The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Caps vs. Flames, March 12th

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

Things have come to a pretty pass,
Our chances are growing flat,
For you like this and the other
While I go for this and that.
Goodness knows what the end will be;
Oh, I don't know where I'm at...
It looks as if we two will never be one,
Something must be done.

You say CAL-garry and I say Cal-guh-ree,
You say OH-fense and I say OFF-ense;
CAL-garry, Cal-guh-ree, OH-fense, OFF-ense,
Time for tonight’s face off.
You like the bisket and I like the basket,
You like CAL-garry and I like Cal-guh-ree;
Bisket, basket, CAL-garry, Cal-guh-ree!
Time for tonight’s faceoff!
But oh! If after tonight’s face off,
Then we must part.
And oh! If we ever part,
Then that might break my heart!
So, if you like CAL-garry and I like Cal-guh-ree,
I'll say CAL-garry and give up Cal-guh-ree.
For we know we need each other,
So we better call the calling off.
Time for tonight’s face off!


What is it with the Caps facing hot teams lately? Tonight, it’s Calgary’s turn to test the men in red, and the Flames are tuning up for the playoffs. Leaders of the Northwest Division, third in the Western Conference, Calgary comes to DC on a nice run in their last ten games:

Record (last ten games): 7-1-2
Goals for/against: 25/16
Power play: 6/49 (12.2 percent)
Penalty killing: 45/53 (84.9 percent)
Shorthanded goals: 4
Record in one-goal games: 4-0-2

Calgary has a simple formula these days…”Iggy and Kipper, and things’ll be chipper.” Jarome Iginla – the player, who if he played in the East, might be considered the best in the game – has had a hand in almost half of the Flames’ goals in the last ten games (6-6-12, +7). What Alex Ovechkin brings to the Caps – scoring, hitting, and a flair for the dramatic – Iginla brings to the Flames. The tale of the tape:

Goals: Ovechkin 54/Iginla 41
Assists: Iginla 41/Ovechkin 41
Points: Ovechkin 95/Iginla 82
Game-winning goals: Iginla 9/Ovechkin 9
Power play goals: Ovechkin 18/Iginla 14
Power play assists: Ovechkin 14/Iginla 13
Power play scoring: Ovechkin 32/Iginla 27
Hits: Ovechkin 190/Iginla 83
Fights: Iginla 5/Ovechkin 0
Iginla vs. Washington: 13 games, 4-7-11, -4
Ovechkin vs. Calgary: 1 game, 0-2-2, +1

One plays the right side, one the left. This is one of those games-within-a-game that makes for entertaining watching, “OvechKam” or no OvechKam.

Iginla hasn’t quite been alone in his contributions in this ten-game run:

Kristian Huselius: 1-6-7, +4 (4-3-7, -8 in 17 career games against the Caps)

Daymond Langkow: 2-5-7, +6 (8-10-18, +3 in 28 games against the Caps)

Alex Tanguay: 5-1-6, +5 in seven games, three missed due to a neck injury (2-2-4, -1 in 8 games against the Caps)

Then there is the guy who will likely be sent out to defend Ovechkin at every opportunity – Dion Phaneuf. Phaneuf is as complete a defenseman there is in the game. He is ranked among the defenseman leaders in several league categories:

Points: 49 (T-6th)
Goals: 14 (T-4th)
Assists: 35 (10th)
PIMs: 163 (1st)
Power play goals: 9 (T-1st)
Power play assists: 19 (T-11th)
Power play points: 28 (5th)
Game-winning goals: 3 (T-5th)
Hits: 172 (6th)
Time-on-ice: 26:32 (5th)

Again…if this guy is in the East, he’s a Norris finalist, if he isn’t already. He will be a perennial in this trophy category.

But on to Kipper. Miikka Kiprusoff started slowly this year, allowing three or more goals in 14 of his first 17 games, going 6-8-3, 3.19, .879 in the process. However, in this ten game run, he is 5-1-2 in eight appearances, 1.62, .953.

Calgary comes to DC healthy (only David Moss is reported injured), rested (only two games since March 4th), and motivated (tied with Colorado in points for the Northwest Division lead and the Western Conference’s three-seed). They are also a superb road team, with an 18-13-1 record away from Pengrowth Saddledome.

For a club reeling after two difficult, self-inflicted losses, fighting for a playoff spot, this is as stiff a test as one could muster. Calgary is a hard team to play against, and they have enough skill to make a team not paying attention pay dearly. More often than not, though, Calgary will play things close – it is what they do best. While they have a .500 record in two goal games (8-8) and three-or-more-goal games (10-10), they dominate one-goal games (18-5-10).

Whether this is a one-goal or a five-goal game, a 60-minute game or a shootout, the Caps have to be on the long end of it. It’s really just that simple at this point. And that’s why…

Caps 3 – Flames 2

Masterton Nominees have a Capital look

James Mirtle reports that 16 teams have announed their nominees for the Masterton Trophy. According to NHL.com:

The Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy is an annual award under the trusteeship of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association and is given to the National Hockey League player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey. The winner is selected in a poll of all chapters of the PHWA at the end of the regular season.

As Mirtle reports, the nominees are:

Boston - Glen Metropolit
Buffalo - Paul Gaustad
Calgary - Owen Nolan
Carolina - Glen Wesley
Colorado - Andrew Brunette
Detroit - Chris Chelios
New Jersey - Colin White
N.Y. Islanders - Brendan Witt
Ottawa - Luke Richardson
Philadelphia - Jim Dowd
Pittsburgh - Ty Conklin
St. Louis - Manny Legace
Toronto - Jason Blake
Vancouver - Trevor Linden

As you can see (in bold) four of the 16 nominees to date have spent time in our part of the world. Congratulations to all the nominees announced thus far.

The only standings you'll ever need

As we head into the final stretch, here it is, boiled down...

Place yer bets, place yer bets...

All-in-all, not a bad ending...after eight overtimes

From the "are they still playing?" file...

They played a hockey game in Michigan last Saturday night...and almost into Sunday morning. It was the Michigan high school Division I championship, played by Orchard Lake St. Mary's and Marquette at Compuware Arena in Plymouth Township, MI. 109 minutes of hockey, 64 of which were played in overtime, ended at 11:45 p.m. Saturday night. There were 91 saves, 53 of them on the overtime sessions. Needless to say, St. Mary's goaltender Ryan Morley-Stockton and Marquette netminder Jon Nezich were the stars of the game.

Shane Halaas, a forward for St. Mary's, was no stranger to the events that unfolded. Last November, he played in the longest football game in state history in the finals (five overtimes).

The Detroit Free Press has articles on the marathon that you can find here and here. They also have a photo gallery you can see here.

Meanwhile, the Detroit News has a look here.

Randy Allen, the Michigan High School Athletic Association assistant director in charge of hockey, in an interview with ESPN Radio, indicated that one team was awarded the trophy, the other the medals, and each of the schools will receive the other shortly to complete the well-deserved acknowledgments.

