, E, 3S), although I didn't think he was the best player on the ice for the Caps (I'm not sure who I'd pick between Semin, OV, and MarJo).
In any event, it was a really great game for the Caps. Possibly their best since Hunter took over (certainly the best to take place outside of the phone booth), with fantastic offensive pressure. They had several shifts where they spent almost the entire shift in the O-zone, and some scoring generated off the forecheck (Halpern's).
I think I'm still in favor of selling this year, although I must admit that it doesn't look as necessary as it did two days ago. But I think they can get enough for TVo and Wideman (plus, I don't think they'll miss Wideman nearly as much as what his return would be worth) to make deals worthwhile. And I don't think they'll miss Hamr at all. I didn't think that to begin with, but his benching the last two games did nothing to dissuade me of that.
Plus, the big thing about selling now would be that it would give a much better feel for the mental toughness of everyone left, which would be very valuable going forward. Especially with as fragile, mentally, as this team has very regularly seemed.
We'll see. Next game is against the Islanders on Tuesday, which is the day after the trade deadline. So we will definitely know by the time the puck drops for that game.
I watched the Sens game in a near-total state of disgust; following my normal pattern, I turned it off at 4-0 (although I thought about doing so at 2-0, and wish I had). It wasn't quite as wretched a performance as the one against the Canes, and it certainly helped that they showed a bit more life after I turned it off. But they still laid an egg in a game they should have been desperate to win. More to the point, they didn't even show any energy. My only regret was that I would have liked to have seen Perreault scoring with his tongue.
The Montreal game, on the other hand, was great. I didn't talk about that one right away because I only watched the first period that night; I was too tired to stay awake after putting the kids to bed.
Things were already going quite well at that point, with Perreault having scored (thanks to some terrible defending and goaltending, but we'll take it), but they blew the game open nine minutes after I turned it on yesterday morning. Chimmer and OV scored sixteen seconds apart to remove any doubt of the outcome.
Bourque did get a shorty early in the third to make it a little more interesting, but the competitive part of the game was still over.
I was really happy to see Ward get the empty netter with half a minute left. For one, it was good for him; for another, this team has done a terrible job of taking advantage of empty cages under Hunter.
Without getting too bogged down in the details, it was a very well-played game from start to finish. Neuvy had a great game. The Caps were getting offensive pressure, and shots, until the third period. The power play did decently, until the terrible play that led to the shorty (I would have said they did great, if it hadn't been for that). The PK only allowed two shots on four man advantages. As I said, a very good game.
And despite my feelings that the Caps should unload talent at the deadline this year (the Canadiens game did nothing to change that), and despite being the second game of a back-to-back, the Caps really came out firing last night against the Maple Leafs.
MarJo got things started only 32 seconds in with a wraparound (ok, that was more a matter of bad goaltending than anything great MarJo did, but at least he took advantage) score that demoralized the Leafs faithful. And Semin kept the hits coming three minutes later with a great takeaway in the faceoff circle (set up by Perreault forcing the man to stop right when Semin was coming up from behind), and turning to fire it into the bottom corner before Reimer knew it was coming.
The Caps kept regular, though not constant pressure up, and got goals from Halpern and Aucoin in the second period, ending any possible suspense. The Coiner goal was a particularly pretty passing play, with OV coming down the left wing, passing all the way across to MarJo, who dumped it immediately to Aucoin charging the net. He played it off a skate to his stick, and into the net, probably before Reimer knew he was there.
Up to that point, Neuvy had had a fantastic game, even stopping several odd-man rushes and breakaways, but he did give up two in the third. We won't really hold either against him, though; one would have been a really amazing save, and the other was just impossible.
Aucoin was named player of the game, although I think that was mostly because he's pretty much a career AHL'er. He had a good game (1G, 1A, E, 3S), although I didn't think he was the best player on the ice for the Caps (I'm not sure who I'd pick between Semin, OV, and MarJo).
In any event, it was a really great game for the Caps. Possibly their best since Hunter took over (certainly the best to take place outside of the phone booth), with fantastic offensive pressure. They had several shifts where they spent almost the entire shift in the O-zone, and some scoring generated off the forecheck (Halpern's).
I think I'm still in favor of selling this year, although I must admit that it doesn't look as necessary as it did two days ago. But I think they can get enough for TVo and Wideman (plus, I don't think they'll miss Wideman nearly as much as what his return would be worth) to make deals worthwhile. And I don't think they'll miss Hamr at all. I didn't think that to begin with, but his benching the last two games did nothing to dissuade me of that.
Plus, the big thing about selling now would be that it would give a much better feel for the mental toughness of everyone left, which would be very valuable going forward. Especially with as fragile, mentally, as this team has very regularly seemed.
We'll see. Next game is against the Islanders on Tuesday, which is the day after the trade deadline. So we will definitely know by the time the puck drops for that game.
20120108
In the shark tank
I didn't go into last night's game against San Jose with a great feeling; not only was there the long string of losses and a tie in San Jose, but Backstrom was declared unavailable because of that elbow to the head.
Things started out pretty well though. They played a pretty much mistake-free game for the first period, and managed to tilt the ice in their own favor (though not heavily; like 12-8 on shots). The period ended scoreless, however, so they didn't get much out of that excellent play.
In the second, things stayed pretty quiet for five minutes. But then Demers put in a fluky shot from the point (it deflected off a defender (OV, I think), off the back boards, off of both of TVo's legs, and slid into the net). The Caps responded well, though, helped by a very obvious goaltender interference call a minute later. The Caps won the faceoff, and put on a pretty passing display with WIdeman putting the puck in the net half a minute after the call.
Things continued to look pretty good for the rest of the period (though slightly in San Jose's favor), but then Wideman missed on a lift check and hit one of the Sharks in the face. They looked like they were going to escape the period despite that, but San Jose managed to put one past TVo with eight seconds left. Ugh. Suddenly, things weren't looking so good.
I didn't realize it until a little bit into the third, but things were actually looking even worse than I thought. Green only took three shifts in the second, and never returned for the third. Ugh. Ugh.
