[I wrote most of this yesterday, just didn't post it because I wasn't able to check my facts until today.]
It almost felt like deja vu, watching the last two games. The scoring arc in both was identical, with the Caps taking 2-0 leads, getting tied up at two, then winning via the gimmick.
But the games were very different, outside of that. In the Boston game, the Caps were badly outplayed in the first period (I'm not sure how much of that was driven by Chimmer's major, though that was obviously a significant factor), and relied on excellent goaltending by TVo (and Neuvy, after TVo left upon aggravating his injury) to keep in the game. In fact, the Caps only got two shots (neither of which looked especially threatening) and one scoring chance in the period. Like I said, it was pretty bad.
The second period was almost dead even, in both shots and scoring chances, and had a remarkably small number of each. And that led to the score being deadlocked at nothing.
The first half of the third period looked like the second period never ended, with no scoring and very few shots. But then the Caps finally got things started, with Wideman putting one over Thomas' shoulder (from OV and MarJo. MarJo made a great play on the boards to keep the puck and get it to Wides). Two minutes later, they got another from MarJo, with OV assisting on the 2-on-1. MarJo was trying so hard to get that shot off hard that he snapped his stick in the process, but it still went in. So things were looking great heading down to the wire.
But the Bruins added quite a bit of pressure, and finally broke through with about three minutes left, scoring on a deflection. And then, two minutes later, they tied it up on a fairly fluky goal (deflected off Alzner, IIRC (the replay on nhl.com is hard to tell). Not one of Alzner's better plays, because he also had the pass that Boston picked off to get possession of the puck). That goal occurred with just over a minute left, and that was the end of the scoring.
Five minutes of overtime went by with the Caps holding on (and Neuvy playing great), so things went to the gimmick.
I'd like to say that Hendricks got into Thomas' head by getting Thomas sprawling on the first fake, before calmly depositing it into the net. Certainly, Thomas very angrily tried to smack the puck over to the side of the rink afterwards. But he had no trouble with OV's five-hole attempt afterward. Semin went next, and just streaked down from center, towards his left, and put a backhand shot into the corner to give the Caps the win. Not much of a fake, just a perfectly-placed shot. Since Neuvy had stopped the first, and allowed the next two, it went to another round, with Neuvy stopping Peverley. Laich then finished it off with a backhand to the roof, also.
As I said, the Canadiens game played out a little differently. This time, the Caps took a very early lead (from Matty P, aided and abetted by Semin), and added to it twelve minutes later, with Beagle tipping in a pass from Hendricks. From there, the Caps just basically held on for dear life. They gave up one goal late in the first, as Pacioretty took advantage of Wideman's lack of footspeed.
They were pretty heavily outplayed in the second, a large factor of which was the impressive Montreal power play (only scoring at 10% lately, but looked nearly unstoppable against Washington. They had five shots in their first two opportunities (Washington took four PP opps to get that many), and five more in their third). The Caps were very lucky (well, that and Neuvy played extremely well) to not allow several more goals. But they escaped the period with only one goal allowed (a beautiful run down the wing by Plekanecs, leaving the third period to be played all even.
And nobody managed to score in that third period, as I alluded earlier, so the game went to overtime. And then to the shootout.
Things didn't seem like they were going to be starting out that great, as Budaj didn't budge at all on Hendricks fake (it was not as good as Hendy's usual. He usually has a lot of stick flex, but almost none, that time). But Hendy still managed to get it past him top-shelf. Again, OV was stoned. And again, Semin put it in, somehow. Since Washington went first, and Neuvy kept both Desharnais and Pacioretty out of the net, that was it for the win.
One thing I did find kind of funny, in an ironic way, was that Perreault was named the player of the game, but didn't even play in the overtime. I suspect that's the norm (him not playing in overtime), but I'd never noticed before. It doesn't seem like a great choice; the additional space created by playing 4-on-4 would seem to suit his game better than most.
The big news of the game actually came before the game started, as Backstrom finally returned from his concussion. And he had a pretty good game, despite not factoring into any of the scoring. He looked about the same as usual, really. It wouldn't surprise me if he was a little more tired than usual at the end, but he played nineteen minutes. And he was able to avoid any big hits, so that was good.
