A TWO-point night: Caps 4 - Penguins 3 (OT/Gimmick)

If tonight’s game between the Washington Capitals and the Pittsburgh Penguins was “just another game,” then God help us in May if these teams meet again. The Caps took a lead, lost it, took it back, then lost it again to send the game into overtime. Five minutes of scoreless hockey later, the Caps spotted the Penguins what looked to be an insurmountable 2-0 edge in the Gimmick, then roared back with three straight goals to take the trick shot competition and the game, 4-3, tying the club record for standings points (108) in the process and eliminating the Penguins from contention for the Eastern Conference title.

This one was "Game 0" of the playoff series these teams seem destined to play in a couple of months. It had that kind of intensity to it from the drop of the puck. And one of the ways in which this looked like a playoff game is that it was not a game where the stars could have their way. Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin each contributed an assist to their respective causes, but were otherwise rather quiet in splitting eight shots on goal between them without success.

This was more a province of the support players, all of whom seemed to be fully engaged for both squads. There were six different goal scorers tonight (three for each team); nine different players recorded a point for the Penguins, and seven different players collected a point for the Caps.

If there was a difference, it was in goal. Jose Theodore stopped 39 of 43 shots in earning the game’s first star, while Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 29 of 32 (but only 16 of the last 19 he faced in regulation). In the end, it proved to be the narrowest of differences…

Other stuff:

-- Faceoffs… 28-28. Blocked shots… 18-18. Giveaways… 12-12. In the nitty-gritty, there wasn’t a hair’s width of difference between these teams tonight.

-- Like that hunch coach Bruce Boudreau has to put Mike Knuble out there for the Gimmick? Call it an educated guess – Knuble had three goals in three games this year (including one tonight), he had four in six games against the Penguins last year, he had five in eight games the year before that. Kanoobie knew all along what was going to happen. He even called the shot… (wait for it)… ROOF!

-- You would have thought that one avenue the Penguins would explore would be one that worked so well for them last year – tenderize Mike Green and then wait for the turnovers. Green played 25:02, had an assists, was plus-3… and had NO giveaways.

-- OK, how is it that: a) Alexander Semin is allowed to walk the puck 175 feet up the ice on Pittsburgh’s power play, skate unchallenged into the Penguin zone, cut freely across the grain past Alex Goligoski, and fire the puck past Fleury while Kris Letang was… well, we don’t exactly know what Letang was doing (backing off to cover a Cap who had no angle to shoot if he received a pass?). Not to single out Letang; he was merely the last guy in a play where all five Penguins on the ice had a brain cramp.

-- While the teams were at mid-playoff season intensity, it was unfortunate that the officials were a few notches lower. Sometimes you get a feel about a crew, that they will call the stick penalty, but not the rough stuff; that they will call the obstruction infractions, or that they will let the guys play, as they say. If anyone in that arena could read what Paul Devorski and Ian Walsh were or were not calling (except five penalties on the Caps, one on Pittsburgh), you’ve got better eyes than mine (or drink better scotch).

-- We said it before, and we’ll say it again. Eric Fehr might not be the most efficient offensive player in the league, but he can see that spot from where he stands. Another less-than-12-minute night, and another goal (on three shots). Coming into the game, Fehr was fifth in the league among forwards at goals-per-60-minutes (minimum 40 games and 10 minutes TOI/60 minutes, according to behindthenet.ca). He didn’t do anything but improve his standing tonight.

-- Every Penguin skater except Jay McKee registered a shot on goal.

-- Shaone Morrison had nine hits. He spread it around, welcoming seven different Penguins to Verizon Center.

-- With two goals in the third period tonight, the Caps have outscored the Penguins 7-1 in the third period of the three games played this year. Over the last two years, the Caps have outscored the Penguins 16-2 in the third period of seven games. In those seven games over the past two years the Caps trailed the Penguins going into the third period of a game four times and are 3-0-1 in those games. In two other games in which the teams were tied, the Caps won the third period and the game.

-- Brendan Morrison… three hits? Tomas Fleischmann… three hits? Sure, just another game.

-- Ovechkin does get the all-you-can-eat-buffet coupon for this one. His scoresheet looked like this… an assist, plus-2, four shots, two attempts blocked, four misses, five hits, three giveaways, a blocked shot, and he won his only faceoff (against Sidney Crosby).

-- 14 of the 18 skaters for the Caps were credited with hits, 12 of the Penguin skaters. Yeah, just another game.

-- 11 skaters for each team were credited with at least one blocked shot. Uh-huh… just another game.

-- If you had Tyler Kennedy under “Penguin Leader in Shot Attempts,” go buy a Powerball ticket.

-- Crosby had what for him was a difficult night in the circle (11 up and 14 down), but he was a combined 9-for-13 in the offensive and defensive zones. He was 6-for-8 against David Steckel in the offensive zone.  It's called "bearing down."

-- Caps had one power play shot… they had two shorthanded shots.

This was a solid, tight, chippy game with every bit of the 200-foot ice sheet contested. In other words, a playoff game. The Caps have proven now three times this season that they own the third period. It has been the difference between the clubs so far. Now, if they can just do that in the post season…

The Peerless' Top Ten Games in Caps History

Caps fans know by now that a compilation of the ten greatest games in team history is now available on DVD. A great idea in concept, but we think it comes up a bit short on execution. There are only three games in that series that pre-date Alex Ovechkin’s arrival with the club, and only one from the “original” red-white-and-blue days. It also omits two of the most compelling games in Caps history, both four-overtime losses. So, with that in mind, we bring you The Peerless’ top ten. We even put a bonus selection in our anthology…

1. January 8, 1984 – Capitals Defeat the Flyers, 7-1.

Significance: Bengt Gustafsson scored five goals on five shots in Philadelphia against Flyer goalie phenom and fellow Swedish countryman Pelle Lindbergh. It was within one of the modern record for goals scored in a game (six), last reached by Darryl Sittler (in 1976), who was on the ice for the Flyers that night. The five goals would stand as a club record until Peter Bondra scored five in a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning in 1994.  Sittler said afterward, "the game itself is one only Washington and Gustafsson will remember."  We remember it, too.

2. April 18/19, 1987 – Happy Easter

Significance: The Capitals’ loss to the New York Islanders on Easter Sunday morning in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals in four overtimes, 3-2, was one of the most gut-wrenching games in franchise history. It was the longest playoff game in Capitals history (and fifth longest in league history) to that time. Islander goalie Kelly Hrudey made 73 saves, a playoff single game record that still stands. New York had “only” 57 shots. Mike Ridley twice hit posts in the second period with the Caps leading 2-1; the Islanders tied the game with barely five minutes left in regulation. The Capitals were not shutout in that season, but they did not score a goal in the last 90:02 of that game. It was the first time the Caps appeared in a seventh game of a playoff series.

3. April 16, 1988 - A shot and a goal

Significance: It would be the first time the Caps had ever won a Game 7 of a playoff series, coming back from a three games to one deficit and a 3-0 deficit in Game 7. Philadelphia had a comeback of their own in that game, tying the contest after the Caps took a 4-3 lead early in the third period. But the game ended on what is probably the most famous call by a broadcaster in Caps history, by Mike Fornes… “…Murphy starts the rush… he hits Hunter…he’s in alone…a shot…and a goal!!!!!" Caps 5 – Flyers 4… Ron Hextall flat on his back staring into the rafters.

4. April 24/25, 1996 – The shot that couldn’t tear tissue paper

Significance: The longest game that the Caps have played to date came in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals against the Pittsburgh Penguins. It was a wild game that saw Mario Lemieux tossed from the game after earning slashing, instigator, fighting, and game misconduct penalties after having his sensibilities offended by Todd Krygier. Dale Hunter would get one of the more remarkable assists of his career, one-handing the puck from the seat of his pants at the top of the Penguin crease to Michal Pivonka. Joe Juneau would get two chances to win it – the first in the second overtime when he followed up his own shot and with the puck lying open in the crease, having a chance to sweep it the last six inches as he was about to skate around the net…he missed. The second chance came immediately thereafter when the Penguins were whistled for removing the net on the play. It was the first penalty shot in Stanley Cup overtime history. Juneau missed that one, too, as the deteriorating ice betrayed him, not giving Juneau the chance to settle the puck down before sending a weak shot at goalie Ken Wregget. In the fourth overtime, though, with the Caps killing a penalty late in the period, Petr Nedved stepped around defenseman Mark Tinordi and sent as harmless looking a shot as there was in this game toward Kolzig. He never saw it. The seeing-eye puck avoided several players screening Kolzig and fluttered over Kolzig’s left shoulder into the back of the net. The longest game in Capitals’ history was over at 179:16…a 3-2 loss.

5. June 4, 1998 – Caps defeat the Sabres in Game 6, Eastern Conference Final

Significance: The 3-2 overtime win propelled the Caps to the Stanley Cup final for the first – and only – time in club history. Oddly enough, the Caps won all three games played in Buffalo in that series, winning Game 3 (4-3 in overtime) and Game 4 (2-0). Three of the games of that six-game series went to overtime, the Caps winning all three. Only two games of that series were not one-goal games, and both were 2-0 shutouts, one for each team. In Game 6, Joe Juneau (the Caps’ leading playoff scorer that year) got the game/series-winner 6:20 into overtime and Olaf Kolzig stopped 39 of 41 shots for his 12th win of the playoffs against only five losses.

