A TWO-point night: Caps 4 - Panthers 1

Wishes do come true.

And that is not always a good thing.

One wish coming true that falls on the good side is that the Capitals beat the Florida Panthers last night, 4-1, in the front end of a weekend back-to-back to end a three-game winless streak.

The wishes Caps fans might have to see Hershey defensemen Karl Alzner and/or John Carlson in the lineup could come true at the price of the loss of Mike Green and Jeff Schultz, both of whom were injured in the win. The injuries have everything covered, Green’s being described as an “upper body” injury, Schultz’ of the “lower body” variety. Add to that concern that Shaone Morrisonn could be facing a forced absence after boarding Kenndal McArdle in the third period, and the Caps could skate the second half of this back-to-back with half of their defenseman squad on the shelf.

But for the game, the stars were Jose Theodore and Brian Pothier. Theodore shook off two difficult outings – giving up five goals to Columbus and four to the Islanders – to turn away 28 of 29 shots. It’s worth noting that the Panthers were held to 29 shots. It is the first time the Caps have held an opponent under 30 shots since a 5-4 win against Atlanta on October 22nd. The Caps were 3-1-2 in the six games in between (two of the wins coming in extra time, as were two of the losses), and the one goal allowed was the fewest since a 4-1 win over San Jose on October 15th. But Theodore was solid throughout (“solid,” not great – there were a few juicy rebounds he left lying around, one of which led to a power play goal), especially early when he stopped all 12 shots in the first period, including a flurry in the game’s third minute of play in which Florida had several chances to get the opening goal with shots from in close.

Brian Pothier. In going 1-2-3 for the night, the Caps defenseman had his first multi-point game since December 15, 2007, and his first three point game since October 7, 2006. It was his goal on a power play slapper that gave the Caps insurance early in the third period . He added a couple of hits and a pair of blocked shots at the other end.

Other stuff…

- Mathieu Perreault did not get an assist on the Caps’ first goal, scored by Tyler Sloan, but he should have (in principle). He got the whole thing started, taking a pass at the center red dot, then curling down the right side and over the Panther line. He came to a stop just inside the line and found Chris Clark going down the left side. The puck got a piece of Pothier’s puck on the way through, but Clark collected it and found Sloan coming late down the middle as the fourth man on the rush. Sloan didn’t give goalie Tomas Vokoun a chance to react to the snapper he put on net, and the puck was in for the 1-0 lead.

- When Tomas Fleischmann uncorked a slapper from just inside the Florida blue line just past the four-minute mark of the first period, and the puck squeaked through Vokoun and started crawling toward the Panther goal line, only to be swept out of the crease inches from going over, we could not help but think… maybe one or two fewer scuffs of the clean ice by Vokoun at the start of the period, and a little less snow would have built up, and the puck would have inched over. We think weird things like that.

- Theodore also had a nice save on Rostislav Olesz on a breakaway chance in the second period.

- We liked that Brendan Morrison goal in the second period. Why? Because a younger player probably doesn’t take that extra half second to open up his stance to improve his angle and allow the goalie to go all the way to the ice before roofing the puck.

- Wish Mike Knuble could have finished that feed from David Steckel on a two-on-one down low against Vokoun. Steckel stripped Dmitry Kulikov of the puck inside the Panther line, then did a nice little curl of the puck through Bryan Allen to set himself up in the open to find Knuble streaking down the other side. Knuble just could get the extra six inches or so of lift on the puck to get it over the lunging Vokoun, who made a nice save, denying Steckel what would have been a great, well-earned assist.

- Pothier got his goal manning the Ovechkin spot on the power play and scored it in pretty much the same, if less electrifying, fashion… a one-time slap shot from above the left wing circle.

- Two things to note about the Pothier goal. First, watch the replay. Who is crawling over a Panther defenseman looking for a rebound?... Tomas Fleischmann. Strange world, ain’t it? Second, you might not know the name, “Michael Repik.” He’s the guy who took the roughing penalty that led to the Pothier goal. When he skated back to the bench after Pothier’s goal, his night was over. He did not skate over the last 13:04.

- One can’t say enough about the Caps defensemen in this one. Mike Green skated for only 2:44 before going down, Jeff Schultz for 7:27. Pothier and Tom Poti both logged more than 25 minutes. For Pothier, the 25:20 was the most time he’s logged since skating for 27:08 against Vancouver on October 26, 2007. For Milan Jurcina, his 23:12 in ice time was the first time he skated more than 20 minutes in a regular season game that didn’t end in extra time since December 20, 2008. With Green, Schultz, and Morrison gone, the Caps were left with only four defenseman for the last eight minutes of the game, Tyler Sloan moving back from forward.

- Here is what happened in that last eight minutes in which the Panthers were still in it at 3-1… Florida managed only two shots on goal. The Caps, meanwhile, blocked five shots. Five different players had those blocks – Jurcina, Pothier, Matt Bradley, Fleischmann, and Sloan. The Caps won four of six faceoffs. It’s worth noting that the of the four defensive zone draws in that sequence three were taken by (and won by) David Steckel. Steckel did not lose a defensive draw all night.

- Matt Bradley tied for the team lead in shots on goal? He had seven attempts and four on goal, you say? The odd things that happen when the big guy is out.

- Meanwhile, Alexander Semin had one shot on goal and five attempts in almost six-and-a-half more minutes that Bradley. At the moment, we get the feeling Semin is holding that stick a bit too tightly, in a manner of speaking. He needs something ugly to go in. The flair will come later.