They got things off to a good start in the third, with the checking line potting a goal forty-five seconds in (Ward got it, from Wideman and Chimmer). But things quickly went downhill, as the Sharks' top line put one in on a defensive breakdown (Alzner lost his man) only sixteen seconds later. The rest of the game wasn't terrible, but it sure wasn't good, either, as they ended up allowing two more goals (one and empty-netter), and had very little sustained pressure (MarJo's line had one awesome shift, which I believe was in the third, with basically the entire shift in the offensive zone).
Overall, I'd rate it as a decent game. They came out strong, and played really well for almost two periods before surrendering. The power play looked good in its lone opportunity. The PK was so-so, with one allowed on two chances.
The team was definitely missing Backstrom (and, for half the game, Green). While I hope neither is rushed back before they're ready, I do hope they're ready soon. We'll keep our fingers crossed. One good thing is that both Shultz and Erskine are with the team, and can step in for Green in LA (Geeze, I hope it's nothing serious; but it wasn't anything really obvious, and I only remember him getting hit once. Maybe he aggravated his groin pull. Of course, if so, that'll keep him out for a while).
Anyway, tomorrow night's game is in LA. Let's hope we can learn something from Columbus' win there last night or the night before.
Things started out pretty well though. They played a pretty much mistake-free game for the first period, and managed to tilt the ice in their own favor (though not heavily; like 12-8 on shots). The period ended scoreless, however, so they didn't get much out of that excellent play.
In the second, things stayed pretty quiet for five minutes. But then Demers put in a fluky shot from the point (it deflected off a defender (OV, I think), off the back boards, off of both of TVo's legs, and slid into the net). The Caps responded well, though, helped by a very obvious goaltender interference call a minute later. The Caps won the faceoff, and put on a pretty passing display with WIdeman putting the puck in the net half a minute after the call.
Things continued to look pretty good for the rest of the period (though slightly in San Jose's favor), but then Wideman missed on a lift check and hit one of the Sharks in the face. They looked like they were going to escape the period despite that, but San Jose managed to put one past TVo with eight seconds left. Ugh. Suddenly, things weren't looking so good.
I didn't realize it until a little bit into the third, but things were actually looking even worse than I thought. Green only took three shifts in the second, and never returned for the third. Ugh. Ugh.
They got things off to a good start in the third, with the checking line potting a goal forty-five seconds in (Ward got it, from Wideman and Chimmer). But things quickly went downhill, as the Sharks' top line put one in on a defensive breakdown (Alzner lost his man) only sixteen seconds later. The rest of the game wasn't terrible, but it sure wasn't good, either, as they ended up allowing two more goals (one and empty-netter), and had very little sustained pressure (MarJo's line had one awesome shift, which I believe was in the third, with basically the entire shift in the offensive zone).
Overall, I'd rate it as a decent game. They came out strong, and played really well for almost two periods before surrendering. The power play looked good in its lone opportunity. The PK was so-so, with one allowed on two chances.
The team was definitely missing Backstrom (and, for half the game, Green). While I hope neither is rushed back before they're ready, I do hope they're ready soon. We'll keep our fingers crossed. One good thing is that both Shultz and Erskine are with the team, and can step in for Green in LA (Geeze, I hope it's nothing serious; but it wasn't anything really obvious, and I only remember him getting hit once. Maybe he aggravated his groin pull. Of course, if so, that'll keep him out for a while).
Anyway, tomorrow night's game is in LA. Let's hope we can learn something from Columbus' win there last night or the night before.
20111105
A night on the Isle
The Caps flew north to face the Islanders in Uniondale tonight. Eakin was scratched, which seemed weird (we really want him playing, whether in the NHL or AHL), and Perreault was back in. And the lines were scrambled a bit, with Laich moving up to the second line and Halpern on the third, leaving Knuble, Hendricks and Perreault on the fourth.
The game started out really well, with the Caps taking it to the Islanders, and trying to wear them down via cycling. The Caps got both of the period's goals, with Ward and OV both tallying.
But things went downhill fairly quickly in the second, with the Islanders dominating possession and working the Caps hard. In the third, Caps were doing better, but still surrendered another goal six minutes in. Laich tied it up again on the power play three minutes later, and the Caps were looking great for quite a while. But then the Isles got another from Parenteau on the doorstep, and an empty netter half a minute later, and that was it.
I think the Caps were mostly tired, but it was also a terrible game by TVo. He did have a good first period, but that's about it. Without reviewing the goals to make sure, I think three of the four goals he allowed were soft ones (definitely the first two were).
And the second period was pretty much terrible for the whole team. There were a couple of penalties that should have been called (a delay of game for dislodging the net, I think, and MarJo definitely took a stick to the face). And Halpern's goaltender interference call was a bit weird.
But the Caps just didn't play well enough, is what it boils down to. My comment about not overlooking the Islanders last night? Well, I don't know if that's what happened, but it's certainly possible. Especially when they went into the first break with a two goal lead.
Anyway, Dallas is up next, on Tuesday. I'm guessing Eakin will get sent back down, and I'm hoping Green will be back. I'm also thinking Neuvy will get the nod in goal. I hope the lines don't get scrambled again, but this is Boudreau, so who knows?
The game started out really well, with the Caps taking it to the Islanders, and trying to wear them down via cycling. The Caps got both of the period's goals, with Ward and OV both tallying.
But things went downhill fairly quickly in the second, with the Islanders dominating possession and working the Caps hard. In the third, Caps were doing better, but still surrendered another goal six minutes in. Laich tied it up again on the power play three minutes later, and the Caps were looking great for quite a while. But then the Isles got another from Parenteau on the doorstep, and an empty netter half a minute later, and that was it.
I think the Caps were mostly tired, but it was also a terrible game by TVo. He did have a good first period, but that's about it. Without reviewing the goals to make sure, I think three of the four goals he allowed were soft ones (definitely the first two were).
And the second period was pretty much terrible for the whole team. There were a couple of penalties that should have been called (a delay of game for dislodging the net, I think, and MarJo definitely took a stick to the face). And Halpern's goaltender interference call was a bit weird.
But the Caps just didn't play well enough, is what it boils down to. My comment about not overlooking the Islanders last night? Well, I don't know if that's what happened, but it's certainly possible. Especially when they went into the first break with a two goal lead.
