Special teams has been a roller coaster ride for the Capitals ever since the lock out. If the power play was improving it seemed the penalty kill suffered and vice versa. But this season things have worked out for the Capitals.
The Caps' power play has been lethal this season, especially at home. The Caps are ranked second in the league trailing only the Detroit Red Wings. At the Verizon Center, their power play is the best in the league.
In contrast, the New York Rangers struggle in the power play department, falling to the bottom of the barrel ranked 29th with a dismal 13.9% effectiveness. To put some perspective on it, the Rangers may score a power play goal in every ten chances, while the Capitals can score a power play goal in every four chances.
But what the Rangers do have for them is the best penalty kill in the league. Part staunch defense, but mostly Henrik Lundqvist. The Rangers are an effective 87.8% on the PK, and also have 9 shorthanded goals. While that is short of the 16 shorties the Flyers have scored this year, the Caps have shown they do give up short handed goals.
The Caps power play, a high point from last season and the season before thanks to a defensive minded coach in Glen Hanlon, has been middle of the road this year. They are ranked 17th in the league overall, a better 12th ranking at home. The Caps miss Boyd Gordon who is recovering from a broken digit (but did practice with the team yesterday with out the blue injury jersey).
The New York Rangers need to play a smart game and try to stay out of the box. But when they do take a penalty, they have been able to kill off the extra man attack. For the Caps, it might be smart to also keep from the sin bin. But if you have to take an infraction, the Rangers maybe the team to do it against since they have been struggling offensively, especially on the power play.
That just leaves goaltending, and for the Capitals it is not exactly where they would like it to be. Of late, the Caps' goaltender Jose Theodore, has been playing okay. But his numbers against the Rangers have been dismal. In his only start, he had a 3.36 goals against average and .875 save percentage. Nothing to write home about.
However, it was in New York that Theodore turned his season around. Just a few days before Christmas, Theo was chased from the net as the Rangers built up a 3-0 lead in the first period. Brent Johnson, who was ailing from a bad hip and a touch of the cold filled in for the rest of the first and Theo was sent back in at the start of the second. The Caps made a comeback, matching the Rangers' 3 goals in the first with 3 goals in the third. They forced over time and Shaone Morrisonn was the hero with an overtime goal.
Since that game, JT60 has made a recommitment to his craft and soon earned the number one spot between the pipes. He has upped his save percentage above .900 and kept down his goals against. But Theo's inconsistency has always been an issue for the Capitals and the playoffs are a bad place to start feeling shaky.
So who should win? It seems experts are picking against the Capitals, mainly pointing at their porous defense and shaky goaltending. But you won't get my picks until tomorrow as I will put together my fearless predictions for the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Monday, April 13, 2009
Washington's Offense vs. New York's Defense
There are only two teams that have a better goals for average than the Washington Capitals. The Boston Bruins and the Detroit Red Wings. The New York Rangers are sixth in the league for goals against average. A high powered offense against a staunch defense. It should make for quite the challenge for the Capitals.
Throw in a good goaltender in Henrik Lundqvist and a loose cannon in Sean Avery and the Caps will have their hands full.
The New York Rangers have been struggling in the offensive department, a problem they did not have at the beginning of the season. That trend did not end with the coaching change and John Tortorella taking the reigns. You do have to give the Rangers some credit down the stretch, they were able to win the games they needed to win against some pretty formidable foes.
Dangerous Rangers snipers in Markus Naslund, Nikolai Zherdev and Ryan Callahan will keep the Capitals hands full. However, the Rangers do not have a 30 goal scorer among them. There are only four Rangers with 2o goals or more and none of them over 25 goals. Not exactly a team that has a lot of confidence scoring going into the playoffs. Another factor that has hurt the Rangers was their size. They had to get Nik Antropov from the Toronto Maple Leafs to help them in that regard.
What they don't get in scoring, they make up in defense, kinda. The Rangers have several key defensemen that have made a deference this season. Wade Redden, Paul Mara and Marc Staal will test the Capital's front forwards. But the Rangers don't have a real punisher back on the blue line. While all of their defensemen are capable, none of them have had a stand out year.
While scoring could be a problem, the Capitals do give up goals. That is where the Rangers have a secret weapon in Lundqvist. Well, not all that secret, but they can draw just about all of their success on their goaltender's shoulders. They will have to if they wish to get by the Capitals. If the Caps give up 2 to 3 goals a game and can't solve Lundqvist, then the Rangers could have the upper hand.
