Tough Night

Capitals 3, Rangers 4
Scoresheet - Post - Times - Exam

For the third straight game, the Washington Capitals have failed to stonewall their opponents in the third period. They came up a goal short in the last two. The latest was a 4-3 loss to the New York Rangers after they had built a lead with over ten minutes left in the final frame.

"Anytime you have a lead in the last ten minutes of the game you have to [win the game]," a visibly upset coach Bruce Boudreau said. "If you want to be a great team you have to."

The Capitals built a lead after a fluky goal let in by Ranger goaltender Henrik Lunqvist and a power play goal with just over 12 minutes to play in the game. But the Caps' defense took a turn for the worse allowing the tying goal just :18 seconds later.

"We've blown two leads... almost a third in four games," Boudreau was blunt. "It's really an upsetting trend that better stop in a hurry."

Nick Backstrom scored a pair of goals including one that was a dump in on Lundqvist from the red line. The puck seemed to hit the Rangers defenseman's skate and Lundqvist, who was square to the shot twisted a bit to try and glove the puck. But the puck went under the netminder's glove and into the corner of the net. Backstrom also scored a power play goal off of a well designed passing play from Brooks Laich and Alex Semin. Semin also made the score sheet with a goal and an assist. Alex Ovechkin was held pointless after three straight games in which he scored at least 3 points.

Backstrom is the first player in the NHL to have 10 points through the first four games in the season since Martin Havlat did it to start the '06-'07 year. But for Backstrom, stats just didn't mean much on a night the Caps took a loss.

"[The two goals I scored] didn't matter, we lost the game," Backstrom said. "We have to get back [to the way] we started the season. We have to play [for] sixty minutes. We can't just play a couple minutes a game. That is bad on us."

The game started on a good note for the Capitals. Brian Pothier created a passing lane with his ability to skate and found Semin cross ice to open the scoring for the home team. But the Rangers came back with Ryan Callahan goal that was practically a shorthanded goal and break down in the defensive zone goal by Ales Kotalik. The Rangers would take a 2-1 lead into the locker room after the second period.

When the third period started, the Rangers were in full defend-the-lead mode, shutting down passing lanes and blocking a slew of shots (22 blocked shots in all). But Backstrom's half court goal gave the Caps some life and the Rangers took a penalty soon afterward. Unlike the previous 7 tries, they were finally able to score on the power play with some nice passing. Backstrom again was the beneficiary.

But the Rangers answered back with Marion Gaborik who scored a pair of goals five hole on Jose Theodore to give the Rangers the lead with 9:18 left to play.

"There was time left," defenseman turned forward Tyler Sloan said. "You can't get down. The bench has got to stay up to come back the next shift and stay aggressive and try to create chances. We didn't do that, I felt."

The Caps' power play sputtered again for the second straight game. They were a pitiful 1 for 9 with the extra man, including 1:33 with a two man advantage. The top power play line once again has fallen into bad habits, being too cute with the puck at the wrong times and allowing the other team's PK unit out work them.

"We played as individuals instead of a unit," Boudreau commented on the Caps listless power play. "If you are going to play as individuals, you are going to get individual results and nothing is going to happen."

After such a good start against Boston, the Capitals seemed to fallen back to being too cavalier on defense. A defense core that doesn't have youth as an excuse anymore. A point that Boudreau brought up in his press conference.

"The guys that are making the mistakes are not first year guys," Boudreau said. "They are the guys that have been here for 10 years, 5 years... and it's been what their jobs are. There is not one first year guy on defense... these guys should know what the hell they're doing."

Caps Game Notes:

• Sloan played his first game in the NHL as a forward on the fourth line. "[It's a] position that is foreign to me, I haven't played [forward] in a long time" he said. "But I settled in [during] the second and third period."
• Mike Green has yet to score a goal this season. Not for lack of trying. Green had thirteen shots that either missed the net or were blocked (7 blocked, 6 misses). Only two of his shots hit the mark, both were saved by Lundqvist.
• The Rangers' Sean Avery sat this game out, but that didn't stop him from signing some autographs for Rangers' fans from the Press Box.

Puckhead's Player of the Game was Brian Potheir. He has improved tenfold since last season. His vision is much better, he is skating smoother and making some great defensive plays. It was his vision that helped score the first goal, finding Semin cross ice and waiting for the passing lane to open up.

Ugly Game

Capitals 5, Flyers 6 OT
Scoresheet - Post - Times

In a see-saw game with plenty of weird moments, the Capitals came up short against the Philadelphia Flyers. It was a game of anything goes as the two teams swapped goals and chances all game long. No one seemed to have the upper hand as the Flyers win in front of their own crowd and birthday boy Daniel Briere scored the game winner as the Caps fall 6-5 in overtime.

