Capitals 1, Flames 2
Scoresheet - Wash Post - Cal Herald
The Capitals fail to convert on a first period 9 minute power play, and their penalty kill can't stop the struggling Flames. The Caps start their road trip with just a horrible game as they fall to the Flames 2-1.
The game actually started off great for the Capitals. Sergei Fedorov redirected a Jeff Schultz pass to start the scoring off. Calgary native Tyler Sloan who was called up for his first ever NHL game laid a monster hit on Daymond Langkow that drew the 9 minute penalty in the first period. Sloan's hit was a clean one, but the Flames took exception to the hit and Rene Bourque came to the rescue of his fallen Flame. Bourque was called for 5 minute major for fighting, 2 minutes for instigating, 2 minutes unsportsmanlike. 5+2+2=9 minute penalty.
But the Capitals power play (if you want to call it that) failed to convert. Micheal Nylander even took a penalty in the middle of the large penalty in the first and the Caps couldn't even get shots on net. The Flames' penalty kill deserves some of the credit, they forced the Caps to pass before they were set which led to turnovers. Once the 9 minute power play ended, the Caps never recovered.
Calgary went on the attack and the Capitals were guilty of getting too stick happy. Eight consecutive penalties on the Capitals did them in. For a stretch from the end of the first period and the start of the second the Caps just could not stay out of the sin bin. Nine different Capitals were called for penlaties. Mike Green for two of them.
Shaone Morrisonn played one of his worse games, one I think he would like to forget. He failed to clear the puck on the first goal, and he took the wrong player on the second. When the game did settle down into 5 on 5, it looked the Caps had lost off it's gas killing off penalties. The third period the Flames were able to frustrate the Capitals offense. The game slowed down to Calgary's advantage. When the Caps did have pressure, Mikka Kiprusoff was there to clean the rest up.
The power play needs help. Special teams continue to be a liability for the Capitals. When they had the chance to go up and really put the Flames on the ropes, they couldn't. This team was not the same team that found ways to win and played their game. The Caps usually bear down and attack the offensive zone. Instead they were all over the place, sloppy with their passes and out of sync.
Fedorov ties Alexander Mogilny for most goals by a Russian in the NHL. He was reinserted as a forward in this game. Eric Fehr sat out as a healthy scratch as Donald Brashear returned to the line up. Both Tom Poti and Viktor Kozlov did skate this morning, but did take part of the whole morning skate. Jose Theodore played very solid, the two goals against him were really his fault. But for the first time, he seemed much more comfortable in net as a Capital.
Let's hope its a better effort in Phoenix on Thursday.
Replay courtesy of NHL.com:
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
A Busy Tuesday
Let me explain. No, too much, let me sum up.
If you watched the Capitals season opener, then you are part of an elite group of Washingtonians who did so in the area on Comcast Sportsnet. But what is so great about being apart of that group is there is twice as many of us. The Capitals pulled a 1.2 rating in the DC Metro area which is approximately 27,600 households. That's a 100% increase from a season ago. Of that total, about 75% of us have blogs. We should have just gone to Japers' house to watch the game. Peerless, I hear, can microwave a mean hot dog.
Matt Pettinger returns to the Southeast Division to rejoin former Capitals Olaf Kolzig, Jeff Halpern and Jamie Heward in Tampa Bay. Well maybe not Heward who was sent down to the minors. With the amount of ex-Penguins and ex-Capitals, I am going to start to call Tampa Washburgh South. Or Pittsington South. In all honesty, I am happy for Pettinger, he is a good guy and a good player. I knew it wouldn't take him long to return to the league.
A handful of NHL governors are pondering a second team in Toronto. What? Why? So two teams can suck there?
Sid "the Kid" Crosby was named 45th most influential man according to AskMen.com. Apparently all that whining is paying off. Also on the list Chris Angel and Ryan Seacrest. Seriously? I got as far as 43 before I got annoyed at the website. Just give me the list dammit.
I am agreeing with a lot of you about how bad the Caps game opening is. I would much rather see hockey players be hockey players. I didn't pay the for my ticket to see them pretend to be rock stars. They are already very cool guys because they play in the NHL on my favorite team. We don't have to make them look like they are anymore than what they already are. Wrap your head around that one.
Enjoy the game tonight.