Lundqvist has had a solid year with 38 wins, a .916 save percentage (just above the league average). He has posted 3 shutouts and has a 2.43 goals against average. He has started against the Capitals three times this season, only winning one game that went into a shoot out. Lundqvist also plays better when there is more at stake. His playoff numbers in '07 were an impressive .924 save percentage and a 2.07 goals against through ten games.
The Washington Capitals simply have to beat Lundqvist, something that their blue line knows more about. Mike Green scored a pair of goals to keep his historic run going, Tom Poti had the game winning goal back in November and Shaone Morrisonn scored an overtime goal against the Rangers as well. Why are the Caps' defensemen getting big time goals? They are the fourth man in.
The Rangers' defense is pretty straight forward, they can contain your forwards. But the third man in has been giving them fits. In a wide open game the Rangers can break down easily allowing a defenseman to slip in far side. They just can not pick up that trailing player. The Caps open aggressive system will test this and I wouldn't be surprised if their defensemen take advantage.
Then there is the unknown, as in Sean Avery. As we have seen in the Rangers' series against the New Jersey Devils, Avery has a way of being a pest. His job, more than likely is get under the skin of Alex Ovechkin. But you can't deny his abilities on the power play which we will talk about special teams tomorrow.
Throw in a good goaltender in Henrik Lundqvist and a loose cannon in Sean Avery and the Caps will have their hands full.
The New York Rangers have been struggling in the offensive department, a problem they did not have at the beginning of the season. That trend did not end with the coaching change and John Tortorella taking the reigns. You do have to give the Rangers some credit down the stretch, they were able to win the games they needed to win against some pretty formidable foes.
Dangerous Rangers snipers in Markus Naslund, Nikolai Zherdev and Ryan Callahan will keep the Capitals hands full. However, the Rangers do not have a 30 goal scorer among them. There are only four Rangers with 2o goals or more and none of them over 25 goals. Not exactly a team that has a lot of confidence scoring going into the playoffs. Another factor that has hurt the Rangers was their size. They had to get Nik Antropov from the Toronto Maple Leafs to help them in that regard.
What they don't get in scoring, they make up in defense, kinda. The Rangers have several key defensemen that have made a deference this season. Wade Redden, Paul Mara and Marc Staal will test the Capital's front forwards. But the Rangers don't have a real punisher back on the blue line. While all of their defensemen are capable, none of them have had a stand out year.
While scoring could be a problem, the Capitals do give up goals. That is where the Rangers have a secret weapon in Lundqvist. Well, not all that secret, but they can draw just about all of their success on their goaltender's shoulders. They will have to if they wish to get by the Capitals. If the Caps give up 2 to 3 goals a game and can't solve Lundqvist, then the Rangers could have the upper hand.
Lundqvist has had a solid year with 38 wins, a .916 save percentage (just above the league average). He has posted 3 shutouts and has a 2.43 goals against average. He has started against the Capitals three times this season, only winning one game that went into a shoot out. Lundqvist also plays better when there is more at stake. His playoff numbers in '07 were an impressive .924 save percentage and a 2.07 goals against through ten games.
The Washington Capitals simply have to beat Lundqvist, something that their blue line knows more about. Mike Green scored a pair of goals to keep his historic run going, Tom Poti had the game winning goal back in November and Shaone Morrisonn scored an overtime goal against the Rangers as well. Why are the Caps' defensemen getting big time goals? They are the fourth man in.
The Rangers' defense is pretty straight forward, they can contain your forwards. But the third man in has been giving them fits. In a wide open game the Rangers can break down easily allowing a defenseman to slip in far side. They just can not pick up that trailing player. The Caps open aggressive system will test this and I wouldn't be surprised if their defensemen take advantage.
Then there is the unknown, as in Sean Avery. As we have seen in the Rangers' series against the New Jersey Devils, Avery has a way of being a pest. His job, more than likely is get under the skin of Alex Ovechkin. But you can't deny his abilities on the power play which we will talk about special teams tomorrow.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Schedule Released
It's official, the Stanley Cup Playoffs are set to start Wednesday, April 15th at 7 pm. The seven game series goes something like this:
Wednesday 4/15 7pm at Washington
Saturday 4/18 1pm at Washington
Monday 4/20 7pm at New York
Wednesday 4/22 7pm at New York
Friday 4/24 7pm at Washington - if necessary
Sunday 4/26 2pm at New York - if necessary
Tuesday 4/28 7pm at Washington - if necessary
Two things jump out at me looking at the schedule, the jump between games 1 and 2 and also the two national televised games on NBC in game 2 and game 6.
A longer gap between games 1 and 2 bodes badly for the Rangers who have to be on the road a day or two longer then they might like. The Caps also have time in their own house to fix any problems that come along.