The other big news came after the game (or at least I didn't hear it until afterwards), when Buffalo lost to Toronto. So the Caps control their own destiny now, and even have a small chance to take the division, if Florida poops the bed. I'm feeling more optimistic, but still cautious.
Next up is Tampa. [cutting this off here, as the rest was out of date already.]
Showing posts with label wideman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wideman. Show all posts
20120403
20120115
The winds of stasis
Was out of the house most of the day today, so I wasn't able to watch the Caps/Canes game until night time. It was a fairly frustrating game to watch, but perhaps not as unbalanced as it seemed.
Once again, the Caps were badly outshot (more than doubled, in fact, and that's before you account for blocked shots). The one good thing I saw was that scoring chances actually managed (through each of the first two periods, at least), to be in the Caps favor (3-2 after one, and 9-6 after two). If they can manage to do that with regularity, I'll stop worrying about whether they outshoot the opposition (but I have significant doubts about whether that is even possible, let alone achievable).
But I didn't like them seeming to be content to sit back in a shell when up by one goal. Up by three? Ok, I can deal with that. But just up by a goal? That's just not a way to win a game against a good team.
The cycle game, so far, seems more an end in and of itself to these Caps, rather than a means to an end. That's another thing that has to change. They need to do it more often (they only managed a couple of times, today), and they need to generate offense off of it.
Another tendency I'm seeing, that I'm not liking, is a lack of killer instinct at the end of games. When the other team has pulled their netminder, they aren't looking to see if they can score. It just seems like they're playing really desperate back there, and just looking for wild clears any time they get the puck.
I'm certainly liking the win today, of course, but it really didn't give me good feelings about this team, going forward.
Also, Hamr and WIdeman were together again several times tonight. I'd rather not see those two on the ice at the same time (except, perhaps, on the power play). They were the ones on the ice when the puck went in, though the team was short-handed at the time.
The only other news of note on the blue line was that Dima (Orlov) finally put one in the net. It wasn't on his wicked(ly inaccurate) slap shot, but on a put-in (off the back of Cam Ward, I think) of a bouncing rebound of a shot by Chimmer.
Semin had the other goal, a really beautiful shot from the right circle that hit the bottom of the water bottle. He also put one off the post, earlier in the game.
Laich also had a goal, but it was disallowed due to incidental contact with the goalie (oddly, not called until the zebra herd converged after ruling a goal being scored).
OV had some nice chances, a couple of beautiful hits (he demolished Ruutu, in particular), and generally looked quite good.
TVo also looked very good, but I hope he rests in the next game or two. Nine in a row is five or six too many, in my book.
On the Carolina side, Skinner returned after missing 16 games with a concussion. He looked good, but what surprised me was he took a couple of cheap shots on Caps (including a very dangerous, uncalled trip that sent Wideman into the boards very awkwardly. He was lucky not to be hurt on the play).
The Caps special teams were not great, tonight. The PK, as mentioned, surrendered a goal on four chances (with five shots before the last power play; that's too many). The power play only had one chance, but it had no shots with very little zone time. It seemed like they gave the puck away a few seconds after getting into the zone. Repeatedly.
But they did manage to squeak out another one-goal victory (in regulation, even), so it isn't all bad. The standings points also put the Caps into the division lead (via tiebreakers), and the team's goal differential is finally positive. It's just not looking good, for the future, though.
We'll see if they can do a bit better when the Islanders come to town on Tuesday. Given their relative records, it should be an easy game for the Caps, but the Caps aren't exactly past masters of dominating the games they should win. They usually manage to come out flat, and play down to the opposition.
Once again, the Caps were badly outshot (more than doubled, in fact, and that's before you account for blocked shots). The one good thing I saw was that scoring chances actually managed (through each of the first two periods, at least), to be in the Caps favor (3-2 after one, and 9-6 after two). If they can manage to do that with regularity, I'll stop worrying about whether they outshoot the opposition (but I have significant doubts about whether that is even possible, let alone achievable).
But I didn't like them seeming to be content to sit back in a shell when up by one goal. Up by three? Ok, I can deal with that. But just up by a goal? That's just not a way to win a game against a good team.