- Accidental or whatever, you have to be more careful with a short bench than Shaone Morrisonn was in his hit on McArdle. The Caps are facing a number of teams in the next few games that have some trouble scoring, so if Morrisonn is to ride the pine for a game or so, it might not have quite the impact. But it probably wasn’t the smartest thing he’s done this week.

- What’s with the “red mallet” theme at Bank Atlantic Center? When the glass was knocked out, it was red mallet all around, none of which seemed to work… until the red sledge of death was unveiled. There’s a promotion night in there somewhere.

- The Caps had nine players with multi-hit nights. Even Mathieu Perreault was credited with one… on Keith Ballard, who outweighs Perreault by 35 pounds.

It was a solid, lunch pail, meat and potatoes effort. The Caps cashed in on opportunities, they had guys step up in terms of effort and production, they got solid goaltending. It was a fine road win for a team that is having to deal with injuries at key positions. We can’t wait to see what’s in store for tonight…

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- A "Two-Fer"...Caps vs. Panthers, November 6th/7th

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

Tonight and tomorrow night, it’s the only “Super” back-to-back of the season for the Capitals. Games on consecutive days against the same opponent – the Florida Panthers. The Caps will visit south Florida tonight, and then the clubs will return to DC on Saturday to complete the twin-bill. So what about the Sunshine State? It’s sunny a lot of the time (but never at night), there are a lot of old folks there, and they have trouble counting votes. But what else do we know about this mysterious state? Glad you asked…

- A museum in Sanibel owns 2 million shells and claims to be the world's only museum devoted solely to mollusks.

- Niceville is home to the famous Boggy Bayou Mullet Festival celebrated the third weekend in October. Rats… and we were looking forward to some boggy bayou badness.

- Dr. John Gorrie of Apalachicola invented mechanical refrigeration in 1851.

- Miami Beach pharmacist Benjamin Green invented the first suntan cream in 1944. He accomplished this development by cooking cocoa butter in a granite coffee pot on his wife's stove. We're guessing the missus made really bad coffee.

- On May 20, 1970 Florida lawmakers passed and sent to the Governor a bill adopting the moonstone as the official state gem. Ironically, the moonstone is not found naturally in Florida...nor was it found on the moon. We're thinking it might be something that was surgically removed from Don Shula's tuchas years ago.

- Miami installed the first bank automated teller machine especially for rollerbladers.

- Plant City, the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World, holds the Guinness record for the world's largest strawberry shortcake – 827 square-feet, 6,000 pounds

- The city of Hypoluxo's name comes from the Seminole expression water all 'round -- no get out. In other words, a hockey rink.

- Fort Lauderdale is known as the Venice of America because the city has 185 miles of local waterways.

- Venice is known as the Shark Tooth Capital of the World. Collecting prehistoric sharks’ teeth has been a favorite pastime of visitors and residents of the Venice area for years. Funny, we would have thought Venice would be known as the “Fort Lauderdale” of the west coast of Florida.

- Florida is the only state that has 2 rivers both with the same name. There is a Withlacoochee in north central Florida (Madison County) and a Withlacoochee in central Florida. They have nothing in common except the name. What, Florida has so many rivers they need to start recycling their names?

(source: 50states.com... the wisecracks are ours)

Well, speaking of “two,” this is a two-fer, mainly because we’re lazy. The Caps will be taking on the Panthers in a pair of contests that have “we will crush them like a palmetto bug” written all over them. Why? Shoot, look at the numbers…


The Caps average a goal a game more than do the Panthers, give up a third of a goal less per game, have almost double the power play success (on a percentage basis), have a better penalty kill (although neither is especially good), and they can actually come back from giving up the first goal on those rare occasions when they do fall behind first.

You’d think these games would be over before the old folks head to bed.

Well, these are the Caps, and they are now nursing a three-game winless streak (0-1-2), while Florida has won three in a row. In doing so, the Panthers have outscored their opponents, 12-5 (not including the Gimmick goal that got the mini-streak started), and Tomas Vokoun has shutouts in each of his last two games – a 4-0 win in St. Louis and a 3-0 win over Carolina. Florida hasn’t done it with their power play, going 1-for-10 in the three wins. They have been light’s out on the penalty kill, though, skating off 11 of 12 shorthanded situations.

As far as threats go, you can start with Steve Reinprecht. Now that you realize he’s still in the league (after spending three-plus years in the desert… no, really – Phoenix), we can tell you that he has nine goals in 13 games. He would seem a lock to finish the year with a career high (that currently being the 22 he had, split between Calgary and Phoenix, in 2005-2006). He has five in his last four games, including a hat trick against Dallas on October 30th. We would tell you what his career numbers are against the Caps, but they would hardly be relevant. He hasn’t played a game against Washington since the 2003-2004 season (as a Calgary Flame -- one game, no points, six shots on goal).

Among the home-grown Panthers, Nathan Horton is coming in on a hot streak. His 3-7-10, even, for the season doesn’t look especially impressive. However, he is 1-6-7, plus-6 in his last four games. He is coming into this game with a 6-7-13, minus-2, career record against the Caps, but he’s struggled of late. In his last 12 games against Washington, he is only 1-2-3, minus-1.

One player the Panthers miss and will miss this weekend is David Booth. The object of an open-ice hit from Philadelphia’s Mike Richards on October 24th, Booth said yesterday that he expected to start exercising today or on Saturday. He has participated in no strenuous physical activity since suffering a concussion as a result of the hit. Last year, Booth was 2-3-5 in five games against the Caps.