Anyway, Dallas is up next, on Tuesday. I'm guessing Eakin will get sent back down, and I'm hoping Green will be back. I'm also thinking Neuvy will get the nod in goal. I hope the lines don't get scrambled again, but this is Boudreau, so who knows?
20111101
Duck, duck, duck... Goose!
Tonight's Caps game seemed a bit off, from the start. Erskine was back, which was good, but it led to shuffling the D combos, which wasn't. On the forward side, Knuble got demoted to the fourth line, Halpern was benched, and Eakin was playing off-wing with MarJo and Semin.
The play was not pretty, particularly at the start. The Caps were doing ok, although they were spending way more time in their own zone than you'd prefer.. To make matters worse, there were two defensive breakdowns between Hamr and Wideman that led to goals by the Selanne line.
Actually, this morning, I took a peek back at Selanne's numbers. I've always liked him, and I knew he'd had a good year, last year. So I was wondering how he was doing this year. Answer: pretty good. And tonight he was the wrecking crew with a pair each of goals and assists (I imagine he's probably among the league leaders at the moment). Ugh. Good for him, but I wish he'd picked a different night.
In any event, at the end of the first, the Caps were down 2-0, but looking decent outside of those breakdowns.
The Caps came out looking pretty good, but weren't able to score before Selanne got his second goal, nine minutes in. A cross-ice pass found him alone in the circle with an open net, and he buried it, as you'd expect.
At this point, Anaheim had three goals on less than eleven shots. The really bad part is that none of the goals were Vokoun's fault. He'd actually played well.
But the Caps finally started playing like a desperate team, and working hard. And the checking line was the one to start things going in the right direction, getting a goal from Ward and another from Wideman (with Laich and Ward assisting; if there had been a third assist, it would have gone to TVo, who had wisely iced the puck to Ward).
That left the Caps down a goal with a period to play, so things weren't looking too bad. Not great, but not terrible.
Just over nine minutes in, though, things were looking a bit worse. The Ducks got a power play, which started out looking very good for the Caps. But they got the puck into the zone, and put it in the net in a scrum with Vokoun down.
So things were definitely not going well, but the team was still working hard, and was getting quite a few chances. Two and a half minutes later, they finally buried one of those chances. Brouwer got the goal, assisted by Erskine and Wideman. The weird part of that whole setup is that Brouwers line-mates at the time were Perreault and ... Hendricks, I think.
The team kept working hard, but time was winding down. They did get a power play when Fowler accidentally shot the puck over the glass when trying to clear, but they looked really bad on that man advantage. But they finally managed to tie the game with less than a minute left, after pulling Vokoun. Backstrom did the honors, with Chimmer and Laich getting the assists.
In overtime, the play was fairly even, going up and down steadily. But the Caps were the ones to finally convert, with Backstrom again potting the vulcanized rubber (helped by OV and Schultz).
For the most part, the Caps actually looked quite good throughout this game. The two first-period defensive breakdowns were very frustrating. I wonder if Selanne's second period goal should also be considered a defensive breakdown, although not as bad a one as those in the first.
We are definitely missing Green. I thought we wouldn't be (well, not a huge amount, anyway), because we're so deep on defense (Erskine, for all his flaws, is excellent as a seventh defenseman, if, perhaps, a little expensive for that role). I thought, with Carlson, WIdeman, and Hamr, that we wouldn't have any trouble moving the puck up-ice. But with Wideman and Hamr mostly playing together, we're left with a third pairing that has a lot of trouble dealing with a strong forecheck. And the other pairings have been far from flawless, as well. I'm a little puzzled, really.
In any event, the good part is that the team was working hard through the game, never sitting back on their heels. Even at three-nil, they showed no signs of discouragement, and were rewarded for it.
All four lines looked good, at times. Eakin looked ready to contribute to the big club. I don't think he'll spend a lot of time up (and I'm not sure he should, particularly without significant injuries), but he looked ready for it. His line generated some very nice chances, and he was definitely part of that.
Perreault still looked very good. He was having a bit of trouble with the Ducks' size, but he was still making it work, and playing well at both ends.
Half the defense was on the scoresheet, which is nice. But they also hung TVo out to dry several times, which isn't. I'm not sure what to make of them, as a whole. I definitely don't want to see Alzner and Carlson split up again. Let's chalk that up as a failed experiment (for which I'm still not seeing the reason why), and move on.
The important part, though, is that we got the standings points we needed. And with the Ducks being out of conference, I don't much care about their consolation point. So things are good, I guess.
I just hope that Green's back for the Canes on Friday, the team is just a lot less dangerous without him.
The play was not pretty, particularly at the start. The Caps were doing ok, although they were spending way more time in their own zone than you'd prefer.. To make matters worse, there were two defensive breakdowns between Hamr and Wideman that led to goals by the Selanne line.
Actually, this morning, I took a peek back at Selanne's numbers. I've always liked him, and I knew he'd had a good year, last year. So I was wondering how he was doing this year. Answer: pretty good. And tonight he was the wrecking crew with a pair each of goals and assists (I imagine he's probably among the league leaders at the moment). Ugh. Good for him, but I wish he'd picked a different night.
In any event, at the end of the first, the Caps were down 2-0, but looking decent outside of those breakdowns.
The Caps came out looking pretty good, but weren't able to score before Selanne got his second goal, nine minutes in. A cross-ice pass found him alone in the circle with an open net, and he buried it, as you'd expect.
At this point, Anaheim had three goals on less than eleven shots. The really bad part is that none of the goals were Vokoun's fault. He'd actually played well.
But the Caps finally started playing like a desperate team, and working hard. And the checking line was the one to start things going in the right direction, getting a goal from Ward and another from Wideman (with Laich and Ward assisting; if there had been a third assist, it would have gone to TVo, who had wisely iced the puck to Ward).
That left the Caps down a goal with a period to play, so things weren't looking too bad. Not great, but not terrible.
Just over nine minutes in, though, things were looking a bit worse. The Ducks got a power play, which started out looking very good for the Caps. But they got the puck into the zone, and put it in the net in a scrum with Vokoun down.
So things were definitely not going well, but the team was still working hard, and was getting quite a few chances. Two and a half minutes later, they finally buried one of those chances. Brouwer got the goal, assisted by Erskine and Wideman. The weird part of that whole setup is that Brouwers line-mates at the time were Perreault and ... Hendricks, I think.