If you watched the Capitals season opener, then you are part of an elite group of Washingtonians who did so in the area on Comcast Sportsnet. But what is so great about being apart of that group is there is twice as many of us. The Capitals pulled a 1.2 rating in the DC Metro area which is approximately 27,600 households. That's a 100% increase from a season ago. Of that total, about 75% of us have blogs. We should have just gone to Japers' house to watch the game. Peerless, I hear, can microwave a mean hot dog.
Matt Pettinger returns to the Southeast Division to rejoin former Capitals Olaf Kolzig, Jeff Halpern and Jamie Heward in Tampa Bay. Well maybe not Heward who was sent down to the minors. With the amount of ex-Penguins and ex-Capitals, I am going to start to call Tampa Washburgh South. Or Pittsington South. In all honesty, I am happy for Pettinger, he is a good guy and a good player. I knew it wouldn't take him long to return to the league.
A handful of NHL governors are pondering a second team in Toronto. What? Why? So two teams can suck there?
Sid "the Kid" Crosby was named 45th most influential man according to AskMen.com. Apparently all that whining is paying off. Also on the list Chris Angel and Ryan Seacrest. Seriously? I got as far as 43 before I got annoyed at the website. Just give me the list dammit.
I am agreeing with a lot of you about how bad the Caps game opening is. I would much rather see hockey players be hockey players. I didn't pay the for my ticket to see them pretend to be rock stars. They are already very cool guys because they play in the NHL on my favorite team. We don't have to make them look like they are anymore than what they already are. Wrap your head around that one.
Enjoy the game tonight.
A Home Coming Of Sorts
The Washington Capitals embark on their first significant road trip that will take them from Calgary to Dallas in less than a week. Their first stop however will be a special occasion for a few Caps who call Calgary their home.
Mike Green has rented out a suite at the Pengrowth Saddledome for friends and family attending tonight's game. The Calgary native played with the junior team here, the Hitman. Jeff Schultz is another native who has friends and family that will be in attendance as well.
Tyler Sloan, who was called up for the first time his career to the NHL is also a Calgary boy (or Calgarian, as they liked to be called). Sloan's father, who made the trip to Hershey to see his son play, has to jump on a plane and head back to Calgary to witness his boy's first NHL start. Racking up those miles.
There some are other connections to the Calgary area that has some Capitals feeling at home. Chris Clark was apart of the Flames amazing run to the Stanley Cup finals in 2004 only to lose in game 7 to Tampa Bay. Micheal Nylander has also donned the Flames sweater for parts of 5 seasons. And assistant coach Dean Evason is a former coach of the Calgary Hitman.
While the Caps may feel comfortable in the Stampede City, they are still there to win a game and getting off on the right foot on this road trip is important. The Carolina Hurricanes and the Caps tied in points (7), the race for first is starting in the Southeast Division.
The Caps will face a dangerous, but struggling, Calgary Flames squad. Since the Flames haven't gotten the start they were hoping for, one could surmise that they will be playing the Capitals pretty tough. I expected a physical game as Jerome Iginla will never back down from a fight (both literally and metaphorically). It should be a good game.
Capital Notes:
The Caps signed goaltender Braden Holtby to an entry level contract. It doesn't mean much as Holtby will stay with his team. He made quite an impression in development camp and beyond. Congrats on becomeing a Cap!
Tom Poti, Viktor Kozlov and Donald Brashear are all making the western swing road trip. All have been nursing injuries, but the possibility of them returning to the line up during the trip west has them on the plane with the rest of the team.
It looks like Nick Backstrom has been demoted (if you want to call it that) to the second line with Alex Semin. That pushes up Sergei Fedorov to the first line, where he was for the playoffs. Backstrom and Semin both found a chemistry together last April as the series with the Flyers dragged on. With Semin's hot hand, this might spark Backstrom's performance after a slow start. Also Matt Bradley has moved up to a scoring line. His hard work has him adding some toughness to the Caps second line. He is a guy to also get into the corners and dig out some pucks from scrums. Hopefully a few of those pucks go to an open Semin.
Mike Green has rented out a suite at the Pengrowth Saddledome for friends and family attending tonight's game. The Calgary native played with the junior team here, the Hitman. Jeff Schultz is another native who has friends and family that will be in attendance as well.
Tyler Sloan, who was called up for the first time his career to the NHL is also a Calgary boy (or Calgarian, as they liked to be called). Sloan's father, who made the trip to Hershey to see his son play, has to jump on a plane and head back to Calgary to witness his boy's first NHL start. Racking up those miles.