One might have expected that the missing offense for the Panthers with Booth out would have been picked up by Cory Stillman, Stephen Weiss, and Rostislav Olesz among the forwards. As a group, they are 9-10-19, minus-9, for the season. Since Booth’s injury, they are a combined 5-3-8, plus-5, in four games. Along with Reinprecht’s five goals, they account for two-thirds of the 15 goals the Panthers have in their last four games.

On defense, the Panthers have been healthy. Six defensemen have played in all 13 games to date. One of them happens to be Dmitri Kulikov, the 14th overall pick in last June’s entry draft. It can be said that he’s struggled so far. He has four assists (only one in seven games since October 16th), and he has yet to finish a game on the plus side of the ledger in putting together a minus-9 rating.

Bryan Allen is in similar plus-minus territory, but under different circumstances. He was on the ice for five even-strength goals in a 7-2 loss to Carolina on October 9th. Since then he’s been relatively steady, going 1-1-2, plus-1, in his last eight games. It’s not bad for a guy who missed the last 80 games of the 2008-2009 season with a knee injury.

The Caps will also be renewing acquaintances with Dennis Seidenberg, who manned the blue line for Carolina for the last two years, plus 20 games of the 2006-2007 season. In that time as a Hurricane, Seidenberg was 0-5-5, even, in 12 games against the Caps.

In goal, it’s a tale of very different fortunes for Tomas Vokoun and Scott Clemmensen. Vokoun had a crummy start to the year. He won on opening night in Finland, a 4-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. Then, he went 0-7-1 in his next eight games, leaving him 1-7-1, 3.71, .906 after nine games. His problem was that he was facing a ton of shots – twice more than 40 and 55 shots in that season opener. It was no wonder he didn’t allow fewer than three goals in any of his first eight games. In his last two, though, he faced 34 and 32 shots, stopping all 66 of them for two shutout wins.

For Scott Clemmensen, it’s been as if he was still backstopping Marty in New Jersey. He’s been in three games so far with two decisions (2-0-0). His other numbers, though, are pretty grim – a 4.25 GAA and .866 save percentage. He’s given up seven goals on his last 40 shots faced over two games (.825 save percentage).

Keys…

1. Don’t make this a special teams game. The Caps should dominate this game at 5-on-5, given the respective efficiencies of the teams (Caps at 1.44 goals scored per goal allowed, Panthers at 0.71 goals scored per goal allowed). Florida has a terrible penalty kill (28th in the league), but the Caps’ power play hasn’t been great, and it isn’t better with Ovechkin out.

2. Keep Florida from getting shots on goal. The Caps are 4-1-1 in games in which they allowed fewer than 30 shots on goal, 4-2-3 when they don’t.

3. No blanks. The Young Guns had a pretty grim game against New Jersey, save for Nicklas Backstrom’s performance on face-offs. We’d hate to think that Ovechkin’s absence will expose them as “pop guns.”

In the end, these are two games that should not be especially competitive. But the Caps just haven’t been able to muster a full 60 minutes of effort against bottom feeders. They play these teams as if they are bored with the whole exercise. That means a couple of close ones, and maybe even some boos on Saturday. But in the end, the Caps are just too far above Florida on the skill scale…

Caps 3 – Panthers 2 (Friday)

Caps 4 – Panthers 3 (Saturday)

Meanwhile, Down on the Farm

The Bears have among the AHL league leaders:

Goals:

Alexandre Giroux: 7 (T-4th)
Andrew Gordon: 7 (T-4th)

Assists:

Alexandre Giroux: 10 (T-4th)
Andrew Gordon: 9 (T-7th)

Power Play Goals:

Andrew Gordon: 5 (T-2nd)

Power Play Assists:

Alexandre Giroux: 4 (T-9th)

Shorthanded Goals:

Steve Pinizzotto: 2 (T-1st)

Game-Winning Goals:

Alexandre Giroux: 2 (T-4th)

Plus/Minus:

Alexandre Giroux: +11 (1st)

Rookie Scoring:

John Carlson: 1-7-8 (T-9th)

Goals Against Average:

Jason Bacashihua: 1.00 (2nd)

Save Percentage:

Jason Bacashihua: .962 (2nd)

Shutouts:

Braden Holtby: 1 (T-4th)
Jason Bacashihua: 1 (T-4th)

A NO-point night: Devils 3 - Caps 2

Well… don’t blame this one on the absence of Alex Ovechkin.

Blame this 3-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils on some truly boneheaded plays and indifferent efforts.

OK, New Jersey scored a goal on a fluke off-the-shin-pad shot from behind the Capitals’ net by Brian Rolston. It’s hockey, it happens, deal with it. But the other two goals? Alexander Semin takes a hooking call in his own zone… New Jersey scores 19 seconds later on the power play. Brendan Morrison takes a hooking call in his own zone… New Jersey scores 46 seconds later.

Oh, did we mention that the Devils were two for their last 27 power play attempts over their previous eight games?

And as far as the offense goes, here’s all you need to know…

Nicklas Backstrom: 0-0-0, one shot on goal, three shot attempts
Alexander Semin: 0-0-0, three shots on goal, three penalties
Mike Green: 0-0-0, four shots on goal, not including the one he deflected into his own net

Not a good night to be a “Young Gun,” to be sure.

Other stuff…

The Caps allowed Nicklas Bergfors to double his goal total for the year, as it was Bergfors who scored the goals with Semin and Morrison in the box (Bergfors has one of those strange lines in the box score… two goals, five shots on goal, and nothing else – no shots blocked, none missed, no hits, no giveaways, no takeaways, nothing… he just skated around shooting pucks in 18:41 of ice time).