Alex Ovechkin added a pair of goals and an assist for his third straight three-point game to start the season. Alex Semin added another pair of goals including a beauty of move that undressed Braydon Coburn and beat Flyer goaltender Ray Emery. Brendan Morrison had a goal bounce in off of him to give the Caps the 5-4 lead in the third, but some defensive breakdowns lead to the Capitals' demise.

The game started with both teams playing it tight. The Flyers got into some penalty trouble early but the Caps were not able to capitalize. The period would end dead locked with no score. In the second, the Caps would get into some pretty heavy penalty trouble. They were called for six minors in the second frame. Whether they were deserved or not, the Caps could not hold back the Flyers power play for long. In fact, the Flyers first three goals were two power play goals and a goal scored on a delayed penalty.

Ovi would score goals 4 and 5 on the season to keep the Caps right in the hunt as both teams exchanged chances and goals. Semin broke the 2-2 tie with an highlight reel goal that left Coburn frozen before firing it through Emery. But the Flyers would come right back as Mike Richards shows why he wears the "C" for the Flyers netting two goals in 18 seconds to give the Flyers the lead right back. Richards makes Flyers history as the only Philly player to score a hattrick in the home opener.

Semin would tie the game at 4 apiece on the power play. The goal came off of a Nick Backstrom chip pass after the Flyers misplay the puck in front of Emery. Backstrom finished the night with 3 assists and make his eighth helper in the season thus far. Then the Caps took the lead again as Matt Bradley threw the puck to the net and the rebound deflected off of Brendan Morrison's body and into the net. The goal would go for review but ended up counting.

"I thought we were going to get out of here [with the win]," Caps' coach Bruce Boudreau said of the goal. "We were pretty determined to defend the lead. "

The Capitals couldn't defend the lead however. Tom Poti tried to clear a rebound from in front of Jose Theodore, but ended up hitting the goaltender with it instead and it bounced into the net. The Caps would get a late power play, but they were unable to score as the penalty carried over into the overtime period. The Flyers did what they did best, feed off their crowd and crash the net. The result is a game winner by the little guy and the Caps take away a point.

"I think tonight we [were] our worst enemy," Brendan Morrison summed up. "It's a game we should seal down and win with that much time left in the game."

Undisciplined play by the Capitals ended up costing them the game. They were called for nine minor penalties, six minors in the second period alone. The Flyers were 3 for 9 with the extra man, while the Caps were a mortal 1 for 5 on their power plays. The Caps just could not get into a rhythm as they marched in to the penalty box time after time.

"You take [nine] minors in a game, you are not going to win the game," Boudreau said. "Six penalties in one period, that is how you get four goals scored against you. It's unacceptable."

"Tonight was more penalties than anything," Brendan Morrison said. "We just couldn't stay out of the box." He continued, "We have to learn this lesson quickly if we want to be a great team, not just a good team."

Semyon Varlamov looked very much like a rookie goaltender tonight. To be fair, he was left to dry on a few Flyer chances, but as each goal went in he looked less sure of himself. He was pulled after the Flyers fourth goal, letting in four goals on 14 shots in the second period. Theodore came into the game and seemed to give the Caps some better balance in the second and third periods.

"Varly has got to be mentally tougher," Boudreau said of his young goaltender. "... They score in bunches on him. He can be fabulous for two periods then he gets scored on ... I think he gets down on himself."

Mike Knuble returned to Philly only to be left off the scoresheet and finished a -1.

"I had some butterflies before," Knuble said of his return. "But it was an interesting game, fun game to play in."

To pull some positives in the game, the Capitals do take one point for making it to overtime. Also the Caps battled back in the third to take the lead, but it was an unfortunate bounce that tied the game up and sent it to overtime. The Caps played much better 5 on 5 than the Flyers did. If they would have stayed out of the box, they could have spoiled the Flyers home opener. And the Caps did get good production from it's top line (4 g, 4a). This was a good effort in a tough arena to play in.

The Puckhead's Player of the Game was Nick Backstrom with his three assists on the night. For some reason, Backstrom loves to show up in games against the Flyers.

Caps come back to the phone booth to face the Rangers in their second home game on Thursday night.

Caps Rake The Leafs In Home Opener

Capitals 6, Maple Leafs 4
Scoresheet - Times - Post

The Capitals' faithful filed the Verizon Center to watch their team play the Toronto Maple Leafs. They were not disappointed in the effort the home team gave. In one of the loudest home openers in memory, the Caps dominated the Leafs through at least two periods and hang on to finish with a 6-4 win.

