The Capitals have been here before. February 2008. The Capitals are three points from an eighth place playoff spot, five points from division leading Carolina. There was a new coach, a new system and they were pressing the division. George McPhee did something that a few thought might be a foolish move if the Caps failed to make the playoffs. He made some very good strategic trades.
He traded Matt Pettinger to Vancouver for Matt Cooke, sent a prospect defender in Ted Ruth to Columbus for Sergei Fedorov, acquired Cristobal Huet for a second round draft pick from Montreal. The would go on to win 11 of their last 12 games in route to win the division and make the playoffs by the skin of their teeth.
Does McPhee has another rabbit out of his hat to finalize the push to the playoffs. In this shortened season, just getting into the post season is the Caps goal. The best way for them to do that is to win their division. McPhee has some trade bait in Wotjek Wolski, and a couple of good prospects in Hershey, but the market is not as idea as it was back in 2008.
Because the season is short and so many teams are still in the hunt for a playoff spot, the market for trades is squeezed to its bare minimum. What would the Capitals need? Bigger up the middle with another center? A goaltender? Bolster the wingers, or the defensemen? What is out there for the Caps to acquire while not breaking the bank doing so. Not much, and the Capitals will do better to stand pat rather than make a senseless move out of fear of not making the playoffs.
That is because the Capitals are in a prime position to make the playoffs by winning their division. They are 10-3 against their own division. They are just two points from the division lead as the Winnipeg Jets struggle to get late season points. The door is open for the Capitals to make a move with the team they have now.
The Caps will have to continue to win. With 12 games left in the season, the Capitals will still have to win 8 of those games. It is a good thing 8 of the last 12 are at home. They can control their own fate, but they have to get points to keep the pressure on the division.
Showing posts with label Jets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jets. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 03, 2013
Sunday, March 03, 2013
Recipe For Road Win
Capitals 3, Jets 0
Game Summary - Event Summary
It was a perfect road game for the Washington Capitals. A recipe fit for some tasty win against a bitter divisional rival who leads them in the standings. A shut out by Braden Holtby helped the boys in white to a win over the Winnipeg Jets 3-0.
First part of the recipe for the Capitals is to cool a hot Winnipeg Jets. A team that has done well at MTS Centre, the Jets have found success by scoring early. The Caps would have to put water on a team that loves to score early in their home sweaters. That was done with Holtby turning aside 15 shots while the Capitals could only muster 5 of their own. But getting to the first intermission tied at 0-0 was a small victory unto itself for the Caps.
Second, break the hostility tension with a good fight. New comer Aaron Volpatti added that break with a fight with a bigger Anthony Peluso. Although Peluso seemed to have won the bout, the Capitals seemed to play better. Peluso would also leave the game after the fight with an "upper body injury" and would not return.
Add some timely scoring. After the Capitals worked back the momentum from the streaking Jets, it would be a goal by Matt Hendricks that would break the stalemate in the second period. Started by a heavy shot by John Erskine who took out Jets' forward Blake Wheeler. Since the Caps retained possession of the puck, Erskine faked the second slapper and passed it to Mike Ribeiro on the opposite side of the ice. Ribeiro snap passed it to Hendricks in front of the net. Hendricks scored his fourth goal of the season.
That opened the play up for the Capitals, but some fantastic saves by Ondrej Pavelec including a glove save on a certain goal shot by Jason Chimera. The Jets gained some momentum from those saves and Holtby would answer every shot that came his way. He would get his sixth shutout of his career, his third of the season. Holtby was solid in net, calm and cool with every save. Credit his team in front of him keeping a slew of those shots to the outside and clearing the slot so Holtby could see those outside shots.
Add some insurance goals by Troy Brouwer (his ninth of the season) and Mike Ribeiro cleaning up an Alex Ovechkin shot for his seventh goal of the season. With the Jets trying to get back into the game, things opened up in the third for the Capitals and they took advantage.
The Caps were able to kill off all the penalties they took. Their first minor came in the waning minutes of the second period. The Jets would go 0-3 on the power play, the Caps would also go with out a power play goal on the afternoon.
Mix well and you have the perfect recipe for a win on the road. A big win for the Capitals who are looking to climb up the Southeast Division standings ladder. As long as the Caps are able to play their division tough, it should help them to make the playoffs. Mike Green was scratched with a "lower body injury" or groin injury for the rest of us. Wotjek Wolski was a healthy scratch.