Morrison took his penalty at the 14:24 mark of the third period and didn’t see the ice again. Semin took his second penalty of the period at 16:03 and wasn’t on the ice for the final 1:47 of the game when the Caps were trying to get back into it. Maybe Coach has seen enough of the dumb stuff?

Different city, different scorer. Combined, the teams managed only five giveaways, seven takeaways, and 11 blocked shots.

“The guy they call ‘Lamborgreenie?’” Well, it’s apparently what the Jersey announcers call Mike Green, anyway.

Semin could have redeemed himself… he had Brodeur on the ice at his mercy in one instance, and he shot the puck into Brodeur’s elevated left pad. Later, with the clock winding down in regulation, he exited the box after a penalty and took a pass on a breakaway but shot wide.

New Jersey is a fine defensive team, but… Tom Poti, no shot attempts… Chris Clark, no shot attempts... David Steckel, no shot attempts… Quintin Laing, one shot attempt… Brendan Morrison, one shot attempt… Matt Bradley, one shot attempt… Milan Jurcina, one shot attempt… Shaone Morrisonn, one shot attempt… Jeff Schultz, one shot attempt. Not shots, shot attempts.

On the other side, there was Tyler Sloan getting a goal and recording three hits in ten minutes of ice time.

There was Mathieu Perreault looking like a fine call-up from Hershey in his first NHL game, getting assists on both Capitals goals and recording a pair of takeaways (half the number the Caps were credited with).

Tomas Fleischmann continues to make up for lost time, getting his third goal in three games with a spiffy wrister past the glove hand of Martin Brodeur.

Semyon Varlamov probably deserved better. One goes in off a teammate’s shin pad, another is a shot that picked the top corner, the third comes off a deflection on a power play that was the result of a silly penalty. He held his own against the guy at the other end of the ice.

As for the guy at the other end of the ice, it’s hard enough to beat Martin Brodeur when you play an error free game. He doesn’t let in many softies (although the goal by Sloan was borderline). But to take penalties in your own end late in the game, to gift wrap chances to a team that is offensively challenged and that was just plain incompetent on its own power play over the last eight games is just – or should be – unacceptable.

Alex Ovechkin is out. That isn’t a be-all or end-all excuse for being sloppy. Instead of filling the hole his absence created, the Caps dug the hole a little deeper.

The Devils, being the opportunistic sort of team they are, buried them in it.

The "Gifted" Paradox

People who look at the Washington Capitals’ lineup do so and see a collection of extraordinarily skilled players. Alex Ovechkin is the most prolific goal scorer of this generation. Alexander Semin might have a more complete set of skills than Ovechkin on both sides of the puck. Mike Green has called to mind faint comparisons with Bobby Orr and Paul Coffey as a puck-rushing offensive defenseman. Nicklas Backstrom is this generation's prototypical playmaking center with the ability to see passes the average player cannot see, let alone execute.

But there is that word… “average.” And suddenly another word comes to mind and the paradox often attached to it.

“Gifted”

In an educational setting, there are some students that by virtue of their innate intellectual abilities are deemed “gifted.” Generally they are categorized as such as a product of their respective “intellectual quotient” – the relationship of their “mental age” projected against their chronological age. We’ll leave the details to the experts in educational testing. The point is that for these “gifted” students whose mental skills are far advanced from students of similar age, a paradox often presents itself. Why do many such students often fail to achieve to a measure commensurate with their skill? Why does the child with the I.Q. of 160 earn a C- in chemistry, despite giving every indication that they can do the work with superior results?

For our purposes, why does the supremely skilled hockey player – far more skilled than other players of his age – often achieve for his team so much less than his “S.Q.” (or “skill quotient”) would allow, despite giving tantalizing indications that he can put in the effort and get the results that can earn for his team ultimate success?

Looking at the Capitals from my seat up in the balcony at Verizon Center, I see a collection of players – not just the “Young Guns” we mentioned, for there are others in this mix – who are in their own ways as much the “gifted” student as the prodigy who can perform calculus at the age of four.

Yet despite the fact that the Capitals have “achieved” a rather impressive 20 points in 14 games thus far (a 117-point pace), they have the look of the unmotivated gifted student, marking time in games in early November with the expectation, perhaps, that they’ll just turn it on for the final exam – in the form of the Stanley Cup playoffs – next spring.

Some gifted students are self-motivated out of curiosity, an internal drive to succeed, or other factors. By the same token, some gifted hockey players are self motivated out of their competitive nature, fear of failure, or other factors. Still it remains that motivating the gifted student is one of teaching’s great challenges, and motivating gifted hockey players can be one of coaching’s great challenges.

There is a lot of effort in the academic literature devoted to the issue of how to motivate the underachieving gifted student. The task in motivating the gifted professional athlete is a more difficult one in some respects. Such athletes are financially well set with early signing bonuses and large contracts. They are of course adults – chronologically. The jobs of those who manage them – coaches, general managers – largely hinge on keeping them happy and productive, something that might not be lost on the player. And there is a world of other experiences to which they can be exposed or that they can seek out that rob them of their focus on or their motivation for success on the field or on the ice.

We aren’t nearly close enough to the players to opine on whether or from what causes they might lack motivation or lose focus. But they do, at times, seem to lack it or lose it. Against teams that can challenge their skill, they can – and do – summon the motivation to succeed and focus on the task of winning. When the Capitals thoroughly dominated the Bruins in Boston in the season opener and San Jose at home two weeks later, they were the gifted students who aced the test.

Then again, against teams such as Toronto – in the home opener two days after dominating Boston – or Atlanta on two occasions, we saw the gifted student lacking the motivation to do anything but plod along with a “C+.” Losing to the Islanders or the Blue Jackets in overtime was like blowing off a pop quiz. It doesn’t really matter, well… too much, in the final grade.