Alex Semin played one of the best games I have seen him play as a Capital. He scored a pair of goals and he had an assist. He also played a bit more physical throwing a hit and not shying away from the Leafs defense. Other Caps adding to the scoresheet were Alex Ovechkin, Brooks Laich and new comers Brendan Morrison and Mike Knuble.

"It felt like we were in a piranha fish tank," Leafs head coach Ron Wilson said of the Capitals quick start. "They came out and they were all fired up."

Even though the Caps were out shot through most of the game they were dominating the play against the Leafs through the first two periods. They held a comfortable lead going into the third period 6-1. But the hard-work Leafs didn't quit and the Caps were guilty of letting up a little.

"It’s a great start but we have to learn to win 6-1 and not think we are going to win 9-1," Bruce Boudreau said. "It was a cheap lesson for us."

"We can’t turn the puck over against them, because they are coming two guys hard," Caps' defenseman Shaone Morrisonn added. "It’s a team that works very hard. We don’t want to be giving up that many goals. When we are up 6-1, going into the third we want to finish the game."

The Leafs were able to shut down the Caps' dynamic scoring and score three straight goals in third period. A stark contrast from the stingy defense played up in Boston where the Caps held their foes to only 3 shots in the final frame.

"In the third period we came out determined not to let any more goals in, played a little bit better defensively and found a way to get back into the game," Wilson said when asked about the positives the Leafs could take from the game.

Semyon Varlamov played very well through the first two periods and then was left out to dry in the third by his collapsing defense. But when he had to make the big stop for the Caps, he was there. He did the full on splits to make a save on John Mitchell who was looking at an open net. Varly was there for a few more saves for his first win of the season.

"Toronto is a team that shoots everything and on the PK, [Varlamov] had some big stops," Shaone Morrisonn said of his goaltender. "He is a young kid and he is just going to get better and better."

What did work through the first two periods of the game was the Caps transition game, which turned out four or five breakaways on the Maple Leafs who let forwards get in behind them.

"Our transition game is great, it’s top notch," Brendon Morrison said. "Get the puck, move it up the ice, chip and support, use our speed ... We have got guys that can skate and guys that can score so we are a dangerous team on transition."

Puckhead's Player of the Game is Alex Semin who impressed me in this game. He was moving his legs, he was playing more physical and he got rewarded for taking the puck to the net. Semin also stayed around the locker room to answer questions from reporters, something he rarely did since his arrival to DC.

Caps Notes:

• The Hershey Bears opened their season tonight against the Norfolk Admirals and won 3-1. Andrew Gordon scored a hattrick and Braden Holtby nearly had the shut out. Keith Aucoin and Alex Giroux both had three assists on the night as well.
• The Caps gave out Mike Green bobble head dolls for the home opener. Green had one assist tonight and was a -1.
  
• The Caps "dropped" their '08-'09 Southeast Division Championship banner before the game. The Leafs did not attend the pregame ceremony. The Caps redid all of their banners and retired numbers to match the teams red, white and blue uniforms. The banners are also much bigger than last years.

NHL.com Gets An "A" For NHL Gamecenter

This is the third year I bought into the NHL Gamecenter Live online. It's the NHL's online version of Center Ice where you can watch games not in your market on your computer. It has been a process with this NHL service for the last couple of years, but this time they have got it right.

The viewing screen has grown to fill up a good size of your monitor and is in the HD format (when available). The picture is super clear with little or no hiccups, thus far.

There is still real time stats as well as chat with other fans (although it is mostly trash talking). You still have access to archived games that track back to the '07/'08 season (when your are feeling nostalgic for a season or two ago). There is also a multiple game feature (up to 4 games) with the bigger screen space, which is much nicer than the multiple screen mode from last year where the feeds were much smaller. A sample below:

They have added a new DVR-like controls with a download where you can pause, rewind and replay the action. Also there is picture in picture (PIP) and real time scores to keep track of all the action.

I use to cringe every time my credit card was charged for the service, but this year it has been definitely worth the price tag ($159.00 USD). Games are still blacked out if they are on local television (like Versus, NBC, NHL Network, etc.). It's not a service if you just like your local team because they black it out every time. The window will slow a bit if you open more than 2 or 3 games at once. But, if you have high speed Internet, it is not so bad. If don't have high speed Internet, it will not work as well and you should not get it.

It might be worth a spin if you are a super NHL fan and love to watch out of market games from your computer and/or to keep track of your adopted Western/Eastern Conference team.

A Perfect Road Game

Capitals 4, Bruins 1
Scoresheet - Post - Times

Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals played their season opening game against the Boston Bruins and things went just about text book. The Capitals got goal production from the power play, killed all of their penalties, got a pair of goals from Ovechkin. All in all a good road game for the Capitals as they beat last year's number one team in the East 4-1.