The team kept working hard, but time was winding down. They did get a power play when Fowler accidentally shot the puck over the glass when trying to clear, but they looked really bad on that man advantage. But they finally managed to tie the game with less than a minute left, after pulling Vokoun. Backstrom did the honors, with Chimmer and Laich getting the assists.
In overtime, the play was fairly even, going up and down steadily. But the Caps were the ones to finally convert, with Backstrom again potting the vulcanized rubber (helped by OV and Schultz).
For the most part, the Caps actually looked quite good throughout this game. The two first-period defensive breakdowns were very frustrating. I wonder if Selanne's second period goal should also be considered a defensive breakdown, although not as bad a one as those in the first.
We are definitely missing Green. I thought we wouldn't be (well, not a huge amount, anyway), because we're so deep on defense (Erskine, for all his flaws, is excellent as a seventh defenseman, if, perhaps, a little expensive for that role). I thought, with Carlson, WIdeman, and Hamr, that we wouldn't have any trouble moving the puck up-ice. But with Wideman and Hamr mostly playing together, we're left with a third pairing that has a lot of trouble dealing with a strong forecheck. And the other pairings have been far from flawless, as well. I'm a little puzzled, really.
In any event, the good part is that the team was working hard through the game, never sitting back on their heels. Even at three-nil, they showed no signs of discouragement, and were rewarded for it.
All four lines looked good, at times. Eakin looked ready to contribute to the big club. I don't think he'll spend a lot of time up (and I'm not sure he should, particularly without significant injuries), but he looked ready for it. His line generated some very nice chances, and he was definitely part of that.
Perreault still looked very good. He was having a bit of trouble with the Ducks' size, but he was still making it work, and playing well at both ends.
Half the defense was on the scoresheet, which is nice. But they also hung TVo out to dry several times, which isn't. I'm not sure what to make of them, as a whole. I definitely don't want to see Alzner and Carlson split up again. Let's chalk that up as a failed experiment (for which I'm still not seeing the reason why), and move on.
The important part, though, is that we got the standings points we needed. And with the Ducks being out of conference, I don't much care about their consolation point. So things are good, I guess.
I just hope that Green's back for the Canes on Friday, the team is just a lot less dangerous without him.
20111020
That felt good
The Caps and Flyers game tonight was quite a roller coaster. The first eighteen minutes or so of the game was being pretty solidly dominated by the Flyers. Their forecheck was so good the Caps were regularly having trouble clearing the zone after getting the puck hiding behind their own net. It was pretty frustrating to watch. The shots were actually pretty even, which surprised me when it was pointed out, because it didn't feel even.
And when Giroux got a breakaway during 4-on-4 play which he buried, I was feeling very down. But at least it was only 1-0.
Well, things started looking better just before the end of the period. A good forecheck on our part got Perreault the puck above the circles; he skated over to the side a bit and, seeing both of his line-mates screening the goalie, threw it towards the net. A lucky bounce off a defenseman put it in the net to tie things up. The Caps had it in the zone again a minute later, and Backstrom drove towards the net from behind. His stuff attempt failed, but bounced right to OV on the doorstep, and he buried it.
So things were looking much better going into the second. The second played out pretty evenly, perhaps with a slight edge to the Caps. But there wasn't any scoring, so I was still on edge. The disallowed goal didn't help with that, either. Having to wait a bit to put my daughter to bed, and hence to wait to watch the third period was not helping my peace of mind.
Two minutes in, all hell broke loose. It started when Hamr had the puck at the point, and threw it towards the net. This one also deflected off a defenseman's stick and found the back of the net. A minute later, on the power play, Backstrom passed it to OV in the middle of the defensive box, and he shot it at the net. This one also deflected off a defenseman's stick (and was helped by a nice screen), and found the top of the net. Just about a minute later, Schultz shot it from the point and Ward got a really nice deflection that put it into the top corner.
By that point, the game was, for all intents and purposes, over. The Caps were pretty much content to sit back and wait for it to end. Normally, that drives me batty, but with a four-goal lead, I wasn't too upset.
Vokoun did have to stand on his head a few times to preserve that lead, but he did hold it until there were only fourteen ticks left, so it was all good.
You'd think I'd be thrilled with a three-goal win, but I'm merely pleased. There was a lot of luck involved, with those shots going off the defense and into the goal. None were nearly as fluky as the one that deflected off Green and in (against Tampa, I think), but any of them might well have been stopped without the deflection.
Also, the Caps did end up with a sizeable power play edge, but the edge should have been even larger. The embellishment call on Semin and the interference call on OV both blew my mind. I think there was one other that the Caps did get away with (although I can't remember, other than that I remember thinking they'd gotten away with one), but there could have easily been another eight minutes of power plays for the Caps. OV was tripped three times in the first period, with no calls, and a high stick that broke Laich's nose was only a two-minute penalty. There were also a couple of hits that looked like elbows to the face.
One good thing: there weren't any huge defensive miscues in this game (well, maybe the out-of-zone breakdown that led to a three-on-one, but Alzner and Vokoun took that one in stride) leading to easy goals. But the puck advancement has not been as good as expected.
The 6-0 start is really nice, but the luck is going to go the other way at some point. Still, can't complain about racking up points at this stage of the game. Really, this team can't prove anything until the playoffs. But it's nice to be in the catbird seat for now.
Update: I forgot to mention how good it felt to be able to hear the cheering from the crowd
when the last two Caps goals were scored. Sweet.
And when Giroux got a breakaway during 4-on-4 play which he buried, I was feeling very down. But at least it was only 1-0.
Well, things started looking better just before the end of the period. A good forecheck on our part got Perreault the puck above the circles; he skated over to the side a bit and, seeing both of his line-mates screening the goalie, threw it towards the net. A lucky bounce off a defenseman put it in the net to tie things up. The Caps had it in the zone again a minute later, and Backstrom drove towards the net from behind. His stuff attempt failed, but bounced right to OV on the doorstep, and he buried it.
So things were looking much better going into the second. The second played out pretty evenly, perhaps with a slight edge to the Caps. But there wasn't any scoring, so I was still on edge. The disallowed goal didn't help with that, either. Having to wait a bit to put my daughter to bed, and hence to wait to watch the third period was not helping my peace of mind.