We’re not prepared to call the Caps “underachievers,” not this early in the hockey season and not with the record they have. But there is the faint whiff about them that they are not, as they say, “reaching their potential.” It is a job made harder with Alex Ovechkin out of the lineup, but if motivation – either from within, or from the coaches or management – has been lacking, it should be in abundance at this point. They can’t just do the minimum required for their grade or to do some real damage in the playoffs.

The problem with that attitude – for the gifted student and player alike – is that there will be a final exam coming. For the gifted student it might be that last test of the academic year or an entrance exam to a prestigious school. For the gifted player it is the playoffs. And if one hasn’t prepared well in the meantime, then that last final exam will not go well. And in the NHL, that means a long summer of knowing you failed, knowing you have to repeat the grade the next year.

And for the professional athlete, even the gifted ones, there are a precious few years in which to achieve your success.

The Peerless Progsnoticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Caps vs. Devils, November 4th

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

If it’s Wednesday, it must mean hockey, and tonight it’s a visit to The Rock in beautiful downtown, Newark, New Jersey, where the Devils will play host to the Capitals in the second meeting of the clubs this year. New Jersey won the first contest, a 3-2 Gimmick win in Washington on Columbus Day. Tonight the Caps hope to at least return the favor of being a rude guest and will do so without the pleasure of having Alex Ovechkin in the lineup. The over/under for his return from an “upper body injury” looks to be two weeks.

“Trouble in paradise, two o’clock…”

Excuse me?

“Trouble in paradise…”

Are you some sort of wise guy or something?

“Well, yes… Gregory House, M.D.”

Oh, yeah, I hear you’re some sort of diagnostic genius… So, anything to this “upper body” thing?

"That's a catchy diagnosis, you could dance to that."

Well, that seems to be the thing these days. There are more cases of that than of swine flu.

“Then just say it’s ‘idiopathic,’ from the Latin meaning we're idiots ‘cause we can't figure out what's causing it."

He got into a kerfuffle with some Columbus Blue Jackets and seems to have hurt his chest or shoulder. A weird injury.

"Weird works for me."

OK, so what do you think it is?

“Well, it could be anterior displacement of the acromioclavicular bundle.”

Really?

“No, I just made that up.”

Will you be serious?

“Hmmm…. In my judgment…”

Yes?

“boo-boo”

Boo-boo? That’s your diagnosis?

“I solved the case, my work is done.”

Well, perhaps Dr. House can find work as a team physician somewhere, since his diagnoses are as revealing as “upper body injury,” but what about the game the Caps have to play?

The Devils come into this one the very picture of consistency they have been for the last decade and a half. After dropping their first two games of the year, they Devils have gone three wins, a loss, three wins, a loss, and two wins for an 8-2-0 record in their last ten games and an 8-4-0 record overall (if the pattern holds, this is not good news for the Caps). They’ve done it in the accustomed way, too. In only three of those last ten games have the Devils allowed more than two goals, while scoring as many as four goals in a game only twice, themselves. Three of those games have gone to the Gimmick, the Devils winning all of them. Here is how the overall numbers compare…


Unless the sun stops in the sky, or he is spirited away by aliens, Martin Brodeur will get the start. He will be making his fifth attempt at tying the all-time NHL shutout record for goaltenders – 103 – held by Terry Sawchuk. In four appearances since climbing to within one of Sawchuk, Brodeur is 3-1-0, 1.97, .927. In other words, pretty normal.

While the Capitals will be missing Alex Ovechkin, the Devils have been without the services of Patrik Elias for the entire season to date, the result of his having undergone surgery to clean out scar tissue in his groin. He returned to the ice for the first time on Monday, but there is no date that had yet been set for his return. Think he won’t be missed tonight? Since the lockout, he is 5-14-19, plus-5 in 13 games against Washington.

That will leave the scoring load to Zach Parise and Travis Zajac, currently one-two in the Devils scoring rankings. Parise went scoreless on opening night against Philadelphia, but since then has points in nine of 11 games (6-8-14). In 13 career games against he Caps he is 4-8-12, even. But here is the odd part. In 2006-2007, he was 2-3-5 in four games. The following year, he was 0-0-0 in four games. Last year, he was 1-4-5 in four games. This year, he failed to register a point in the first meeting. See a pattern? Let’s hope it continues.

Zajac sprang out of the box this season, going 5-5-10 in his first nine games. In his last three he is 1-0-1. Against the Caps he is 3-5-8, plus-6 in 13 career games.

If you were to be asked, which Devil leads his club in game-winning goals, would you have said “Jamie Langenbrunner?” Well, if you did, you’d be wrong. Dainius Zubrus is the only Devil with as many as two game-winners, which happens to match the number of goals he has for the season of any variety.

In the prognosto for the last Devils game, we made the point that the Devils’ defensemen don’t score and don’t hit, but they play smart. Well, there is one Devils defenseman who is struggling, and that would be Johnny Oduya. Last year, Oduya had his coming out party, finishing the year 7-22-29, plus-21 while playing in all 82 games. Well, it’s a new year, and it seems to be a wall that Oduya has hit. In 11 games so far he has yet to register a point and is a minus-5.

Keys…

1. Score first. Combined, these teams have allowed the first goal of a game only six times in 26 games.

2. Kill penalties. The Devils have had, well, a devil of a time with their power play. In their last eight games they are 2-for-27 (7.4 percent).

