A TWO-point night: Caps 4 - Hurricanes 3 (OT)

So, your child blows off homework, plays games on his X-box. He looks as if he hasn’t a care in the world as his test is coming up in Algebra class. You ask him, “shouldn’t you be studying?” He says, “OK.” They day comes, he takes his test, and he comes home. You’re ready to light into him for not taking things seriously, not studying, not giving his best effort. “Look, Pop… I got an ‘A.’”

You just roll your eyes.

That was the Caps tonight, falling behind early, looking out of sync for long stretches of the first 30 minutes, then coming back from a two-goal deficit to pin a 4-3 overtime loss on the luckless Carolina Hurricanes.

It started badly for the Caps, getting scored on with the first shot of the game when Jiri Tlusty finished a two-on-one with only John Erskine back on defense. But wait… where was the other defenseman, you ask? Well, Mike Green was scraping himself off the pavement after he took a two fisted shove in the neck from Andrew Alberts as Green was skating into the offensive zone before the 2-on-1 went the other way…



Then the Caps found themselves down two goals when Jose Theodore left the slightest crack open on the short side, allowing Eric Staal to flip the puck against his mask, then having it roll off him into the net for the second goal. Three shots, two goals. It wasn’t looking good.

But as bad as the early results were, the Caps weren’t playing quite as badly as one might think. In fact, the Caps lived in the Carolina end of the ice in the first period. In the first 20 minutes the Caps outshot Carolina, 14-5 and out-attempted the Hurricanes 29-12. That Carolina was in the game, let alone leading, was testimony to Cam Ward having shaken off any after effects of his injury that kept him off the ice from November 7th until he returned to action last Wednesday.

Here is how bad things were for the Caps as the game was winding along. Sometimes, a coach will see his team lacking spark or momentum, and he’ll call his timeout to regroup. Well, tonight’s equivalent was the in-game programming staff dialing up the “Unleash the Fury” video with 9:05 to go in the second period and the Hurricanes still holding that 2-0 lead.

As it turns out, there’s magic in that video. Barely over a minute later, Alexander Semin scored on a wrister using defenseman Brett Carson as a screen to halve the lead. Then, with time winding down in the period, Semin broke behind the defense, and with Tim Gleason in furious pursuit (more on him to come), Semin shielded the puck with his body. However, he lost it as he was approaching the crease. Unfortunately for Cam Ward, he got caught in a no-man’s land between diving to poke the puck away and sitting back to smother it. He chose the former, merely bunting the biscuit a couple of feet in front of him. It was enough of a rebound and enough room for Semin to collect the puck and fire it into the back of the net with authority as Ward was sprawled on the ice with six-tenths of a second left in the period.

The teams traded goals in the third, Tomas Fleischmann pouncing on a loose puck early in the frame with the Hurricanes skating a man short on a delayed penalty. What made the play, though, was Mathieu Perreault skating the puck down the half wall into the left wing corner, then whipping it across to Fleischmann, who was waiting free at the inside edge of the right wing circle.

Carolina got it back, though, and Mike Green really was the culprit this time. Green tried to curl the puck around the top of the left wing circle, then sent a pass cross-ice where it was pilfered by Tim Gleason (him again… and yes, we’ll mention him again in a bit). Gleason sprinted through the neutral zone, and as he crossed the Caps’ blue line, he wound up and fired a slap shot that beat Theodore to tie the game.

But Green would have the last laugh – in overtime. The Caps put pressure on Carolina with Alex Ovechkin getting a couple of good looks. Nicklas Backstrom picked up a missed shot by Ovechkin in the corner and fired it back to where Ovechkin was posted -- at the right wing faceoff dot where three Hurricane players collapsed on him...


But the puck came through to Mike Green coming down the middle, and all that was left was to snap the puck past Ward for the game winner…


Other stuff…

- Oh, yeah… Tim Gleason. In an odd twist of irony, the guy who collided with Alex Ovechkin the last time these teams met in a knee-on-knee incident that got Ovechkin suspended ended up confronting Ovechkin once more. Ovechkin wound up and fired the puck toward the Carolina net late in the first period. Gleason got the blade of his stick on the puck in such a way as to deflect it up and into his lower jaw. He went off the ice immediately holding his jaw, and he would miss most of the next period. But after taking stitches and getting a full face-shield screwed onto his helmet, he returned to take one shift in the second period… that was him Alexander Semin was fending off just before he scored with less than a second left. But Gleason came back in the third to score his shorthanded goal. Say what you want, the guy is tough.

- There was Ovechkin at the all-you-can-eat score sheet buffet again… six shots on goal (15 attempts), one hit, three takeaways, a blocked shot, two assists, plus-3, and he split his two draws taken.

- Nicklas Backstrom had an understated game – a pair of assists, plus-3, winning 11 of 18 draws, a hit, and two blocked shots, one of them a sliding stop in overtime that came at a critical juncture.

- OK… Mike Green was not charged with a giveaway this evening. Uh, then who was it wearing his number that passed the puck across and had it intercepted by Tim Gleason, who converted it into a score?

- Alexander Semin… when he’s good, he’s very very good. And tonight, he showed stretches of being very very good. Of course, Carolina is his personal chew toy, too. His two goals give him 21 in 25 career games against the Hurricanes.

- One of our favorite players over the years, even as we were rooting against him, has been Rod Brind’Amour. Tonight, he skated for 6:28 and took only one shift in the third period (none in overtime). We can’t take any joy in that. Brind’Amour has been a warrior over the years.

- It didn’t seem so much that the Caps played badly, or that they were even taking Carolina lightly. They just looked terribly out of sync in those first 30 minutes.

- Hey, did we call Fleischmann a key? That was his first career goal against Carolina. Came at a nice time, too.

- Yeah, and we had the first period being key, too… getting two goals, in fact. We didn’t have Carolina getting them.

- Jose Theodore’s GAA and save percentage will take a bit of a hit, but Carolina really didn’t muster any significant pressure. Their goals were scored by: a) flattening a defenseman so that he wasn’t in the play going the other way, b) playing the post poorly on a wrap-around (that one’s on Theodore), and c) a giveaway in the offensive zone that led to a break the other way.

- When I saw that the referees tonight would be Don VanMassenhoeven and Stephen Walkom, I knew there wouldn’t be much in the way of power plays. There weren’t (five combined, and two of them came on “technical” calls had had to be made – delay of game and too many men on the ice). Those two are a pair of old-school, call only the most obvious fouls sorts of officials.

- Mike Green had three hits. Two of them were of the slobberknocker variety. We’re thinking the one on Jiri Tlusty in the Zamboni corner left quite a mark.

You could say the Caps escaped with the extra point tonight, and it would be a reasonable conclusion to make. But six months from now, who will care? Tomorrow, it is another Hockey Night in Canada appearance for the Caps, which is what they might have been peeking ahead to in any case. They’ll have to be better, even against Toronto.