Since the Capitals are playing the number one market in the U.S., it makes sense that NBC wants follow up on the series as much as possible. Hence the schedule national broadcasts for both games 2 and 6.
Wednesday 4/15 7pm at Washington
Saturday 4/18 1pm at Washington
Monday 4/20 7pm at New York
Wednesday 4/22 7pm at New York
Friday 4/24 7pm at Washington - if necessary
Sunday 4/26 2pm at New York - if necessary
Tuesday 4/28 7pm at Washington - if necessary
Two things jump out at me looking at the schedule, the jump between games 1 and 2 and also the two national televised games on NBC in game 2 and game 6.
A longer gap between games 1 and 2 bodes badly for the Rangers who have to be on the road a day or two longer then they might like. The Caps also have time in their own house to fix any problems that come along.
Since the Capitals are playing the number one market in the U.S., it makes sense that NBC wants follow up on the series as much as possible. Hence the schedule national broadcasts for both games 2 and 6.
Are The Capitals A Championship Team?
Time! Pencils down, the season is officially over. In the next couple of days is playoff time, the best time of the year. PHT has caught the Cup fever and it's time to talk about the second season.
Before scouting the competition (which I will do tomorrow), the work begins at home. While the Capitals have shown periods of greatness this season, are they truly ready for the playoffs come Wednesday. The Capitals are a good team, there is no denying that. But are they a championship team?
The playoffs are all about streaks. That is the case of any tournament for just about any sport, can your team ride a hot hand to the finals. A hot goaltender, staunch defense, or an explosive offense can outweigh anything written down on paper. We have seen teams like the Edmonton Oilers come in to the post season a 16th seed and make it to the finals. Why? Because of streaks.
At some point through the playoffs each of three areas need to see streaks at the right time; defense, offense and goaltending.
Let's start with the Capitals explosive offense. With Bruce Boudreau's aggressive system, players like Alex Ovechkin, Alex Semin, Nick Backstrom and others have thrived as seen by their monster numbers just in the past two seasons. There are 6 players with 19 goals are more this season for the Capitals. They are second in the league for a goals for average of 3.23 (Detroit is first).
It more than likely the Caps will have to score to win. If Ranger goaltender Henrik Lundqvist is hot, that could be asking a lot. One area of contention is simply hitting the net. A great coach once said, "The best save a goaltender makes is one he doesn't have to." Confusing I know, but if shots are not getting through to the net then Lundqvist's job is made easy. And the Caps have a history of shooting the biscuit too high or wide. Add in a Ranger squad that will be in shooting lanes all game and it will get tough to get the puck to the net.
Their offense is an area of optimism, the Caps do have the number one scorer in the NHL over the past two seasons in Ovechkin.
What the Caps need is a better defensive effort and better goaltending. They thought they were getting that in the last few games, but the Capitals have played great defense before. They held a Panther team shotless in the third period in their house. It is not like this team is defunct on the blue line, when they want to be they have been very good.
Goaltending is also a question mark for the Caps. Will we see the Theodore that turned his season around in New York and returned focused and better prepared, or the shaky, inconsistent Theodore that started the season? The is the Stanley Cup question. If Theodore can turn hot, this team could be very dangerous.
For them to be a championship team they will have to improve their efforts in all three areas; defense, offense and goaltending. Teams that have hoisted the Cup have excelled at all three at some point through their journey to the finals.
Before scouting the competition (which I will do tomorrow), the work begins at home. While the Capitals have shown periods of greatness this season, are they truly ready for the playoffs come Wednesday. The Capitals are a good team, there is no denying that. But are they a championship team?
The playoffs are all about streaks. That is the case of any tournament for just about any sport, can your team ride a hot hand to the finals. A hot goaltender, staunch defense, or an explosive offense can outweigh anything written down on paper. We have seen teams like the Edmonton Oilers come in to the post season a 16th seed and make it to the finals. Why? Because of streaks.
At some point through the playoffs each of three areas need to see streaks at the right time; defense, offense and goaltending.
Let's start with the Capitals explosive offense. With Bruce Boudreau's aggressive system, players like Alex Ovechkin, Alex Semin, Nick Backstrom and others have thrived as seen by their monster numbers just in the past two seasons. There are 6 players with 19 goals are more this season for the Capitals. They are second in the league for a goals for average of 3.23 (Detroit is first).