3. Step up. The Caps’ blogosphere is awash with commentary about how the absence of Alex Ovechkin gives others the opportunity to step up. We’re tempted to say that this means guys like Nicklas Backstrom or Alexander Semin will be key in this one. Well, probably not. Brodeur has a way of making life difficult for high-end skill guys if he’s getting good looks at pucks. Nope, think “traffic.” Brooks Laich and Mike Knuble might be the keys here.

You might be thinking “Devils” and concluding that this will be a low scoring affair. Well, the Caps scored five goals in two of the last three games against New Jersey. That was with Scott Clemmensen in goal, not Martin Brodeur. So, chances are that three goals wins this game. That sounds about right.

Caps 3 – Devils 2

First Months First II

Three weeks ago, we made a point that you can’t win a Stanley Cup in October, but you could lose it. Getting off to bad starts in October is the kiss of death for Stanley Cup aspirants. Only two of the last 30 Cup winners had October records below .500, and one of those came in a season that got off to a late start.

Well, with respect to The Battle of October, consider it Mission: Accomplished (sorry, no banners, please). The Capitals finished the month 8-2-3, good for 19 points, tied for the seventh best among the last 30 Cup winners, and a winning percentage (based on percentage of available points) of .731, good for 14th on that list.


There are other battles to fight on the way to a Cup, the one staring the Caps in the face for the moment being The Battle of Weathered Injuries as they play on with their top offensive player on the shelf.

But for now, October is a good start. At this point in the season, it would be hard to ask for anything else. As long as one keeps in mind that all it represents is a start.

Mysteries of the Universe

Black holes, dark matter, the appeal of Jimmy Kimmel, and this...

The American Hockey League announced today that Hershey Bears left wing Alexandre Giroux has been named the Reebok/AHL Player of the Month for October. Giroux registered seven goals, seven assists and a plus-9 rating in just seven games for the Bears last month.

How can someone who consistently has this level of production at the AHL level of play look so discombobulated at the NHL level?

In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity

So said Albert Einstein. The difficulty at hand is that Alex Ovechkin is listed as “week-to-week” with what is called an “upper body injury.” What that means in terms of what, precisely, Ovechkin is suffering from is really of little relevance. He is out. What is relevant is how the Capitals react to the first (apparently, at least) lengthy absence of the club’s franchise player since he set foot in Washington in the fall of 2005.

A "difficulty?"

If the team looks at it that way, then yes, it is a difficulty. But difficulties turned sideways are opportunities, and this is an opportunity. No single player is going to make up for the production that Ovechkin provides. He isn’t the world’s best hockey player for nothing. But individual players can do their part on both sides of the puck to make up for the one-and-a-half points a game he accounts for.

Nicklas Backstrom doesn’t have to score a lot more goals, but bearing down to take advantage of opportunities instead of making the next pass might help.

Alexander Semin doesn’t have to suddenly become a 60-goal scorer, but being more consistent about his effort in giving an honest 60-minutes’ worth might get him an additional goal a week or so.

Mike Green has had 46 shot attempts either blocked or missed. If he can bear down to reduce that total and get more opportunities on net, he might improve on his two goals or provide some opportunities for players such as Brooks Laich or Mike Knuble to improve on their goal totals.

Mike Knuble has 32 shots in 14 games. That’s 2.3 a game. In 2005-2006, when he finished the year with 34 goals, he had 217 shots for 2.6 a game. An extra shot on goal every third game or so could result in the extra odd goal a week or so that would help.

Tom Poti is going to get more power play time. He has only 13 shots on goal in 14 games. No Capital has had more than the 26 shots blocked that Poti has. Bearing down and getting more attempts through might not allow him to improve on his goal scoring (he has yet to pot one), but it could create an additional opportunity or two a game that someone can cash in on.

Tomas Fleischmann is going to get a few additional minutes. He’s come back strong from his early season physical problems, but now he’s going to have to keep it up with a bit brighter light shining on him.

Eric Fehr... it’s time, when you get back from your own injury, that is. No, not to be a 30-plus goal scorer, but time to give evidence that you can score at a 20-goal a game pace.

You guys on the third line... you don’t have to abandon your “shut down” attitude, but getting some offensive production would be good. The trio of David Steckel, Matt Bradley, and Quintin Laing has four goals in 14 games (a total of 39 man-games). Bradley has three of them.

Chris Clark... you’ve had six goals in your last 62 games over three seasons after getting 30 in 74 games in 2006-2007. You have 18 points in those last 62 games. You don’t have to be a 30-goal scorer again, but an uptick in production is needed.

Jose Theodore and Semyon Varlamov... you don’t have the luxury of point and a half that Ovechkin has provided. You don’t have to stop every shot, but improving that save percentage by .010 from your respective save percentages so far would help.

And it would go a long way toward improving that save percentage if the skaters could clamp down on shots allowed. Only six teams have allowed more shots per game than the Caps have thus far (31.5 a game). Shave that by ten percent – a shot a period or so – and there is a contribution on the other side of the puck.

Part of that is being more careful with the puck to prevent rushes the other way. Only four teams have more giveaways than do the Caps (139). That’s an average of ten a game. Even in a high-risk offense, that’s a lot. Since a good portion of the offense is missing for the time being, a little more discipline and focus might be in order. That’s not to say that the Caps need to be Phoenix overnight (51 giveaways in 13 games), just some more discipline.

Missing the biggest cog hurts, but in the larger scheme of things it is an opportunity for other players to find other parts of their game. No one has to assume the whole burden. But each player must find a way to provide that five or ten percent more... more production, more focus, more discipline. If they can find that within them now, then the Caps might be a more complete team when the games are more meaningful in the spring.