The cycle game, so far, seems more an end in and of itself to these Caps, rather than a means to an end. That's another thing that has to change. They need to do it more often (they only managed a couple of times, today), and they need to generate offense off of it.
Another tendency I'm seeing, that I'm not liking, is a lack of killer instinct at the end of games. When the other team has pulled their netminder, they aren't looking to see if they can score. It just seems like they're playing really desperate back there, and just looking for wild clears any time they get the puck.
I'm certainly liking the win today, of course, but it really didn't give me good feelings about this team, going forward.
Also, Hamr and WIdeman were together again several times tonight. I'd rather not see those two on the ice at the same time (except, perhaps, on the power play). They were the ones on the ice when the puck went in, though the team was short-handed at the time.
The only other news of note on the blue line was that Dima (Orlov) finally put one in the net. It wasn't on his wicked(ly inaccurate) slap shot, but on a put-in (off the back of Cam Ward, I think) of a bouncing rebound of a shot by Chimmer.
Semin had the other goal, a really beautiful shot from the right circle that hit the bottom of the water bottle. He also put one off the post, earlier in the game.
Laich also had a goal, but it was disallowed due to incidental contact with the goalie (oddly, not called until the zebra herd converged after ruling a goal being scored).
OV had some nice chances, a couple of beautiful hits (he demolished Ruutu, in particular), and generally looked quite good.
TVo also looked very good, but I hope he rests in the next game or two. Nine in a row is five or six too many, in my book.
On the Carolina side, Skinner returned after missing 16 games with a concussion. He looked good, but what surprised me was he took a couple of cheap shots on Caps (including a very dangerous, uncalled trip that sent Wideman into the boards very awkwardly. He was lucky not to be hurt on the play).
The Caps special teams were not great, tonight. The PK, as mentioned, surrendered a goal on four chances (with five shots before the last power play; that's too many). The power play only had one chance, but it had no shots with very little zone time. It seemed like they gave the puck away a few seconds after getting into the zone. Repeatedly.
But they did manage to squeak out another one-goal victory (in regulation, even), so it isn't all bad. The standings points also put the Caps into the division lead (via tiebreakers), and the team's goal differential is finally positive. It's just not looking good, for the future, though.
We'll see if they can do a bit better when the Islanders come to town on Tuesday. Given their relative records, it should be an easy game for the Caps, but the Caps aren't exactly past masters of dominating the games they should win. They usually manage to come out flat, and play down to the opposition.
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.
20111231
Skatin' in Ohio
Tonight's Caps game definitely didn't play out the way they would have drawn it up in Columbus. They started strongly, and played very well for the first five to ten minutes. They didn't convert any chances, but things were looking good. But then they started sitting back too much, and suddenly the Blue Jackets were threatening a bit.
The period ended scoreless, with Columbus holding slight edges in shots (13-8) and scoring chances (3-2). That actually slightly understates Columbus' edge, though, as the Caps were way ahead in blocked shots.
And then the Caps seemed to fall asleep, or something. The second period started out bad, and ended putrid. The Jackets put two pucks in the net, the second with half a minute or so to go. They were only (hah! only) outshot 15-10, but the scoring chances were 7-2. And, again, the Caps led in blocked shots by a large margin, so again, the shots edge (and possibly the scoring chance edge) is understated.
Moore and Pahlsson did the honors, on scoring; both at even strength (the first power play didn't come until 9:34 of the third)
But the Caps came back in the third. Hunter shuffled the lines again, swapping OV and MarJo. The team started slow again, not doing much for the first few minutes, but they got some nice pressure four minutes in leading to OV finding the twine (I'm a little confused, because NHL.com lists it as unassisted, but I thought Wideman passed it to him. Looking at the replay there, it still looks like that was the case). Then Dima got in a fight with Clitsomea minute and a half later, leading to two minutes of 4-on-4. And the Caps definitely took advantage of that, with both Semin and Wideman adding tallies.
The Semin one was really nice; as he was getting the puck and skating into the center of the ice, I was thinking, "That's where I want the puck: on his stick". Before I'd even finished the thought, he'd put it over Mason's shoulder, and into the top corner. On replay, it looked like Mason never saw it; he was screened by the defenseman.
As I mentioned earlier, the first power play came in the middle of the third. And it went the Caps way, as Methot was whistled for holding OV.