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Caps vs. Hurricanes, December 11th

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

The Caps return home to catch up on holiday shopping and to play only their second home game of December, hosting the Island of Misfit Toys that is the Carolina Hurricanes. The Caps return home (at least going into last night’s action) owners of the best record in the NHL, which is not necessarily a good thing if you consider the number of President’s Trophy winners that traded up to a Stanley Cup (seven in 23 seasons). But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. This is the festive season of hope and…

“Cheesy Christmas presents.”

Well, yeah… and let me guess, you sell such things.

“C.J. Penney’s the name, and Christmas is my game. And I have just the thing for the discerning hockey fan this year.”

OK, we’ll play along.

“Well, who wouldn’t love to find this in their stocking?”



A hockey tie? Isn’t that a little cliché?

"But it’s in the Caps colors! OK, OK… now I know you can’t resist this…"



Chocolate hockey pucks.

"OK, maybe that’s more of an Easter kind of thing. Well, then a how about…"



A Mr. Potato head…

"Hey… But check out the logo… the Penguins. Caps fans will eat that up."

Like the pucks?

"OK…here’s a multi-tasker. You can give it on Christmas or wear it on New Year’s Eve."


Just add ice… clever.

“Alright, alright. How about something for the ‘coach’ in the family.”




Hmm… another multi-tasker, I see.

"And you can play this while celebrating…"



Has potential.

"OK, I didn’t want to do this, but you forced me to bring out the ultimate holiday hockey weapon…"


Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww…

We’re not sure that these gift ideas will suit your fancy, but the Carolina Hurricanes coming to town might be the remedy for the Caps after enduring a 3-0 shutout at the hands of the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday. Just look at the numbers…



There are a lot of “30th’s” in there for the Hurricanes (although that 28th-ranked power play is one slot higher than Pittsburgh – go figure). What’s more, the Hurricanes have only one win on the road, that coming against that same Pittsburgh team, 3-2, last Monday (ironically, because Carolina could score a power play goal, and the Penguins could not).

But there lies a danger with the Hurricanes, though. Having lost to Buffalo on the road and about to head out on the road again for a four-game trip, this is something of a “gap” game that the Caps will try just as soon as not to get rid of, which leads to cutting corners. And the Hurricanes have won two of their past three (their first wins in regulation in consecutive games this season) since dropping a tight 3-2 decision to the Caps on November 30th.

If you just glance at the scoring tables, the Hurricanes have ten players who have double digits in total points, the Caps have 11. The similarity ends there. Carolina has only one player with as many as 20 points (Ray Whitney, 8-12-20), while the Caps have six, and they have three with at least 30.

Perhaps even a more stark difference – a reflection of the first and last positions of these teams in 5-on-five play – is the face that the Caps have 17 players on the “plus” side of the ledger, including six players with at least a plus-10 figure, while the Hurricanes have no players on the “plus” side of the ledger and six with at least a minus-10. Neat symmetry, that.

Who’s hot?

Joni Pitkanen has five assists in the three games since the Hurricanes met the Caps. That follows a 13-game run where he had only a pair of assists on his record. Pitkanen leads all NHL defensemen in time-on-ice per shift (1:00/shift), and he has logged more than 30 minutes of ice time four times this year, including two of his last four games. Pitkanen is 1-5-6 in 14 career games against Washington.

Eric Staal had a three game streak in which he had two assists in each snapped in the Hurricanes’ 4-2 loss to New Jersey on Wednesday. Still, six points in four games qualifies as hot, especially when it almost doubles Staal’s point total for the year (he is 3-10-13 in 20 games). He is 14-22-36 in 37 career games against the Caps, and he had – yes – two assists in the only meeting of the year between these teams, the game that started him on the three-game, six-assist run.

Who’s Not?

The joke here would be “everyone else,” and there is a kernel of truth in that. But we can start with Rod Brind’Amour. The Carolina captain was a healthy scratch for a 3-2 win over the Penguins, the first time he was a healthy scratch for a game since dinosaurs roamed the earth (actually, the first time in nine seasons). Brind’Amour, who is tied for 11th on the club is scoring (2-6-8 in 29 games), is dead last among 767 NHL players in plus-minus (minus-19). He finished 883rd among 884 players in that number last year. He qualifies as “not hot” here because in his last dozen games he is 0-1-1, minus-6, and he hasn’t logged as many as 15 minutes of ice time in his last nine games (three times in his last five games being given fewer than ten). He is 39-42-81 in 98 career games against Washington.

We might include Sergei Samsonov in this category, too. In his last dozen games he is 1-2-3, and he’s occupying a seat at the far end of the bench, too (two games with more than 15 minutes in his last ten to go with his two of fewer than ten minutes). He is 4-14-18 in 39 career games against the Caps.

Keys…

1. Ward off a loss. Cam Ward returned to the ice on Wednesday after missing time with a lacerated leg, taking the loss in a 4-2 decision against New Jersey. He is 12-5-2 with a 2.54 GAA in 20 career games against the Caps, and considering the sort of year the Caps had last year, Ward was borderline spectacular against them – 2-1-1, 2.46, .927. His presence in the lineup alone makes this Hurricanes team very different than the ones the Caps defeated 12 days ago.

2. First things first. The Caps lead all of the NHL in first period goals scored (39). Carolina is tied for fourth most in first period goals allowed (29). The Caps are, in fact, +24 (goals scored/goals allowed) in the first period so far this year. Washington potted two in the first period in the first meeting of these teams, then held on for the 3-2 win. Two would be nice tonight, too…without the holding on part.

3. Show some Flash. Tomas Fleischmann has never scored a goal against the Hurricanes (0-2-2 in 19 career games). He had a mini-streak (3-2-5 in three games) ended against the Sabres on Wednesday. Here’s a chance to kill two birds with one puck – getting back on the scoring train and breaking the schneid against the Hurricanes.

Even with Ward, who may or may not be still shaking off cobwebs, the Caps are the vastly superior team. Like that matters. Jose Theodore, who will get the call tonight, it would seem, allowed a goal early (to Joe Corvo 4:35 into the contest) and allowed a goal late (in the last 16 seconds to Matt Cullen) in the first meeting. Even if Carolina scored ten goals in their last three games following the loss to the Caps, they are not an especially formidable offense. This one is up to Ward – and whether the Caps can find the rust spots.

Caps 4 – Hurricanes 1

Well, they went and did it...

That's right, the Caps went and blew it. With the loss last night in regulation, the Caps blew any chance they might have had to tie the NHL record for fewest losses in regulation time in a season...

Five

The record was set by the original Ottawa Senators in 1919-20 (in 24 games), and later tied by the Boston Bruins in 1929-30 (44 games) and the Montreal Canadiens in 1943-44 (50 games).

They still have a shot at doing some damage to the post-expansion record for fewest losses...

Eight, by the 1976-1977 Montreal Canadiens.

We do believe, for the record, that the Caps will have considerable difficulty matching that 60-8-12 record of the Canadiens of that season.

Just thought you'd like to know.

A NO-point night: Sabres 3 - Caps 0

It’s not the end of the world.