Two minutes in, all hell broke loose. It started when Hamr had the puck at the point, and threw it towards the net. This one also deflected off a defenseman's stick and found the back of the net. A minute later, on the power play, Backstrom passed it to OV in the middle of the defensive box, and he shot it at the net. This one also deflected off a defenseman's stick (and was helped by a nice screen), and found the top of the net. Just about a minute later, Schultz shot it from the point and Ward got a really nice deflection that put it into the top corner.
By that point, the game was, for all intents and purposes, over. The Caps were pretty much content to sit back and wait for it to end. Normally, that drives me batty, but with a four-goal lead, I wasn't too upset.
Vokoun did have to stand on his head a few times to preserve that lead, but he did hold it until there were only fourteen ticks left, so it was all good.
You'd think I'd be thrilled with a three-goal win, but I'm merely pleased. There was a lot of luck involved, with those shots going off the defense and into the goal. None were nearly as fluky as the one that deflected off Green and in (against Tampa, I think), but any of them might well have been stopped without the deflection.
Also, the Caps did end up with a sizeable power play edge, but the edge should have been even larger. The embellishment call on Semin and the interference call on OV both blew my mind. I think there was one other that the Caps did get away with (although I can't remember, other than that I remember thinking they'd gotten away with one), but there could have easily been another eight minutes of power plays for the Caps. OV was tripped three times in the first period, with no calls, and a high stick that broke Laich's nose was only a two-minute penalty. There were also a couple of hits that looked like elbows to the face.
One good thing: there weren't any huge defensive miscues in this game (well, maybe the out-of-zone breakdown that led to a three-on-one, but Alzner and Vokoun took that one in stride) leading to easy goals. But the puck advancement has not been as good as expected.
The 6-0 start is really nice, but the luck is going to go the other way at some point. Still, can't complain about racking up points at this stage of the game. Really, this team can't prove anything until the playoffs. But it's nice to be in the catbird seat for now.
Update: I forgot to mention how good it felt to be able to hear the cheering from the crowd
when the last two Caps goals were scored. Sweet.
20111018
Finally, one to be proud of
The Caps really wanted this one; they came out firing, and determined to take it to the Panthers. And they did. They maintained pressure steadily through the period; I was surprised when they finished the period with so few shots. But they did manage to take a 1-0 lead when MarJo slipped it through the pads of his friend, Markstrom, on the power play.
As has generally been the case this season, the third line led the way, shutting down Florida's top line and getting chances of their own. In fact, they started a beautiful sequence towards the end of the period where the Caps kept the puck in the offensive zone for a minute and a half or two minutes. I can't remember if they managed one or two shift changes while keeping it in; but it was a thing of beauty.
Florida, perhaps encouraged by being down by only one, despite being solidly outplayed, came out flying to start the second. I was worried that the team was going to just mail it in the rest of the game, as the Cats kept the pressure up pretty steadily for five minutes or so. But the Caps rocked back from their heels, and started throwing their own punches (metaphorically), playing steadily for the rest of the period.
And in the third, they got things going quickly, with Semin putting one just over Markstrom's arm, hitting the inside edge of the post on the way into the net. That was less than two minutes in, and pretty much set the tone. Despite Florida being pretty desperate, the Caps continued to outplay them for the rest of the period, limiting Florida's chances while generating a number of their own.
And with a minute left, Chimmer put the last nail in the coffin, backhanding one into the empty net from the red line. Hands of stone? I've certainly said it before, but this line is making the most of his talents, and I'm loving to see it. I don't think he'll continue to lead the team in goals for long, but that's ok. If they continue to solidly shut down the other team's top line, I don't care if he doesn't score another goal this season. And if he does continue to score, well, that's just some very tasty gravy.
And to revisit some of my earlier comments, I was concerned that we might be paying too much for Ward, based on one really good playoffs, but I'm loving his game. He works hard, he's a beast on the boards, and he plays smart. I wouldn't call it pretty, but I'm already tempted to get a jersey (though I think I'll stick with my original plan to get an Alzner one, instead). Of course, the season is still young enough for "small sample size" to be a reasonable concern, but I'm not basing it on a few big events, just lots of little ones. So hopefully that isn't the case.
Other than that, Carlson and Alzner continue to be awesome. One thing that was a bit weird was that Alzner was the one getting shots off tonight, but that certainly isn't a major thing.
OV wasn't looking too good for most of the game. In fact, through the first two periods (I think that's when it changed), he seemed disinterested when not on the attack. As in, he would immediately start coasting as soon as the puck turned over, even if it was close to him. He looked much better in the third, so maybe he got a good talking to about his effort. And hopefully, it will carry over to future games.
MarJo looked pretty good, although he didn't get nearly as many chances as I expected. And I was disappointed when, in the middle of the first, he got a clean run down the outside of the offensive zone, but didn't go for the wraparound. I forget what he did do, but I remember that it didn't work.
Perreault looked pretty good, although he didn't get much ice time, either (the least on the team by quite a bit). I wish he'd get more chances; as I said, he looked good when he was out there.
Hamr didn't look all that great when he was out there. He had some nice blocks of shots, but he was kind of all over the zone when playing defense. He's the only Caps defender I saw playing above the circles in the D-zone. Hopefully, he only did it the one time I noticed, because if he's been doing that, then we know why he's been on the ice for so many goals against. He also took a pretty foolish penalty trying to stop a rush when there were already others back.
Finally, let's get to the man of the night, Mr Clean-sheet Vokoun. He looked great stopping shots; he scared me a couple of times with his stick-work (I thought he was going to lose the stick one time he stuck it out), but was fabulous when facing shots. He was even ready to stop a weird bounce off the end-boards that led to a sudden, close-in shot. So I'm glad to see him get the shutout; hopefully the first of many.
And let's also give a shout-out to Markstrom, who got his first NHL start tonight. He lost, but only allowed two goals on thirty-one shots (some of which were really tough). He should be proud of the performance, as should Panthers fans.
So now we wait for the first game of the season with the Flyers, on Thursday. They're only one point behind the Caps in the standings, and probably deserve their record more than the Caps do. So it should be a pretty tight game, likely going into overtime again. But not if the Caps play like they did tonight. Time will tell.