There some are other connections to the Calgary area that has some Capitals feeling at home. Chris Clark was apart of the Flames amazing run to the Stanley Cup finals in 2004 only to lose in game 7 to Tampa Bay. Micheal Nylander has also donned the Flames sweater for parts of 5 seasons. And assistant coach Dean Evason is a former coach of the Calgary Hitman.
While the Caps may feel comfortable in the Stampede City, they are still there to win a game and getting off on the right foot on this road trip is important. The Carolina Hurricanes and the Caps tied in points (7), the race for first is starting in the Southeast Division.
The Caps will face a dangerous, but struggling, Calgary Flames squad. Since the Flames haven't gotten the start they were hoping for, one could surmise that they will be playing the Capitals pretty tough. I expected a physical game as Jerome Iginla will never back down from a fight (both literally and metaphorically). It should be a good game.
Capital Notes:
The Caps signed goaltender Braden Holtby to an entry level contract. It doesn't mean much as Holtby will stay with his team. He made quite an impression in development camp and beyond. Congrats on becomeing a Cap!
Tom Poti, Viktor Kozlov and Donald Brashear are all making the western swing road trip. All have been nursing injuries, but the possibility of them returning to the line up during the trip west has them on the plane with the rest of the team.
It looks like Nick Backstrom has been demoted (if you want to call it that) to the second line with Alex Semin. That pushes up Sergei Fedorov to the first line, where he was for the playoffs. Backstrom and Semin both found a chemistry together last April as the series with the Flyers dragged on. With Semin's hot hand, this might spark Backstrom's performance after a slow start. Also Matt Bradley has moved up to a scoring line. His hard work has him adding some toughness to the Caps second line. He is a guy to also get into the corners and dig out some pucks from scrums. Hopefully a few of those pucks go to an open Semin.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Next Up: Sloan
According to Corey, Tyler Sloan has been called up from Hershey. Sloan, a gritty stay at home defenseman, will most likely make the western swing road trip with the Capitals. This might also put the kibosh on Sergei Fedorov's time as a defenseman (for now).
This also means that Tom Poti, Donald Brashear and Viktor Kozlov may not make the trip.
The Capitals are a bit up against the salary cap, which maybe the reason Karl Alzner's name wasn't called. The Caps would have to take his signing bonus into account, and that would put the Caps over.
This also means that Tom Poti, Donald Brashear and Viktor Kozlov may not make the trip.
The Capitals are a bit up against the salary cap, which maybe the reason Karl Alzner's name wasn't called. The Caps would have to take his signing bonus into account, and that would put the Caps over.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
A Devil Of A Time
Capitals 3, Devils 4 OT/SO (0-1)
Scoresheet - Wash Post
You know the old saying, "Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard." The Capitals are guilty of not working hard enough for this win as they drop in the first shoot out of the season to the New Jersey Devils 4 - 3.
Alex Semin continues to have the hot hand as he has now his fifth and sixth goals of the season. Mike Green also tallied on a 5 on 3 power play. Alex Ovechkin added to his assist total but was kept in check by the Devils throughout the game.
The Caps power play was pretty sloppy. Credit the Devils for playing an aggressive penalty kill. The Caps just couldn't get it together. The Caps shot total on the power play I could count on one hand, out of 8 chances too. The Devils aggressive forecheck kept the Caps off balance all game, and they never seemed to get into any kind of rhythm whether it was 5 on 5 or not.
Brent Johnson deserved a better fate in this one. He was absolutely spectacular in net. More than once did Johnny take away the back door one timer and stood solid in net. He certianly didn't play like a back up tonight. He played his angles well, was quick east to west and looked big in net. But the Devils found ways to score late and the Caps just couldn't outwork a very good Devil team.
Marty Brodeur stopped all three Capitals' snipers in the shootout; who could have used Viktor Kozlov in this situation. Micheal Nylander, Semin and Ovechkin all failed to convert their shots. In the end the Devils only needed one to go in, and they got it off of a backhander by Zach Parise.
For the Capitals to come out of this one with a point is somewhat acceptable, but the Caps did carry a lead into the third only to squander it after a few defensive break downs. Late in the second and even early in the third, the Caps had several chances to put the game away while they had a lead and failed to do so.
What did the Caps learn tonight? That good teams can comeback on them as well. Give the Devils their due, they earned this win tonight. The NJ boys were stepping in front of shots, shutting down passing lanes and playing very good team defense. Like I said, the Caps are lucky to come out of this with a point thanks in part to Johnson in net.