And OV made him pay, taking a nice feed from Dima (who was skating behind the net) for a gorgeous rocket of a one-timer slapshot into the top corner. Given that it was coming from the middle of the circle, Mason never had a chance to react to it. And given that it went all the way into the corner, it probably wouldn't have mattered if he had. It was quite nice.
The Caps mostly settled back into playing defense for the rest of the game, which generally torques me, but it was a winning strategy tonight, as Columbus never got it into the net.
Overall, I wouldn't really call it a good game, as they were outplayed for at least half of the game (badly, for most of that), but the result was certainly nice. OV is looking better than he has in a season and a half, and is being more creative and varied. TVo looked very good, coming up big when they needed him. Wideman had a very nice game, with two or three points.
Schultz played almost ten minutes, with no drama, so maybe he's out of Hunter's dog house. Eakin was called up again, with Beagle and Perreault both unavailable. He only played 9:43; I didn't notice him doing anything particularly bad, but I seem to recall his line getting penned in the D zone several times. He only played two shifts in the third.
Ward might have gotten into the dog house; he was dropped to the fourth line, and played less than ten minutes (and the same two shifts in the third as Eakin and Hendricks).
Special teams was certainly good tonight; both units were perfect, though that's only two chances, combined. Definitely wouldn't read anything into it, especially since they were going against Columbus, who's near the bottom of the league on both sides of special teams, but it was still nice to see.
Anyway, they've now got a small winning streak to take home to face Calgary on Tuesday. Let's hope it can be continued.
The period ended scoreless, with Columbus holding slight edges in shots (13-8) and scoring chances (3-2). That actually slightly understates Columbus' edge, though, as the Caps were way ahead in blocked shots.
And then the Caps seemed to fall asleep, or something. The second period started out bad, and ended putrid. The Jackets put two pucks in the net, the second with half a minute or so to go. They were only (hah! only) outshot 15-10, but the scoring chances were 7-2. And, again, the Caps led in blocked shots by a large margin, so again, the shots edge (and possibly the scoring chance edge) is understated.
Moore and Pahlsson did the honors, on scoring; both at even strength (the first power play didn't come until 9:34 of the third)
But the Caps came back in the third. Hunter shuffled the lines again, swapping OV and MarJo. The team started slow again, not doing much for the first few minutes, but they got some nice pressure four minutes in leading to OV finding the twine (I'm a little confused, because NHL.com lists it as unassisted, but I thought Wideman passed it to him. Looking at the replay there, it still looks like that was the case). Then Dima got in a fight with Clitsomea minute and a half later, leading to two minutes of 4-on-4. And the Caps definitely took advantage of that, with both Semin and Wideman adding tallies.
The Semin one was really nice; as he was getting the puck and skating into the center of the ice, I was thinking, "That's where I want the puck: on his stick". Before I'd even finished the thought, he'd put it over Mason's shoulder, and into the top corner. On replay, it looked like Mason never saw it; he was screened by the defenseman.
As I mentioned earlier, the first power play came in the middle of the third. And it went the Caps way, as Methot was whistled for holding OV.
And OV made him pay, taking a nice feed from Dima (who was skating behind the net) for a gorgeous rocket of a one-timer slapshot into the top corner. Given that it was coming from the middle of the circle, Mason never had a chance to react to it. And given that it went all the way into the corner, it probably wouldn't have mattered if he had. It was quite nice.
The Caps mostly settled back into playing defense for the rest of the game, which generally torques me, but it was a winning strategy tonight, as Columbus never got it into the net.
Overall, I wouldn't really call it a good game, as they were outplayed for at least half of the game (badly, for most of that), but the result was certainly nice. OV is looking better than he has in a season and a half, and is being more creative and varied. TVo looked very good, coming up big when they needed him. Wideman had a very nice game, with two or three points.
Schultz played almost ten minutes, with no drama, so maybe he's out of Hunter's dog house. Eakin was called up again, with Beagle and Perreault both unavailable. He only played 9:43; I didn't notice him doing anything particularly bad, but I seem to recall his line getting penned in the D zone several times. He only played two shifts in the third.
Ward might have gotten into the dog house; he was dropped to the fourth line, and played less than ten minutes (and the same two shifts in the third as Eakin and Hendricks).