It is an opportunity.

A ONE-point night: Blue Jackets 5 - Capitals 4 (OT)

If the NHL had a seismic detector, it would have registered 8.0 on the Richter scale at 6:10 of the second period of this evening’s Capitals-Blue Jackets game. It was then that Columbus’ Raffi Torres and Washington’s Alex Ovechkin collided in the sort of innocent collision that takes place dozens of times a game. Both players went down. Torres skated back into the play, Ovechkin skated to the Capitals’ bench shaking his head. He went immediately down the tunnel to the locker room and would not return in a 5-4 overtime loss that was a game bizarre enough that it should have been played last night – on Hallowe’en.



Ovechkin didn’t look right from the opening faceoff. He did not register a shot on goal until 6:02 was gone in the second period, just before his evening was done. He took two penalties, which would be his high for the year. There was the sloppy toe-drag that led to an R.J. Umberger breakaway 11 minutes into the first period.

Ovechkin’s departure cast a long shadow over a truly strange game, one in which the Caps really deserved better. They did a lot of things right…

There was the clinic put on by Nicklas Backstrom, Tomas Fleischmann and Alexander Semin in setting up the first goal that went Flesichmann to Backstrom, behind the back to Semin, over to Fleischmann, and back to Backstrom in the slot, all inside the Blue Jackets’ blue line, Backstrom ultimately banging the puck into a virtually empty net.

There was Brooks Laich stepping up into the void left by Ovechkin’s departure to pot a pair of goals to tie the game, then give the Caps a lead 2:08 apart in the second period. One came by getting dirty in front, potting a rebound on the power play. The other came when Laich found a seam down the middle, taking a pass from Brendan Morrison and snap the puck past goalie Steve Mason.

There was the unbelievable shift put in by Mike Knuble, who was a one man penalty killing effort in the Columbus zone, tying up the puck for what seemed like the entire Columbus power play.

There was David Steckel driving to the net and nudging a rebound of a shot back to Quintin Laing at the top of the crease for a goal.

But the Caps did enough wrong to lose, too…

There was Mike Green letting Rick Nash skate around him to the outside to glide in on Jose Theodore alone for a goal. The way Green moved – very stiffly, poking at Nash with his stick – you’d have thought he had a back injury. Such a thing shouldn’t be ruled out.

There was the inability to hold a third-period lead, something they actually gave up twice in this game, the last one with 23 seconds left in regulation.

There was Tom Poti leaving his feet in the overtime, giving Rick Nash the time and opportunity to pick his spot and find Umberger in front for the game-winner.

Nothing, however, beat the bizarre…

The puck that ricocheted strangely off the end boards to R.J. Umberger, who deposited the puck in an empty net with Jose Theodore behind the cage to collect the puck that never came.

The stick – Theodore’s – that got caught up in the meshing of the goal, leaving the goalie defenseless against a backhand wrap-around by Raffi Torres.

Ovechkin finally ending his evening after what seemed like an innocent nudge from Raffi Torres (although the injury might have occurred earlier in a scrum at the Columbus bench).

Other stuff…

Nicklas Backstrom led the team in shots in Ovechkin’s absence (six, tied with Alexander Semin). That ties a career high, accomplished twice, the last time also against Columbus last January 9th. What might seem odd about Backstrom’s number in this one is that all six of his attempts were on net.

Three Caps won at least ten draws – Backstrom (10-for-19), Brendan Morrison (10 of 14), and David Steckel (13 of 25). It was the second straight game that Backstrom won the majority of his draws after failing to do so in seven straight. For Steckel, he had the misfortune of losing his last draw, and Columbus scored the game-winner 12 seconds later.

Ovechkin still tied for the team lead in hits (three), despite playing only 7:43.

That’s nine straight games with at least one point. No team in the NHL has lost fewer games in regulation than the Caps (two).

By the same token, no team has lost more extra time games at home than have the Caps (three).

The goaltender interference call on David Steckel was lame. There really is no other word for it.

Only five giveaways in this game for the Caps, and Theodore had two of those.

The Caps yielded six power plays. With that many, there are likely to be a couple of silly ones. Knuble’s slashing penalty (which just expired when Columbus tied the game in the last minute) and Brian Pothier’s behind-the-play interference penalty were in that category. Both were penalties you might expect rookies to make, not veterans.

Time on ice… Who got those 13 or so minutes among the forwards that Alex Ovechkin didn’t skate? It wasn’t Nicklas Backstrom (18:26 against an average of 21:00 this year). It wasn’t Alexander Semin (19:44/19:51). It wasn’t Mike Knuble (16:33/17:24). On the other hand, Brooks Laich (20:49/19:18), Tomas Fleischmann (17:42/15:53), Matt Bradley (13:54/11:59), Quintin Laing (13:36/11:20), and David Steckel (16:16/14:14) got some extra time, some of it coming with the extra session.

The Caps played several games in this one, and it did not make for a good combination. There was the pretty phase, in which Backstrom, Fleischmann and Semin combined for a goal, then went silent thereafter (they had a combined two shots on goal in the third period). There was the grind phase, reflected the pair of goals by Laich and the goal by Laing. There was the gremlin phase of the game, which generally took place within a foot of wherever Jose Theodore might have been standing with the odd goals Columbus scored.

All things considered, this was far from a perfect game, but it wasn’t as bad as the final score indicated, either. Losing the best player on the planet for 34 minutes and overtime is going to leave an impression, especially when the club doesn’t have time to reorient itself to the loss. And, there might be an injury to Mike Green that isn’t being talked about. Jose Theodore will be on the hook for allowing five goals on 32 shots, but two were quirky, and a couple others were the case of Capitals losing track of some Blue Jackets in front of the net.