6. March 11, 2001 – Capitals erase three-goal third period deficit behind backup goalie

Signifiance: The Caps were playing the Eastern Conference leading Ottawa Senators at home and fell behind early, eventually trailing 5-2 at the second intermission. Coach Ron Wilson decided that with the result a foregone conclusion, he would rest Olaf Kolzig for the third period. That normally would have meant backup goalie Craig Billington getting the mop-up duty, but he was injured. The job fell to Corey Hirsch, just called up from Portland. Then Andrei Nikolishin scored a goal. Then, Trent Whitfield scored one. Then, Sergei Gonchar netted one to tie the game. Finally, with 1:28 left to play, Steve Konowalchuk made the comeback complete with a goal to give the Caps an improbable 6-5 win, and Corey Hirsch got the win by stopping all eight shots he faced in the final 20 minutes. It was the only appearance Hirsch would make for the Caps.

7. November 23, 2007 – Bruce Boudreau coaches his first game for the Caps

Significance: The Caps had just fired head coach Glen Hanlon – on Thanksgiving, no less – after compiling a 6-14-1 record and doing it in especially ugly fashion (scoring only 47 goals in their first 21 games, seven of those in one game against Toronto). The Caps raced out to a 3-0 lead midway through the second period, but the Flyers came back to tie the game on a goal by Mike Richards with just over four minutes left in regulation. In what would be a harbinger of good things to come, though, Alex Ovechkin set up Nicklas Backstrom for the game-winner less than two minutes into the extra session. The Caps would finish the year 37-17-7 and secure a playoff spot in one of the most remarkable in-season turnarounds in league history.

8. January 31, 2008 – Alex Ovechkin breaks nose, then breaks Montreal

Significance: The Caps and Canadiens were playing the second of a home-and-home series. Montreal shutout the Caps in the first half of the set, 4-0, behind goaltender Cristobal Huet in Montreal. Alex Ovechkin, who went into that game with 39 goals, said “he just stopped everything.” The second half of the set was different. The Caps jumped to a 3-0 lead behind a pair of goals by Ovechkin and one by Viktor Kozlov. But Ovechkin was paying a price. He already had a cut under his eye from a high stick in the previous game, but in this one he would get his nose broken when checked from behind into the boards by Montreal’s Francis Boullion, then would have his lip sliced by an errant puck. It didn’t stop him. He completed the hat trick 12:30 into the third period to give the Caps a 4-2 lead. But after squandering that lead, Ovechkin saved the day with a fourth goal 3:34 into overtime to give him 43 goals on his way to a 65-goal season and the Caps a 5-4 win.

9. April 5, 2008 – The comeback is complete

Significance: The Caps had accomplished a remarkable turnaround after changing coaches at Thanksgiving. But with 12 games remaining and coming off a crushing loss to Pittsburgh when Nicklas Backstrom scored into his own net in the final minute of a tied game, the Caps still found themselves seven points behind Carolina in the Southeast Division. The Caps then proceeded to win ten of their next 11 games, and with Carolina faltering just enough – losing their season finale to Florida on April 4th – the Caps were set up to clinch the Southeast Division title and a most improbably playoff spot with a win over those same Panthers. After exchanging early goals, the Caps put any doubt to rest on goals by Sergei Fedorov and Alexander Semin, and a 25-save effort by Cristobal Huet, obtained from Montreal at the trading deadline, in the 3-1 win.

10. May 4, 2009 – Dueling hat tricks

Significance: Counting the last three games of the first round playoff series, the Caps were on a four-game winning streak after taking Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Game 1 was a story of goaltending, as Semyon Varlamov stopped 34 of 36 saves (including the save of the year on Sidney Crosby with nothing but an open net in front of the shooter). Game 2 became a personal battle between the stars – Alex Ovechkin and Crosby. Crosby opened the scoring with a goal in the game’s seventh minute. Ovechkin matched him early in the second. Crosby one-upped him eight minutes later with his second goal. Ovechkin then called, then raised with two goals, the second coming with less than five minutes left to complete the hat trick. Good thing, too, because Crosby completed his own hat trick with a goal coming in the game’s last minute of a 4-3 Caps win. And for that, we can thank David Steckel, the only goal scorer in this game not named “Ovechkin” or “Crosby.”

Bonus selection: May 11, 2009 – So close, you can taste it

Significance: Game 6, Eastern Conference quarterfinal, and the Caps are down three games to two to the Penguins. And the Penguins can close out the series at home after dropping the first two games of the series to the Caps in Washington. Caps fans have heard it all… can’t win an elimination game, can’t win an elimination game on the road, Curse of the Penguin, blah blah blah. And it looked that way when the home team scored less than six minutes into the game. But Viktor Kozlov and Tomas Fleischmann scored in the second to give the Caps a lead… only to be leap-frogged when Mark Eaton scored late in the second, and Kris Letang scored early in the third. Then it was the Caps doing the leap-frogging, courtesy of goals by Brooks Laich and Kozlov again. This being a Penguin game, though, the home team would get the last laugh when Sidney Crosby scored with barely four minutes left. But was it the last laugh? David Steckel would deflect a Brooks Laich shot past Marc-Andre Fleury 6:22 into overtime for the game-winner, sending the series back to Washington, and atoning for missing an open net with the game on his stick in Game 5 that Pittsburgh would win in overtime.

OK, there are my ten. There are probably games you’d like to remove and replace (we struggled with putting in the March 20, 1987 game against the Penguins, for example, one won by the Caps 4-3, but perhaps best remembered as the night Bob Gould one-punched Mario Lemieux into happyland), but here is a start.

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Caps vs. Penguins, March 24th

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

Caps… Penguins. That’s about all that needs to be said…

“cough, cough”

It’s the third meeting of the year between these bitter ri-

“COUGH, COUGH”

Excuse me, but may I help you?

“You know, the origin of the word ‘penguin’ is rather interesting.”

You don’t say. And you are…

“Thologie… Ernie Thologie, Professor of Ornithology at Antarctic Normal U.”

Oh… Ernie Thologie, the Ornithol—

“Yeah, the Ornithologist… I get it.”

About the word, “penguin?”

"Well,the first known instance of the name is a reference to the great auk…”

Like the sound Sidney Crosby makes when you hit him?

“No, like the extinct bird that was native to the North Atlantic. It appears to be of Welsh derivation, coming from the words, ‘pen gwyn,’ which means 'white head.'”

Like Gary Bettman’s pasty white head.

“Yeah, sure, like that. There has been a suggestion that the name comes from the Latin word ‘pinguis,’ or ‘fat.’”

Like the dumpy skating Penguin logo?

“I suppose so… but in point of fact, the name 'penguin' was first reliably reported from Newfoundland in the 16th century, but in Newfoundland the name is said usually to have been pronounced 'pin-wing'. This is consistent with a companion theory, that the bird was originally called the 'pin-wing', with reference to its curiously rudimentary wings.”

Like Pascal Dupuis or Chris Kunitz on the Penguins’ top line?

“Precisely.”

And so here we are with Game 3 in this year’s edition of Capitals vs. Penguins. The Caps won the first two games of this year’s series, the first when they exploded for three goals in the third period to break a 3-3 tie to win 6-3 in Pittsburgh, then coming back from a three-goal deficit to beat the Penguins 5-4 in overtime at Verizon Center.

The teams come into this game as the heavy favorites to meet in the Eastern Conference half of the Stanley Cup playoffs for a second straight season, which makes this game, if not meaningless, then a mere prelude to what is expected to unfold in perhaps a couple of months. For now, though, the overall season numbers for these two teams break down like this…

The Penguins come into this game stumbling toward the finish. After starting March with a four-game winning streak, they are 2-3-2 in their last seven games. And except for a 3-0 shutout of Boston last Thursday, the Penguins haven’t been as impressive as even their 2-3-2 record in those seven games suggests. They have been outscored in those games by 19-14 and have not managed more than three goals in any of those games. The power play has struggled as well, going 3-for-23 (13.0 percent). The penalty killers have shined, though, skating off 24 of 25 shorthanded situations over those last seven games, including the last 24 in a row.

We begin our look at the Penguins’ players with their most valuable player – Evgeni Malkin. Whether he will play tonight is still iffy, but if he doesn’t it will be really bad news for Pittsburgh. Why? Consider that in the ten games he has been out of the lineup, the Penguins were…

- 3-7-0
- outscored 33-18
- 0-for-34 on the power play
- beaten by at least three goals six times

It isn’t as if Malkin is having his best year, but his absence appears to so utterly discombobulate the Penguins’ forward lines as to render them impotent. You could make an argument that under the strict wording of the Hart Trophy, Malkin is the most valuable player in the league.

Which brings us to Sidney Crosby. In Malkin’s absence, Crosby is 0-3-3, minus-5. There is an inconvenient truth that pollutes the narrative surrounding Crosby these last two years. He is not, by any measure you care to raise, the best player in the game. He has had the benefit of playing on the best teams. Although certainly not a product of his own doing, he was not on the ice for the last ten minutes of last year’s Stanley Cup clinching Game 7 against Detroit, and Evgeni Malkin was the most valuable player of that tournament. This year, he had the benefit of playing on perhaps the most gifted assembly of talent in the history of the sport when he skated for Team Canada at the Vancouver Olympic Games (where Alex Ovechkin was deemed a "failure"). With the Penguins this year he has a significant performance differential between playing in the friendly confines of Mellon Arena (30-27-57, plus-18, in 34 games) and the road (15-16-31, minus-11, in 38 games). In this recent seven-game slump for the Pens, Crosby is 1-3-4, minus-7. Perhaps the accumulation of games over the past three years (two Stanley Cup finals, an Olympic tournament this season) and the pressure under which he constantly plays is finally catching up with him, But it is growing increasingly difficult to make a case for Crosby being a Hart finalist, let alone the winner.

As brightly as the light shines on Sidney Crosby, it seems to avoid Jordan Staal. But Staal is quietly putting up a very fine year. He is third on the club in goals (20), third in points (47), leads the Penguins in plus-minus (plus-20), and is among the better defensive centers in the game. He has a pair of goals against the Caps this season in two games and is 5-1-6 in 14 career games against Washington. He will be fighting a bit of a slump, though, as he comes into this game. After abusing the Rangers and Dallas for two goals and three assists in consecutive games earlier this month, he is 2-1-3 in eight games since.