Caps Notes:
Game Summary - Event Summary
It was a perfect road game for the Washington Capitals. A recipe fit for some tasty win against a bitter divisional rival who leads them in the standings. A shut out by Braden Holtby helped the boys in white to a win over the Winnipeg Jets 3-0.
First part of the recipe for the Capitals is to cool a hot Winnipeg Jets. A team that has done well at MTS Centre, the Jets have found success by scoring early. The Caps would have to put water on a team that loves to score early in their home sweaters. That was done with Holtby turning aside 15 shots while the Capitals could only muster 5 of their own. But getting to the first intermission tied at 0-0 was a small victory unto itself for the Caps.
Second, break the hostility tension with a good fight. New comer Aaron Volpatti added that break with a fight with a bigger Anthony Peluso. Although Peluso seemed to have won the bout, the Capitals seemed to play better. Peluso would also leave the game after the fight with an "upper body injury" and would not return.
Add some timely scoring. After the Capitals worked back the momentum from the streaking Jets, it would be a goal by Matt Hendricks that would break the stalemate in the second period. Started by a heavy shot by John Erskine who took out Jets' forward Blake Wheeler. Since the Caps retained possession of the puck, Erskine faked the second slapper and passed it to Mike Ribeiro on the opposite side of the ice. Ribeiro snap passed it to Hendricks in front of the net. Hendricks scored his fourth goal of the season.
That opened the play up for the Capitals, but some fantastic saves by Ondrej Pavelec including a glove save on a certain goal shot by Jason Chimera. The Jets gained some momentum from those saves and Holtby would answer every shot that came his way. He would get his sixth shutout of his career, his third of the season. Holtby was solid in net, calm and cool with every save. Credit his team in front of him keeping a slew of those shots to the outside and clearing the slot so Holtby could see those outside shots.
Add some insurance goals by Troy Brouwer (his ninth of the season) and Mike Ribeiro cleaning up an Alex Ovechkin shot for his seventh goal of the season. With the Jets trying to get back into the game, things opened up in the third for the Capitals and they took advantage.
The Caps were able to kill off all the penalties they took. Their first minor came in the waning minutes of the second period. The Jets would go 0-3 on the power play, the Caps would also go with out a power play goal on the afternoon.
Mix well and you have the perfect recipe for a win on the road. A big win for the Capitals who are looking to climb up the Southeast Division standings ladder. As long as the Caps are able to play their division tough, it should help them to make the playoffs. Mike Green was scratched with a "lower body injury" or groin injury for the rest of us. Wotjek Wolski was a healthy scratch.
Caps Notes:
- Holtby would finish by turning away all 35 shots against him for his career sixth shutout, his second in three games.
- The Capitals were out shot (35-21) and out hit (32-13) by the Jets.
- Troy Brouwer scored his 9th goal of the season that now puts him in the scoring lead for the Capitals this season.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Chimera Gives Thanks To OT Winner
Capitals 4, Jets 3 OT
Game Summary
Ondrej Pavelec has been nothing short of a brick wall against the Capitals of late. But the Caps finally solve the pesky goaltender and put forth an inspired effort to earn a 4-3 overtime win against divisional foe the Winnipeg Jets.
Jason Chimera had himself a game scoring a pair of goals (his seventh and eighth of the season) including the game winner 1:52 into the overtime period. He could have easily scored a pair more but some outstanding goaltending by Pavelec kept Chimera from scoring a few more. Alex Semin scored his fifth of the year after getting a beautiful feed from a hustling Alex Ovechkin. Birthday boy Nick Backtrom also added a tally to round out the scoring for the Capitals.
Unlike games before, the Caps seemed to put forth a better effort this game. They were moving their feet, beating Jets to loose pucks and making the defensive effort to block shots. Rookie Dmitry Orlov might have had the hit of the game in the second period when he laid a spectacular hip check on the speedy Blake Wheeler. That set off a flurry of hits and physical play from both teams that added to the intrigue of the game. The Capitals would outhit the Jets 35 to 27.
The Caps power play only had three chances to work. It did lead to a slew of chances, but the Caps could not convert on the man advantage. While the power play stumbled, the penalty kill was fantastic killing off two minor penalties including a 1:20 five on three with Brooks Laich sans stick for a majority of it.