We'll leave it to young Mr. Halaas for the final word...

"Everyone will get a ring and everyone is happy. After eight overtimes, there is no loser. It ended the right way."

They're all champs...



photo: Ankur Dholakia/The Detroit News

Ovechkin named first star of the week

From the NHL...

Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin, New Jersey Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur and San Jose Sharks center Joe Thornton have been named the NHL's 'Three Stars' for the week ending March 9.

FIRST STAR -- ALEX OVECHKIN, LW, WASHINGTON CAPITALS

Ovechkin reached the 50-goal mark for the second time in his three NHL seasons Mar. 3, scoring a hat trick and adding two assists in Washington's 10-2 victory over the Boston Bruins. He reached the milestone in his team's 67th game of the season, the fastest since the Pittsburgh Penguins' Jaromir Jagr and Mario Lemieux (59th game) and the Buffalo Sabres' Alexander Mogilny (63rd game) in 1995-96. Ovechkin later scored a pair of goals in a 3-1 victory over the Sabres Mar. 5, tallied one assist in a 2-1 loss to the Bruins Mar. 8 and finished the week with two assists in a 4-2 loss to the Penguins Mar. 9. Ovechkin leads the NHL scoring race with 95 points (54-41--95) in 70 games.

Attendance Watch

A graphical look at it after 35 games...

The points represent averages for the preceding five games, the line representing the low point (record-wise) of the season.

Every year, it seems there is a team...

...you know the one...

The one that no one wants to play if they get into the playoffs...

The one that is closing the season with a rush...

The one that has a lot of promise and can do some damage if they get in...

The one whose future looks bright, even if their present is frustrating.

The Caps -- who are by no means out of it, yet (we won't be changing that threat warning graphic for some games yet) -- seem to be that team this year. They're on the wrong side of the playoff window, despite a fine record since Thanksgiving and a host of young guys that have carried the club for most of that stretch.

Last year, there was a similar team...lots of kids in the prospect pool...a decent, if flawed parent roster...a club that closed with a rush (9-4-0 in their last 13 games to finish two points out of the playoffs).

That team is Montreal, owners of the number-two seed in the East this morning.

It helps to take the long view of things...

The origins of "The Curse"

There is no other team in the National Hockey League that has inflicted more torment on the Capitals than the Pittsburgh Penguins.

We think we now know why. It is the revenge of the hockey gods for smiting one of their own.

A little history is in order. When the Capitals entered the league in 1974, they were bad. No, not just bad, "bad for the ages" bad. They lost to everyone, including the Penguins. From the inaugural 1974-75 season through 1981-82, the Caps' record against Pittsburgh in the regular season was 16-24-6...not really all that bad considering how bad the Caps were in those early years.

Then when the Caps achieved some competitive success, they took care of business against the Penguins...from 1982-83 through 1986-87, they were 24-7-2. But it was in the last game of that 1986-87 series that the seeds of the curse were planted.

It was March 20, 1987. Caps fans of a certain age will know that date and its significance right away. It was a Friday night in Washington, and the Caps came into the contest with the Penguins struggling with a 30-32-9 record, desperately trying to qualify for the playoffs. Then, there was the third fight in this video...



Bob Gould one-punched Mario Lemieux, who had to be led off the ice draped over the shoulders of two teammates, into a concussion. The Caps won that game, 4-3, and would not lose again in the regular season, finishing 8-0-1 to make the playoffs.

That, my friends, is what is referred to as a "Pyrrhic" victory. Since that knockout, the Caps are 33-57-8 in the regular season against the Penguins and have won a season series against Pittsburgh only three times in 20 seasons. There is also the not-so-small matter of the 1-6 record in playoff series in which the Caps have a 16-26 record in games played.

It all started with a punch.

Bob?...I love ya, and it was certainly a sight to see the big guy dropped like a sack of poutine, but maybe...just maybe...it's time to say you're sorry.

A no-point afternoon: Penguins 4 - Caps 2

It stinks.

Their fans came and cheered, their team played and won, their fans stayed and celebrated.

It stinks.

It’s supposed to stink. If it didn’t, then why would we bother showing up for these games? If we didn’t care, we’d just say, “ah, #@$& it…I’ll stay home and watch the inevitable on TV.”

The Caps played 59:30 of a great game yesterday, but found a way to let the last 30 seconds get away from them in dropping a 4-2 result to the Pittsburgh Penguins at Verizon Center.

Nicklas Backstom scored an own-goal with 27.8 seconds left to join the ranks of Capitals who have done some odd things in this series against the Penguins – almost all of them bad over the last 20 years. For those of you who keep score of such things, the regular season series stands (with overtime/shootout losses counted as losses), 73-88-16. Unfortunately, 2-10-0 of that is in the last three years.

If you looked at the numbers – and only the numbers – you’d think the Caps won this game, oh…5-2:

Shots: 38-26, Caps
Total shots taken: 63-51, Caps
Giveaways: Penguins 11, Caps 9
Takeaways: Caps 11, Penguins 5
Faceoffs: Caps 39, Penguins 22 (63.9 percent)

But in the end, it was the same old story…the Penguins finished (or had things finished for them), the Caps didn’t.

Alex Ovechkin had three tap-ins on his stick in the first period alone and twice had the puck jump over his stick (the third he mis-hit). Alexander Semin had several opportunities to walk down the slot and fire and ended up hitting Marc-Andre Fleury’s logo (his goal was scored on a pretty stick move in close to Fleury’s right that appeared to fool the goaltender). Backstrom, who other than the miscue at the end had a superb game, had four shots of his own that didn’t find twine. The guys you would have wanted to take shots for the Caps – Ovechkin, Semin, Backstrom, Viktor Kozlov, Mike Green, Eric Fehr – had 28 of the 38 shots. Cristobal Huet was sharp; the defense was taking care of business by moving the puck smartly out of trouble and away from the Penguins’ big guns.

All of which meant that the Penguins had the Caps right where they wanted them.

The Caps could convert only one of those 28 shots from prime scorers, although the Brooks Laich goal (his 17^th) was a redirection goal off a shot from Semin.

That the Caps could be so unsuccessful with spending so much time in the Pittsburgh end on this day and launching so many shots from such high-probability scoring area argues for Fleury’s being named number-one star. He certainly was ours.

That Evgeni Malkin was named first star, Ovechkin second star, and Crosby third star seemed to us equal cases of laziness in looking at the game and theater (since they were the marquee players in the game promotions). We would have had Fleury as the first star, Jordan Staal as the second star (he played a whale of an all-around game), and Malkin as the third star.