Two French-Canadian goaltenders are likely to start tonight. We have to think that Jose Theodore will get the call for the Caps (despite it being Semyon Varlamov’s “turn”), and Marc-Andre Fleury appears likely to get the call for Pittsburgh. Their ancestry isn’t the only thing they share. Where Jose Theodore has had a sign emblazoned with the word ‘INCONSISTENT’ hung around his neck since joining the Caps (despite his 16-0-2 run), Fleury has, in fact, been the more inconsistent goaltender this year. Fleury is 33-19-5 this season, but imbedded in that are a six-game winning streak and an eight-game winning streak, both occurring before Christmas. Since Christmas, Fleury is 11-10-4, 2.99, .901. Perhaps most disconcerting is his unpredictability from game to game. In those 25 games since Christmas, he allowed one or no goals eight times, but he allowed at least four goals ten times. He allowed five goals in his only appearance against the Caps this year, three of them by Alex Ovechkin in a 5-4 overtime loss to Washington on February 7th.

The Peerless’ Players to Ponder

Pittsburgh: Sergei Gonchar

Gonchar will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year, and he is not closing with a rush to a big payday. Since the Olympic break, the defenseman is 2-5-7 in 11 games. That scoring line isn’t bad, but he carries a minus-6 with that. In this 2-3-2 slump the Pens are in, Gonchar has one even-strength point. This could be a fair test for him. In 17 career games against the Caps he is 4-14-18, although he is without a point in two games this year.

Washington: Mike Knuble

With Brooks Laich dinged up, Knuble might be counted on a bit more for making Marc-Andre Fleury’s night a long one, either by setting screens or in picking up loose change. He is 2-2-4 in two games against the Penguins this year and picked up a 17-penalty minute afternoon the last time these teams met, a product of a kerfuffle with Craig Adams. Knuble is in the midst of an eight-game streak without a goal. No time like the present to make sure it doesn’t reach nine.

Keys:

1. Score early. The Penguins have started and ended poorly in games in the recent 2-3-2 run, getting outscored 7-4 in the first period and allowing goals in both overtime games they played. Here is your Penguin stat for the night… in the last seven games for the Penguins, five times they allowed at least one goal in the first period. They lost each game, either in regulation or in overtime. The two times they did not, they won.

2. Don’t let ‘em feel happy. The Pens are 1-for-10 on the power play against the Caps in two games this year. They also happen to have the 25th-ranked road power play unit and have that 3-for-23 success rate over their last seven games (13.0 percent). Ignore the individual talent, this is not a good power play team. Don’t “over-respect” that talent, make it hard for them.

3. Turn down the order of wings. Sidney Crosby might or might not get his points against the Caps, but the key here is not letting the Ponikarovsky’s or the Fedotenko’s of the world beat you. The Penguins have only one winger with as many as 40 points (Bill Guerin) and do not have a 20-goal scorer at the position. Ruslan Fedotenko, Pascal Dupuis, Bill Guerin, and Chris Kunitz have combined this year for exactly zero goals against the Caps. Keep it that way, and the Caps win.

In the end, this is another of those games for the fans. These teams both have bigger things ahead of them, including perhaps each other in a playoff series. The game isn’t quite as “meaningless” as we suggested at the top, but whether the Caps win or the Pens do, it’s May that counts if these teams meet, not March. Still…

Caps 4 – Penguins 3

Jimmy Howard, Honorary Capital

For reasons that should be obvious...



thanks to brainumbc over at Japers' Rink for pointing the way to this delightful slice of cinema

Ten games left, ten things to watch

We are down to it now – ten games or so left in the regular season. There is no mystery about where the Caps will finish the year. Absent being spirited away by aliens, they will win the Southeast Division (already clinched), they will win the Eastern Conference (16 points ahead of Pittsburgh with ten games to play), and they will likely win the President’s Trophy (nine points ahead of Chicago and Phoenix with ten games left to play).

But there are a number of issues still to be resolved as the other 29 teams head into their last ten games. Here are ten in no particular order…

1. Race for the Hart

The Hart Trophy picture is still quite out of focus. There are five players who, in our mind, merit serious consideration as finalists – Alex Ovechkin, Henrik Sedin, Sidney Crosby, Ryan Miller, and Ilya Bryzgalov. If Tampa Bay was a more serious contender, Steven Stamkos could make it six. But it is this group of five players from which the Hart Trophy finalists will be taken.

Statistically, Alex Ovechkin would appear to have a slight edge over the other two skaters in the mix – Sedin and Crosby. He and Crosby are still fighting for the goal-scoring title, and he and Sedin are fighting over the overall scoring title. Ovechkin has accomplished this in ten fewer games. But the Caps’ record when he missed those ten games is 7-2-1. What’s more, the Caps scored 46 goals in those ten games, above their season average of 3.88/game. Crosby has assumed a greater goal-scoring burden this year and has improved his productivity in the faceoff circle. It has been especially important, given a bit of a dropoff in the play of Evgeni Malkin and some inconsistency from goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. Sedin is having his best career year in this, his ninth season in the NHL. He has had 30 multi-point games this year and has been the glue that has held the Vancouver Canucks together, still with a chance to win the Western Conference (they are five points behind the Blackhawks and Coyotes).

As for the goalies, it could be fairly said that without either Ilya Bryzgalov or Ryan Miller, the Phoenix Coyotes and the Buffalo Sabres are not playoff teams, and it would not be a stretch to think of either as a potential lottery team in their absence. Bryzgalov is tied for first in wins, Miller is sixth. In goals against average Bryzgalov is fourth, Miller is second. Bryzgalov is tied for eighth in save percentage, while Miller leads the league. Bryzgalov leads the league in shutouts, while Miller is sixth. Both have had a large number of their appearances end with only one or no goals for the opposition (both having done it 17 times). Both have had hiccups along the way (Miller a five-game winless streak in early February, Bryzgalov a six game run straddling New Years Day in which he went 1-2-2, then was yanked in a sixth game after allowing 4 goals on 15 shots to the Islanders, but they have been rare.

We won’t pick the winner (that comes later), but we can say with a betting certainty that the finalists will come from this quintet. It will be quite a race to the finish for what might be the closest Hart voting in a while.

2. Rules on the fly

The NHL is not beyond effecting a change in the rules in mid-stream. The most famous recent example of that might be the “Avery Rule” that was instituted after Sean Avery used his stick as a distraction, waving it in the face of New Jersey goaltender Martin Brodeur during a game. This year, the stakes are higher. With as many head shots that have taken players out of the game, it isn’t beyond the pale to think the league might institute a rule, even in the season’s last weeks, to try to head off any more nonsense. Even if the league was inclined to wait until the end of the season for a more measured examination of the issue, there have been reports that it wants to fast-track a new rule discussed at the general managers’ meeting in Florida recently. Over the weekend there was a report that a change could come this week. Will it stem the tide? It will be something to watch for as teams fight it out for those last precious playoff spots.

3. 19 or not

The last time the Detroit Red Wings did not make the playoffs, there was no Internet (at least as we think of it). April of 1990 was more than a year before CERN published its “World Wide Web” project. But 1990 is the last time the Red Wings sat out the dance. They are hanging on by a thread to make it 19 seasons in a row, two points ahead of the Calgary Flames in points with a game in hand.

Neither the Red Wings nor the Flames have been backing into a spot. Detroit is 7-2-1 in their last ten games, the Flames are 6-4-0. Detroit would appear to have the scheduling advantage down the stretch. Of their last 11 games, six will come against teams currently in the top-eight of their respective conferences (Vancouver, Pittsburgh, Nashville (twice), Philadelphia, and Chicago), although four of those games are on the road. The Red Wings do, however, get Columbus three times down the stretch. Calgary, on the other hand, plays seven top-eight teams in their last 10 games. In fact, seven of their last eight games are against such teams (Boston, Washington, Phoenix, Colorado, Chicago, San Jose, and Vancouver), five of them on the road. Although they do get Minnesota, Anaheim, and the Islanders, any of those non-playoff teams have the ability to surprise (they lost to the Wild in their last outing), certainly more than one might expect Columbus to surprise Detroit.

We suspect that in the end, the Red Wings will be skating in the spring for a 19th straight season.

4. Does anybody want this playoff spot? Part 1

Six teams in the Eastern Conference are fighting for four playoff spots – Ottawa, Philadelphia, Montreal, Boston, Atlanta, and the Rangers. Eight points separate them, and it is like watching some perverse NASCAR race made of beat up jalopies as they draft one other and wheeze to the finish line. The Flyers were not supposed to be in this position, but with ten games left they are left to wonder who will be their goaltender to take them home.

The Flyers catch something of a scheduling break in this sense – in the ten games they have left, they aren’t facing any real offensive juggernauts. Working backwards, they face the Rangers in the last two games of the year, and by that time the Blueshirts could be done (more on that later). That’s twice facing the 25th ranked team in offense. Again, working backwards, they also get…

- Toronto (20th)
- Detroit (16th…really)
- Montreal (19th)
- Islanders (27th)
- New Jersey (23rd)
- Pittsburgh (5th)
- Minnesota (15th)
- Ottawa (17th)

That’s eight games against teams in the lower half of the offensive rankings, four against teams in the bottom third. You can hide some goaltending sins with that kind of schedule.

