Caps Run Out of Offense

Capitals 0, Oilers 4
Official Scoresheet - Wash Post - Edmonton Sun

The Caps played themselves into a shutout. Dwayne Roloson says, “Thank you.”

Roloson didn’t have to do much but show up against the Capitals in the most boring game I have seen them play thus far. They had better control of the puck, clearly learning the lesson from Vancouver. However, the Caps, who are nothing but offense, just couldn’t find any.

What is the point of getting all this high powered offense just to see them not even shoot. 19 shots on net. That’s it, 19. The Caps looked sloppy in this one, taking bad penalties. Every time the momentum was looking to go the Caps way, it would be another short-handed series for the Caps.

Didn’t the Caps hire Donald Brashear to mix it up some? Where was he tonight? It looked like he was going to scrap with Oiler Captain Jason Smith, but he never did it, and the Caps looked like they were just going through the motions. The Caps are becoming the team that everyone beats. There was just no jump in their play tonight at all.

Overall Grade: F

The Caps earn their second “F” in back to back games for good reason. There was a lack of focus, none were working hard for loose pucks and the Caps could only shoot from the outside. There is not much I liked about this game. Edmonton didn’t look that sharp, it was the Caps that looked that bad.

I am wondering if the new banana curve on Alex Ovechkin’s stick isn’t a factor in his inability to hit the spots he wants. It seems his shot is either too high, too low or off the mark. Ovie’s shots were all smothered by “Rolie.”

In the category of “What were you thinking?” Glen Hanlon pulls Brent Johnson with a little over a minute left for the extra attacker. The Caps were already down 3-0. Of course it didn’t take the Oilers long to score making it 4-0. I really don’t understand that reasoning at all.

The only thing the Caps can do now is learn from their mistakes. Then head to Calgary where on Monday the Caps will look to at the very least score a goal. Let’s hope they do.