For the Caps, this loss is not crushing, except perhaps to the spirit. It capped an odd and most unsatisfying weekend, one in which both games – to Boston and Pittsburgh – were lost in the last five minutes under somewhat strange circumstances (a rash of penalties in one, an own-goal in the other)...the first time in 48 games the Caps lost consecutive games in regulation. Had both games been won, and this team should believe it should have won both games, the Caps would be poised to embark on their last dozen games only two points behind Philadelphia for eighth place and three behind Carolina for the Southeast lead with a game in hand. As it is, the Caps are six points behind the Flyers and seven behind the Hurricanes with those dozen games left to play.

The Caps do not have to win out to make the playoffs, but it’s getting close to that level of desperation. They probably need no fewer than 18 points in their last dozen games to qualify, and that with a six-game road trip looming that starts next Tuesday in Nashville.

Bruce Boudreau said after the game that, "That was officially heartbreaking." He was likely speaking of Backstrom’s well-intentioned error at the end. But he might have been speaking of the larger game, and of the still larger realization that for the spirited comeback the Caps have made from the depths of the conference back in late November, it might not be enough.

It stinks.

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Caps vs. Penguins, March 9th

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

And here we are...the showdown we’ve been waiting for. No, not Ovechkin vs. Crosby...Pittsburgh vs. the English language.

Verizon Center might be inundated with Allegheny Virus this afternoon – otherwise known as Penguin fans – and it might be helpful for Caps fans to understand their language in order to console them after the Penguins fall. So, yer ol’ Uncle Peerless is providing as a public service a Pittsburgh-to-English dictionary for yinz t’use (see, we’re falling into the trap already) in speaking “Pittsburghese.”*

For example...if someone breathes on Sidney Crosby, Pens fans will have a “canipshun,” which in English is “to have a fit or get upset.” Let’s hope Pens fans have lots of canipshuns this afternoon.

And if the Capitals can get a big day out of Alexander Ovechkin – maybe a cupple-tree goals or so (that would be “two or three,” in English), then perhaps Penguin fans will have to wait “a whole nuther” year for Evgeni Malkin or Sidney Crosby to challenge for the scoring title. Of course, Pens fans will argue “That ain'da way I see it.”

If Mike Green can add to his goal total with a back-door pinch or an end-to-end weave, you might see a Pens fan turn to his buddy (who missed the play while wiping nacho cheese off his chin), pointing to the big screen and lamenting, “look, look…yagottaseediss!”

Should the Caps get some breaks from the men in the striped shirts, you might hear Pens fans “skwillin’” (“squealing” to you and me) about how the Pens can’t get a break.

If Donald Brashear and George Laraque go toe to toe, you might pay attention to which one “jukes” first (flinches).

But today the Caps are trying to take another step (“anudder,” in Pittsburghese) in climbing from the depths of the conference to a playoff spot.

As for the Penguins, they seem almost mortal these days. After a 7-2-2 run that got them to the Ottawa-Montreal-New Jersey level of the Eastern Conference, they’ve stubbed their collective toe in their last five:

Record: 2-3-0
Goals for/against: 11/17
Power play: 1/19 (5.3 percent)
Penalty killing: 14/18 (77.8 percent)

Part of that is the cooling off of Evgeni Malkin. After the center went 8-16-24 over the first ten games of February, he’s been 3-4-7, even, over his last eight games. Ditto Ty Conklin. After going 6-1-3, 2.27, .931, to open February, Conklin is 0-2-0 in three appearances since, 4.46, .862. That could mean an appearance by Marc-Andre Fleury. In four appearances since returning from a high-ankle sprain, he is 2-1-0, 2.30, .933. He’s never lost to Washington, going 6-0-0, 1.97, .938 in six appearances. Of course, the Penguins coming to town means an appearance by The Chosen One…Sidney Crosby is returning from a high-ankle sprain of his own, and in two games since coming back is 0-2-2, +1. Against the Caps, he is 5-12-17, +5, in 10 games. One player the Caps will not face today is newly-acquired Marian Hossa, who is still out with a sprained knee.

The Caps are 2-7-2 against the Penguins since the lockout, having been outscored 46-32 in those games. Unlike what was the case in most of those games, however, the Caps bring a deeper offense to the battle. It isn’t necessarily “stop Ovechkin, stop the Caps” heading into this one. While Ovechkin is still the key – 6-9-15, +9 in his last eight games – the Caps have other weapons, some in some unfamiliar places…Brooks Laich with three goals in his last three games…Nicklas Backstrom being 2-6-8, +9 in his last five games…Viktor Kozlov is 2-3-5, +9 in his last five games and leads the team at +18…Tom Poti has six assists in his last five games and is +5.

For the Caps, things are now in the desperation stage…with last night’s action, the Caps are seven points behind Carolina (with two games in hand) and six behind Philadelphia, with 13 games to play. Today’s game – against an old rival in a soldout arena – will have “playoff air” written all over it. Of course, we all can count on Pens fans to act like “lunch-heads” (idiots) when they get to the big city, too. So be tolerant when the “yinzers” (Pittsburghers) find their day ruint (ruined) by a Caps win, just tell them, “sees ya in da playoffs” ...

Caps 5 – Penguins 4

...but you already figgurred dat already.

* Thanks to pittsburghese.com

A no-point afternoon...Bruins 2 - Caps 1

It would be tempting to say that this afternoon’s 2-1 loss to the Boston Bruins was a product of shoddy officiating (there was that) and a lack of discipline on the part of one of the players the Caps look to for leadership in times like this (there was that, too).

But this was a team loss, in every sense of the word. Let’s start with that third period, the one in which the Bruins scored two late goals to win...

The Caps had four shots on goal in the third period. That is a deceptive number...they didn’t have so much as that amount of pressure on the Bruins. Here is the official tally of those four shots in the third period...

2:07: Ovechkin, Backhand, Defensive Zone, 153 ft.
2:46: Bradley, Slap, Neutral Zone, 110 ft.
5:14: Fedorov, Slap, Defensive Zone, 134 ft.
11:41: Fedorov, Wrist, Defensive Zone, 144 ft.

That’s it. No shots on goal from the offensive zone...none.

Then there were the misses on the chances they did have...Brooks Laich failing to cash in on a shorthanded rush with five minutes gone in the second...Tomas Flesichmann in alone on Bruin goalie Alex Auld off a feed from Alexander Semin ringing the puck off the pipe.

The Caps played just enough to put themselves in a position to have the game settled on the basis of a series of brutal calls by the officials. And in that, there is a silver lining. This is a loss, but one that need not be crushing. The Caps were, despite the Bruins coming out full of piss and vinegar, and with a grudge to settle, the better team for just about the entire game. Cristobal Huet had a superb game in goal, which sets up an interesting choice for coach Bruce Boudreau to make for tomorrow’s game against Pittsburgh.

There was Jeff Schultz leading the team with five hits...Quintin Laing with a like number of blocked shots...Laich leading the team with four shots on goal.