Special teams was certainly good tonight; both units were perfect, though that's only two chances, combined. Definitely wouldn't read anything into it, especially since they were going against Columbus, who's near the bottom of the league on both sides of special teams, but it was still nice to see.
Anyway, they've now got a small winning streak to take home to face Calgary on Tuesday. Let's hope it can be continued.
20110318
Caps on the Run
I haven't been finding much time lately to blog about the caps; I keep having other things to do when I finish watching the games. But I have been watching them.
Since my last post, in fact, I've watched most of every game except the Tampa one (they aren't playing on a glacier floating on the water, so I'm not adding Bay to their name). I missed chunks of the Panthers game due to power outages (four of them, in fact), and two chunks of the Montreal game. The first five minutes or so, I missed because of installing a UPS to prevent power outage problems, and the last period because of working on my theater (hoping to finish that tonight or tomorrow night).
But I have really liked what I've seen up to the Montreal game. They're still allowing the other team to score first too much, but not getting behind by multiple goals. The effort has been there consistently. And the results of the deadline trades are quite good.
I'm going to detour a little bit here, in fact, and talk about those acquisitions. Arnott has been great; he's been productive, and, anecdotally, seems to be helping the team motivation. Wideman's also been awesome; the trade for him seems like a steal, now. And I was worried that he would have a transition like Hannan's; thank goodness I was totally offbase about that concern. The two of them together have also been great for the power play. OV's getting a lot more room with those two at the points. Sturm hasn't really produced, but he's still been good in terms of generating chances. The production will come, I'm sure.
And further, I really liked the lines that Bruce put together with everyone. Well, until Arnott and Backstrom got hurt, anyway. Laich is not a top-line center. Heck, he isn't a second-line center.
Getting to Montreal, more specifically, the team looked really good. They were keeping the puck in the offensive zone, and keeping the pressure on Price. In fact, without an outstanding game by Price, the Caps win by five. Like last game, Holtby was good, but probably not as good as his save percentage would indicate. Laich, I thought, was merely ok, although that was a great move where he scored the goal. I think Chimmer should start being a healthy scratch, regularly; maybe call up Perreault to replace him. Perreault at least generates more chances. Of course, Fehr apparently hurting himself again in that game makes that a bit tougher.
MarJo continued to play like a top-line player. He's been good enough, of late, that last night seemed a bit like a coming-out party for him. His face-offs have been bad, though not disastrous, so that's a step in the right direction. But he's doing a much better job of using his speed, and distributing the puck. He's even looking better on the boards. In fact, my only two criticisms of his play of late are the face-offs (as I said, improving, but still needing quite a bit of work) and that he doesn't look to shoot if OV's on the ice (no doubt, OV has a better shot, so that's the percentage play, but he needs to shoot occasionally to keep the defense honest). Neither of those are major problems; I'm definitely looking forward to this kid being around for a while.
Moving on to the Detroit game, I didn't have a good feeling about that one even before it started. Against Detroit, in Detroit, and the tail end of back-to-back games. Hearing the scratches did not improve my leading impression. And my feelings were pretty much born out; the Caps were pretty seriously outplayed. In fact, they could have easily been shut out, if Howard had been on his game. The skaters outplayed the Caps that much. But, given the Caps situation (particularly injuries), and that they managed to keep the game close, I wasn't terribly upset. And thank goodness Neuvy was in goal; Holtby definitely needed the rest.
Tonight in NJ was kind of similar to the Detroit game, especially early on. The Caps were badly outplayed for much of the game, but managed to capitalize on their few chances. The third goal really took the wind out of the Devils' sails; I wouldn't go so far as to say they folded at that point, but they weren't far off. Neuvy had a fabulous game; without him being so sharp, the score could have easily been 3-0 in the other direction. Carlson and Knuble also had very good games, especially Carlson. Backstrom looked like he is still hurt, and shouldn't play the next game. He looked good, compared to an average NHL player, but way off his normal game. I applaud the decision to keep him on the second line for the game. It was weird, but the right decision.
Oh, and I almost forgot to note the irony with both Steckel and Arnott being held out of this game with injuries.
