The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Caps vs. Panthers, December 1st

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

It’s a back-to-backer this evening as the Caps head down the road to visit the Florida Panthers. And after last night’s 4-3 loss to Carolina – a weird, bad luck game to be sure – it’s time to break out the serious weaponry in an effort to head off this six weeks of awful luck. So what do we have here? We’re joined by occultist Luke E. Charm to see if we can’t find something to ward off the evil spirits that seem to inhabit the Caps’ sticks these days…Luke, welcome…

“Thank you, Peerless…’charmed’ to be here.”

Uh, yeah…so, what have you got for us, today?

“Well, I thought we’d start with the horseshoe. You’ve probably seen these in many places…”

Certainly, and shouldn’t the ends point up so that the good luck doesn’t run out?

“Depends on where you are…in some places, the ends point down so the luck can pour onto you…in others they point up so it doesn’t run out.”

Guess the Caps have been keeping theirs sideways lately…what about the rabbit’s foot?

“Well, you can’t just use any rabbit’s foot…if you’re looking for luck, you need the left-hind foot of a rabbit killed by a cross-eyed person during a full moon, then carry it in your left pocket…”

I don’t think the Reebok Edge uniform system provides for left pockets…

“What about keys…if you wear three keys, you’ll ‘unlock’ the doors to health, wealth, and love…”

Health we sure could use, but where are you going to wear keys on the uniform?

“Well, then how about the four-leaf clover…for hope, faith, love, and luck?”

How about goals?...you have anything for goals in there?

“hmm…how about acorns…a symbol of good luck, fecundity, and fruits of labor?”

Hey, that sounds promising…but they looks more like walnuts to me…

“oops, that’s a snack…"

OK, maybe we’ll save the good luck charms for another day, but tonight the Caps get the Florida Panthers – again – and that means…yes, another chance to win a game against these clowns.

This marks the fourth time in nine games the Caps have faced the Panthers, and the first three were not a treat for Caps fans. Besides going 0-3-0, here is the “tale o’ the tape”…

Goals: Panthers 7 - Caps 5 (we don’t count that shootout crap)
Power Play: Panthers: 1/9 (11.1 percent) – Caps: 1/14 (7.1 percent)
Penalty Kill: Panthers: 13/14 (92.9 percent) – Caps: 8/9 (88.9 percent)
Shorthanded Goals: Caps 1 – Panthers 0
Hits: Caps 50 – Panthers 46
Faceoffs: Panthers: 81/157 (51.6 percent) – Caps 76/157 (48.4 percent)
Turnovers: Panthers 40 – Caps 51
Shots on Goal: Caps 90 – Panthers 80

Scoring:

Florida:

Richard Zednik: 2-2-4
Josef Stempel: 0-4-4
Ruslan Salei: 0-3-3
Kamil Kreps: 2-0-2
Olli Jokinen: 2-0-2
David Boorh: 1-0-1
Stephen Weiss: 0-1-1
Ville Peltonen: 0-1-1
Radek Dvorak: 0-1-1

Total: 7-12-19

Washington:

Michael Nylander: 0-3-3
Chris Clark: 2-0-2
Alex Ovechkin: 1-1-2
Alexander Semin: 1-0-1
Brooks Laich: 1-0-1
Brian Pothier: 0-1-1
Tomas Fleischmann: 0-1-1

Total: 5-6-11

There is next to no difference in the performance of these teams, except that the Caps have always been on the short side of a one-goal result (a third of the nine one-goal losses the Caps have suffered; they are 2-8-1). If there is one thing that we noticed in those results above, it is the singular nature of the Caps’ scoring. Five goals and only six assists. Two of the goals were scored unassisted (the Clark shorthanded goal, and Laich). Except for an unassisted goal by Kamil Kreps, all of the goals scored by the Panthers had the maximum number of assists attached. It suggests that the Panthers have had some – not much, but some – more continuity in their offense. The Caps’ goals are largely individual efforts.

Thus far, it’s been the Olaf Kolzig vs. Tomas Vokoun contest in net. Florida has won all three meetings by that one goal. With the Caps having played last night, and Brent Johnson having a good record against the Panthers over his career (4-2-1, 2.45, .923), one would think Johnson will get the start tonight. Since Vokoun hasn’t played since his start against the Caps last Wednesday and is 3-0 this year against them, the Panthers really have no reason not to send him out again.

The Caps are at the point where looking past the game in front of them is of little use. A team that won almost half of its total of wins in the first three games of the season is not one of which a long winning streak can be anticipated. Win one…maybe win another…then we’ll see. But for now, win just one.

That’s what we’re calling for…

Caps 4 – Panthers 3

…but maybe we’ll see if we can find that acorn.