As has generally been the case this season, the third line led the way, shutting down Florida's top line and getting chances of their own. In fact, they started a beautiful sequence towards the end of the period where the Caps kept the puck in the offensive zone for a minute and a half or two minutes. I can't remember if they managed one or two shift changes while keeping it in; but it was a thing of beauty.
Florida, perhaps encouraged by being down by only one, despite being solidly outplayed, came out flying to start the second. I was worried that the team was going to just mail it in the rest of the game, as the Cats kept the pressure up pretty steadily for five minutes or so. But the Caps rocked back from their heels, and started throwing their own punches (metaphorically), playing steadily for the rest of the period.
And in the third, they got things going quickly, with Semin putting one just over Markstrom's arm, hitting the inside edge of the post on the way into the net. That was less than two minutes in, and pretty much set the tone. Despite Florida being pretty desperate, the Caps continued to outplay them for the rest of the period, limiting Florida's chances while generating a number of their own.
And with a minute left, Chimmer put the last nail in the coffin, backhanding one into the empty net from the red line. Hands of stone? I've certainly said it before, but this line is making the most of his talents, and I'm loving to see it. I don't think he'll continue to lead the team in goals for long, but that's ok. If they continue to solidly shut down the other team's top line, I don't care if he doesn't score another goal this season. And if he does continue to score, well, that's just some very tasty gravy.
And to revisit some of my earlier comments, I was concerned that we might be paying too much for Ward, based on one really good playoffs, but I'm loving his game. He works hard, he's a beast on the boards, and he plays smart. I wouldn't call it pretty, but I'm already tempted to get a jersey (though I think I'll stick with my original plan to get an Alzner one, instead). Of course, the season is still young enough for "small sample size" to be a reasonable concern, but I'm not basing it on a few big events, just lots of little ones. So hopefully that isn't the case.
Other than that, Carlson and Alzner continue to be awesome. One thing that was a bit weird was that Alzner was the one getting shots off tonight, but that certainly isn't a major thing.
OV wasn't looking too good for most of the game. In fact, through the first two periods (I think that's when it changed), he seemed disinterested when not on the attack. As in, he would immediately start coasting as soon as the puck turned over, even if it was close to him. He looked much better in the third, so maybe he got a good talking to about his effort. And hopefully, it will carry over to future games.
MarJo looked pretty good, although he didn't get nearly as many chances as I expected. And I was disappointed when, in the middle of the first, he got a clean run down the outside of the offensive zone, but didn't go for the wraparound. I forget what he did do, but I remember that it didn't work.
Perreault looked pretty good, although he didn't get much ice time, either (the least on the team by quite a bit). I wish he'd get more chances; as I said, he looked good when he was out there.
Hamr didn't look all that great when he was out there. He had some nice blocks of shots, but he was kind of all over the zone when playing defense. He's the only Caps defender I saw playing above the circles in the D-zone. Hopefully, he only did it the one time I noticed, because if he's been doing that, then we know why he's been on the ice for so many goals against. He also took a pretty foolish penalty trying to stop a rush when there were already others back.
Finally, let's get to the man of the night, Mr Clean-sheet Vokoun. He looked great stopping shots; he scared me a couple of times with his stick-work (I thought he was going to lose the stick one time he stuck it out), but was fabulous when facing shots. He was even ready to stop a weird bounce off the end-boards that led to a sudden, close-in shot. So I'm glad to see him get the shutout; hopefully the first of many.
And let's also give a shout-out to Markstrom, who got his first NHL start tonight. He lost, but only allowed two goals on thirty-one shots (some of which were really tough). He should be proud of the performance, as should Panthers fans.
So now we wait for the first game of the season with the Flyers, on Thursday. They're only one point behind the Caps in the standings, and probably deserve their record more than the Caps do. So it should be a pretty tight game, likely going into overtime again. But not if the Caps play like they did tonight. Time will tell.
20111010
Greased Lightnin'
This was a really frustrating game to watch. The Caps were absolutely dominating this game, from start to finish. They were keeping the play in the offensive zone, the checking line was bottling up Stamkos and St Louis (and scoring), MarJo was flying, and yet the score kept being tied.
The first goal allowed was a total fluke, as the puck was thrown to the front of the net from the corner, it bounced off the back of Green's leg, and into the top of the net. Definitely getting things off on the wrong foot for Vokoun, making his team debut. The second was a bad play by Vokoun on a shot from about the same spot that went in off of him. Then the defense forgot to mark someone right between the circles. Then there was a pretty nice deflection where Vokoun was utterly screened. Finally, Tampa got another one with around seven minutes left from about the same spot in the corner (same end of the ice, too, for what that's worth).
Really, the Caps should have won this game by at least three; it was that lopsided. But the complete fluke, along with the bad (regulation) game by Vokoun, sent the game into overtime at five apiece.
To review the Caps, the Chimmer-Laich-Ward line was freakin' awesome again. They kept the Stamkos/St Louis line off the scoreboard and mostly in their own end, and even tossed in a pair of goals (both by Chimmer. What are the odds?). I'm definitely loving that line, and hope Boudreau doesn't start feeling the need to toy with it. They don't try to do anything fancy (one goal was off a deflection from Laich's power move to the net, the other off a strong forecheck led to a juicy turnover), but they're working hard and just dominating play.
MarJo had a great game, getting a very nice goal (on his second shift, I think) and an assist, as well as drawing two penalties. He keeps playing like that, and he ain't never getting sent down again. And, with him driving, the second line looked very good. And Brouwer got a goal deflecting a shot from Sarge, so that was good to see.
With MarJo back in, Perreault was dropped down to the fourth line, along with Hendricks and Halpern (hmm... Haliceault line?), and they mostly looked good as well. They assisted on Wideman's goal, and I believe they weren't on for any against, and that's what you're looking to get out of a fourth line. Matty P looked a bit out of his element (that is, he looked like he was having to think about where he was supposed to go more than usual), but actually did a good job. Was glad to see it, because I wasn't sure how good a fit that was for him.
Overall, the top line was actually the weakest one for the team. I hope that doesn't happen too often, because they shouldn't ever be the drag on the team. I wonder if they were just trying to hard to throw their bodies around, because they did have some very nice hits, but...