It more than likely the Caps will have to score to win. If Ranger goaltender Henrik Lundqvist is hot, that could be asking a lot. One area of contention is simply hitting the net. A great coach once said, "The best save a goaltender makes is one he doesn't have to." Confusing I know, but if shots are not getting through to the net then Lundqvist's job is made easy. And the Caps have a history of shooting the biscuit too high or wide. Add in a Ranger squad that will be in shooting lanes all game and it will get tough to get the puck to the net.
Their offense is an area of optimism, the Caps do have the number one scorer in the NHL over the past two seasons in Ovechkin.
What the Caps need is a better defensive effort and better goaltending. They thought they were getting that in the last few games, but the Capitals have played great defense before. They held a Panther team shotless in the third period in their house. It is not like this team is defunct on the blue line, when they want to be they have been very good.
Goaltending is also a question mark for the Caps. Will we see the Theodore that turned his season around in New York and returned focused and better prepared, or the shaky, inconsistent Theodore that started the season? The is the Stanley Cup question. If Theodore can turn hot, this team could be very dangerous.
For them to be a championship team they will have to improve their efforts in all three areas; defense, offense and goaltending. Teams that have hoisted the Cup have excelled at all three at some point through their journey to the finals.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Poor Defense Ends Caps Season Like They Started It
Capitals 4, Panthers 7
Scoresheet - Post - Times - Mia Herald
When the Capitals started the '08 -'09 season it was with a disappointing loss to a division rival. The Thrashers took the Caps by surprise whooping them 7-4. They finished their campaign just like they started it, by getting whooped by a division rival by the same score. The Panthers took advantage of poor defensive play by the Caps to win on their fan appreciation night.
Alex Ovechkin looked frustrated all night after the Panthers collapsed on him all night, but he did eventually get open to score in the third giving him 56 goals on the season. He finishes with 110 points which is short of Evgeni Malkin's 113 point assault this season. Ovechkin was facing a scoring slump going into the playoffs as he was held without a goal in his previous four games.
Alex Semin is doing okay in the scoring department has he had two tallies tonight and Brooks Laich also scored bringing his career season to an end with 23 goals. Nick Backstrom was one of only two Capitals that finished with a plus 2 with a pair of assists. The other player with a +2 was Shaone Morrisonn.
The Capitals just had too many mistakes on the defensive end. While it is no excuse, the Caps may have just been caught thinking about Wednesday night when the post season starts. They just overlooked their opponent of the moment which happened to be a very determined Panther team.
It was a game that Mike Green would like to forget. He was a -1 and took the only penalty that lead to a Panther power play goal. Green has also had a tendacy to be a little cavalier with the puck in bad situations. Obviously there are a lot of clean that needs to be had on the blue line. The Caps need to better handle the puck on the breakout.
This is a game where the Caps have to quickly forget as they now know who they will face when the race for Lord Stanley's Cup. The Canadiens' loss to Pittsburgh sets the field and puts the New York Rangers up against the Washington Capitals. But we will get into that more next week.
The Capitals finish their season breaking a boat load of records. Franchise records for wins and points, Green's amazing 8 game scoring streak (most by any NHL defenseman), Ovechkin's third season with 50+ goals, and the list goes on.
It was definitely a season to remember, 82 games is just the ice cream base and the accomplishments are the condiments. Now all that is left is to put the cherry on top.
Scoresheet - Post - Times - Mia Herald
When the Capitals started the '08 -'09 season it was with a disappointing loss to a division rival. The Thrashers took the Caps by surprise whooping them 7-4. They finished their campaign just like they started it, by getting whooped by a division rival by the same score. The Panthers took advantage of poor defensive play by the Caps to win on their fan appreciation night.
Alex Ovechkin looked frustrated all night after the Panthers collapsed on him all night, but he did eventually get open to score in the third giving him 56 goals on the season. He finishes with 110 points which is short of Evgeni Malkin's 113 point assault this season. Ovechkin was facing a scoring slump going into the playoffs as he was held without a goal in his previous four games.
Alex Semin is doing okay in the scoring department has he had two tallies tonight and Brooks Laich also scored bringing his career season to an end with 23 goals. Nick Backstrom was one of only two Capitals that finished with a plus 2 with a pair of assists. The other player with a +2 was Shaone Morrisonn.
The Capitals just had too many mistakes on the defensive end. While it is no excuse, the Caps may have just been caught thinking about Wednesday night when the post season starts. They just overlooked their opponent of the moment which happened to be a very determined Panther team.
It was a game that Mike Green would like to forget. He was a -1 and took the only penalty that lead to a Panther power play goal. Green has also had a tendacy to be a little cavalier with the puck in bad situations. Obviously there are a lot of clean that needs to be had on the blue line. The Caps need to better handle the puck on the breakout.