Ray Emery is out for the season with a hip injury that might ultimately end his career. Michael Leighton, who was as close to a savior as the Flyers had in net in some time (16-5-2, 2.48, .918 since being picked up on waivers from Carolina), is lost for eight to ten weeks with a high-ankle sprain. That puts the hopes and dreams of the Flyers’ season in the hands of Brian Boucher, now in his second tour with the team that drafted him in 1995. The 23 games in which he has appeared so far this year is the most since the 2003-2004 season, when he was with Phoenix. The trouble is, in those 23 appearances he is 5-14-2. More ominously, he hasn’t won a playoff game since 2000. But we get ahead of ourselves. The Flyers have to get that far, first, and they are only four points ahead of Atlanta. Well, at least Boucher is rested.

5. Will Marty party?

From January 14th through March 7th, New Jersey goaltender Martin Brodeur went 6-11-2, 3.15, .883. Then there was that whole Olympic thing. One might be forgiven for thinking that perhaps this was the beginning of the end of Martin Brodeur’s reign as king of the crease. Well, he won four in a row before giving up a single goal in a 1-0 loss to St, Louis on Saturday, stopping 127 of 136 shots along the way – 93.4 percent of those shots. And twice in that streak he beat defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh. Not so fast with the eulogies.

But Brodeur has appeared in 66 of the Devils’ 71 games this year and has played more than 3,800 minutes, leading the league in ice time. When you consider that Brodeur is 9-14 in the playoffs over the last three years and was knocked out in the first round the past two years, you still have to wonder how much he has left in the tank for the playoffs and whether Jacques Lemaire is going to give Marty more of a breather down the stretch.

The thing that complicates Lemaire’s decision on how much to play Brodeur is that the Devils are battling the Penguins for the Atlantic Division title (they are two points out of the top spot with a game in hand), but they haven’t yet clinched home ice for the first round – nine points ahead of the Flyers with 11 games left to play.

Backup Yann Denis has played in two of the last five games for the Devils, which is tantamount to a vacation for Brodeur. If getting Denis more playing time continues it could cost the Devils the Atlantic Division title and a top-three seed (Denis lost both decisions in those last five games), but it could provide dividends for the Devils when the games matter more down the road.

6. It’s a dog’s life

For most of the season, the Phoenix Coyotes have been a surprise in occupying a top-eight spot. It is a team that not many had hope for at the start of the year. But now, with nine games left, not only are the Desert Dogs safely among the top-eight, they are almost assured of home ice in the first round (an eight-point lead over fifth-place Nashville with nine games left to play), and they could yet finish atop the conference (they are now tied in points for the top spot with Chicago).

Since dropping three in a row in early January, the Coyotes are on a 20-6-0 run (the last nine wins in a row, and counting). Three of those losses came in succession in late February-early March as the only real hiccup along the way. The odd thing about those six losses, though, is that only one of them was by a single goal. Meanwhile, Phoenix has 14 one-goal wins (nine in extra time) among those 20 wins in this stretch.

Are the Coyotes running a bettor’s string of luck? Or are they becoming “battle hardened” with all these one-goal decisions heading down the stretch. These last ten games will be a guide to whether Phoenix is a contender, or merely a pretender.

7. Is San Jose swooning a month early?

No team is on a longer losing streak than the Sharks (0-5-1 and counting), and they are a thoroughly mediocre 7-9-1 since February 1st. It is hard to point to something specific. It is more of a systemic let down. The offense? 44 goals in their last 17 games (2.59/game). The defense? 58 goals in those last 17 games (3.41/game). Power play? 17.5 percent (10-for-57). Penalty killing? 78.5 percent (51-for-65). It is pretty much a full team effort at suck.

What is especially alarming for the Sharks is that through five games of a six game road trip, they have allowed 24 goals. Evgeni Nabokov was the goaltender of record in all of them, and in his last two starts he was torched for nine goals on 49 shots against the 28th and 29th-ranked teams in the league in offense (Calgary and Edmonton). Since February 1st he is 6-8-0, 3.36, .897. He has been a mess since the Olympics, where he finished 2-1, 4.16, .853.

Of course, it isn’t helping that Patrick Marleau, who was once the league leader in goals, has only three goals in his last 15 games. Or that Devin Setoguchi, who is depended on for secondary scoring support (he had 31 goals last year), has four in his last 23 games. Or that in his last 19 games Dany Heatley has three times had streaks of four games without a goal. There might be too many moving parts on this team that are not moving in sync, and unless they stop the bleeding in the last ten games, that could make them ripe for the hooking in the first round of the playoffs.

8. Does anybody want this playoff spot? Part 2

OK, imagine for a moment that you are Henrik Lundqvist, goaltender for the New York Rangers. You’re out there night after night watching the team in front of you redefining “ineptitude” as it applies to the art of scoring in hockey. The only reliable offensive threat you have – Marian Gaborik – has two goals in his last nine games. Then on Thursday morning, you read this…

“The Rangers might be able to overcome deficiencies on the power play, problems in their own end and the inability to create a sustained attack, but they simply cannot overcome an average performance from Henrik Lundqvist.”

Gee, thanks Larry Brooks. Lundqvist has been anything but “average,” except on the rarest of occasions. Since January 1st he has a goals against average of 2.49 and a save percentage of .915. These are not elite numbers, but given the margin of error with which Lundqvist has to play each and every night behind those skaters, it is amazing how well he has held up.

It is interesting to note that in 20 of 27 appearances since January 1st, Lundqvist allowed two or fewer goals. But when he melts down, he melts down – four times he has allowed at least five goals, and in two other instances in which he allowed four goals, he did so facing fewer than 20 shots. One could argue that such a performance is symptomatic of a goalie who keeps his fingers in the dike as best he can for long stretches, but when he can’t, it has disastrous results.

The Rangers have 79 goals in 32 games since January 1st – 2.49/game (only two teams – Edmonton and Boston – have lower averages for the full season). It gets worse. The Blueshirts have been shut out five times in those 32 games and scored a single goal in nine other contests. No goaltender can overcome that kind of ineptitude on offense. The Rangers are five points on the wrong side of the playoff cutoff point. If they can’t find a way to provide some sort of relief for Lundqvist, they have no chance of making up the difference.

9. Three different players, three different positions – one trophy

In the four seasons since the lockout, whatever suspense has been generated in advance of the final Calder Trophy tally to honor the league’s top rookie faded with the publication of the voting results. In those four years, the Calder winner garnered an average of 1,250 points and beat the runner-up by an average of 375 points. The narrowest margin of victory came in 2008 when Patrick Kane “edged” Nicklas Backstrom, 1,078 – 872.

This year, we have a bit of a twist. There are three players who comprise what appears to be the consensus group of finalists for the trophy – Colorado’s Matt Duchene, Buffalo’s Tyler Myers, and the Islanders’ John Tavares. Three different players, three different positions, three different settings in which they play. Handicapping these players is more a chore of comparing their relative disadvantages as they approach these last ten games in advance of the voting.

Duchene suffers from playing in the West. This is no small consideration. East coast bias – a tendency to give greater weight to East coast teams and players when evaluating their performance – might or might not exist, but to the extent it does, it could influence the decision. Duchene is a cornerstone of a team that has overachieved all year. But the Colorado Avalanche do not get a lot of buzz from the usual media outlets, and what attention they do get seems directed at that “overachieving” angle and the performance of goalie Craig Anderson. Duchene is the third leading scorer for the Avs, has the second most goals, and leads all rookies in scoring. But is anyone paying attention?

Myers suffers by virtue of the position he plays. Statistical measures in the NHL (at least those that the writers doing the voting seem to pay attention to) don’t provide much to defensemen for them to shine. Myers does, however, rank third in overall rookie scoring (behind Duchene and Tavares), is second among all rookies in plus-minus (behind Nashville’s Cody Franson), leads all rookies in ice time (by a whopping two-plus minutes a game). But here is the thing – Myers leads all Buffalo defensemen (veteran or rookie) in just about every statistical category. On a team that depends so much on limiting opponents’ scoring, this is no small consideration.

Tavares suffers the burden of high expectations. The first overall pick in the 2009 draft, he came into the season as the front-runner for the top rookie award, despite the fact that the top overall pick won the award only twice in four seasons since the lockout, and one of those winners – Alex Ovechkin – was a winner one year removed, owing to the lockout. Tavares also suffers by virtue of being the only one of these three players not likely to be playing in the spring. While the voting is based on regular season performance only, the Islanders’ slim prospects of making the playoffs can’t help but figure into the voting, at least on the margins. A pity, since Tavares is second in rookie scoring (behind Duchene), is tied for the rookie lead in power play goals and game-winning goals (with Duchene), and is second among rookie forwards in ice time (to Colorado’s T.J. Galiardi).

This race would appear to by Myers’ to lose, but with ten games left there is certainly enough time for any of these three to make a final statement on who should tote home the hardware.

10. Does anybody want this playoff spot? Part 3

It was the best of teams (won four in a row, best active streak in the East), it was the worst of teams (five losses in a row, worst in the East).

It was the age of wisdom (trading away their marquee player...ok, we'll see about this one), it was the age of foolishness (trading for a large, immobile defenseman who has one point and is minus-5 since the trade).

It was the season of Light (sweeping the Flyers for the season and closing to within a point of a playoff spot), it was the season of Darkness (dropping out of the top spot in the Northeast Division and within four points of dropping out of the top-eight altogether).

It is a tale of two teams – the Atlanta Thrashers and the Ottawa Senators.

On February 4th, Atlanta traded their marquee player – Ilya Kovalchuk – to the New Jersey Devils. Since then, the Thrashers did not sink silently into the tar pit that is the bottom third of the Eastern Conference. Rather, they are 8-6-3 since the trade and have that four-game winning streak, during which they laid ten goals on Buffalo and Ottawa (presumably the class of the Northeast), and then swept a home-and-home against the Flyers to sweep the four-game season series. Oddly enough, the Thrashers have done it with a respectable offense (3.06 goals/game since the trade) of a sort no one thought possible when Kovalchuk was traded.