Tomas Vokoun was at times spectacular, while at other times looked a bit slow to react to the play. While two of the goals came off of some lucky bounces for the Jets, the tying goal was savable. Wheeler's pass to Bryan Little seemed to freeze Vokoun up and he was late to get over to cover the shot by Little. The goal by the Jets was preceded by a waived goal by the Caps just moments before.
After sitting a game, Semin roared back into the lineup. Not only did he start the scoring with a pretty slapper off of a great feed from Ovechkin, but he did not get called for stick infraction. In part it was due to Semin moving his feet and trying not to do too much with his stick (other than shooting pucks on net and curl and drags).
Caps Notes:
Game Summary
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| AP |
Jason Chimera had himself a game scoring a pair of goals (his seventh and eighth of the season) including the game winner 1:52 into the overtime period. He could have easily scored a pair more but some outstanding goaltending by Pavelec kept Chimera from scoring a few more. Alex Semin scored his fifth of the year after getting a beautiful feed from a hustling Alex Ovechkin. Birthday boy Nick Backtrom also added a tally to round out the scoring for the Capitals.
Unlike games before, the Caps seemed to put forth a better effort this game. They were moving their feet, beating Jets to loose pucks and making the defensive effort to block shots. Rookie Dmitry Orlov might have had the hit of the game in the second period when he laid a spectacular hip check on the speedy Blake Wheeler. That set off a flurry of hits and physical play from both teams that added to the intrigue of the game. The Capitals would outhit the Jets 35 to 27.
The Caps power play only had three chances to work. It did lead to a slew of chances, but the Caps could not convert on the man advantage. While the power play stumbled, the penalty kill was fantastic killing off two minor penalties including a 1:20 five on three with Brooks Laich sans stick for a majority of it.
Tomas Vokoun was at times spectacular, while at other times looked a bit slow to react to the play. While two of the goals came off of some lucky bounces for the Jets, the tying goal was savable. Wheeler's pass to Bryan Little seemed to freeze Vokoun up and he was late to get over to cover the shot by Little. The goal by the Jets was preceded by a waived goal by the Caps just moments before.
After sitting a game, Semin roared back into the lineup. Not only did he start the scoring with a pretty slapper off of a great feed from Ovechkin, but he did not get called for stick infraction. In part it was due to Semin moving his feet and trying not to do too much with his stick (other than shooting pucks on net and curl and drags).
Caps Notes:
- Caps win their second straight after struggling to win games losing 6 of the previous 7. Both games ended with the scores 4-3.
- Cody Eakin had a scare as the hitting escalated in the second period. He took a high hit to the head from Ron Hainsey that looked very close to a targeted hit to the head. While the Caps held the lead, Eakin's ice time diminished.
- Eric Fehr returned to Washington to face his former team as a Jet. He was a -1 with one shot on net and one blocked shot.
- Backstrom scored on his birthday. He is 24.
- Rookie defenseman Orlov nearly had a second hip check that would have sent another Jet flying, but this time it only jettisoned Kane's stick into the crowd. A fan caught the stick, but was forced to give the stick back in return for a game puck as seen here. Lame.
Thursday, September 01, 2011
New Look Division - Jets
The Washington Capitals might have made the Southleast Division into one of the toughest divisions in the NHL. After winning the division title for the last 4 years (regular season eastern champs for the last two), the division is wising up and bettering their teams to make the playoff push. The influx of better talent into the division makes this year's division champ a toss up. But all the pundits agree, it is Washington's to lose.
Atlanta Thrashers, eh hem, Winnipeg Jets (version 2.0):
They left town seemingly in the dead of the night. Those Dizzy Birds left Atlanta almost like it was no big deal (since the NHL has gone out of it's way to keep hockey in Phoenix, why they just didn't make the effort to keep it in Atlanta bogs the mind). But not only did the Winnipeg Jets bump the Capitals up a spot on the alphabetical scale (29 now baby, Whooo!) but they made the overlandish promise to bring a winning team north with them. Silly Jets.
Who's in:
Blake Wheeler and Andrew Ladd re-signed with the Jets. Eric Fehr traded from the Capitals for a draft pick and a Matt Cooke wannabe (Danick Paquette). Add Randy Jones, Tanner Glass and the late Rick Rypien.
Who's out:
Eric Boulton (Devils), Radek Dvorak (Stars), Rob Schremp (Europe) and Anthony Stewart ('Canes).