Yes, the Caps lost last night, 3-0, to the Buffalo Sabres. Yes, they were shutout for the first time this year. This game was decided by one factor, and one factor alone…

The Caps did just about everything right. The outshot, out-attempted, out-hit the Sabres. They won the turnover battle, they won the faceoff battle, they took only three shorthanded situations (none in the third period, which has been an occasional problem), and if you take a look at the shots-on-goal graphic, they got shots from high-probability-of-success areas...

This was one of those nights when they just ran up against not just a hot goaltender, but a goaltender who is at the very top of his game, playing the best hockey of his professional career. At the 30-game mark, the Vezina conversation really should begin with “Ryan” and end with “Miller.” The only debate is whether he is also a front-runner for the Hart Trophy.

At the other end, the only real “mistake” we could hang on Jose Theodore was his getting late into position to defend Nathan Gerbe’s walk-out move along the goal line that allowed Gerbe to stuff the puck under Theodore. The other goals were off a deflection from Milan Jurcina’s boot and a rebound that the Caps’ defense couldn’t clear because they were backing up furiously as a trio of Sabres gained the offensive zone with speed and under control.

Other stuff…

- The Caps got shots from the right people… six from Alex Ovechkin, five from Nicklas Backstrom, four each from Mike Green and Eric Fehr.

- Backstrom did everything but pilot the plane back to Washington (oh yeah, and score). Five shots on goal, ten attempts, three hits, and he won 12 of 18 draws. He also logged more than 25 minutes of ice time, a career high among regular season games (including extra time contests).

- We’re not entirely buying the idea that the Caps lacked energy tonight. If anything, they might have been guilty of trying to be a little too fine in their attack early.

- Among the streaks ending with this game is the 30-gamer the Caps had in which they led at some point during the game.

- Brian Pothier missed the last 28 minutes of the game with an injury. Shaone Morrisonn didn’t play much in the first period (3:45 in ice time) and missed a chunk of the second period (only 3:23 in ice time), but seemed to take regular shifts in the third period. Still, is he altogether right?

- Alexander Semin’s struggles against this team continue… Almost 22 minutes, one shot on goal.

- David Steckel did not take the ice for the last 25 minutes of the game, his last shift coming on that where Nathan Gerbe scored his goal for Buffalo. Looking at the play, except for losing the faceoff (Steckel lost two of nine on the night), he didn’t seem to be guilty of doing anything particularly wrong; the play was unfolding far away from him. That moment also happened to be the last of the sightings of Tyler Sloan, who finished the night with only 4:20 of ice time.

- Speaking of faceoffs, Jochen Hecht took it in the teeth… he won one of 11 draws. His one win wasn’t even against a center (Semin took the draw). Add that to the fact that he has just four points in his last 13 games, and this just ain’t his year.

- Tyler Myers was one of only two Buffalo skaters without a shot on goal… but he blocked eight Caps shots, and he played almost 26 minutes. OK, there were the six giveaways, but he’s a keeper, alright.

- In the “having your cake and eating it, too” file, there was another instance of tripping for one player, diving for the other. Well, no. It’s one, or it’s the other. It’s not both.

Hey, losses happen. Sometimes, a team really does run into a hot goaltender, although we’re of a mind to use the term “good,” rather than hot…Miller’s been doing this all year (he should have gotten the league’s first star of the night; he blanked the highest scoring team in the league – one that hadn’t been shutout this year – Ty Conklin blanked a team that had been shutout twice in its previous seven games, even if that team was Detroit). The trick, as always, is making sure that one doesn’t become two (as in, “in a row”). They get that chance against Carolina tomorrow.

Look, we knew Philly fans were brutal...

...but this is way over the top:

"I had the right of way, going across the pedestrian line, and I saw there was a gold Tahoe or Yukon was trying to get in the left lane to turn, and decided to turn, and in the corner of my eye, I saw it and jumped up and took the brunt of it. I did a nice roll and dismount. It was OK. It was weird, like slow-motion. I just reacted by bracing myself by jumping up and taking the brunt of the force and just rolling. Got up, realized I was OK, was like, 'Is this going on for real?' Then I threw out some profanities at the guy."

That was Islanders defenseman and former Capital Brendan Witt, who was struck by an SUV getting his morning coffee yesterday. A witness to the incident said:

"Boy, that guy is tough. It was like seeing Clint Eastwood, but in hockey. I really thought a Hollywood movie was being made. I was looking around for cameras. I can't believe how tough this guy is. It's insanity."

Witt did play last night in the Islanders' 6-2 loss to the Flyers. He played 17 minutes, finishing even with two blocked shots and two hits...

...three if you include the SUV.

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Caps vs. Sabres, December 9th

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

We are live at Peerless Central as the Caps take it on the road again, this time in Buffalo to take on the Sabres. And unlike Philadelphia, where it’s always sunny, in Buffalo, it’s either snowing or about to snow. Unlike Buffalo, however, where people actually lead their lives when the precip hits the fan, as it were, folks in Washington run to their local grocery store for all sorts of necessities and to their hardware store for shovels, snow blowers, plows, flame throwers, and more salt that you’d find in the flats of Utah.

But when all is said and done, folks head home and are in need of entertainment. It just so happens that your Uncle Peerless has the perfect game that hockey fans can play while gathering around the TV to watch the Caps. Now, before we get too far along, send the kids out of the room. We’ll wait…

OK, now before your minds get away from you, this isn’t some weird Tiger Woods kind of “Spin the Mistress” sort of game. This is a game called, well… “Buffalo,” and it involves adult beverages. The rules are rather simple, but you have to know which hand is which, so to speak…

First, you can hold your drink with either hand, but may only drink from it with the weaker of your two hands (for example, if you are right-handed, you must drink with your left). If any other Buffalo players spot you drinking with your dominant hand, they call “Buffalo” on you, and you must finish your drink as quickly as possible. If you hesitate to finish your drink, the other players will usually proceed to make a ruckus chanting "Buffalo!" and banging on the table until you finish.

Next, If you call a false “Buffalo” on somebody (call “Buffalo” when they are actually drinking with the proper hand), you are obligated to finish your own drink. Special care must be made when drinking with left-handed Buffalos because of this rule.

Last, once you begin playing Buffalo, you are playing it for the rest of your life, sort of like Lindy Ruff playing “coach” in, well, Buffalo.

You and your friends (of suitable drinking age) can play this game while watching the Caps dismantle the Sabres and dismantle a case or two of adult pops in the process.

Hey, I'm not making this stuff up. What?... You'd rather play Parcheesi?

The Caps are set to play Buffalo (the hockey team, not the game) tonight in an attempt to extend their winning streak to seven games. Buffalo will be a formidable test, despite the fact that the Caps dispatched the Sabres by a score of 2-0 in their only previous meeting this year. So far this year, the tale o’ the tape (numbers going into last night's action) for these teams suggest a closely fought contest is at hand…



Since the last meeting between these teams, Buffalo has gone 4-2-0, winning their first four of those games and sitting on a two-game losing streak. The one constant in those six games has been the play of goaltender Ryan Miller. Miller got the call in all of them and allowed more than two goals in only one of them (4-2-0, 1.34, .959, one shutout). Miller has, in fact been the rock upon which the Sabres’ season has been built to date. In 24 appearances to date, Miller has allowed more than two goals only five times and more than three only twice. The Caps are not one of those teams to solve Miller for more than two goals, scoring only two in the 2-0 win over Miller and the Sabres on November 25th in Semyon Varlamov’s first NHL regular season shutout.