Other than that, not a whole lot to say. The team trajectory looks very good (other than this being a brutal road trip). The main concern, looking forward, is player health. Backstrom and Green, especially, need to be 100% for the playoffs, and should rest until they're completely healthy.
Since my last post, in fact, I've watched most of every game except the Tampa one (they aren't playing on a glacier floating on the water, so I'm not adding Bay to their name). I missed chunks of the Panthers game due to power outages (four of them, in fact), and two chunks of the Montreal game. The first five minutes or so, I missed because of installing a UPS to prevent power outage problems, and the last period because of working on my theater (hoping to finish that tonight or tomorrow night).
But I have really liked what I've seen up to the Montreal game. They're still allowing the other team to score first too much, but not getting behind by multiple goals. The effort has been there consistently. And the results of the deadline trades are quite good.
I'm going to detour a little bit here, in fact, and talk about those acquisitions. Arnott has been great; he's been productive, and, anecdotally, seems to be helping the team motivation. Wideman's also been awesome; the trade for him seems like a steal, now. And I was worried that he would have a transition like Hannan's; thank goodness I was totally offbase about that concern. The two of them together have also been great for the power play. OV's getting a lot more room with those two at the points. Sturm hasn't really produced, but he's still been good in terms of generating chances. The production will come, I'm sure.
And further, I really liked the lines that Bruce put together with everyone. Well, until Arnott and Backstrom got hurt, anyway. Laich is not a top-line center. Heck, he isn't a second-line center.
Getting to Montreal, more specifically, the team looked really good. They were keeping the puck in the offensive zone, and keeping the pressure on Price. In fact, without an outstanding game by Price, the Caps win by five. Like last game, Holtby was good, but probably not as good as his save percentage would indicate. Laich, I thought, was merely ok, although that was a great move where he scored the goal. I think Chimmer should start being a healthy scratch, regularly; maybe call up Perreault to replace him. Perreault at least generates more chances. Of course, Fehr apparently hurting himself again in that game makes that a bit tougher.
MarJo continued to play like a top-line player. He's been good enough, of late, that last night seemed a bit like a coming-out party for him. His face-offs have been bad, though not disastrous, so that's a step in the right direction. But he's doing a much better job of using his speed, and distributing the puck. He's even looking better on the boards. In fact, my only two criticisms of his play of late are the face-offs (as I said, improving, but still needing quite a bit of work) and that he doesn't look to shoot if OV's on the ice (no doubt, OV has a better shot, so that's the percentage play, but he needs to shoot occasionally to keep the defense honest). Neither of those are major problems; I'm definitely looking forward to this kid being around for a while.
Moving on to the Detroit game, I didn't have a good feeling about that one even before it started. Against Detroit, in Detroit, and the tail end of back-to-back games. Hearing the scratches did not improve my leading impression. And my feelings were pretty much born out; the Caps were pretty seriously outplayed. In fact, they could have easily been shut out, if Howard had been on his game. The skaters outplayed the Caps that much. But, given the Caps situation (particularly injuries), and that they managed to keep the game close, I wasn't terribly upset. And thank goodness Neuvy was in goal; Holtby definitely needed the rest.
Tonight in NJ was kind of similar to the Detroit game, especially early on. The Caps were badly outplayed for much of the game, but managed to capitalize on their few chances. The third goal really took the wind out of the Devils' sails; I wouldn't go so far as to say they folded at that point, but they weren't far off. Neuvy had a fabulous game; without him being so sharp, the score could have easily been 3-0 in the other direction. Carlson and Knuble also had very good games, especially Carlson. Backstrom looked like he is still hurt, and shouldn't play the next game. He looked good, compared to an average NHL player, but way off his normal game. I applaud the decision to keep him on the second line for the game. It was weird, but the right decision.
Oh, and I almost forgot to note the irony with both Steckel and Arnott being held out of this game with injuries.
Other than that, not a whole lot to say. The team trajectory looks very good (other than this being a brutal road trip). The main concern, looking forward, is player health. Backstrom and Green, especially, need to be 100% for the playoffs, and should rest until they're completely healthy.
20110301
MPD Caps
Another bi(actually tri-)partite night for the Caps. They played great through the first ten or so minutes of the game, getting ahead ten shots to one over that span. And then they basically stopped keeping the puck in the offensive zone for more than one shot for most of the rest of the game.