This is a game where the Caps have to quickly forget as they now know who they will face when the race for Lord Stanley's Cup. The Canadiens' loss to Pittsburgh sets the field and puts the New York Rangers up against the Washington Capitals. But we will get into that more next week.
The Capitals finish their season breaking a boat load of records. Franchise records for wins and points, Green's amazing 8 game scoring streak (most by any NHL defenseman), Ovechkin's third season with 50+ goals, and the list goes on.
It was definitely a season to remember, 82 games is just the ice cream base and the accomplishments are the condiments. Now all that is left is to put the cherry on top.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Montreal Or New York
No more guessing. No last game heroics. With just days to go until the end of the season, the Eastern Conference teams are set for the playoffs. Except for who will be opening their first playoff round game in Washington, DC. It it may look like it will take the last game of the season to determine that.
The New York Rangers will win any tiebreaker with Montreal since they have more wins. The only way the Canadiens can take the number seven spot from them is if they win and the Rangers lose. For the Capitals, both teams present challenges. But who is a better matchup?
The Rangers are still having trouble getting their scoring going, but if Henrik Lundqvist is on top of his game that makes for a sneaky Ranger team that could pose problems. After getting off to a lightning quick start, the Rangers have struggled down the stretch. They fired head coach Tom Renney and hired John Tortorella. While the coahing change helped them avoid a first to worst scenario, if the Rangers can't score they will likely be dead in the water.
The Canadiens definitly do not have a scoring problem. With aces like Alex Kovalev and the Kostitsyn brothers, there is no shortage of a power offense. However, the Habs are injured on the blue line and their goaltending in Carey Price has been a hot/cold issue all season long. Montreal would like to avoid facing Boston in the first round if they can, which means they will be gunning for the seventh spot.
The Capitals are looking at two very different teams going into the playoffs and it is a pick your poison scenario. The Capitals have won both season series against both teams. That mental confidence could help.
The Florida Panthers gave it a valient effort, but came up short. Their game against the Capitals will be only for pride as their playoffs hopes died with the Rangers and Canadiens accumulating points in their games last night. It will be interesting to see if Boudreau will rest anyone for Saturday's game.
NHL Notes:
The New York Rangers will win any tiebreaker with Montreal since they have more wins. The only way the Canadiens can take the number seven spot from them is if they win and the Rangers lose. For the Capitals, both teams present challenges. But who is a better matchup?
The Rangers are still having trouble getting their scoring going, but if Henrik Lundqvist is on top of his game that makes for a sneaky Ranger team that could pose problems. After getting off to a lightning quick start, the Rangers have struggled down the stretch. They fired head coach Tom Renney and hired John Tortorella. While the coahing change helped them avoid a first to worst scenario, if the Rangers can't score they will likely be dead in the water.
The Canadiens definitly do not have a scoring problem. With aces like Alex Kovalev and the Kostitsyn brothers, there is no shortage of a power offense. However, the Habs are injured on the blue line and their goaltending in Carey Price has been a hot/cold issue all season long. Montreal would like to avoid facing Boston in the first round if they can, which means they will be gunning for the seventh spot.
The Capitals are looking at two very different teams going into the playoffs and it is a pick your poison scenario. The Capitals have won both season series against both teams. That mental confidence could help.
The Florida Panthers gave it a valient effort, but came up short. Their game against the Capitals will be only for pride as their playoffs hopes died with the Rangers and Canadiens accumulating points in their games last night. It will be interesting to see if Boudreau will rest anyone for Saturday's game.
NHL Notes:
- Things are tight in the West. Three teams are tied with 88 points for the last playoff spot. Anaheim, St. Louis and Nashville will take this to their last games. Minnesota has an outside shot at getting in, but the fore mentioned three would have to lose their reaming games and the Wild would have to win their last two.
- Colorado Avalanche's Joe Sakic will finish the rest of the season watching from the press box. This also puts his career up in the air, will the veteran retire in the summer months? Sakic has been deemed Captain Clutch for his ability to score the big goal when his team needed it the most. If Sakic retires, then there goes a the last of the team that was, Patrick Roy, Sakic, Ray Bourque.
- If you are keeping up with College hockey and the Frozen Four, both Bemidji State and Vermont were knocked off at the Verizon Center last night. To be honest, I haven't been following any of the Frozen Four coverage. So let me know how it comes out.
- The Boston Globe has reported that the next Winter Classic will be at Fenway Park. And the Capitals could be the opponent they face. Originally, officials wanted Montreal to attend, but there seems to be a scheduling faux paux with that plan. Either the Flyers or the Caps could take part in the New Year Day festivities.
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