Who’s Hot?

Since the Caps and Sabres met last, Buffalo has been led in scoring by right wing Jason Pominville (2-4-6) and rookie defenseman Tyler Myers (0-6-6). Pominville had a four game points streak snapped on Monday when the Sabres became Martin Brodeur’s 103rd career shutout victim (Brodeur tying Terry Sawchuk’s NHL shutout record), 3-0. In 16 career games against the Caps he is 5-5-10, but he was held off the score sheet in the team’s first meeting this year.

Myers, on the other hand, is making a case for Calder Trophy consideration. He is second among all rookie defensemen in scoring and is tied for third in plus-minus. He is second only to Victor Hedman in ice time among rookie blueliners, tied for fourth in hits, and is second in blocked shots.

Who’s Not?

It’s hard to single out any Sabre for being cold. As has been the case over recent years, this is a team characterized by considerable offensive balance. Over the last six games, the Sabres have gotten that. Seven players are tied for the team lead in this stretch with two goals apiece. Eight different players have at least four points.

The Sabres cannot be thought of, generally speaking, as a “gritty” team. In the “gritistics” (we just made that up), on home ice Buffalo ranks as follows:

Hits: 26th (last overall in all games)
Blocked Shots: 19th (29th overall)
Takeaways: 25th (26th overall)

Keys…

1. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The Caps have done it with offense and defense, with stars scoring and support players scoring, with goaltending and discipline. On their six-game winning streak they have outscored teams 25-9, their power play is 9-for-31 (29.0 percent), and their penalty killing has gone 20-for-23 (87.0 percent). There isn’t much there to tweak.

2. Three’s the Key. The Sabres are a team that places an undue burden on its goaltender to win games. The Sabres are 1-7 in games where they allowed more than two goals, and they are on a seven game losing streak in that regard.

3. The Other Alex. Alexander Semin has struggled against the Sabres like no other team. Against teams he has played in at least ten games, Semin has fewer points against Buffalo (1-1-2 in 11 games) than any other. If he can shake that spell, it’s going to be real trouble for Buffalo.

This really isn’t terribly complicated. The Caps are hot, they have more weapons, they are playing better than the Sabres at both ends of the ice. Miller is almost certainly going to have to hold the Caps to two goals or fewer for the Sabres to win. He’s certainly capable of that (he’s already done it once this year), but the old saying in gaming applies here…

Bet the streak.

Caps 3 – Sabres 2

Oh, and remember... drink responsibly, and never, ever drink and drive.

Different Eras

As the team reports on Twitter today...

"This is just the second time the Caps have had the NHL's best record this late in a season (other was 1991-92)."

The Caps' 19-5-6 record (44 points) tops the league this afternoon. In that 1991-1992 season, the Caps had a record of 21-9-0 (42 points) after 30 games. However, how these teams got there was rather different, a reflection of the different eras.

Today's Caps are the best offensive team in the NHL, averaging 3.60 goals per game at the 30-game mark. But that 1991-1992 team? Through 30 games they potted a whopping 137 goals (4.57/game). 15 times in those 30 games they scored at least five goals, compared to six times (discounting Gimmicks) for today's version of the Caps.

And defense? The Caps, by today's standards, are a good (but not great) group overall, their 2.67 goals allowed per game mark standing 10th in the league. But today's numbers look a lot better than the 3.17 goals allowed per game through 30 games by that 1991-1992 team (95 total goals). That's the goals allowed per game by Anaheim so far, and they're 26th in the league in that statistic.

If you ever needed a quick lesson in just how much the game has changed in the past couple of decades, even with today's rules that "open up" the offense, there it is in rather stark terms.

Psst...don't look now, but...

A TWO-point night: Caps 3 - Lightning 0

Another day, another win.

One might be tempted to take such things for granted for a team on a winning streak, but even though the Caps blanked the Tampa Bay Lightning last night, 3-0, to run their winning streak to six games, such things should never be taken for granted.

And one shouldn’t get too picky about the particulars when you’re winning either, but that’s kinda what we do here, so we will…

The game itself really did break down into three distinct periods – a counterpunching first period, an aggressive second period, and a more disciplined third period than what the Caps showed the last time goalie Semyon Varlamov had an opportunity to pitch a shutout.

“The Big Story,” as it were, will be Alex Ovechkin this morning and his return to the lineup after spending a fun-filled two-game vacation from the rink, courtesy of the fine folks in the NHL front office. This being a game played in south Florida, the phrase that comes to mind thinking of Ovechkin’s return is one applied to a former American presidential candidate – he was “tanned, rested, and ready.”

Was he ever. Ovechkin wins the “Silver Stuckey” for sampling the entire score sheet buffet… seven shots on goal, two goals, a shot blocked, a blocked shot, two misses, two giveaways, a takeaways, five hits, and he won the only faceoff he took. All in a nice and tidy 22 minutes of ice time.

In other words, a pretty average night. But Ovechkin certainly wasn’t the only Cap to sample the goodies in this one…

- Eric Fehr is quietly putting together quite a season. The goal he scored as a product of a display of superior hand-eye coordination, swatting a bouncing puck past Lightning goalie Mike Smith, was his eighth in 20 games. He is on a seven game points streak, and after going scoreless in his first four games has points in 12 of his last 16 and is on an 82-game pace of 41-36-77, plus-51 (that is not a misprint) in those last 16 games.

- Tomas Fleischmann had a slump in late November, going four consecutive games without a point. Take that away, and Fleischmann has points in 13 of 15 games. He added a pair of assists to his point total last night. For the season he is on an 82-game scoring pace of 43-30-77.

- Alexander Semin had a pair of assists last night for his third multi-point game in a row and fourth in his last six. For the season he is on an 82-game scoring pace of 43-55-98.

- If you want to add in Nicklas Backstrom, who was quiet last night (on an 82-game pace of 22-68-90), Mike Green (an 82-game pace of 14-71-85), and Ovechkin (an 82-game pace of 75-45-120), this might be the most formidable offense in recent memory in the NHL.

- It might get lost in all of those pucks rocketing into opposing nets, but the Caps have done quite a job keeping pucks out of their own net. With last night’s shutout, that is nine of ten games in which the Caps have allowed three or fewer goals, seven of ten in which they have allowed two or fewer. But hey, they can’t play defense, and they have iffy goaltending, right?... right??

- And make that 13 of 15 games in which the Caps have allowed fewer than five power plays for the opposition. They’ve killed off the last 15 shorthanded situations they’ve faced, going back to a power play goal by Joe Corvo early in a 3-2 win over Carolina on November 30th.

- Odd, perhaps, that Mike Green did not register a shot on goal last night, seeing as how the Caps did manage 34 on Smith.