Ovechkin needs to learn some new moves on the shoot out. He has gone from shootout darling to dropout in his last couple of chances. He has been looking to beat that glove hand with his quick wrister. But I think goaltenders have gotten wise to it. But his points will come.
Chris Bourque was the call up as a few Capitals are already nursing injuries (Kozlov, Brashear, Poti). He played pretty solid, and he even got a few pucks to the slot that sometimes was not occupied by his linemates. He played some time on the powerplay and had one really good shot from the point that Brodeur just got a piece of. His father, Ray Bourque was in the stands for his son's first game of the season. C-Bo was sent back to Hershey after the game. Sergei Fedorov played back on defense and there were a few times he stepped up and got caught behind the play.
Next for the Capitals is their first western swing road trip as a horse show will occupy the Verizon Center this week. Their trip will take them to Calgary, Phoenix then Dallas before returning back to the phone booth next Tuesday to take on Nashville.
Highlights courtesy of NHL.com:
Scoresheet - Wash Post
You know the old saying, "Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard." The Capitals are guilty of not working hard enough for this win as they drop in the first shoot out of the season to the New Jersey Devils 4 - 3.
Alex Semin continues to have the hot hand as he has now his fifth and sixth goals of the season. Mike Green also tallied on a 5 on 3 power play. Alex Ovechkin added to his assist total but was kept in check by the Devils throughout the game.
The Caps power play was pretty sloppy. Credit the Devils for playing an aggressive penalty kill. The Caps just couldn't get it together. The Caps shot total on the power play I could count on one hand, out of 8 chances too. The Devils aggressive forecheck kept the Caps off balance all game, and they never seemed to get into any kind of rhythm whether it was 5 on 5 or not.
Brent Johnson deserved a better fate in this one. He was absolutely spectacular in net. More than once did Johnny take away the back door one timer and stood solid in net. He certianly didn't play like a back up tonight. He played his angles well, was quick east to west and looked big in net. But the Devils found ways to score late and the Caps just couldn't outwork a very good Devil team.
Marty Brodeur stopped all three Capitals' snipers in the shootout; who could have used Viktor Kozlov in this situation. Micheal Nylander, Semin and Ovechkin all failed to convert their shots. In the end the Devils only needed one to go in, and they got it off of a backhander by Zach Parise.
For the Capitals to come out of this one with a point is somewhat acceptable, but the Caps did carry a lead into the third only to squander it after a few defensive break downs. Late in the second and even early in the third, the Caps had several chances to put the game away while they had a lead and failed to do so.
What did the Caps learn tonight? That good teams can comeback on them as well. Give the Devils their due, they earned this win tonight. The NJ boys were stepping in front of shots, shutting down passing lanes and playing very good team defense. Like I said, the Caps are lucky to come out of this with a point thanks in part to Johnson in net.
Ovechkin needs to learn some new moves on the shoot out. He has gone from shootout darling to dropout in his last couple of chances. He has been looking to beat that glove hand with his quick wrister. But I think goaltenders have gotten wise to it. But his points will come.
Chris Bourque was the call up as a few Capitals are already nursing injuries (Kozlov, Brashear, Poti). He played pretty solid, and he even got a few pucks to the slot that sometimes was not occupied by his linemates. He played some time on the powerplay and had one really good shot from the point that Brodeur just got a piece of. His father, Ray Bourque was in the stands for his son's first game of the season. C-Bo was sent back to Hershey after the game. Sergei Fedorov played back on defense and there were a few times he stepped up and got caught behind the play.
Next for the Capitals is their first western swing road trip as a horse show will occupy the Verizon Center this week. Their trip will take them to Calgary, Phoenix then Dallas before returning back to the phone booth next Tuesday to take on Nashville.
Highlights courtesy of NHL.com:
Friday, October 17, 2008
Bourque Recalled
Injuries already have the Caps calling up some talent for Saturday's game against the Devils according to Capitals Public Relations. Chris Bourque will suit up for the Caps as Donald Brashear, Tom Poti, and Viktor Kozlov have nagging injuries that will keep them out of the line up.
Because the Caps have brought up a forward, it's almost certian that Sergei Fedorov will be back on defense.
Because the Caps have brought up a forward, it's almost certian that Sergei Fedorov will be back on defense.
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