Then there are the Senators. Remember, this was a team that won 11 in a row and 13 of 14 from January 14th through February 11th. But in retrospect, you could see the collapse coming before the winning streak. Before the successful run, the Senators lost five in a row and did so in particularly ugly fashion. They were outscored 22-5 in those five games and every loss was by at least three goals.

After the 13-in-14 streak, the Senators are 2-8-1, and the old problems have returned. They have been outscored 39-21 in their last 11 games and have fallen by three or more goals six times in nine losses. Getting defenseman Andy Sutton in trade from the Islanders at the deadline has not been an answer.

The thing to look for in these last ten games is whether the momentum each team is carrying will continue in their respective directions. If so, you might find that in the last ten games, Atlanta and Ottawa will end up exchanging places in the standings.

So there you have it – ten issues to keep a watch on over the last ten games. Happy stretch run.

A TWO-point night: Caps 3 - Lightning 1

The Caps finished up their four-game road trip tonight with a 3-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning, bringing their record to 3-0-1 on the trip, upping their record to 7-1-2 since the Olympic break, and putting some more distance between themselves and second place in the East.


It was a chippy game from start to finish, not surprising with Lightning coach Rick Tocchet giving jerseys to Zenon Konopka and Steve Downie. Both of those players did what they do, Konopka getting into a scrap with Scott Walker for the Caps, while Downie yapped a lot and took a dumb penalty late in the third period with the Lightning down 3-1, effectively ending whatever chance the Lightning had for a comeback.

While those two were doing what they do, the Caps did what they do. Tomas Fleischmann potted an early goal, Alex Ovechkin got one on a breakaway, and Alexander Semin got one in the third period to cement the win. Jose Theodore made it all stand up by stopping 33 of 34 shots for his 26th win.

Other stuff…

-- First period shots for the Caps… four. Scott Walker was the only Cap with two. He was also the only Cap who didn’t get a goal on a shot. Tomas Fleischmann and Alex Ovechkin scored on their only shots of the period.

-- Think Tampa Bay dominated the territorial battle in the first two periods? They out-attempted the Caps in shots 23-10 in the first period, 19-13 in the second. They won the faceoff battle 14-4 in the second period. The Lightning had 12 power play shots through two periods, while the Caps had a total of 13 shots. That the Caps held a 2-1 lead after one period, then two, was miraculous. Or the product of some locked in goaltending by Jose Theodore. No softies, no rebounds where Lightning could get to them.

-- Then came the third period… the Caps outshot Tampa Bay 16-8, they out attempted them 24-16. That’s called “slamming the door.”

-- Good thing, too. The Caps took four penalties in the second period (one fighting major and four minor penalties). That followed taking three minors in the first period, one of them a too-many-men-on-the-ice call with less than two seconds left in the period and the Caps on a power play. That’s called “playing with fire.”

-- The third period couldn’t save the Cap in the circle, though… they were 22 up and 36 down. No one not named “Steckel” finished as well as .500 (David Steckel was 9-for-17). But as bad as the Caps were in the circle overall, they were still just one short of .500 in the defensive zone (10-for-21).

-- Alex Ovechkin had one hit tonight, recorded when he drilled Nate Thompson along the boards midway through the third period. He was roundly booed… get used to it. Every time he hits someone, he (or the referee) is going to hear it.

-- The event summary says Eric Belanger played tonight. For the life of me, I can’t remember seeing him out there. I don’t know if that’s good or bad. I’m thinking more the latter.

-- Eric Fehr might not be the most efficient offensive player in the league, but he can see the top from where he is. 10 minutes, he gets an assist on a swell feed to the crease to set up Tomas Fleischmann’s goal to open the scoring. That makes a four-game points streak for Fehr, during which he’s averaged 11:08 a game in ice time. He has a point in seven of his last nine games.

-- Mike Green led the Caps in hits tonght. I will repeat that… Mike Green led the Caps in hits tonight.

-- Mike Green led both teams in hits tonight. No, seriously… Mike Green led both teams in hits tonight.

-- Steven Stamkos, Martin St. Louis, and Steve Downie… 0-0-0, -4. They did have nine shots on goal though, testimony to how well Jose Theodore played.

-- Check Theodore’s jersey and pads. We could swear, they were made of Velcro. Nothing got loose where a Lightning player could pounce on it. The only goal he allowed came when Jeff Schultz lost track of Vincent Lecavalier, who put back a second chance while Schultz was looking for him.

-- That makes 16-0-2, 2.40, .927 and a shutout for Theodore since losing to the Bolts on January 12th.

-- That was the first time since the season’s opening night against Boston that the Caps were perfect in killing five or more penalties in a road game (5-for-5).

-- You could tell Joe Corvo took a seat tonight… Mike Green had 6:36 in power play ice time.

-- OK, we’ll ask… how many players on the planet make that pass that Nicklas Backstrom made to spring Alex Ovechkin loose for his goal? It might not be just one – Backstrom – but it’s not more than three.

-- In 1983-1984 the Caps won 22 road games to set a club record. That record was tied tonight with the win. The Caps are 22-10-6 with three road games remaining (Carolina, Columbus, Pittsburgh).

-- This was the Caps’ 48th win to put them within two of the club record for wins in a season with ten games left.

-- If the NHL ever puts “yapping” in the rule book as a minor penalty, Steve Downie will never see NHL ice again.

You would have to be rather picky to find a lot of fault with the Caps on this road trip. A 3-0-1 record, outscoring the opposition 17-11, 4-for-16 on the power play, and perhaps most important, they were 14-for-16 on the penalty kill (87.5 percent).

Now the Caps have four days off to get ready to host the Penguins at Verizon Center. If the Penguins lose Monday at Detroit against the Red Wings, they will come to Verizon Center on Wednesday with no better than 91 points, trailing Washington by at least 15 points with nine games left to them to play. If that is the case, the Caps could be in a position to eliminate the Penguins from the Eastern Conference title contention on Wednesday.

Sort of makes the game worth going to, doesn’t it?

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Caps vs. Lightning, March 20th

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

Tonight, the Washington Capitals end their last long road trip of the year, finishing up their four game swing with a trip to Tampa to take on the Lightning for the third time in 16 days. It is their last visit to the left coast of Florida this season, where they have been fantastic and fallen flat in two games. They rode a Semyon Varlamov shutout to a 3-0 win back on December 7th, then they were blitzed, 7-4, on January 12th. Tonight, they visit one last time an arena that, once filled when the Lightning were Stanley Cup contenders, is among the emptiest of the league. The Lighting are 20th in league attendance this year, 26th in capacity filled. Hockey is a harder sell these days, and…

“I could help with this…”

Excuse me?

“I could help sell tickets.”

And you are…

“Jingle… Jimmy Jingle.”

That’s not you’re real name, is it?

“Does it matter?”

Whatever. So, you can help the Lightning. How?

“It’s all in the name, pal.”

Jimmy?

“No, Jingle, you putz.”

You seem to have a rather surly attitude for a guy named “Jingle.”

“Wouldn’t you?...folks call you ‘Bells’ or ‘Jingle Jangle Jingle.’”

Yeah, about that help.

“Surely you’ve heard my work.”

Writing jingles?

“Yeah… try this one on…. “I want my TampyBayTampaBayTampaBay…”

Like the restaurant thing…

“You got it. Or maybe, “Give me back that Tampa Bay…Give me that Bay..”

Sounds fishy…

“Cute. Or maybe to target the kids, ‘Light-ning, Tampa Light-ning, what kinds of kid like Tampa Light-ning? Fat kids, Skinny kids, kids who climb on rocks. Tough kids, sissy kids, even kids with chicken pox love Light-ning, Tampa Light-ning. The team kids think's alright."

That’s a stretch, don’t you think?

“Well, I can’t exactly use ‘Tampa Bay is M’mm M’mm Good,’ now, can I?”

Truth in advertising?

“You got it.”

Well, while Mr. Jingles pens a few more candidates, there is a game to play. This being the third time in two weeks these teams have met, not much has changed since we looked at the Lightning here and here. Tampa Bay split the previous two games in this mini-set, losing to the Caps, 5-4, back on March 4th, and then taking a 3-2 decision on March 12th.

Tampa Bay has seen its tenuous position as a playoff contender slipping away since March 1st. The Lightning are 2-6-1 for the month, and there really isn’t any secret what their problem is. Their offense has dried up – 13 goals for in their last six games (1-4-1). And, they’re leaking like a sieve on defense – four times allowing at least five goals in a game this month (3.89/game overall).  Their overall numbers look like this:

Leading goal scorer Steven Stamkos started the month like a house a-fire… seven goals in his first five games. But he is now on a four game streak without one, his longest streak of the season since a six-game silent streak that ended on January 6th. It is hardly a coincidence that the goalless streak has coincided with a stretch of four games in which the Lightning have only seven goals overall. Tampa Bay hasn’t received much by was of secondary support.

Of those seven goals in their last four games, Vincent Lecavalier has three of them, including the game-winner in the 3-2. Lecavalier’s problem this month is not so much his scoring (he is 6-1-7 for the month, but he is a minus-8 in nine games). Of the 35 goals allowed by Tampa Bay this month, he was on the ice for 13 of them.

Regarding the secondary scoring problem, a bright light shines on Alex Tanguay as far as this goes. Tanguay is not exactly playing himself into a big pay day (he is an unrestricted free agent after this season). Since notching a goal and an assist against the Islanders on February 4th, he is without a goal in his last 14 games, has only three assists and is minus-8.