And I forgot to call out Backstrom for his excellent game the other night. He still looked pretty good tonight, but the line just wasn't getting it done. Some of that was bad luck; they did have some very nice chances that they couldn't quite convert. But they just weren't driving play like I'm used to them doing. Or maybe I'm just getting hung up on their lack of finishing tonight; I certainly hope so. But they definitely weren't at the top of their game.
Anyway, overtime was a bit of a mess, with MarJo doing a nice job drawing his second penalty (which, incidentally, should have been his third; a high stick he took was missed). The power play didn't look great, as it allowed a chance the other way, and a possible second one was called on account of a hooking penalty. The penalty kill was decent, although Vokoun was excellent on the ensuing penalty (and the penalty after, as they got called for too many men right as the first penalty was expiring).
So we ended up with a shootout. Hendricks started, and I figured his trick was about at the end of it's life, but it worked again as he left Roloson undressed. OV followed, doing the wide left move that is, I think, his strongest approach. But he couldn't quite keep the puck from rolling when he went backhand, and put it into the side of the net. Semin went last, after Vokoun stopped both intervening Tampa shots (a bit contemptuously on the second, I thought). And he just screamed straight down at the net, only veering a little bit after he got Roli to half-heartedly try a poke check (he was going fast enough that the poke never actually came, but Roli had changed his grip for the attempt, which left almost the entire side of the net empty).
So the Caps take the second game on the gimmick. I'm liking their four points, so far, but wishing they weren't giving the opposition points, especially with both game inside the division.
So, once again, we see a lot (actually, a LOT) of potential, but some really uneven play as well. I gotta think, with the way Boudreau usually treats his goalies, that we're now going to be seeing Neuvy against Pittsburgh on Thursday.
And I really hope the top line can put it together. While the rest of the team bailed them out tonight, the team just ain't going to go far without eighty or ninety goals out of that top line.
Oh, and special teams... I actually thought the power play looked better tonight, even though they didn't convert at all. They were doing a much better job moving around, and pulling the defense out of shape (except for that last power play, in overtime), and that's what's going to lead to goals.
The PK was excellent. They allowed a bit more zone time on the first penalty, than I would prefer, but were killing it in the second. And they did a good job hanging in against a tough power play in the overtime. So I'm pretty pleased with that.
So, two down, eighty to go. And Pittsburgh is on tap.
The first goal allowed was a total fluke, as the puck was thrown to the front of the net from the corner, it bounced off the back of Green's leg, and into the top of the net. Definitely getting things off on the wrong foot for Vokoun, making his team debut. The second was a bad play by Vokoun on a shot from about the same spot that went in off of him. Then the defense forgot to mark someone right between the circles. Then there was a pretty nice deflection where Vokoun was utterly screened. Finally, Tampa got another one with around seven minutes left from about the same spot in the corner (same end of the ice, too, for what that's worth).
Really, the Caps should have won this game by at least three; it was that lopsided. But the complete fluke, along with the bad (regulation) game by Vokoun, sent the game into overtime at five apiece.
To review the Caps, the Chimmer-Laich-Ward line was freakin' awesome again. They kept the Stamkos/St Louis line off the scoreboard and mostly in their own end, and even tossed in a pair of goals (both by Chimmer. What are the odds?). I'm definitely loving that line, and hope Boudreau doesn't start feeling the need to toy with it. They don't try to do anything fancy (one goal was off a deflection from Laich's power move to the net, the other off a strong forecheck led to a juicy turnover), but they're working hard and just dominating play.
MarJo had a great game, getting a very nice goal (on his second shift, I think) and an assist, as well as drawing two penalties. He keeps playing like that, and he ain't never getting sent down again. And, with him driving, the second line looked very good. And Brouwer got a goal deflecting a shot from Sarge, so that was good to see.
With MarJo back in, Perreault was dropped down to the fourth line, along with Hendricks and Halpern (hmm... Haliceault line?), and they mostly looked good as well. They assisted on Wideman's goal, and I believe they weren't on for any against, and that's what you're looking to get out of a fourth line. Matty P looked a bit out of his element (that is, he looked like he was having to think about where he was supposed to go more than usual), but actually did a good job. Was glad to see it, because I wasn't sure how good a fit that was for him.
Overall, the top line was actually the weakest one for the team. I hope that doesn't happen too often, because they shouldn't ever be the drag on the team. I wonder if they were just trying to hard to throw their bodies around, because they did have some very nice hits, but...
And I forgot to call out Backstrom for his excellent game the other night. He still looked pretty good tonight, but the line just wasn't getting it done. Some of that was bad luck; they did have some very nice chances that they couldn't quite convert. But they just weren't driving play like I'm used to them doing. Or maybe I'm just getting hung up on their lack of finishing tonight; I certainly hope so. But they definitely weren't at the top of their game.
Anyway, overtime was a bit of a mess, with MarJo doing a nice job drawing his second penalty (which, incidentally, should have been his third; a high stick he took was missed). The power play didn't look great, as it allowed a chance the other way, and a possible second one was called on account of a hooking penalty. The penalty kill was decent, although Vokoun was excellent on the ensuing penalty (and the penalty after, as they got called for too many men right as the first penalty was expiring).
So we ended up with a shootout. Hendricks started, and I figured his trick was about at the end of it's life, but it worked again as he left Roloson undressed. OV followed, doing the wide left move that is, I think, his strongest approach. But he couldn't quite keep the puck from rolling when he went backhand, and put it into the side of the net. Semin went last, after Vokoun stopped both intervening Tampa shots (a bit contemptuously on the second, I thought). And he just screamed straight down at the net, only veering a little bit after he got Roli to half-heartedly try a poke check (he was going fast enough that the poke never actually came, but Roli had changed his grip for the attempt, which left almost the entire side of the net empty).
So the Caps take the second game on the gimmick. I'm liking their four points, so far, but wishing they weren't giving the opposition points, especially with both game inside the division.
So, once again, we see a lot (actually, a LOT) of potential, but some really uneven play as well. I gotta think, with the way Boudreau usually treats his goalies, that we're now going to be seeing Neuvy against Pittsburgh on Thursday.
And I really hope the top line can put it together. While the rest of the team bailed them out tonight, the team just ain't going to go far without eighty or ninety goals out of that top line.
