A NO-point night -- Game 45: Canucks 4 - Caps 2

When one talks about the “dog days” of the hockey season, one usually means those January and February games that run together into an indistinguishable muddle.

One doesn’t usually mean “play like dogs.”

OK, let’s be fair here. The Caps caught a very talented opponent that is playing at the top of its game, especially on defense. But…

When you are playing at home…

When you are playing a team hitting the ice for its second game in two nights…

When that team is playing those games three time zones from home…

When that team is playing its third game in four nights…on the road…three time zones from home…

When you are as healthy as you are going to be this time of year…

When you have a national television audience tuning in…

You really do have to play better than did the Caps did last night in losing a 4-2 decision to the Vancouver Canucks. The decision dropped the Caps to 1-2-2 since beating the Pittsburgh Penguins on New Years Day. And in losing the four games out of five, the Caps have managed only eight goals scored.

In this one, the Caps managed to “hold” the Sedin twins – Henrik and Daniel – to two points, two goals scored by Daniel. But one of the things we highlighted in the pregame prognostication bit the Caps in the backside…

Today’s Letter is “D.” Vancouver gets offense from its defense. The blueliners have a total of 22 goals, nine of them coming on the power play, and the group has three game-winners on their collective resume. Pay attention.

The Caps did not pay enough attention. Alexander Edler scored the Canucks’ first goal – a bomb from the left point that tied the game after Matt Hendricks scored the game’s first goal for the Caps, and Christian Ehrhoff scored the second goal – also a bomb from the left point – to put the Canucks ahead to stay.

Daniel Sedin scored the first of his two goals late in the second period when Jason Chimera had his pocket picked by Jannik Hansen at the center red dot, the puck poked ahead to Sedin on a breakaway. Sedin did not miss, burying the puck behind goalie Semyon Varlamov to effectively end the evening’s competitive portion of the game. Marcus Johansson made it interesting by finishing a nice pass from Nicklas Backstrom on a one timer from the right wing circle, a la Alex Ovechkin (you remember those days, right?), midway through the final period, but Sedin closed the scoring with an empty-netter in the game’s last minute.

Other stuff…

-- Vancouver’s game was hardly complicated. Win battles along the wall and end boards, move the puck from low to high, let the defensemen bomb away. The defensemen had 18 of the Canucks’ 60 shot attempts (11 of the 35 shots on goal) and might have had more had Aaron Rome not been limited by injury to four shifts and 2:37 of ice time. By way of comparison, the Caps had nine shot attempts from defensemen (two on goal), and five of those attempts came from John Carlson.

-- The flip side of that is Vancouver getting 11 shots on goal from the defense on 18 attempts. The Caps simply were not getting bodies or sticks in front of shots from out high. Five blocked shots on those 18 attempts.

-- Another game, and another one-point night for the big guns. One assist among Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, and Mike Green (Backstrom). It ain’t getting done, guys.

-- Eric Fehr had two goals on three shots in the game on New Year’s Day. In five games since he has a total of five shots on goal (no goals), none of those shots coming in his last two games, including last night. Last night Fehr had one shot attempt (missed).

-- Mathieu Perreault…no shot attempts, lost two of three faceoffs, and he was on ice for two of the three non-empty net goals, all in only 8:46, including 1:48 of power play ice time.

-- Speaking of power play… three power plays, 4:09 of power play ice time, three shots, no goals. Since potting two power play goals on four chances against Tampa Bay on the day after Thanksgiving, the Caps are now 8-for-77 (10.4 percent) over 21 games. Only Florida has a worse conversion rate for the season (10.3 percent).

-- The Caps had a devil of a time finishing what they started. They won 17 of 21 faceoffs in the offensive end (81.0 percent). They were even 13 of 18 in the defensive zone (72.2 percent). How does a team take control of the puck after stoppages that often and still get out attempted in shots 60-49?

-- One reason might have been the Canucks’ ability to solve the soft underbelly of the Caps. Jason Chimera was minus-2 in 7:24 of ice time. Mathieu Perreault was minus-2 in 8:46 of ice time. Jay Beagle was minus-2 in 7:36 of ice time. Those three were on the ice for two of the Vancouver goals not shot into an empty net. We’re guessing they will not be reunited on Sunday afternoon against Ottawa.

-- Brooks Laich wins the free buffet card for the evening…an assist, two shots on goal, two shots blocked, a miss, three hits, a giveaway, a takeaway, a blocked shot, and four draws taken (all losses).

-- Nicklas Backstrom led the Caps in shots on goal with five – he is certainly trying to shoot his way out of his slump (20 shots on goal in his last six game, none finding the back of the net). But Matt Hendricks was next with four shots on goal (one successful). Hendricks was probably the best player on the ice for the Caps last night, and with all due respect to the hard-working Hendricks, if he is the best player on the ice for the guys in red (a goal, plus-1, four shots, two hits in less than 15 minutes of ice time), then the Caps just are not going to win many games.

In the end, with the Winter Classic game notwithstanding, the 6-0 shutout of the Tampa Bay Lightning on the day after Thanksgiving might be the season’s high point so far. That game featured a hat trick by Alexander Semin. He scored a goal in the game following that one, but hasn’t had a goal since and hasn’t been in the lineup in a week. Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin each had a pair of assists in that game, but Backstrom is 2-12-14 in 21 games since, and Ovechkin is 5-9-14 in the 21 games since. After scoring six goals in that game the Caps have managed as many as four in a game only three times in the 21 games since, none in their last nine.

If last night was a measuring stick for the Caps and their credibility as a Stanley Cup contender, they came up short. Vancouver methodically dismantled them, and except for a stretch in the second period when the Caps showed signs of life was the crisper, livelier, more effective team. And the result is that the Caps – having dropped to sixth in the East – are now 8-8-5 in the 21 games since that 6-0 win over the Lightning, a game that is looking more and more like the high point of the season.


Woof...