If that isn’t bad enough, the Lightning could be missing two important cogs. Ryan Malone will be out as a result of knee surgery. He also has an upper body injury. That follows some serious injury to his production on the ice… 15 goals in his first 22 games, six in his next 43 games, and none in his last 15 preceding his injury.

Mattias Ohlund appears likely to miss this one, too. The defenseman has an ankle sprain that has kept him out of the Lightning’s last four games. That’s almost 23 minutes of ice time that has to be replaced.

It will place more pressure on goalie Antero Niittymaki, who you would think will get the call tonight. He has been in goal for seven of the nine games this month (including the last four) and defeated the Caps in both of his appearances against them this year. He owns a 7-2-1 career record against Washington (including wins in his last five decisions), 2.35, .927.

The Peerless’ Players to Ponder

Tampa Bay: Steve Downie

It’s like the quote from Michael Corleone in Godfather III.. “Just when I thought I was out... they pull me back in.” Just when you think Downie is turning into a living, breathing hockey player (fifth on the team in scoring with 41 points), he goes and does something stupid by trying to snap Sidney Crosby’s leg off at the knee early on in a 2-1 loss to Pittsburgh last Sunday (he was fined $1,000). Tonight he will take the ice in Alex Ovechkin’s first game back from suspension, and these two have had their moments already this year. Downie, you might recall, was about to square off with Ovechkin in the 7-4 Lightning win on January 12th. Ovechkin and Downie got tangled up earlier (Ovechkin accused later of kneeing Downie), and when the two, who served coincidental penalties, emerged from the penalty box they squared off to settle things. Matt Bradley intervened on behalf of the captain and fought Downie. Tonight’s question… Good Stevie (a hockey player) or Bad Stevie (looking to “Crosby” Ovechkin)?

Washington: Alex Ovechkin

The last time Alex Ovechkin was suspended (and we hope that is the last time we have to type those words), he returned to face the Lightning in Tampa Bay. He scored two goals, including the game winner, in a 3-0 win over Tampa Bay on December 7th. In 35 career games against the Lightning he is 23-26-49, including three goals and six assists in five games this year. Then there is the whole 50th-goal celebration thing on St. Pete Times Forum ice last season. Things happen when Ovechkin plays in Tampa. Expect that to happen again.

Keys:

1. Familiarity breeds contempt. The Caps are 16-3-1 against the Southeast Division this year. But this month they are 2-1-1 against the Division, and both wins were of the one-goal variety, one of those in overtime. The Caps can’t treat any opponent with contempt, and their Southeast Division opponents have shown no fear in playing them lately.

2. Be gritty with Niitty. Antero Niittymaki has a fine record against the Caps. He has a fine record at home (11-7-3, 2.32, .928, and a shutout). But he has lost his last three at home and gave up five goals on 22 shots his last time out, a 6-2 loss to the Sabres, one in which he allowed three goals on 14 shots in the first period. It’s the 14 number that is important. Get on him and get after him early.

3. High wind warning. Only Ottawa has suffered more three-plus goal losses than Tampa Bay. Marry that to the fact that Tampa is having trouble scoring goals, and the Caps lead the league in goals scored in the first period (ok, they lead in second and third period goals scored, too), and you would have to think that if the Caps get an early lead, it could be a blow out.

In the end, whatever chance the Lightning had to earn a playoff spot is all but gone. They have had a poor month for a team fighting for that last spot, they are suffering injuries from a couple of important players, their leading goal scorer is in a mini-slump at the worst time, and they just have too big a hole (six points with 12 games remaining) with too many teams to climb over (three) to have anything but the dimmest chance to make the top eight. Given where the Caps reside in the standings, the Lightning cannot even play the role of spoiler. Pride will be on the Lightning bench tonight, and that is no small factor in hockey. But it won’t be enough…

Caps 5 – Lightning 2

Sittin' at the end of the bar

Just sitting up late at night thinking…

-- Now in their fifth season, Alex Ovechkin has averaged 1.340 points per game, Sidney Crosby has averaged 1.344 points per game.

-- Ovechkin is plus-41 this year… Crosby is plus-41 for his career.

-- Adrian Aucoin leads the NHL in GDGG’s.. Game-Deciding Gimmick Goals (four). Anybody have that one when the season started?

-- At the other end of the spectrum, Dallas' James Neal is 0-for-10. We’re not sure which is worse… Neal getting no goals, or Marc Crawford giving him ten chances. OK, he was 5-for-7 last year.

-- Why will Sidney Crosby win the Richard Trophy? Here is why… of the top-20 goal scorers, none have a bigger home-road goal scoring differential than Crosby (30 at home, 15 on the road). The Penguins have seven more games at home. If the two finish the season at the same home-road pace they have had to date, Crosby will finish with 53 goals, Ovechkin with 52. Caps fans can hang their hat on the fact that Ovechkin has out-scored Crosby in the last ten games of the regular season in each of the last three years.

-- Among the top-15 rookie scorers, there is only one right winger (Niclas Bergfors).

-- We’ve noticed a lot of comment in telecasts of Penguins games we see that Crosby leads the NHL in faceoffs taken. Well, there is probably a reason for that. No other Penguin with more than 100 draws has won more than 48 percent of his faceoffs. If Eric Belanger takes 15 more draws at his current winning percentage, the Caps will have five centers at better than 50 percent (Belanger, Boyd Gordon, David Steckel, Brendan Morrison, and – yes – Nicklas Backstrom, who has finally climbed over that threshold at 50.2 percent).

-- Ryan Miller’s save percentage when the Sabres are shorthanded (.913) would be still be a respectable 16th overall. At the other end of the spectrum, Niklas Backstrom’s save percentage when the Wild are on the power play is .789… yeesh.

-- Speaking of goaltenders, consider Montreal’s Jaroslav Halak… on the one hand, he has a save percentage of .792 when Montreal is on the power play. You would think most of those shots and goals were scored on shorthanded breakaways by the competition. So he should be awful in the Gimmick, right? Nope… 15 saves on 16 shots (.938), best in the league among goalies facing at least ten shots.  In case you're wondering, he hasn't faced a penalty shot this year.

-- And speaking of Gimmicks… Antti Niemi is 10-for-10 on stopping Gimmick shots at home. He is 11-for-16 (.688) on the road.

-- In 70 games, Boston has gone to the Gimmick 18 times, better than one game in four. One more, and they tie the record (19, set by Edmonton in 2007-2008). No one is going to touch the record for wins this year, though… Edmonton had 15 in that 2007-2008 season. Phoenix has ten wins to lead the league at the moment.

-- The last time the Detroit Red Wings missed the playoffs, the league had only 21 teams, and “Hold On” by Wilson Phillips topped the song charts for the year (according to Billboard) -- 1990.

Drive safely…

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

For 40 minutes tonight the Washington Capitals played a very good road game – they kept things simple and did not allow many chances for the other side. Their effort was rewarded with a 2-1 lead over the Carolina Hurricanes at the second intermission. Then, one of the oldest sayings in sports took hold…

“The only thing a ‘prevent defense’ prevents is winning.”

The third period did not start that way. The Caps did manage five shots on goal in the first 8:00 of the period to keep the pressure on the Hurricanes. But the Caps would not get another shot on goal over the next 9:34, during which the Hurricanes tied the game. The Hurricanes would score again to take a late lead, but Eric Fehr saved the Caps from the embarrassment of a complete third period collapse by tying the game with 9.5 seconds left to send the contest to overtime. There, Ray Whitney took advantage of the last of many blunders late, as he had nothing but clear ice between himself and goalie Semyon Varlamov, just the thing to launch a slap shot that hit Varlamov, but snuck through and crawled across the line for a 4-3 overtime win.

Bruce Boudreau said after the game that there was “a lot of good video,” suggesting that there was going to be an opportunity to show a number of guys a lot of mistakes. In the “glass half full/glass half empty” way of looking at it, the Caps got a point. On the other hand, they did not look good in doing it, especially in the last ten minutes of regulation and in overtime.

Other stuff…

-- More “glass half full/glass half empty… Joe Corvo got his first two goals as a Cap tonight, both on plays where he filled a void to take a pass and beat goalie Justin Peters before he could reset. On the other hand, he was out there getting out of position long enough to allow Chad LaRose to see the opening, sprint down the middle, take a long lead pass from Jussi Jokinen and score the go-ahead goal that should have been the game-winner in regulation.

-- Only ten of the 18 Capitals skaters had shots on goal tonight. It is one thing for defenseman Jeff Schultz not to have one – offense is not his game. But the three Caps’ centers not named “Backstrom” (Brendan Morrison, Eric Belanger, and David Steckel) had a total of no shots on goal and only two shot attempts.

-- Steckel had a difficult night – no shots, no points, 7-for-20 in the circle.

-- Glass half full/glass half empty… Semyon Varlamov stopped 17 of 18 shots in the game’s first 52:34, and the one goal he allowed was a tap-in from the doorstep by Eric Staal, a goal he had no chance of stopping. He stopped eight of 11 over the last 11:28, and while the defense did not play very well in front of him, the goal by Brett Carson to tie the game at two apiece was one he just cannot allow in that situation, over his right pad on the long side. And despite the defensive gaffe on the game-winner, he had a clear look at the puck and never did look as if he was set for the shot. 

-- The Caps just didn’t pay much of a price to get goals in this one. The shot graphic (from ESPN.com) indicates only eight shots from a triangle (ok, a trapezoid), the boundaries of which are from the goal through the faceoff dots and to the top of the circles…

…the Caps had as many shots on goal from outside the faceoff dots.

-- The Caps spread it around in this respect tonight. 12 different skaters were on the ice for Carolina goals, including every defenseman (Mike Green was on for two – the third and fourth goals).

-- The Caps had one giveaway tonight, according to the official scoring.

-- The Caps had nearly as many missed shots (24) as shots on goal (28).