Oh, and special teams... I actually thought the power play looked better tonight, even though they didn't convert at all. They were doing a much better job moving around, and pulling the defense out of shape (except for that last power play, in overtime), and that's what's going to lead to goals.
The PK was excellent. They allowed a bit more zone time on the first penalty, than I would prefer, but were killing it in the second. And they did a good job hanging in against a tough power play in the overtime. So I'm pretty pleased with that.
So, two down, eighty to go. And Pittsburgh is on tap.
20111008
Green-Winning Goal
Finally finished watching the opener on a bit of a delay. A very uneven game, all the way around. The defense looked pretty good, but it had several very large breakdowns leading to someone all by themself on Neuvy's left with no defender in sight. I suppose there's a small caveat that all of those breakdowns occurred with Carolina having a man advantage (three power plays and once with the goalie pulled).
But, while it's easier to have that sort of breakdown with an extra person to keep track of, it's even more important to not let it happen, as evidenced by the three goals allowed on those four plays (and the fourth was inches away).
So, three goals allowed, but Neuvy can't be faulted with any of them. He played a very solid game. Nothing spectacular, but he was in position and didn't allow any soft goals.
We've already covered most of the defensive side, but I wanted to note that Carlson had quite an up-and-down game. He took both of the penalties that led to Staal goals on the power play (two of those breakdowns), but, in between, he had a really sweet break-out pass to spring Semin in alone for a tying goal. Green looked very good (apart from being part of the breakdown on the first Staal goal), and finished with the overtime goal.
On the forward side, I liked the line selection. I'm not sure I wouldn't rather see Brouwer with OV and Backster, but that's a minor quibble (especially since Knuble looked very good on that wing). The very expensive third line (Chimmer, Ward, Laich) looked very good, wearing down the top line by making them work hard in their own end. The second line did pretty well; as mentioned, Semin had the Caps first goal and mostly played well (he did take a bad penalty at the end of regulation, however). Perreault also looked very good on that line, with several excellent chances (and even one or two good back-checking plays). The fourth line pretty quietly did their job as well.
Laich also had a nice goal off a missed shot by OV (although it took a 5-on-3 to get it).
Chimmer surprised me with a goal where Ward's pass sprung him behind the D, and he potted it over Boucher. I was less surprised to see, on the replay, that his shot went off the shaft of his stick. We'll certainly take it, though. And if he can consistently get chances like that, I certainly won't complain about his lack of finishing ability. (Still confused about the contract extension, though.)
Special teams? The PK did not look very good, for the most part. Two goals surrendered, which is bad enough, but also got pinned down for a minute and a half on one power play (though they managed not to surrender a goal on that possession, somehow).
The power play had two goals, but still did not look all that great, overall. The results were good, but the methodology wasn't. They still need to move around more (although I think they did improve on that a little bit); both goals were somewhat fluky. The first, as I mentioned, was a missed shot off the boards that bounced right to Brooks (nice hands by him, though); the second was a shot from the point that trickled through.
Anyway, as I said, an uneven game, but, happily, we'll take the win. I'll feel a lot better when the D starts meshing better, although the talent is certainly there.
Oh yes, and I should mention that Beagle, who I did not think should be playing (would have preferred MarJo on the third, with Chimmer bumped back to the fourth), still had a pretty decent game. In particular, he had a couple of nice forechecking plays, so we'll look for that to continue.
Plus, we'll hope that OV's thumb isn't in too bad a shape after the slash he took to get the 5-on-3.
So, overall, definitely some things to work on, but a good result.
But, while it's easier to have that sort of breakdown with an extra person to keep track of, it's even more important to not let it happen, as evidenced by the three goals allowed on those four plays (and the fourth was inches away).
So, three goals allowed, but Neuvy can't be faulted with any of them. He played a very solid game. Nothing spectacular, but he was in position and didn't allow any soft goals.
We've already covered most of the defensive side, but I wanted to note that Carlson had quite an up-and-down game. He took both of the penalties that led to Staal goals on the power play (two of those breakdowns), but, in between, he had a really sweet break-out pass to spring Semin in alone for a tying goal. Green looked very good (apart from being part of the breakdown on the first Staal goal), and finished with the overtime goal.
On the forward side, I liked the line selection. I'm not sure I wouldn't rather see Brouwer with OV and Backster, but that's a minor quibble (especially since Knuble looked very good on that wing). The very expensive third line (Chimmer, Ward, Laich) looked very good, wearing down the top line by making them work hard in their own end. The second line did pretty well; as mentioned, Semin had the Caps first goal and mostly played well (he did take a bad penalty at the end of regulation, however). Perreault also looked very good on that line, with several excellent chances (and even one or two good back-checking plays). The fourth line pretty quietly did their job as well.
Laich also had a nice goal off a missed shot by OV (although it took a 5-on-3 to get it).
Chimmer surprised me with a goal where Ward's pass sprung him behind the D, and he potted it over Boucher. I was less surprised to see, on the replay, that his shot went off the shaft of his stick. We'll certainly take it, though. And if he can consistently get chances like that, I certainly won't complain about his lack of finishing ability. (Still confused about the contract extension, though.)
Special teams? The PK did not look very good, for the most part. Two goals surrendered, which is bad enough, but also got pinned down for a minute and a half on one power play (though they managed not to surrender a goal on that possession, somehow).
The power play had two goals, but still did not look all that great, overall. The results were good, but the methodology wasn't. They still need to move around more (although I think they did improve on that a little bit); both goals were somewhat fluky. The first, as I mentioned, was a missed shot off the boards that bounced right to Brooks (nice hands by him, though); the second was a shot from the point that trickled through.
Anyway, as I said, an uneven game, but, happily, we'll take the win. I'll feel a lot better when the D starts meshing better, although the talent is certainly there.
Oh yes, and I should mention that Beagle, who I did not think should be playing (would have preferred MarJo on the third, with Chimmer bumped back to the fourth), still had a pretty decent game. In particular, he had a couple of nice forechecking plays, so we'll look for that to continue.
Plus, we'll hope that OV's thumb isn't in too bad a shape after the slash he took to get the 5-on-3.
So, overall, definitely some things to work on, but a good result.
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