They also gave up too many odd-man breaks. At one point, they gave up a 2-on-1, which Alzner broke up nicely. I had just finished commenting to my wife how good he is at dealing with odd-man breaks, when I turned back to the TV to see that they had given up another 2-on-1, which Moulson converted. *sigh*
I will say, though, with three new faces, my expectations were not all that high. After how long it took Hannan to get accustomed to the Caps system, I didn't have a particularly good feeling about ingesting three new faces. Of course, two of those three had great chances in that first ten minutes, with neither converting. Story of the season, I suppose, for the Caps.
But the Caps managed to hang around, getting some stellar goaltending from Neuvy. But it took them fifty-nine minutes and twelve seconds to finally get the puck across the line. Fortunately, that 2-on-1 was the only goal that the Islanders managed, so that last-minute goal was enough to send it into overtime.
And in overtime, OV made quite a power inside-out move to get past the defense to get off a backhander from in close to end the game. His ninth, I believe, career overtime goal (incidentally, why does it seem like everyone spells out OTGWG when someone gets an overtime goal? Is there some way that an overtime goal can fail to be a game-winner?).
I do find it odd that Wideman was, by far, the TOI leader on the team. I thought they mostly wanted him for his power-play contributions, but while he did tie (with OV) for the PP TOI lead, he also led the team in SH TOI (though only one second more than Hannan). Just seems weird to me. But I guess it worked out.
Arnott had a pretty good game, with the assist on Laich's last gasp goal, although his faceoffs better improve. But I'm really not too worried about that. In fact, if we hadn't traded Steckel to get him, I probably wouldn't have even looked.
There's definitely a lot to be encouraged about, but also a lot remains to be seen. Hopefully, Varly has missed his last game of the season. Also hopefully, Green comes back soon, although I do applaud the team not rushing him back. His long-term health should be a priority. And hopefully the team shooting percentage will get back to league average, at least; the Caps are only one off the league "lead" in being shut out, and were 48 seconds away from falling into a tie there.
I must admit, I'm not optimistic about the team come playoff time, although the new acquisitions have helped that a little bit.
They also gave up too many odd-man breaks. At one point, they gave up a 2-on-1, which Alzner broke up nicely. I had just finished commenting to my wife how good he is at dealing with odd-man breaks, when I turned back to the TV to see that they had given up another 2-on-1, which Moulson converted. *sigh*
I will say, though, with three new faces, my expectations were not all that high. After how long it took Hannan to get accustomed to the Caps system, I didn't have a particularly good feeling about ingesting three new faces. Of course, two of those three had great chances in that first ten minutes, with neither converting. Story of the season, I suppose, for the Caps.
But the Caps managed to hang around, getting some stellar goaltending from Neuvy. But it took them fifty-nine minutes and twelve seconds to finally get the puck across the line. Fortunately, that 2-on-1 was the only goal that the Islanders managed, so that last-minute goal was enough to send it into overtime.
And in overtime, OV made quite a power inside-out move to get past the defense to get off a backhander from in close to end the game. His ninth, I believe, career overtime goal (incidentally, why does it seem like everyone spells out OTGWG when someone gets an overtime goal? Is there some way that an overtime goal can fail to be a game-winner?).
I do find it odd that Wideman was, by far, the TOI leader on the team. I thought they mostly wanted him for his power-play contributions, but while he did tie (with OV) for the PP TOI lead, he also led the team in SH TOI (though only one second more than Hannan). Just seems weird to me. But I guess it worked out.
Arnott had a pretty good game, with the assist on Laich's last gasp goal, although his faceoffs better improve. But I'm really not too worried about that. In fact, if we hadn't traded Steckel to get him, I probably wouldn't have even looked.
There's definitely a lot to be encouraged about, but also a lot remains to be seen. Hopefully, Varly has missed his last game of the season. Also hopefully, Green comes back soon, although I do applaud the team not rushing him back. His long-term health should be a priority. And hopefully the team shooting percentage will get back to league average, at least; the Caps are only one off the league "lead" in being shut out, and were 48 seconds away from falling into a tie there.
I must admit, I'm not optimistic about the team come playoff time, although the new acquisitions have helped that a little bit.
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