The Jets look to capitalize on trades made as Thrashers. Blake Wheeler and Andrew Ladd were the two players they will need to make any kind of push for playoff aspirations. The Jets, however, did change the overall feel of their hockey club. They will have returning goaltenders Ondrej Pavelec and back up Chris Mason. A good core of defensive pairings with the like of Dustin Byfuglien and Tobias Enstrom and some great talent up front with Nik Antropov, Bryan Little and up and coming phenom Evander Kane.
The Jets have a lot of Stanley Cup experience with the additions of Blackhawk free agents last year, but couldn't turn that into any kind of success. With a new coaching staff and new city, the organization hopes the change will spark some success. The Jets did not make any knee-jerk reactions to off season free agency and look to build off of previous trade dumps over the last couple of years.
Claude Noel makes his NHL head coaching debut and is challenged with making the team gel quickly. A veteran coach at the AHL level, Noel has had success on the AHL, ECHL and IHL levels. Familiar with the area, he coached the Manitoba Moose and did a brief stint behind the Columbus bench as interim coach after the Blue Jackets fired Ken Hitchcock.
The Jets not only have to contend with a tough, new look division but travel will be an issue for them as they must play in a division that is geographically not very convenient to them. It will be a tough test for a team in new surroundings. How understanding are those new fans going to be?
Caps Notes:
They left town seemingly in the dead of the night. Those Dizzy Birds left Atlanta almost like it was no big deal (since the NHL has gone out of it's way to keep hockey in Phoenix, why they just didn't make the effort to keep it in Atlanta bogs the mind). But not only did the Winnipeg Jets bump the Capitals up a spot on the alphabetical scale (29 now baby, Whooo!) but they made the overlandish promise to bring a winning team north with them. Silly Jets.
Who's in:
Blake Wheeler and Andrew Ladd re-signed with the Jets. Eric Fehr traded from the Capitals for a draft pick and a Matt Cooke wannabe (Danick Paquette). Add Randy Jones, Tanner Glass and the late Rick Rypien.
Who's out:
Eric Boulton (Devils), Radek Dvorak (Stars), Rob Schremp (Europe) and Anthony Stewart ('Canes).
The Jets look to capitalize on trades made as Thrashers. Blake Wheeler and Andrew Ladd were the two players they will need to make any kind of push for playoff aspirations. The Jets, however, did change the overall feel of their hockey club. They will have returning goaltenders Ondrej Pavelec and back up Chris Mason. A good core of defensive pairings with the like of Dustin Byfuglien and Tobias Enstrom and some great talent up front with Nik Antropov, Bryan Little and up and coming phenom Evander Kane.
The Jets have a lot of Stanley Cup experience with the additions of Blackhawk free agents last year, but couldn't turn that into any kind of success. With a new coaching staff and new city, the organization hopes the change will spark some success. The Jets did not make any knee-jerk reactions to off season free agency and look to build off of previous trade dumps over the last couple of years.
Claude Noel makes his NHL head coaching debut and is challenged with making the team gel quickly. A veteran coach at the AHL level, Noel has had success on the AHL, ECHL and IHL levels. Familiar with the area, he coached the Manitoba Moose and did a brief stint behind the Columbus bench as interim coach after the Blue Jackets fired Ken Hitchcock.
The Jets not only have to contend with a tough, new look division but travel will be an issue for them as they must play in a division that is geographically not very convenient to them. It will be a tough test for a team in new surroundings. How understanding are those new fans going to be?
Caps Notes:
- Semin-gate (and we aren't talking about blue dresses): It seems the Canadien media is more obsessed about the recent comments about Alex Semin's lack of desire from former teammates than Caps fans are. Sadly, Caps fans are all too familiar with the lazy attitude of the Russian winger (like the time he was caught smoking cigarettes between periods outside Verizon Center when he was on the injury list). Japer's has a wonderful article about it all that pretty much dulls the shock of the comments that were made. Just old news.
- George McPhee made a trip up Calgary way to have a sit down with Mike Green. Nick Backstrom happened to be there too attending Green's charity event. The meeting was casual according to TSN and the tone was serious. TSN video of Green's off season preparedness.
- Sad summer indeed, another great article about those we have lost this summer from Japer's Rink. Also bad news about Marc Savard in the Bruins' camp, looks like the crafty forward may be out for this season and maybe done with the sport all together. Tough one.
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