- All of a sudden, Martin St. Louis looks old, and Vincent Lecavalier looks disinterested. Hard to fathom that neither player registered 20 minutes of ice time last night, until you look and see that Lecavalier had only five shifts in the third period (none in the last seven minutes), and St. Louis had only four shifts (none in the last six minutes). Zenon Konopka had six shifts. Think Coach Rick Tocchet was sending a none-too-subtle message?

- If Semyon Varlamov doesn’t start getting more Calder buzz now, we have to wonder what’s going on. In his last nine games he has as many shutouts as he has occasions when he gave up more than two goals (two), and he is 7-0-2, 1.54, .945. What more could one ask for?

It was a solid night all around, exactly the sort of road game you would draw up. Keep the home team from getting off fast and getting the crowd, such as it was (12,400 official) into it, take advantage of opportunities, and slam the door when you have a lead. Wrap it up, put it on the plane, and take the same thing to Buffalo on Wednesday.

Another Round??

My heavens, it's like a Louisiana runoff election.* But you are invited to go and vote in the second round of the Great Capitals Blogosphere Blog-Off over at The NHL Arena.





Vote early, and vote often for your favorites.

* just teasin'

Winners, Top to Bottom

Washington: 18-5-6, first in the Eastern Conference (NHL), five game winning streak

Hershey: 17-7-2, first in the East Division (AHL), outscored opponents 22-7 in their last four games

South Carolina: 16-6-4, first in the American Conference (ECHL), seven game winning streak

That's a combined record of 51-18-12, and these teams have outscored their opponents 289-226. Quite a start to the season for the organ-eye-zation.

with thanks to johnwaltonhockey.com

The Precision of Mike Green

Too offense-oriented, not good enough in his own end, occasionally lazy with the puck. Blah-blah-blah. Those are the usual complaints about the play of Mike Green, who is the best offensive defenseman of his generation and who is a very underrated defender.

But there is something else about Green that is nothing short of amazing in the numbers he has posted to date. And that is precision. He is on precisely the scoring pace and the plus-minus pace this year that he finished with last year. You will recall that Green played in 68 games last year (missing 14 games to two separate bouts with shoulder injuries and a case of the flu). He finished 31-42-73, plus-24. At his current pace this year, if he was to play in 68 games he would finish 12-61-73, plus-24.

That he's getting there in a way very different from last year speaks well to Green's ability to adapt his game to what is there, and what isn't. What hasn't been there in as many instances this year is the weak-side pinch that would allow him to sneak behind the defense, take a pass, and rifle it over the goalie's glove. So what he is doing this year is that he is still getting pucks to the net (he's tied for the league lead in shots on goal among defensemen), but doing so in a way that gives others the chance to pounce on rebounds. And, he is otherwise getting the puck to the bevy of talented scorers the Caps have elsewhere on the roster.

Last year, Green was noteworthy for setting a record for consecutive games with a goal by a defenseman and for scoring 31 goals overall. This year, he is on a pace to tally 72 assists (if he was to play in all of the Caps' remaining games), far surpassing the second highest total by a defenseman in the last decade (64 by Nicklas Lidstrom in 2005-2006).

An extraordinary talent who takes advantage of his opportunities, shows an ability to adapt his game to those opportunities, and play within himself more than perhaps he is given credit for makes for an extremely valuable mix of skills for any team. Whether the Canadian Olympic team would be foolish to leave him off their roster is another discussion, but insofar as the Capitals are concerned, Green's value is very much appreciated.

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Caps vs. Lightning, December 7th

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

It’s a Monday Madness Matchup between the streaking (five game winning streak) Capitals and the Home-cookin’ Tampa Bay Lightning (7-2-4 at home this year). The Caps will visit Tampa with their super-charged power play giving their opponents quite a jolt, and no one knows more about “jolts” than The World’s Mightiest Mortal, the man with the magic lightning himself, Captain Marvel. Captain, it’s good to see you.

“It’s good to be here.”

I didn’t know super heroes were hockey fans.

“Oh, I’m a big Capitals fan, Peerless. Every time I hear the word “Shazam!” I think of the Caps.”

Is that so? Why is that?

“Well, as all fans of the Justice League of America know, whenever my alter ego, Billy Batson, utters the word, 'Shazam!', he is struck by a lightning bolt and transformed into what you see before you, empowered with the abilities of six legendary figures.”

And what does that have to do with the Caps?

“Ah, I see those powers in the Capitals…”

Really?

“Oh, absolutely… ‘S’ stands for the wisdom of Solomon, and that’s Bruce Boudreau to a ‘T.’ He has pulled all the right levers in getting the Caps to the top of the Eastern Conference. Then there is ‘H’ for the strength of Hercules… that’s Brooks Laich going to the net. And, of course, ‘A’ stands for the stamina of Atlas. And there you have Mike Green skating almost 25 minutes a game and fourth in the league in power play ice time.”

Pretty impressive…

“That’s not all… ‘Z’stands for the power of Zeus. And with a power play leading the league at 24.6 percent, the Caps are pretty powerful themselves. ‘A’ stands for the courage of Achilles, and oh, where do you start… Quintin Laing throwing himself in front of shots, Matt Bradley standing up to anyone in a different colored sweater, Mathieu Perreault sticking his nose in the land of the giants on just about every shift… and then there is ‘M’ for the speed of Mercury, and that’s Alex Ovechkin steaming down the left wing, striking fear in the hearts of defensemen and goaltenders who have no idea what he’s going to do with the puck, other than deposit it into the net somehow, some way. And there you have it… Shazam!”

They’re a marvel, to be sure. But Tampa Bay has enjoyed quite a bit of success at the St. Pete Times Forum. No team has lost fewer games in regulation at home than have the Lightning (two). The dark cloud there, however, is that both losses have come in the Lightning’s last four games at home – a 4-3 loss to Toronto and a 3-0 loss to Colorado.

It part of a broader struggle for the Lightning, who are in the midst of a 1-3-1 run in which they’ve been outscored 14-10. It just hasn’t been a team that has had a lot of traction lately. One way to look at the recent problems for the Lightning is this – their leading scorer in the last four games is Jeff Halpern (3-1-4). Whatever skills Halpern has, if he is leading the Lightning in scoring for any appreciable length of time, chances are that the team is struggling, and right now they are doing just that, although their overall numbers aren’t bad…



The guys one would expect to be at the top of the scoring rankings for the Lightning – Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis, and Steven Stamkos – are struggling of late. St. Louis hasn’t had a goal in eight games. Lecavalier is 2-3-5 in his last eight, continuing a year-long struggle to get footing in the scoring race (6-18-24 in 28 games), and Stamkos is 0-1-1 in his last four games and a minus-4.

And it isn’t as if the Lightning are getting a lot of support from down the roster. Ryan Malone hasn’t been bad – he is 1-2-3 in his last three games after a three game streak without a point – but it hasn’t been enough to lift he Lightning offense. And Alex Tanguay hasn’t had a goal in his last ten games dating back to a game-winner he had against Phoenix on November 16th.

In fact, the only Tampa Bay player with more than one goal in the last five games other that Jeff Halpern is Steve Downie.