But if the Caps didn’t play quite well enough – and they didn’t – the officiating was, to be charitable, off its game. Let’s start with the first period...a five minute and game misconduct for kneeing for Matt Cooke. First, let’s get this out of the way...a major penalty for kneeing requires that an additional game misconduct be applied (Rule 50.5). The question is, why a major penalty in that instance? The infraction itself is defined at Rule 50.1 as follows:

Kneeing is the act of a player or goalkeeper leading with his knee and in some cases extending his leg outwards to make contact with his opponent.

Well, we’ve looked at the video of that and wonder, “where was the “leading with his knee” part? That there would be a question about this in our mind (which questions the very call itself) begs the next question, how could the referee be sure that the violation merited a major penalty? Rule 50.3 permits – but does not require – a major penalty to be called, that the referee may, “at his discretion, may assess a major penalty, based on the severity of the infraction, to a player or goalkeeper guilty of kneeing an opponent.” Sorry, but to put a team at a manpower disadvantage for five full minutes seems to require a higher threshold than what was the case here. As it turned out, Bobby Allen – the victim of this heinous crime – came back later in the period and ended up skating another 2:17 (of his 5:44 of total ice time) after suffering this tragedy 4:06 into the second period. The refs got snookered.

Referees Rob Martell and Chris Rooney trying to figure out who makes the next call.

And that made the end-game a little harder to understand. The Brashear calls looked to be on the far side of the line, meriting penalties. The rest?...it is hard to understand the calls on John Erskine and Tom Poti in the context of what the referees let go on. In a league where legend has it that things even up in the end, every call that had a choice about it went in Boston’s favor. That happens, although it would be tough to finish one point out of the playoffs with this kind of game having been called. But again, in the end, the Caps had chances they didn’t convert earlier in the game, and one could take some measure of solace in that they were the better team for most of this contest. That should give them a measure of confidence moving forward.

This might be a speed bump on the Caps’ march to the playoffs, or – if the club lets it get to them – could be the start of a slump the team simply can’t afford. We’ve seen enough of the Caps in the last couple of weeks to think it’s the former, that they will be ready to go when the puck drops tomorrow at Verizon Center. And this edgy kind of loss will be a memory.

Reputation and Results -- The Caps vs. the Rest of the League

There are a couple of sentences in this morning's article in the Washington Times about Bruce Boudreau that got me to thinking...just how bad have the Caps done outside the Southeast Division under Boudreau?

This is what Corey Masisak wrote...

"...what Boudreau has accomplished in a short span with the Caps is remarkable. This career minor leaguer has transformed them from the worst team in the NHL into a legitimate contender, albeit in a weak Southeast Division."

Well, you know what?...For the reputation the Southeast has as being "weak," it hasn't shown up in the Caps' performance against non-Southeast teams.

When the Caps changed coaches in November, they were 6-14-1. This morning, they are 32-28-8...26-14-7 under Boudreau. They are also 7-5-2 against Southeast teams since Boudreau took over, which -- if our arithmetic is correct -- leaves them 19-9-5 against teams not in the Southeast under Boudreau.

And here is your fun fact for today...

The Caps have at least a .500 record (based on points earned of those available) against every division in the NHL this year but one...

ATL: 8-7-4 (20 points/19 games)
NE: 10-8-0 (20/18)
CEN: 1-1-1 (3/3)
NW: 3-1-0 (6/4)
PAC: 0-0-0 (0/0)
SE: 10-11-3 (23/24)

They certainly will have their chances to improve upon their Southeast record with eight games yet to be played, including the last seven of the season.

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Caps vs. Bruins, March 8th

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

It’s Revenge Saturday…for the Boston Bruins (how often in the last few years could we have said that of any opponent?). The Bruins will be looking to reclaim some of their collective manhood after being beaten and beat up in the Verizon Center school yard, 10-2, last Monday. We chronicled Boston’s recent performance here, a reminder that this can be – and still is – a dangerous team. We’ve got the Monday result here, and the week that was Boston goaltending here, for those of you looking to relive, as it were, a fun night and to revel in the misfortune of others.

It’s a big weekend for the Caps, with the Bruins still five points up on the boys and tomorrow’s opponent – the Pittsburgh Penguins – with the second best record in the East (by virtue of having more wins than Montreal). But the Caps have been equal to the task lately, going 4-1-0 in their last five. Since NBC will be covering the Penguins visit tomorrow, we decided to sit down with the guys covering the game to get their take on the Caps, their chances today, and their shot at the playoffs…

Mike Emrick…you’ve been at this for 27 years and have seen it all. You get to see a great like Martin Brodeur every night covering the Devils. But have you ever seen a player with the skill, toughness, and flair for the dramatic as Alex Ovechkin.

ME: “I was watching Ovechkin the other night – the child of Mikail…a former professional soccer player, and Tatiana…who won Olympic gold for the Soviet Union in Montreal in 1976 and in Moscow in 1980 – and he was skating in on Tim Thomas, a native of Flint, Michigan, and a former Catamount at the University of Vermont, where he was a three-time all-ECAC – ECAC stands for ‘Eastern College Athletic Conference' – selection and finished his career atop the Catamount record book in games, with 140, wins with 81, and minutes played with 3,950, and…what was the question again?”

Pierre McGuire…you’ve done it all in hockey – played, coached, served in the front office, written about it, provided commentary on it. Do you think the Caps have a chance to overtake the teams in front of them for eighth place or to catch Carolina for the Southeast Division title and a top-three seed?

PMcG: “Down here from inside the glass between the benches, I have to say you can’t count the Caps out, but if they only had Sidney Crosby, they’d never lose a game…”

You mean adding Crosby to this roster?

PMcG: “No, just Crosby…if it was just The Kid and coach Bruce Boudreau, they’d never lose; they’d be spending the whole game in the other team’s end of the rink.”

Mike Milbury…the Caps added Sergei Fedorov, Cristobal Huet, and Matt Cooke at the deadline. They gave up Matt Pettinger, a prospect, and a couple of draft picks. Good moves?

MM: “Good, but they could have been so much better. First thing I would have done is trade Varlamov and Semin for a couple of forwards only I would have thought would work out…”

You mean, like when you traded Olli Jokinen and Roberto Luongo to Florida for Mark Parrish and Oleg Kvasha?

MM: “Exactly…then I’d have moved that Neuvirth kid for a forward who won’t play another three season’s worth of games for the rest of his career and a low draft pick…”

Like when you traded Tommy Salo for Mats Lindgren and an 8^th round pick?

MM: “Now those would have been trades…”

That’d be one word for them…Ed Olczyk, you were a hometown #3 overall pick of the Blackhawks in 1984, played in both Toronto and New York, coached Sidney Crosby. You’re somewhat acquainted with the pressures of the limelight and being the hometown icon. What do you make of the situation with the Caps’ local icon – Olaf Kolzig?

EO: “….hmmmmm [goofy smile]”

Uh, Ed?...

EO: “oh, sorry…I was just thinking about Sidney…he’s dre-e-e-e-amy.”

Guys, you have any advice for the Caps today against the Bruins?