Ovi had a great start to the season netting a pair of goals. His first goal was off of a bad line change by the Boston Bruins and Ovi was the late man in. He beat Tim Thomas with a wrister 5 hole. His second goal was off a feed from Tom Poti who had carried the puck from his own goal line. Poti just sent the puck toward a breaking Ovi in the slot who had Milan Lucic all over his stick. But he over powered Lucic and sneaked the puck past Thomas to put get the game's fourth goal.

Ovechkin was one of three players who had a three point night. Brooks Laich scored a pair of goals on the power play, one off of a great set up pass by Nick Backstrom and the other when Thomas failed to cover the puck on a Backstrom shot as well getting an assist on Ovi's second goal. Backstrom himself finished with three assists.

Alex Semin had a pair of assists while Poti had an assist as well.

The Capitals' special teams did its job. The power play was a dangerous aspect of the Caps game as they were 2 for 4 with the extra man. The penalty kill took care of all 5 of the Bruins power plays and only allowed one Boston shot on net.

But what impressed more than anything was the Capitals ability to come into a team's building on their home opener and steal a game away. The Caps were able to nullify the Bruins' aggressive forecheck with quick passes up the boards. Boston certainly could have used some more speed against their foes, maybe the missing piece was traded to Toronto.

The Caps were also solid on defense. They only allowed Boston seven shots in the second period and only three shots in the third period. Only when David Steckel lost control of the puck sending Patrice Bergeron on a break away. He beat Jose Theodore with a great deke. For the most part, the Caps defense did a great job of stepping into the Bruins' shots. Those that did get through to Theo were stopped.

There wasn't much need of an enforcer, but John Erskine went to fisticuffs with Shawn Thornton anyway. I was surprise that Thornton didn't get an instigator penalty after he clearly dropped the gloves before Erskine did. The Bruins did get burned after Ovechkin cleanly hit Mark Recchi and Zdeno Chara cross checked Ovi in response. The Caps didn't take long to score on the ensuing power play proving that the Caps would rather score on any retaliation penalty rather than just have a fighter out there to protect.

There is not too much to complain about as the Caps first game. It was a good road game win. For all the drama of Micheal Nylander and Chris Bourque being claimed on waivers by a rival, the Caps put all the off ice problems behind them to get the win they needed against a very good defensive team in Boston.

The Caps come home to face Toronto Saturday night at the Verizon Center. They will face a grittier and tougher team in the Maple Leafs who nearly won their home opener against Montreal before they fell to the Habs 4-3.

Puckhead's Player of the Game is Alex Ovechkin who started off much like he left off from last season. He was also the game's number one star. He is well on his way to defending his title league's most valuable player.

Bourque Who?

After years of quietly pulling for the 5'9", 173 lbs. forward to make it the big club, it finally happened and didn't happen, then happened again all at once. Calling him a dark horse to make the Capitals for almost 3 years now, it was exciting to see a spot for him in the lineup. But when the salary cap became an issue, the Caps had no choice but to put some one on waivers to send them back to Hershey. Pittsburgh picked up the crafty forward and in a way, Chris Bourque finally made a NHL roster, just not the Caps roster.

Frankly, I am happy for him. He goes to a team that thinks they can use him after the Penguins themselves lost a player to the waiver wire. Bourque has his shot at the big league and maybe this is for the best in the end. He has the potential to be a sneaky scoring forward. The Penguins will be forced to play the young forward, or place him on waivers yet again if they send him to the W/B Baby Pens.

We all sort of got hypnotized by the last name Bourque. But as I always say, don't hate the player, hate the game. Since I love the game, I have to accept it and know that Bourque will be just fine in a Penguins' sweater. As for the Caps, they just lose out on a player with no compensation for him. A bit frustrating to see the Caps' management got caught with their pants down a bit.

And don't put this on Micheal Nylander, he didn't put Bourque on waivers or force GM George McPhee's hand to do so. McPhee signed Nylander to begin with, now McPhee has to deal with his contract the best he can since Nylander doesn't fit in Bruce Boudreau's system.

Caps Notes:

• Caps are all set for their season opener against Boston. Jose Theodore will likely be in net for the first game. Mike Knuble may not see any first line duties at first according to how they have lined him up on the second line in practices. Of course, this just might be Boudreau holding his hand close to his vest.
• Matt Bradley will be wearing a newly designed helmet to prevent concussions made by Cascade Sports and designed by Mark Messier. I have some first hand knowledge of the helmet, because I have been playing with the Cascade helmet for just over a year now. It may look a little bigger, but if it does what it says then it's worth it.

Let's Go Caps!