We will repeat that…

The only Tampa Bay player with more than one goal in the last five games other that Jeff Halpern is Steve Downie. Downie is sixth on the team in overall scoring, although being sixth on this team in scoring is not quite the same as being sixth on, say, the Caps. Downie is 5-7-12 on the year for his sixth place spot in the Lightning scoring rankings. By way of comparison, Brendan Morrison is sixth for Washington at 9-14-23.

Lecavalier and St. Louis have been particular thorns in the sides of the Capitals over the years, and both have been better than a point a game player against Washington since the lockout (Lecavalier 18-19-37 in 28 games, St. Louis 12-19-31 in 29 games). But over the past two years, these two have been as likely to see the puck sail into their own net when they are on the ice as much as putting it into The Capitals’ net. Lecavalier is 6-9-15 in 13 games against the Caps over the last two seasons, but is a minus-7 in those games. St. Louis is 5-13-18 in 14 games, but is a minus-2.

On defense, the story for the Lightning might be the old and the new, with a Swedish twist. First, Victor Hedman of Ornskoldsvik, Sweden, was selected by the Lightning in the June 2009 entry draft. Although Hedman isn’t getting much in the way of Calder Trophy buzz, that might be a product of so very few statistics on which defensemen can build a case. However, he is already second on the team in ice time among defensemen (22:30/game) and is one of three Lightning defensemen averaging over two minutes a game on both the power play and the penalty kill. He has had his minutes dialed back, though, averaging a shade under 19 minutes a game in his last seven contests compared to averaging almost 24 minutes in his first 20 games.

At the other end of the blue line age scale is Mattias Ohlund of Pitea, Sweden, who was signed as a free agent by the Lightning this past summer. The 33-year old joined Tampa Bay after spending his first 11 seasons in Vancouver. Ohlund has struggled a bit with injury and production. He missed seven games with a lower body injury in late November, but otherwise has only six points (all assists) in 21 games. Ohlund is primarily a defensive defenseman, but he has never finished a full season (at least 60 games played) having scored fewer than 25 points.

Coach Rick Tocchet has been alternating goaltenders Mike Smith and Antero Niittymaki over the past five games, and if this pattern holds, Niittymaki will get the start tonight. He would be a good choice. Niittymaki is 5-2-1 against the Caps over his career, with a 2.31 GAA and .927 save percentage. Over the last two years, he is 3-0-0, 1.68, .954. However, all of that was with Philadelphia. Still, he has had more success against the Caps than teammate Mike Smith, who is 0-2-0, 6.67, .776 in his career against the Caps.

Keys…

1. Fitting the pieces. The Caps scored 14 goals in two games while Alex Ovechkin was sent off for a two-game time-out for not playing well with others. You’d have to think Ovechkin was pacing the floors like a caged lion during those two games, watching his teammates pounding the Panthers and Flyers, wishing he could be in on the fun. The temptation here might be to take over the NHL scoring lead on his first shift or see how many Lightning he can put lights-out. Given how well the Caps have performed in his absence, he’d be better served, not to mention the team, if he blends in rather than tries to stir the drink all by himself.

2. Don’t make it a special game. Tampa Bay has played only six home games (of 17 total) since November 1st. But in those games, the Lightning are 6-for-24 on the power play (25.0 percent). Since November 1st, the Caps are 22-for-31 in killing road penalties (71.0 percent). That’s not a good mix. Fortunately for the Caps, they have allowed only 31 man advantages to the opponent in nine road games since November 1st (3.44/game). Keep that up, and the visitors should be alright.

3. G…39. Bingo! OK, 39 is actually in the “N” column of a bingo card, but 39 is a number to watch. Yes, Alex Ovechkin is 20-20-40 in 30 career games against Tampa Bay, and Alexander Semin is 13-11-24 in 23 games against the Lightning. But David Steckel is 6-5-11, plus-7 in his last dozen games against the Lightning. And now, since he got off the schneid of being without a goal this season…

Tampa Bay has hung around the edge of the top-eight for most of the season. That is quite an improvement over last year’s train wreck of a season. They are on pace for a 22-point improvement over last year’s finish. But the other side of that is that the Lightning have won consecutive games only twice this season (once including a Gimmick win), and strangely enough they won the second game on each occasion on the 12th of the month (against Florida in October, against Minnesota in November). It’s too early in December for the Lightning to win a second consecutive game after beating the Islanders last Saturday. So…

Caps 4 – Lightning 2

Top Ten

And now, the top ten reasons Daniel Carcillo sucker punched Matt Bradley...

Number 10. ““He kind of came at me the shift before. He was talking to me before. I thought we were going to fight."

Number 9. “Everything happened pretty quick, I saw him drop his gloves, so I started punching him."

Number 8. “I didn’t like the sissy helmet he wears.”

Number 7. “I was channeling my inner Dave Schultz.”

Number 6. “I didn’t have one yet this week.”

Number 5. “I needed a quick tune up before my pay-per-view bout with Bobby Pulaski of the Camden Mites.”

Number 4. “Nothing impresses a new coach like taking 29 minutes in penalties and putting my team on a nine-minute penalty kill.”

Number 3. “I needed one more fight to get a free ‘I’m a Broad Street Bully’ bumper sticker”

Number 2. “Ian Laperriere was parading around the locker room before the game saying, “I’m the fight king, I’m the fight king!’”

And the number one reason Daniel Carcillo sucker punched Matt Bradley…

“What, you expect me to play hockey?”

Bourque's Back

With teddy bears!

Here's the video, courtesy of johnwaltonhockey.org

A TWO-point night: Caps 8 - Flyers 2

"There comes a time when all the cosmic tumblers have clicked into place and the universe opens itself up for a few seconds to show you what's possible."

Oh, my God!... You saw the Caps game!

Wachovia Center was the “Rink of Dreams” for the Washington Capitals tonight as they scored early, scored often, and scored from everywhere but from the top of the William Penn statue in pounding the Philadelphia Flyers, 8-2. When we wrote up the pregame, we thought that the first ten minutes would be a key. It was, but not in a way we conceived, and certainly not in a way that the Flyers were hoping for – it was the Caps who got off fast, getting a goal in the first minute. Tomas Fleischmann, who snapped a seven game streak without a goal in Thursday’s game against Florida, popped one past Flyer goalie Ray Emery at the 57 second mark on the first shot of the game. Welcome, Mr. Laviolette.

Philly evened things up just past the 12 minute mark, but a couple of minutes later, the new coach got a good look at what he inherited. Daniel (not Danny) Carcillo was on the receiving end of a finishing check by Matt Bradley at the Flyers’ blue line. Carcillo then proceeded to cross-check Bradley in the back once, twice, then dropped his gloves and grabbed Bradley’s jersey. Unable to free himself from Carcillo’s clutch and in the midst of ridding himself of his gloves, Bradley was then on the business end of a sucker punch square on the cheek that dropped him to the ice.

Carcillo was given a cross-checking, an instigator, a fighting, a misconduct and a game misconduct – a total of 29 minutes in penalties – and an early shower. If he could have been given a dunce cap, he would have had one. It took his team right out of the game moments after they climbed back into it, putting the Caps on a nine-minute power play.