ME: “When the Caps take the ice at TD Banknorth Garden today, an arena, by the way, in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts that is named after its sponsor, TD Banknorth. TD Banknorth – perhaps ironically – is a 100 percent-owned subsidiary of Toronto-Dominion Bank, although it traces is own history to the Portland Savings Bank, which was established in 1852, which coincidentally is the year in which Chris Chelios, as legend has it, played his first organized hockey game. What was the question again?”

PMcG: "Well, the B’s will be buzzing today, no doubt. When you’re wearing the black and gold – the same colors that Sidney Crosby wears, by the way – you can count on a maximum effort, unless they come out flat, in which case they won’t.”

Won’t what?

PMcG: "…what?”

Won’t what…you said they won’t. Won’t what?

PMcG: “that’s right.”

Whatever…Eddie, can Alex Ovechkin reprise his three-goal, five-point night from last Monday?...

Ed?....ED?!...put the picture of Sidney down for a minute, okay?

EO: “…sorry.”

Mike, how about the Caps…think the new guys can make a difference today?

MM: “Without an Oleg Kvasha or a Mats Lindgren-type player out there, it’ll be tough. I think they struggle today…”

Well, if Mike says it, it has to be…well, “true” isn’t the word we’d have been searching for…

Caps 4 – Bruins 2.

Getting to know...Olaf Kolzig

James Mirtle has a nice profile in his blog today...

...check it out.

A Ring of Honor

Corey Masisak penned a column in this morning's Washington Times under the headline, "Caps Need an Honor Roll."

It's certainly a topic worthy of discussion, and now might be the best time to get that ball -- or puck, if you will -- rolling.

Why is this the "best time?" Well, for those of you who frequented RFK Stadium for Nationals games the past few years, you no doubt remember seeing the Washington hall of stars banner displayed in right field.


RFK -- home to the Senators, Redskins, DC United, and Nationals over the years, not to mention some famous media personalities who covered those teams -- was a logical place to honor Washington's sports heroes, without respect to the sport they played or covered.

But now, with Washington home to arenas that are dedicated to sports -- FedEx Field for the Redskins, the new Nationals Park opening for the baseball team, Verizon Center for the Wizards and Capitals, RFK still for the United -- it might be the best time to introduce the idea of a Ring of Honor at Verizon Center to honor those who played and chronicled events under its roof (and, by extension, the old Capital Centre/USAirways Arena).

A "Ring of Honor" might be a difficult thing to accomplish, logistically, since the obvious choices for locations for such a ring are now display boards for in-game advertisements or messages. But perhaps a ring above the rink...one made of banners to be hung as one might do with championship banners...to honor those of the Bullets, Wizards, and Capitals who have distinguished themselves over the years; to honor a Dave Fay or a Ron Weber in a manner befitting the best that Washington winter sports and sports journalism has to offer.

Readers, what say you?

The week in...ugh.

Tim Thomas...goaltender for the Boston Bruins...bad week. Really bad. Dog tossing its Ken-L-Ration in the toilet kind of week:

0-2-0, 10.54, .744

When the day dawned on Monday, Thomas was 23-14-4, 2.36, .925. Then, he gave up seven goals on 24 shots in 36:30 -- getting pulled twice -- in a 10-2 loss to Washington. He followed that up by allowing five goals on 23 shots in 31:50 in an 8-2 loss to Toronto last night, getting pulled in the second period, upon which he "disappeared under the stands to throw a nutty, relieving himself of the frustrations of a second straight yanking." So now, he's 23-16-4, 2.57, .920. Instead of being second in save percentage, he's seventh. Instead of being 13th in goals against, he's 19th.

Bad week.

And it's not like Alex Auld has been leaps and bounds better, either...

0-0-1, 3.75, .881

He did have a superb effort in a 1-0 overtime loss to Florida, but he also gave up six goals on 27 shots (.778) in 51:40 of work (6.96 GAA) in the other two games, too.

Boston, which before this swift turn had been on a 7-0-1 run, is in seventh place in the Eastern Conference, only five points ahead of the Capitals. As if it needs repeating...the Bruins' next game is tomorrow, against the Caps.

Let's hope the Caps put the Bruins in the mood to once more, "throw a nutty."

Nine Lives...and other stuff

The Peerless thought this nine-lives thing applied only to the domesticated variety of the species.

And will someone please tell Craig Anderson he is not Roberto Luongo?

Florida seems to have another life (please let it be their ninth) after beating Pittsburgh, 5-2, last night to close to within two points of the Caps. Washington still has two games in hand on the Panthers, but with the Cats on a three game winning streak, the margin is uncomfortably close.

And then there is Tampa Bay…the Lightning’s season is over – has been for a while now. But with the possibility of the Lightning giving the Caps a hand in Washington’s battle with Philadelphia for eighth place, the Flyers ended an eight-game losing streak at home to the Lightning with a 3-2 win. The insult was the Flyers scoring the game-winner with less than two minutes remaining in a 2-2 game, not to mention the Lightning registering a measly two shots on goal in the third period, neither of them from a forward. The Lightning are now the leaders in the ping pong ball standings.

Carolina continued their surprising late push. Their 3-2 win against Minnesota last night made them 9-2-1 in their last dozen games and gave the Hurricanes a five-point lead over Washington for the Southeast Division lead. Washington has two-games in hand.

And speaking of getting hot at the right time, the New York Rangers pulled seven points ahead of Washington with a 4-1 win over the Islanders. The Rangers haven’t lost a game in regulation in a month (February 7^th, 4-1 to Anaheim). They are 8-0-3 over that span. Sean Avery might be dedicating the remainder of his season to Jaromir Jagr, but it was Avery with two goals last night – Jagr was held pointless.

And from the “what the #@%& happened to Ottawa file?,” the Senators dropped a 2-0 decision out on the coast to the Los Angeles Kings late last night in what might be the most foul insult of their 8-15-3 record since beating Detroit, 3-2, last January 12^th. The Senators have been shutout four times in those 26 games and are now tied for fifth in most times shutout. By the way, the shutout came at the hands of Erik Ersberg (he in the picture on the left) – his first NHL victory in his third NHL game.

Even though the Caps didn’t play, it was quite a night.

Anything you can do, I can do better

Like the song from "Annie Get Your Gun," the battle of "I can do anything better than you" rages on -- and promises to continue raging on -- between Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby...

2005-2006...Ovechkin outscores odds-on rookie award favorite Crosby 106-102 and wins the Calder Trophy voting in a landslide, winning 124 of 129 first-place votes. He also was a finalist for the Pearson Award.

2006-2007...Crosby outscores Ovechkin 120-92, leading his team to the playoffs for the first time since 2001. Crosby wins the Ross and Hart trophies, as well as the Pearson award.