-- The make-shift top line – Nicklas Backstrom, Mike Knuble, and Tomas Fleischmann – was 0-2-2, minus two, with five shots on goal. That’s not terrible, but they had a combined 11 shot attempts that did not get to the net (blocks and misses).

-- With those two assists, Backstrom climbed into a tie for third in league scoring with Sidney Crosby, both with 87 points (of course…).

-- Here is an odd snippet from this one… John Carlson skated four consecutive shifts in the second period that ended in penalties. He didn’t commit any of them, and he didn’t draw any of them.

-- Eric Fehr became the Caps’ seventh 20-goal scorer with his late tally. That makes five in his last seven games, despite getting more than 14 minutes of ice time in only one of those games.

-- The last two goals for the Hurricanes were both the product of bad reads. On the Hurricanes’ third goal, Eric Belanger attempted a shot from the top of the left wing circle, but the puck did not get through. He then circled down the middle to follow up, but got caught in a no-man’s land as Jussi Jokinen picked up the puck. Joe Corvo did not appear to cycle back in time, and both he and Mike Green were caught flat-footed as Chad LaRose broke down the middle to take Jokinen’s pass on a breakaway.

-- On the last goal, it was simply a case of the sort of miscommunications that you see an any sport – two outfielders looking at one another to take the fly ball that drops for a hit, two defensive backs taking the same receiver that allows another to break free, two defenders in basketball not making a switch on a pick play that allows a shooter an open look at the basket. In this instance, it was Mike Green and Jeff Schultz. Eric Staal cut across the top of the circles with Jeff Schultz on him. Green must have thought a switch was in order, because instead of following Ray Whitney going in the other direction with the puck, he pivoted and started after Staal. That opened up a lane right down the middle, and Whitney took advantage of it to step into the slap shot that won the game.

-- Here is your fun fact for the night. The Caps have outscored opponents this year at 5-on-5 by 182-116, by far the best ratio of for/against in the league. Great at even strength, right? Well, at 4-on-4, they have been outscored 11-5. They are 25th in the league in 4-on-4 ratio (0.45) and have given up more 4-on-4 goals than any team in the league (edit: those numbers this morning are 184-117 and 13-5, which just reinforces the point).

-- Even with all that nonsense, the Caps had the game on their sticks twice in the overtime. Only 35 seconds into the extra frame, Jason Chimera had the puck between the circles and only the goalie to beat. He shot the puck over the crossbar. Then, just over two minutes in, Fleischmann forced a turnover in the Carolina end. Brooks Laich picked up the loose puck and had an opening. Unfortunately, he has to “wrong-foot” a shot off his forehand, and Justin Peters got enough of it to turn it aside. After that, one had a feeling this would not end well for the Caps.

The Caps got a point, but the takeaway for this game is this – Jose Theodore will get the start against Tampa Bay on Saturday. The Caps will then have four days off before taking on the Penguins when they return to Verizon Center. It will be Semyon Varlamov’s turn in the rotation. The thing is, will Bruce Boudreau have made up his mind, with what will then be ten games left to play, on his number one goaltender?

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Caps vs. Hurricanes, March 18th

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

Eight days ago, the Caps hosted the Carolina Hurricanes at Verizon Center, defeating the visitors, 4-3, in overtime. The Caps hope to prove to be as rude a visitor as they were a host tonight as the Caps head to Raleigh to take on Carolina in a rematch. This is the fifth meeting of the clubs this year, the Caps holding a 3-1 edge, although all of the wins were of the one-goal variety, and two of those were obtained in overtime. What’s more, the Caps will play tonight as Alex Ovechkin sits for the back half of his two-game unpaid vacation. Having heard that Ovechkin was “disappointed” at his having been suspended by the league for his hit on Brian Campbell last Sunday, we thought of another man who felt himself wrongly accused of a crime. We sat down with one of the most famous innocents in literature, Edmond Dantes, the Count of Monte Cristo, to get his take on the situation…

The Peerless Prognosticator: “Count, welcome.”

Edmond Dantes: ‘Thank you, and please, call me Ed… that ‘Count’ thing was just for the book.”

TPP: Well, Ed, you were stashed away in the Chateau d’If for a crime you did not commit. Our situation with Alex Ovechkin is a bit different – he committed the crime, but the question is the punishment. How does one handle what one feels is too stern a sentence?

ED: “I maintain my pride in the face of men, but I abandon it before God, who drew me out of nothingness to make me what I am."

TPP: An interesting piece of advice. How does one feel when the realization hits that you have been accused wrongly or, in this case, perhaps, judged wrongly?

ED: “His mind was filled with a single thought: that of his happiness destroyed for no apparent reason.”

TPP: When you came back into the world from prison, and when Ovechkin takes the ice on Saturday against Tampa Bay, what would be the natural thought one might harbor?

ED: “Farewell to kindness, humanity and gratitude. I have substituted myself for Providence in rewarding the good; may the God of vengeance now yield me His place to punish the wicked."

TPP: Isn’t that a bit severe? Ovechkin will still have the Stanley Cup to play for. Might this experience have benefitted him in some way?

ED: "Only a man who has felt ultimate despair is capable of feeling ultimate bliss."

Ah, well, thank you, Ed. That is something to keep in mind, but for tonight, the Ovechkin-less Caps will take the ice against an old and familiar nemesis. The clubs have split 28 goals right down the middle this year, the Hurricanes holding the only multi-goal win in this year’s series (a 6-3 win at Verizon Center in December). The Caps have won both contests in Raleigh this year and look for the road sweep tonight on the heels of sweeping the season series against Florida on Tuesday.

The big factor for the Hurricanes here, one which might have crippled their faint playoff chances, was Cam Ward going down to injury in early February. Although goalies Manny Legace and Justin Peters held the fort admirably for a time, the cracks might finally be appearing. Starting with the game eight days ago against the Caps, the pair have allowed 16 goals on 136 shots (.882 save percentage). The ‘Canes are 1-2-1 in those games, and their win came in overtime (against the Penguins… thanks, guys).

Edit... the overall numbers look like this...

It would appear Justin Peters will get the call in this game in what will be a contest of rookie goaltenders (Semyon Varlamov’s number is up for this one after Jose Theodore’s win over Florida on Tuesday). Peters, a second round draft pick in 2004 (38th overall), has played in six games in this, his rookie season. He is 4-2-0, 2.35, .923 in those appearances, but in his last three he is 1-2-0, 3.34, .887. And Peters is no shrinking violet, as this kerfuffle with Alexandre Picard in February 2009 indicates…



Carolina has suffered a bit of a goal scoring letdown in the eight days since taking the Caps to overtime. They did get four against the Penguins in a 4-3 overtime win, but were shutout by Phoenix in their next outing and managed only two in a 5-2 loss to Boston on Tuesday.

One of the problems is the curious lack of production from Eric Staal. True, he participated in the Vancouver Olympic Games, but his slump predates that hiatus. Staal has one goal (against his brother Jordan’s Penguins) in his last dozen games and is 1-6-7 over that span. He could very well break out of that slump tonight, given that he is 3-5-8, plus-3 in four games against the Caps this year. He has more goals, assists, and points against the Caps this season than he has against any other opponent.

Staal’s lack of production has been mirrored by the still-here Ray Whitney, at least in the post Olympic part of the year. Since the break Whitney is 1-2-3, minus-2, in eight games. However, unlike Staal, who has had a big year against the Caps, Whitney has only a single assist in four games this season after piling up 48 points in 52 career games coming into this year. It says in the Hurricanes media guide that the most played song on his iPod is “Oh Lord, It’s Hard to be Humble.” The way things are going for him lately – working through a slump on a team that will end its season early and playing a team against which he hasn’t had much success this season, he might find some of that humility.

There might not be many bright spots for the Hurricanes this year, but Joni Pitkanen might at least have a dull glow about him. He is Carolina’s leading scorer from the blue line and hasn’t had a bad post-Olympic part of the season (1-2-3, plus-3 in eight games). He is still playing a ton of minutes – not fewer than 24 since the break and three times over 30 – and is within shouting distance of his career high in points. At 5-35-40, he needs seven more points to set that career mark.

The Peerless’ Players to Ponder

Carolina: Jussi Jokinen

When Jokinen potted a goal against the Caps eight days ago, it was his 16th goal in 20 games. He had not gone consecutive games without a goal since January 14th when he had his seventh straight without one. Since that goal against the Caps, Jokinen has not found the back of the net in three games. Is the run over? He is 0-0-0, minus-4 in those three games. If the Hurricanes have a shot in this one, that three game streak can’t become four.

Washington: Tomas Fleischmann

Fleischmann did not score a goal against Carolina in any of the first 19 games he faced the Hurricanes in his career. But he has goals in two of his last three against them. What he still does not have is a goal against Carolina in Raleigh. He had the game-winner in the game eight days ago against Carolina and has contributed a decent, if not outstanding, 2-2-4, plus 3 line in eight games since the Olympic break. With Alex Ovechkin out, the Caps still do not really lack for offense, but with Fleischmann assuming a bigger responsibility in Ovechkin’s absence (he played 18:29 in the last game, the most ice time he’s received since the break), his contributions are important.

Keys:

1. An Empty Box. The Caps struggle as a road team on the penalty kill. The Hurricanes have the seventh highest number of home power play opportunities in the league this season. Washington has the seventh highest number of shorthanded situations faced on the road. That is a potentially dangerous mix. Stay – out – of – the – box.

2. Steady wins the race. In four games since his return from injury, Semyon Varlamov’s save percentages have gone: .786, .862, .885, .889. Now, that won’t get you a seat on an all-star game bench, but it is consistent improvement. Here is the thing to watch. In his first three games back he allowed a total of seven third period goals. Last time out – none. He’s got to be able to slam the door in the third period.