The Caps didn’t look especially sharp early on the advantage, but they made up for it late. Fleischmann converted a pass from Eric Fehr from the half wall, Mike Green took a pass from Nicklas Backstrom and made it a 3-1 lead at the first intermission, and Brooks Laich put one in from the top of the crease in the first minute of the second period to make it three goals on the extended power play and a 4-1 lead.

After that, it was pure fun for Caps fans watching, especially in seeing Chris Clark getting only his third goal of the year and David Steckel getting the 500-pound gorilla off his back by swatting in a feed from Mike Green for his first of the season. It was a pure case of doing what you’re supposed to – Steckel charging hard to the net as Green was setting up on the near wall. Making a bee line for the far post, Steckel had only to get his stick in position to convert the fine pass – it was a pretty play on both ends.

Other stuff…

- The article of goalie equipment that’s worn on the hand holding the stick is called a “blocker.” In Ray Emery’s case, should it be called the “letter inner?”

- Does Nicklas Backstrom like playing against the Flyers? Here are the lines of his games against Philly this year…

Game 1: 0-3-3, plus-2
Game 2: 1-3-4, plus-3
Game 3: 1-4-5, plus-1

If you’re a Flyer fan, be afraid… be very afraid for Game 4.

- By the way, that makes Backstrom 5-16-21 in 11 career games against the Flyers.

- If such a thing could be lost in an 8-2 game, Mike Green had a four-point night (2-2-4). That’s 17 points in his last 12 games (3-14-17), vaulting him into the scoring lead among NHL defensemen (5-25-30).

- Corey Masisak over at the Washington Times noted that the Caps have 36 goals in eight games without Alex Ovechkin. At 4.5 goals per game, Corey notes, that would be more than one goal per game more (at 4.50 goals/game) more than any other team in the league.

- 12 of 18 skaters had points, six had multi-point games. Six players shared the eight goals. Balance, balance, balance.

- Steckel’s goal came on his only shot. And yes, it was another “plus” night in the circle for him (four wins in seven faceoffs).

- The Caps had four power play goals tonight on only six shots with the man advantage. You can’t argue with that kind of efficiency. The Caps started the evening sixth in the league on the power play (22.6 percent). If no one above them improved their numbers, this evening pushed the Caps into first in the league (24.6 percent).

- Mathieu Perreault might not have had a point, but he had a nice night anyway. Five shot attempts (three on goal), a takeaway, and he won nine of 14 draws in just short of 15 minutes. And this with getting smeared into the end boards by Chris Pronger once and flattened at the goal mouth on another occasion.

- Karl Alzner, thug. That’s penalties in consecutive games for the budding enforcer. We expect Colin Campbell to hand down a supplemental discipline decision any moment now for Alzner’s egregious hooking infraction.

- What’s with all the cheering when referee Stephane Auger took one in the ear hole? Philly fans… they’d have been cheering when Ivan Drago dropped Apollo Creed in that exhibition match.

- Mike Richards was on the ice for four Caps goals tonight… not a Selke moment. At least he wasn’t on the ice for the most goals scored by the Caps. That would be the big-money free agent defenseman (five goals).

- Only three Flyers were not on the ice for at least one Caps goal, and Carcillo (and his 3:54 of ice time) was one of them. If you’re going to suck, do it as a team.

- Danny (not Daniel) Briere… 15 minutes, one shot, one hit, one blocked shot, many yawns.

- The Caps have 14 goals in their last two games (yes, without Alex Ovechkin). It’s the most in consecutive games since December 29/January 1 in the 2007-2008 season, when the Caps lit up the Senators in a home-and-home for 14 goals.

- Eric Fehr, playmaker? Two assists tonight makes four in three games, and he extended his points streak to six games, adding to his career high.

- Alexander Semin might need surgery on his wrist (or so we read)? Six points in two games after returning from injury (two assists tonight). More guys should be so hurt.

- And let’s not lose sight of the fact that when a team goes on a tear in the other guy’s zone, it takes a lot of focus for a goaltender to keep his own end clean. Jose Theodore stopped 34 of 36 shots in a very solid effort.

- And speaking of solid efforts at the other end of the ice, John Erskine – 17:28 in ice time, three hits, three blocked shots, not on the ice for either Flyer goal.

Sometimes, there are moments that give hints that a season is unfolding that could be really special, and there were two things that happened tonight that suggest that such a season might be unfolding for the Caps. First, we heard in the postgame that Matt Bradley got the hard hat tonight. Bradley played only 3:20 tonight before his evening was ended by a sucker punch, but don’t think for a moment that the guys don’t appreciate the warrior that Bradley is. You’d be hard-pressed to find a more stand-up-for-others guy anywhere; he’s the kind of guy for whom you’d be really happy if his name was sent to an engraver to put on a special piece of hardware next summer.

The other was a comment by Bruce Boudreau after the game, a response to what seemed like a provocative question concerning whether the Caps were running up the score, a reference to Backstrom and Green being on the ice for a power play when the game was 7-2. Boudreau was quick to point out that Steckel was out on that power play, too, that he wanted to try to get Steckel a goal after putting in all the hard work he has so far without getting one. Boudreau commented that it was about doing something for his team and players, not running up the score. That was the kind of comment from a coach who understands, who has put in enough miles to see how important it is to do something for the guys who don’t get the ink.

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Caps vs. Flyers, December 5th

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

Saturday night's alright for hockey, and the Caps are taking to the road to visit the City of Brotherly Love for a meeting with the Philadelphia Flyers. The Caps will be doing so as the Flyers welcome a new coach, John Stevens having been relieved of his duties in favor of Peter Laviolette. In doing so, the Flyers… excuse me, what’s this?

“The List.”

The List?

“Yeah, the Top-Ten List…”

Where’d you get this, young lady?

“I used to work on the Letterman show…”

Ah, say no more. Now, let’s take a look at this… hmm… "The Top Ten Reasons John Stevens Was Fired"…



Number 10. Ed Snider found out he had a satellite dish instead of Comcast.

Number 9. Put a copy of “12 Steps to Effective Anger Management” in each of his player’s lockers.

Number 8. He failed to address a certain defenseman as “Mr. Pronger, sir.”

Number 7. When asked who Dave Schultz was, he answered, “the sergeant on Hogan’s Heroes.”

Number 6. He kept telling people that the Flyers played at “Whack-Off”ia Center.

Number 5. Told General Manager Paul Holmgren that the Flyers’ colors should be changed because they were “too Halloweenie.”

Number 4. Rooted for Pittsburgh in last year’s Stanley Cup final.

Number 3. Wanted to coach a game behind the Flyers’ bench dressed as a mummer.

Number 2. He ordered a vegetarian cheese steak at Geno’s

And the number one reason John Stevens was fired by the Philadelphia Flyers…

He didn’t win enough games.