2007-2008...Ovechkin, whose career to date had been marked as much by consistency as skill, takes advantage of Crosby going on the shelf with an injury to surge to the top of the pack in goal scoring, overall scoring, power play goals, and game-winning goals, while improving his plus-minus by +36 over last season. He is poised to perhaps (and we do wish to stress..."perhaps") win the Hart, Ross, and Richard trophies, and the Pearson award, as well as lead his team to the playoffs for the first time since 2003.

We might yet be treated to their first meeting the playoffs, one of what the league certainly hopes will be many to come. In the meantime, they'll no doubt continue the battle...

Anything you can do, I can do better.
I can do anything better than you.

No, you can't.

Yes, I can.

No, you can't.

Yes, I can.

No, you can't.

Yes, I can!
Yes, I can!

Goofy...

Tomas Vok-who?

One of these players has stopped the last 105 shots he has faced, spanning 143:58 of his time on ice.

Can you pick out goaltender Craig Anderson of the Florida Panthers?

OK, all of them are...it just seems like he's been everywhere around the crease lately in three straight wins he's recorded for the Panthers.

A TWO-point night: Caps 3 - Sabres 1

Another demon dealt with.

The Caps defeated the Buffalo Sabres last night, 3-1, for their fourth win in five games. In doing so, they continued a recent trend in dealing with demons – beating Martin Brodeur (a rarity in recent years), beating the Boston Bruins (just about as rare), and last night the Sabres (a team that has used the Caps as its personal scrimmage partner in the first three games this year).

And again, the star of the show was Alex Ovechkin – two goals (numbers 53 and 54 on the year), five hits, plus-3 in 20 minutes of work. But he certainly had ample help…

Nicklas Backstrom held onto his rookie scoring lead with a goal and an assist, won seven of 11 draws, and was plus-3 himself.

Viktor Kozlov chipped in a pair of assists and finished plus-3 with his other two linemates.

Olaf Kolzig stopped 27 of 28 shots, including 13 in the third period, five of those in the last three minutes of the game.

John Erskine made a save of his own on a puck that squirted through Kolzig’s pads near the 14 minute mark of the first period. Erskine swept the puck out of the crease just as it was trickling toward the goal line.

And with a team as balanced as is Buffalo, there needs to be shared responsibility on defense. It can’t be just a checking line or a top pair matched against the other guys’ top line. Everyone has to pitch in. The Caps got that last night, as no player finished on the minus side of the ledger. Buffalo could manage only a power play goal for the evening. It was made more impressive by the fact that the Caps played at even or shorthanded strength for 59:41 of the game. They had a grand total of 19 seconds of power play time of their own (Buffalo had 9:28).

Speaking of time, Shaone Morrisonn led the team in ice time (25:20) and had almost six minutes of penalty killing time. He was on the ice for the Pominville power play goal (and without that pppledge ppppin!!!), but otherwise had a solid evening.

If there was a negative to be found, it was in the five minor penalties whistled on the Caps. All of them were of the “obstruction” sort of penalty – two hooking calls, two interference calls, and a tripping penalty. Four of them were called on defensemen (Jeff Schultz twice, Mike Green, and Tom Poti). Fortunately for the Caps, Green gets no penalty killing time (he averages 15 seconds of shorthanded time this year). However, Poti and Schultz are among the ice time leaders for this team on the PK, and having them off could have resulted in more damage than the one-for-five result on the Sabre power play.

But all’s well that ends well, as the saying goes. And it certainly ended well for the Caps, using the win to close within two points of eighth-place Philadelphia (the Flyers hold a game-in-hand) and to maintain the three point deficit to Southeast-leading Carolina (the Caps hold a game-in-hand).

If Ovechkin was the first-paragraph of last night’s story, the next might be the subtle evolution of Nicklas Backstrom’s game. And by that, we mean confidence to go with the 20-year-old’s considerable skill. Known as a deft passer, he’s become more assertive in shooting the puck. Last night, in addition to scoring the game-winning goal, he had three shots on goal. It’s part of a trend. If one looks at his first 20 games, he took a total of 21 shots (1.1/game), scoring one goal. However, in his last 20 games, he has 47 shots (2.4/game) with two goals, scored in each of the last two games. While his shooting percentage hasn’t necessarily improved, shooting creates opportunities with the potential for rebounds or otherwise occupying the defense and goaltender to open avenues for teammates. One could argue that Backstrom himself is benefitting from the opportunities he’s getting when Ovechkin is shooting and opening up the ice, but that’s merely the other side of the same coin. Backstrom is taking advantage by asserting himself in those situations.

Outside the numbers, we’ve gotten used to singing and hearing the praises of Ovechkin and his plucky band of Capitals from local media and bloggers, but this quote is different…

“He’s so good for the game. His energy is so good for the game. He’s having so much fun playing the game. When Pat [Kaleta] scored the other night, it puts a smile on your face. It’s what the game is all about. There’s not a lot of fun moments in the game. [Ovechkin] makes it fun almost shift in, shift out. And he’s not a fun guy to play against. When he hits you, he hurts you. What an element to have as a player.”

That was Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff, after his team's loss. Then there was this…

The more Ruff talked Wednesday, the more obvious it became that Ovechkin is the best player of his generation. Yes, that includes Sidney Crosby. The Penguins superstar is the face of the NHL, but Ovechkin is the guy coaches want on their teams because the Great Eight dominates in so many ways.

You could scour NHL history books and not find another player quite like him. You need a scorer? Ovechkin leads the league with 54 goals and 92 points in 68 games. You need a leader? The Capitals would be long gone from playoff contention without his nine winners. You want a banger? Ovechkin is 6- foot-2, 217 pounds, plays 6-6, 260, and works the corners like a hot dog vendor. He led both teams with five hits
Wednesday night.

That comes from the game story in this morning’s Buffalo News, penned by Bucky Gleason.

But we’ll leave it to Ovechkin to interpret the recent turn of events…

"The last two years, we didn't play for something...We started thinking about vacation. It's more interesting when you play for something."

Interesting, indeed.

The secret of blogging...

...finding a nice, quiet place from which to compose one's thoughts.*

* ok, not really

An...interesting look at hockey arenas

OK, let's understand up front that what we will refer to here in the next few moments is a Penguins site. That out of the way, "The Pensblog" has complied an interesing "then and now" look at hockey arenas. It is a look back across the years at the tradition-laden arenas (or out-and-out dumps) teams used to occupy and the palaces they occupy now.

It's worth a peek...


...honest.

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Caps vs. Sabres, March 5th

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

15 games to go. 30 points available. Still a chance to earn 100 for the season. And it starts tonight in Buffalo.

“A little optimistic there, aren’t ya, cuz?”

Well, if it isn’t my cousin, Cheerless Prognosticator. And if Cheerless is here, then his brother, “Fearless,” can’t be too far behind. Hey guys, what brings you two here?

Cheerless: “Writers block.”

You guys have a blog?

Cheerless: “No, you dunce, yours…you can’t think of anything witty to write about, so you dredge us up for a visit.”

Well, yeah…but while you’re here, what’s your take on these last 15 games?