3. Speaking of third periods… Carolina has allowed 83 third period goals this year. That is third worst in the league. The Caps have scored 98 third period goals this year, 11 more than the second place team. Carolina has played the Caps tough this year – three one-goal games and a three-goal win. But if this game is close after two, the Caps have quite a third period advantage.

In the end, the snow has melted, the cherry blossoms are about to bloom, and teams in Carolina’s situation are starting to look forward to getting outdoors and whacking a dimpled ball through the pines. The Caps, even without Alex Ovechkin, are a formidable team, especially capable of wreaking havoc on a goalie who has never faced them. Don’t be surprised if Carolina has to use two goaltenders tonight…

Caps 6 – Hurricanes 2

The Most Feared Man in the Game

Well, it’s been a few days since “The Shove.” It seems everyone with a keyboard in North America has weighed in on the matter of Alex Ovechkin’s five seconds of mayhem inflicted on Brian Campbell last Sunday, and there have been a lot of different angles…

“Is Ovechkin a dirty player?”

“Was it even a penalty?”

“Should he have been suspended?”

“Was the suspension long enough?

Then there is the “secondary market” of opinions that look at whether this latest instance of Ovechkin’s peculiar style of play is as much a threat to his own longevity as that of the players he is hitting all over the ice. The latest of these came in the form of a column by Mike Wise in this morning’s Washington Post, and while we have an issue with Wise conflating the issues of “Is the most potent force in the game also the most reckless and dangerous?” and “Is Ovie dirty?” (one question literally following the question mark of the other), we think Wise’s attention to the comments of Mike Knuble are a reasonable basis for a conversation. Wise quoted Knuble…

"There was something in the corner with maybe five minutes left. Alex kind of went at a guy. [The score] was 6-1. I was kind of like, 'Slow down a bit.' Just for your own sake. You don't need to accidentally catch your knee on somebody. There are some times, when as a player, you can save yourself a little bit."

The quote made us think of a player who was once referred to as "The Most Feared Man in the Game.” He doesn’t come from hockey, but from professional football 40 years ago. Dick Butkus arrived in Chicago from the University of Illinois already possessing the reputation as perhaps the best player at his position ever to come out of college football, not a too distant parallel to Ovechkin being the best player in his draft class in 2004 and perhaps the best amateur player of the past 20 years coming into the NHL.

Butkus quickly earned a reputation for the big hit, the highlight tackle, the play that would bring fans out of their seats and threaten bodily damage to the subject of his attention. He consistently led his team in tackles and fumbles forced, testimony to his ability to inflict damage on opposing ball carriers regularly and consistently. But his style was one that didn’t allow for modulating his behavior. He was always running at 100 percent. The Pro Football Hall of Fame biography of Butkus describes a player that resembles Ovechkin…

“Dick had drive, meanness, a consuming desire to pursue, tackle, and manhandle – anything he could do to thwart the enemy on every play. Still he was a clean player, totally devoted to his career, a man who by his own admission played every game as though it were his last one.”

That drive and consuming desire came at a price. Butkus survived only nine years in the NFL, leaving the game at the age of 31 after sustaining a number of injuries over the years.

We can’t know what goes through the mind of an elite athlete, whether a player such as Butkus – or Ovechkin – has the wherewithal to find a way to pick their spots for the game-changing hit. Perhaps Ovechkin has to play the way he does to be as effective as he is. Butkus seemed to feel that way and even manufactured anger to help ramp up his focus. Again, from his Pro Football Hall of Fame biography…

“When I went out on the field to warm up, I would manufacture things to make me mad…If someone on the other team was laughing, I'd pretend he was laughing at me or the Bears. It always worked for me."

Sports fans are greedy. They want to have their star making the big play every game – every down, every inning, every minute, every shift. But they also want them around for years and years. Ovechkin has certainly tried to live up to his bargain with respect to the former. He never gives the impression of taking a shift off, and he is always locked in on the next target – the next goal, the next hit. There is no passing up an opportunity in his style to date; there is no “pacing himself.” Pro football and NHL hockey are different games, and Ovechkin doesn't give the impression of possessing the same raw meanness that characterized Butkus' game.  But Butkus and Ovechkin share this trait -- so far, Oveckin has played as if every shift is the last one of a playoff game.

Perhaps Ovechkin will, as he ages, find a way to modulate his game without sacrificing his effectiveness. Perhaps he will never find a way and somehow escape being on the wrong side of a hit. We can’t know which way is best; we have no station to prescribe what Ovechkin should or should not do.

As fans, we can only hold our breath, enjoy him… and however this turns out, hope he doesn’t turn into Dick Butkus.

A TWO-point night: Caps 7 - Panthers 3

Here is the only number you need to look at in the Caps’ 7-3 win this evening over the Florida Panthers..

100

That is the combined distance, in feet, from the Panthers’ net from which seven goals were scored for the Caps, according to NHL.com. And 30 of those came on one goal, that off the stick of Eric Fehr. Tonight, the Caps dealt with the absence of captain Alex Ovechkin by going back to basics – crashing the net, picking up loose change, and getting Florida goalies (and both ended up playing) flailing around on the ice waving at pucks batted past them from in close for scores.

Six different Capitals had goals, 13 different skaters had points. Not a bad night, all things considered, given that Ovechkin, Tom Poti, John Erskine, Scott Walker, and Boyd Gordon sat (oops… Gordon skated 1:05 before going out with a balky back), either to injury, suspension, or just taking a seat. At the other end of the ice, Jose Theodore stopped 34 of 37 shots, but it was hard to get a bead on whether he was sharp, or whether the onslaught at the other end had so beaten the Panthers into submission that they couldn’t muster much of a response in the offensive end. In any event, that makes Theodore 16-1-2 in the 2010 portion of the season. Whether that is the product of the luck of St. Patrick or that of channeling Patrick Roy, we don’t care (it’s worth noting that he has allowed more than three goals only three times in those 19 games). It’s all good right now.

Other stuff…

-- Shots, shots, shots. By the time the Caps hit the 30 shot mark in this one, the Caps had six goals and the competitive portion of the game was in the rear view mirror. They finished with 39 shots on goal.

-- The flip side of that is that the Panthers’ defense had only six blocked shots and six hits. That was not an especially active group this evening, and the Caps made them pay by inflicting a lot of abuse on goalies Tomas Vokoun and Scott Clemmensen.

-- Welcome back, Brendan Morrison. A goal, two assists, six shots on goal in 16 minutes and change. It was his first multi-point game since January 26th and tied his high-point game for the year (1-2-3 on December 3rd, also against Florida). His six shots on goal was a season high.

-- We had Mike Knuble as the player to ponder for Washington. Well, Brooks Laich did a more-than-passable impression with a couple of goals scored from the doorstep, an assist, eight shots on goal, and the game’s first star.

-- When the big dog is out, everyone has to ramp up their game, but still play within their comfort zone. Jason Chimera was a good example of that. In a little less than 14 minutes, he had a goal, six shot attempts (three on goal). That goal was a product of the simple idea of going hard to the net. Chimera has been very good at playing his game and, when needed, giving just a little more of it without trying to do things outside his comfort zone.

-- Shaone Morrisonn… two assists, two hits, two blocked shots. He’s having quite a 2010 portion to the season.

-- Even when Florida threatened to make a game of it, the Caps responded. Panthers score in the last two minutes of the first period? Ok… the Cap scored in the first minute of the second to restore a two-goal advantage. Florida scores at the 14:28 mark of the second? Fine… the Caps responded 1:30 later to slam the door on the outcome to make it 6-2.

-- Nicky the Pants… 3-2-5 in his last two, including a goal and an assist tonight. He has goals in consecutive games for the first time since February 4-5. Seems he might be back. Well, if he was ever really gone. Even though he had an eight-game goalless streak before getting goals in these last two, Backstrom hasn’t gone consecutive games without a point since the first two games of 2010 (28 games).

-- Folks in the Panthers’ front office must feel a bit shortchanged. Ovechkin played in only one of three games in Sunrise this season.

-- Two for four on the power play, three for three on the penalty kill. Efficient on both sides, and the three PK situations was right in that comfort zone of not taking too many shorthanded situations. But then again, the Panthers were badly outmatched. Still…

-- The centers – Backstrom, Morrison, and Eric Belanger – were a combined 8-for-10 on faceoffs in the offensive end. A way to keep putting pressure on the Panthers’ defense.

-- We’d just as soon the Caps never leave Florida. For the year, they finished 6-0 against the Panthers, outscoring them 32-15 and going 8-for-26 on the power play (30.8 percent). They didn’t score fewer than four goals in any game.

-- Tyler Sloan and Quintin Laing skated tonight. That might be the last time that year you’ll see both in the same game.

-- The Caps average more than a goal a game more without Ovechkin than with him. I don’t know, but that would seem to pretty much eliminate him from Hart consideration, wouldn't it?  On the other hand, four of the games he’s missed this year were against the Panthers, who (see above) haven’t exactly been defensive demons against the Caps.

-- Mike Green, with an assist tonight, now has consecutive 70-point seasons. He has 143 points in 135 games over the last two years. He is also a plus-56 over that span.

-- Brooks Laich’s eight shots on goal is a career high. He has 30 shots on goal in his last five games (four goals).

It was an efficient demolition of the Panthers tonight, evidence that the Caps are certainly more than a one-man band. It was the fifth time this year that the Caps scored at least seven goals, the second time against Florida. It was not the stiffest of tests, but it was encouraging in this respect – when getting a lead, the Caps kept their foot on the pedal and stood on the throats of the Panthers (nice mixed metaphor there, prognosto boy). It’s that kind of attitude the Caps need to maintain as they head off to Carolina.

Suspend our captain, will ya. Well, take that!