What an odd circle these teams have traveled to get to this game. Barely two years ago, a coach stood behind his team’s bench for the first time in the same arena in which tonight’s game will be played, taking over for a struggling team that seemed to be on a trajectory to finish out of the playoffs. Tonight, the scene replays itself, with a new coach standing behind the other bench. It was Bruce Boudreau in November 2007 taking over the reins for the slumping Caps from Glen Hanlon, and tonight it will be Peter Laviolette, who takes over for John Stevens behind the struggling Flyers’ bench.

Laviolette is no stranger to the NHL. He has 487 games of experience coaching with two other teams – the New York Islanders and the Carolina Hurricanes, the latter of which he led to a Stanley Cup title in 2006. But here is the ominous part… that was the only year in three full seasons and a partial season that he completed in Carolina that he made the playoffs. He has two other playoff seasons on his resume – both with the Islanders – but he did not win a playoff round in either year. He does have a respectable regular season record, though, having gone 244-188-25-30 as he takes over in Philadelphia.

The team Laviolette inherits is still a formidable club, as the numbers suggest...



But the Flyers are also a team struggling of late. They have lost six of their last seven games, outscored by 23-12 in the process. The 12 goals scored in six games is part of a longer slump in which Philadelphia has scored only 20 goals in their past ten games and more than three in a game only once. They were shutout by their last two opponents – Atlanta and Vancouver.

Part of the problem is that the power play hasn’t had much juice lately. In the last ten games, it is sputtering along at a 12.1 percent pace (4-for-33). If there is a silver lining – and a warning to the Capitals – in that power play number, it is this. The Flyers played six of those ten games on the road, and the Flyers are tied for the top spot in the league in power play opportunities at home (67 in 14 games).

Needless to say, there isn’t any Flyer you could reasonably consider “hot” in terms of offensive statistics. The top five scorers for Philadelphia have had ten-game totals that look like this…

Jeff Carter: 3-3-6
Mike Richards: 3-4-7
James van Riemsdyk: 2-2-4
Scott Hartnell: 3-3-6
Chris Pronger: 1-1-2

12 goals out of their top-five scorers over the last ten games places a lot of pressure on the undercard of the roster to produce. And the trouble with that is much of it has been injured or otherwise on the shelf. Darroll Powe, who is tied for sixth on the club in goals scored, has been out since November 20th with a strained shoulder. Daniel (DCMD – Don’t Call Me Danny) Briere sat for two of the last ten games, courtesy of a suspension for a late hit on Colorado’s Scott Hannan, then he missed one due to the flu. Briere is the closest thing to “hot” on the Flyers’ roster (scoring-wise, that is) with 3-4-7 in the seven games he played out of the Flyers’ last ten.

Still, Carter (15 games, 7-9-16), Richards (16 games, 6-9-15), Hartnell (16 games, 9-6-15), and Briere (24 games, 9-11-20) are just about point-a-game players against the Caps over their respective careers.

If the Flyers need to get someone else to contribute, that would be Claude Giroux. In the early part of this ten-game offensive drought, he was the one Flyer producing, going 2-6-8 over the first five of those games. But in the last five, he is 0-1-1, and the biggest thing on his resume in those games was getting into his first NHL fight (against Colorado’s Marek Svatos).

On the blue line, the Flyers are a talented group, especially their top four of Chris Pronger, Matt Carle, Kimmo Timonen, and Braydon Coburn. They log the big minutes (all of them over 20 minutes a game), they contribute offensively (all have more than ten points), and none of them have yet missed a contest this year. They have been the one constant for the Flyers thus far. They will bear watching in this respect. If you compare that top four with the Caps’ top four, the striking difference is that they Flyers’ quartet get pucks to the net in the offensive end. They have a total of 182 shots on goal in 25 games. Meanwhile, the Caps’ top four defensemen (in ice time) who will be most likely to play in this game (Mike Green, Jeff Schultz, Brian Pothier, and Milan Jurcina) have a combined 155 shots on goal in 27 games, and Green has 79 of those. Even if shots don’t go in, they create commotion in front that teammates can take advantage of.

In goal, you’d have to wonder what the new coach’s thinking is going to be here. Does he go with the hot hand? Brian Boucher – in the nets for the decision in four of the last five Flyer games – has a GAA in those last four games of 1.73 and a save percentage of .933. It is testimony to how much the Flyers are struggling on offense that he is 1-3-0 in those last four games.

Or, does Laviolette go with Ray Emery? In his last four games (one of which he was pulled from in favor of Boucher), Emery is 0-3-0, 4.69, .824. After starting the season 10-3-1 and giving indications that the gamble to sign him would pay off for the Flyers, he has recorded one win since November 12th.

Keys…

1. Ten. The first ten minutes, that is. This is always a tightly contested affair, and it will have the added intensity that comes from a team wanting to take out its recent frustrations on the visitor, wanting to get the new coach off to a good start, and a rabid crowd. But the Caps are 5-1-1 in their last seven regular season games in South Philly. They can do this… but getting past those first ten minutes will go a long way toward ensuring that result.

2. Balance. In the Caps’ modest four game winning streak, seven players have the 14 goals the Caps have scored, and 13 players have points. In the absence of Alex Ovechkin for almost two full games of those four, the goal scoring has been picked up by Eric Fehr (four goals) and Nicklas Backstrom (three). Eight players have at least two assists. Against a Flyers team that will employ four defensemen for the lion’s share of the time (unless the new coach has other ideas) the pressure has to come from up and down the lineup.

3. Memories. Rewind back to that 2007 game when Bruce Boudreau took over. The Caps squandered a 3-0 lead in allowing the Flyers to tie the game. But the game was won by the Caps in overtime when Nicklas Backstrom curled the puck onto his stick, slid it around a sprawled Martin Biron, and lifted it over Biron into the net for a 4-3 win. Well, that’s hardly been the only success Backstrom has had against the Flyers. In ten career regular season games against Philadelphia he is 4-12-16. In two games this year he is 1-6-7. He could be the spoiler of the new coach’s debut.

The man Boudreau coached against that evening in November 2007, and who departed as Flyers coach yesterday – John Stevens – takes his leave very much a “Flyers Man.” He was a 1984 draft pick of the Flyers as a defenseman. Although he played in only nine games for the Flyers (he would also play in 44 games for the Hartford Whalers), he would score the first goal in the history of the Flyer’s AHL affiliate, the Philadelphia Phantoms. He also coached the Phantoms for six seasons after his retirement as a player, winning a Calder Cup along the way.

Unfortunately, perhaps, the most distinctive part of Stevens' legacy is that he set, and later tied, the Flyers’ franchise record for consecutive losses – ten (0-9-1 in 1005-2006 and 0-8-2 in 2007-2008). Nevertheless, it is always sad when anyone loses a job, even the coach of a fierce rival of the club we root for. And in that sense, we wish Stevens success in his future.

Here is an odd product of the change behind the Flyers’ bench – Bruce Boudreau is now the third-longest tenured coach with his current team among the 15 teams in the Eastern Conference, trailing only Lindy Ruff in Buffalo and Claude Julien in Boston. We think that while the roles have been reversed since November 2007, the result will be the same on the scoreboard…

Caps 4 – Flyers 3