Fearless: “The Caps are set up perfectly for the stretch run…their offense is showing some spark, they’re getting decent defense and goaltending – only two games giving up more than three goals since February 1st, and their last seven games are against divisional opponents. It’s all in their hands…”

Cheerless: “Yeah, and they have butterfingers…they have consecutive wins only twice in the last six weeks, they haven’t had a three-game winning streak in the same span of time. Cristobal Huet is “questionable” for tonight. Sergei Fedorov has one point in three games since the trade…"

Fearless: “blah, blah, blah…you’d complain that a bulb on the back of the Christmas tree was out after you got a brand new bicycle for Christmas…you’ve got Alex Ovechkin breaking out of his slump with a vengeance – 4-4-8, +6 in his last three games. The old man giving up more than three goals in a game only once in more than a month – shoot, he’s given up more than two only three times in his last ten appearances (only one more time than has Marty Brodeur, by way of comparison)."

Cheerless: “and they’re still missing the captain, a top-four defenseman, and a top-six forward to injury…think any of those guys are coming back? And look at that schedule…Buffalo, Boston, Pittsburgh, Calgary…that’s 140-96-32 among them. And it’s not like the Caps are all that successful against these guys recently…2-4-5-1 against Boston in their last 12 games…2-13-0 against Buffalo in their last 15…3-9-2 against Pittsburgh in their last 14 games…”

Fearless: “…they haven’t lost to Calgary since 1999.”

Cheerless: “yeah, and they’ve played them as often as you buy the beer…”

OK, boys, that’s enough…we have a game to play tonight. And if you’re looking for a theme for the Caps over the next four games – that Buffalo-Boston-Pittsburgh-Calgary quartet – it’s this…



"You have to be this big to ride this ride. "

This is the test the Caps have to pass to make those last seven games with Southeast Division games mean anything. And it starts with Buffalo, a team marking time – fine if you’re in a marching band, not so much when you’re in ninth place looking up at the playoffs:


Record (last ten games): 4-5-1
Goals for/against: 34/36
Power play: 8/48 (16.7%)
Penalty killing: 34/43 (79.1%)
Record in one-goal games: 1-1-1

Note that last number…three one-goal games in their last ten. This isn’t a club that generally has been keeping fans on the edge of their seats late, although the games they’ve been in have been – by modern standards – free-wheeling affairs.

And therein lies the problem for the Sabres…those 36 goals allowed in their last ten games. While Buffalo, even with Daniel Briere, Chris Drury, and Brian Campbell gone, remains a dangerous offensive team, they are allowing far too many goals to think they can survive this stretch run.

Ryan Miller has been playing more like Dennis Miller, although Sabres fans probably don’t see the humor – he’s been the goalie of record in all ten games in this stretch (4-5-1), 3.95, .873. Not a great record, even if he did have the save of the week according to NHL.com.

If The Peerless was to ask, “who is Buffalo’s top scorer?,” your first answer might not be “Jason Pominville.” But, it would be the correct one. That Buffalo is still in the playoff hunt with Pominville – a fine player, to be sure, but not one of whom you readily think, “scorer” – is testimony to the balance of the Sabres. That has been, and remains, one of the strengths of this club. The Sabres have 16 players in double digits in points (the Caps have 15 – Sergei Fedorov doesn’t count – indicative of progress they’ve made in this area), 13 with more than 20 (the Caps have ten). They have eight players with ten-or-more goals (the Caps have seven), three with at least 20 (the Caps have two).

Looking at the top scorers for the club, their career stats against the Caps:

Jason Pominville: 10 games, 3-2-5, +2…but he has four of those points in the three games between the clubs this year.

Derek Roy: 13 games, 7-7-14, +13…he’s 3-1-4, +5 in three games this year.

Thomas Vanek: 11games, 3-5-8, +7…he seems almost sluggish in comparison with his 0-2-2, +4 in three games.

Tim Connolly: 24 games, 5-8-13, +5…he’s 1-1-2, +3 in three games

The Sabres have won all three games this year by a combined score of 15-7. This is, as if it isn’t obvious at this point, a stiff test, even if the Sabres have struggled lately. But, the time comes when you leave the kiddie rides behind and ride the Kingda Ka.

Tonight, the Caps pass the first round of the test…

Caps 5 – Sabres 3

Jawsvechkin...ABOVE the fold, thank you very much

You can almost hear the theme, can't you...

A TWO (can't we get more for this) point night: Caps 10 - Bruins 2

Glen Metropolit couldn’t find the puck.

Less than half a minute into the game, Matt Bradley had already had a fine scoring opportunity. The puck came out of the Boston end to the Capitals’ line. Jeff Schultz swept it back into the Boston side of the ice, where it ended up laying behind Metropolit, who was facing the Bruin bench and could not locate it. Matt Cooke swooped in, collected the puck on the run, and wasted no time firing a shot off the far post and behind Boston Bruin goaltender Tim Thomas for the game’s first goal at 32 seconds.

That might have been the high point of the night for the Bruins…it was still a one-goal game. By the time the final horn sounded, the Caps had nine more goals – three of them by Alex Ovechkin, who certainly had a flair for the dramatic in notching his second 50-goal season in three years – and the Caps had a 10-2 win at the expense of the visiting Bruins.

We won’t describe the goals…you can go to NHL.com and catch the carnage on video highlights. There were, though, a lot of interesting numbers. It reads like “The 10 Goals of Caps-mas”…

On the 3^rd day of March, my Cappies gave to me…

- 15 skaters with points
- 11 skaters with hits
- 10 skaters with blocked shots
- seven skaters with multi-point games
- six skaters with goals
- three skaters with multi-goal games
- two Donald fights
- and a hat trick in only 9:13

In case you’re wondering, no…

- Ovechkin did not set a record for fastest three goals by a Caps player (Ovechkin: 9:13, Peter Bondra: 2:06 in 1994 against Tampa Bay)

- Ovechkin did not set a team record for goals in a period tonight (Ovechkin: three; Caps record: four by Peter Bondra in 1994 against Tampa Bay)

- The Caps did not set a record for fastest five goals (tonight: 12:25 for goals two through six in the first; Caps record: 3:03 in 1987 against Toronto)

- Nicklas Backstrom did not set a rookie record for points in a game (1-3-4 tonight; Caps record: five by Greg Theberge in 1981 against Pittsburgh)

- Backstrom did not set a Caps rookie record for assists in a game (tonight: three; Caps record: four by Rolf Edberg in 1979 against St. Louis, tied by Backstrom this year twice against Pittsburgh and Florida in consecutive games)

- The Caps did not set a record for most goals in a period (tonight: six; Caps record: eight against Tampa Bay in 1999

- They did tie a team record – assists in a game (20, first set against Quebec in 1990)

It just seemed as if the Caps were setting records because of the stunningly swift and surgical way they dismantled Boston – who looked slow and out of sorts all night…

0:32
6:18
7:08
8:29
15:31
18:43

6-0 after one period. Wings for everybody, drive safely.

And it was great to see the guys who don’t get the ink making a splash on the scoresheet…

Donald Brashear had two scoops of Bruins on his way to a Heavyweight Hat Trick (a goal and two fights). He bull-rushed Zdeno Chara to the ice when Chara thought it might be a good idea to give his somnambulistic teammates some inspiration in the first period (and hey, big guy…wearing the “C” is not license to whine to every passing official) in the first bout, then pummeled Shawn Thornton into submission in the second.

Matt Bradley had a two goal/three-point night. It was his second three-point night of the season and his first two-goal game since October 2005. He tied Ovechkin for the team lead in shots with five.

Eric Fehr set a career record for assists (three) and points (three). It was his first multi-point game for the Caps.

Brooks Laich had two more goals to add to his career best season (he now has 15); it was his second two-goal game in the last four contests.

Matt Cooke was 1-2-3 and drew a penalty by annoying Glen Metropolit into a slash. Ovechkin capitalized 61 seconds into the penalty.

The Caps had four power play goals in seven chances, the four successes being their season high in a game.

This was payback for a lot of frustration over the past three years at the hands of the Bruins in general and Tim Thomas in particular. Thomas really never had a chance. Boston’s defense was slow to react when Caps were flying. Look at the goal plot…all were scored inside the dots and below them.

Two of the goals were clean breakaways – a nice symmetry of Backstrom sending Ovechkin free on one, then Ovechkin returning the favor. But the rest were just a case of the Capitals getting in tight into high-probability scoring areas for slam-dunk scores. Thomas (and later Alex Auld) never really had much chance on most of the goals. Compare that to the Toronto game, when the Caps simply didn’t play with enough urgency to create these kinds of chances.

For the Caps, they now have the league's top point-producer (Ovechkin), top goal-scorer (Ovechkin), top goal-scoring tandem (Ovechkin and Alexander Semin), top goal-scorer among defensemen (Mike Green), top rookie in assists (Backstrom), and top rookie scorer (Backstrom). Six goals in tonight's game were scored by players 24 and younger.

The only bad news tonight was on the injury front. Cristobal Huet was relieved by Olaf Kolzig for the third period when it appeared Huet took back spasms after making a somewhat awkward save against the post late in the second period. And Tom Poti took a puck right in the chops on an errant pass from a teammate. He skated off under his own power, which was encouraging.

You look at a game like this and think, “save some for next game, boys.” But the Caps have 20 goals in their last four games, 18 in their last three wins. They are capable of such explosions – not necessarily ten goals worth on a nightly basis, but they have a lot of bullets in their clip at the moment. The trick is bringing that level of effort and urgency every night for the last 15 games. Do that, and there will be hockey after the first week of April.

On a Clear Day...you can see Eric Fehr

Of players currently on the Caps roster, Fehr is the only one on the AHL Hershey Bears' 2008 clear day roster:

That's certainly not unexpected, but we just thought we'd bring that matter up to date.

Ex Cap Has Busy Night

Seems Matt Pettinger has made new friends in Chicago...

Well, Cam Barker, anyway.

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Caps vs. Bruins, March 3rd

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

The Caps are back at it in a Monday tilt against the Boston Bruins…Boston, rich in history and tradition, home of some of the most important events in the young Nation’s history – the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the Battle of Bunker Hill, the Boston Tea Party. Boston natives were not shy about exporting their feisty nature, either, as was the case in The Battle of Manhattan.

So we have with us a couple of Massachusetts’ favorite sons here to get their take on tonight’s contest…the cousins Adams, John and Samuel. Welcome…

Mr. President, let’s start with you…I don’t imagine they played a lot of hockey in 1776. But you’ve become quite a fan…

JA: “Here is everything which can lay hold of the eye, ear and imagination - everything which can charm and bewitch the simple and ignorant.”

Hey, hey…this ain’t NASCAR, pal.

JA: “My apologies…power always thinks it has a great soul and vast views beyond the comprehension of the weak.”

Well, back to hockey, what do you think of officiating this year?...do you think it is being performed at a high standard?

JA: “In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three is a congress…four is a team of NHL on-ice officials.”

And what of league management, as a former president, I’d be interested in your take on the tenure of the NHL Commissioner…

JA: "I have been quoted as saying, ‘my country has contrived for me the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived.’ Well, then I was introduced to the name, ‘Gary Bettman.’”

You lived through some of the most violent times in the early days of the Republic…I’m guessing you’re a fan of the occasional fight in the NHL?

JA: “Virtue is not always amiable.”

Back to the Caps…Alex Ovechkin finally ended his goal-scoring drought with a marker against the Maple Leafs. A slump?...or is he feeling the pressure of the playoff run?

JA: “No man is entirely free from weakness and imperfection in this life.”

Samuel, does he always talk like that?

“Oh, yeah…why do you think I took up brewing beer?”

As for the Bruins, it’s fashion night at Verizon Center…an opportunity for Alex Ovechkin to model the latest in Chara-wear…a 6’9”, 260 pound stole that Ovechkin will be wearing 20-or-so minutes of this game. Ovechkin is 3-4-7, even, in nine games against the Bruins, but one of the telling stats is shots. Ovechkin has averaged 5.1 shots a game over the 229 games of his career. He has 36 in nine games against Boston, 21 in the five games against Boston in Chara’s two seasons in Beantown. It isn’t a complete shutdown, but his chances have been fewer and of lower quality than his career numbers since Chara joined the Bruins.

While that battle within the battle is taking place, Boston is on an eight-game points-earned streak:

Record: 7-0-1
Goals for/against: 27/17
Power play: 9/38 (23.7%)
Penalty killing: 35/38 (92.1%)
Record in one-goal games: 4-0-1

Balance has been a key to the Bruin attack in this eight-game stretch. 19 different skaters have registered points, 13 have goals. The individual leaders in this streak include:

Marc Savard: 1-10-11, even
Marco Sturm: 3-7-10, +3
Zdeno Chara: 6-2-8, +5
Dennis Wideman: 2-4-6, +3
Glen Murray: 4-1-5, -2

Tim Thomas has appeared in goal for seven of these last eight games, going 5-0-1, 2.03, .928. Incredibly, he’s even been better over his career against the Caps: 8-0-1, 1.82, .940. As if this isn’t bad enough, the Caps have one win against the Bruins in the last 11 meetings between the clubs.

Let’s think of this as the law of averages making an appearance – Ovechkin with one goal in his last eight games, Thomas unbeaten in regulation in his career against the Caps, the Caps with one win in 11 games against the Bruins. I mean, c’mon…it can’t go on forever, can it?

We don’t think it will, as you no doubt have concluded if you read this space even occasionally. Plus, this is another of those “games-in-hand” the Caps hold over Carolina. It’s a win they have to have. They’ll get it…

Caps 3 – Bruins 1