The Caps still have the fourth most points in the league, second best in the East. Things could be a lot worse… like if Ovechkin misses any significant time. Caps fans will be holding their collective breath the next day or so. That’s the bigger story than an overtime loss.

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Caps vs. Blue Jackets, November 1st

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

It’s an early evening tilt today as the Caps host the Columbus Blue Jackets in what will be the home team’s third game in four days. The Caps just completed their first set of back-to-back games of the season by taking three of a possible four points with a win over... uh, with a win over Atlanta and an over time loss...uh... and overtime loss to the New York Island... can I help you?

“I’m sorry, sir, I was just happening to pass by, and I realized, you’re The Peerless Prognosticator, and I just had to say hello.”

Thanks, and you are...

“Columbo, sir. Lieutenant Columbo.”

Nice coat.

“Thank you, sir. Now, I see that you write a blog. Very nice, by the way. I could never do something like that. I’d get writer’s block. Did you ever have writer’s block, sir?”

Well, I’m having an attack right now...

“That’s too bad. I’d always be worrying that I didn’t have anything to write. I worry. I mean, little things bother me. I'm a worrier. I mean, little insignificant details I lose my appetite. I can't eat. My wife, she says to me, ‘you know, you can really be pain.’"

I can understand that.

“So, I take it you’re writing about the game today. Is that right, sir?”

Why, come to think of it, I am.

“And I’m guessing that you dreamt me up because my name sounds like the name of the team the Capitals are playing. Would I be right about that, sir?”

You’re smart.

“My wife says I'm the second smartest. She claims there are 80 guys tied for first. But back to the case, sir... I mean 'game'... Columbus is having some trouble these days, is that right, sir?”

Well, yes. They’ve lost five of their last six – one of those in a Gimmick – and they’ve given up at least four goals in five of six. They’re having trouble keeping their heads above water in the Central Division.

“Oh, I can’t swim, sir... I don’t even like a deep tub.”

Was there anything else, Lieutenant? I’m really pretty busy.

“Oh, I can see that, sir, with all your prognosticating and blogging to do. It must make you very, very busy. I won’t take up any more of your time.”

Thank you, Lieutenant.

“I’m sorry, sir, there are a couple of loose ends I'd like to tie up. Nothing important you understand...”

Yes, Lieutenant?

“The Capitals have sold out each of their first seven home games, is that right, sir?”

I’ll take your word for it.

“Do you think you can find a couple of tickets? It’s for the wife, sir. She’s had her heart set on seeing a hockey game for a long time, and I can’t think of anything better than a Caps game against Columbus... Columbus, Columbo... you understand, sir.”

I get it, Lieutenant, but I don’t think I can get you tickets. This one is probably sold out, too.

“I understand, sir...”

Is that all?

“Oh, there’s just one more thing...”

–sigh– Yes, Lieutenant?

“What’s with the bunny slippers... is that part of the official blogging uniform?”

Well, we all need inspiration, and the Caps could use some to get November off to a good start. The Caps might have been expected to suffer something of a letdown after playing four division winners from last year in their first seven games. But starting with a win in that seventh game against last year’s Pacific Division champion, San Jose, the Caps have earned points in seven straight games (6-0-1).

And as if they need any inspiration for today’s game against Columbus, it is that they have yet to score a goal on Columbus goaltender Steve Mason. Last year’s Calder Trophy winner as top rookie won both games against the Caps last year by identical 3-0 scores, stopping all 71 shots he faced. It’s not as if the Caps were the only victims of Mason shutouts – he had ten in the 2008-2009 season.

This year is a different story, though. Mason might be falling prey to the dreaded “sophomore slump.” He is 5-4-1, 3.48, .881 for the season, but he’s really had trouble in his last five starts – 1-3-1, 4.53, .833. Here is how the Blue Jackets compare to the Caps overall so far…


As far as the skaters are concerned, the word that comes to mind here is “young.” Of the 22 skaters dressing so far this year, the oldest – Samuel Pahlsson – won’t turn 32 until December. 10 are 25 or younger. And some of the youngest of this group are the most productive. It starts, of course, with Rick Nash (turned 25 last June). Nash leads the Blue Jackets in scoring and is tied for tenth in the league in goals scored. But the number to attach to Nash is “two.” He has scored two goals in each of two of his last four games, and he has two goals in each of three of the last four games he has played against Washington.

Jakub Voracek (turned 20 in August) is fourth on the team in scoring (4-4-8), following up a solid rookie campaign last year (9-29-38, plus-11 in 80 games). He got off to something of a slow start this year with only a pair of assists in his first five games, but he went 4-2-6, plus-5 in his next four games. He’s stumbled since, failing to register a point in his last three contests.

Derick Brassard (turned 22 in September) is fifth on the team in scoring (2-5-7). He had his season cut short last year with injuries, playing in only 31 games, but gives indications of being the sort of center who will be a fixture for years. If he has a problem this year, it is that he is minus-8 in 12 games (minus-5 in his last five), worst on the team. He has yet to register a point against the Caps (two games).

If there is a somewhat less pleasant surprise, it is Nikita Filatov (turned 19 last May). After netting four goals in eight games in his first taste of the NHL last season, he has one goal in eight games so far this season. He’s seen little ice time (9:51 being his high-water mark for minutes this year) and has been a scratch in four of the last eight Columbus games. He has no points in any of those games, and has gone scoreless since getting a goal against Vancouver in the second game of the season.

Among the defensemen, there are some odd numbers. First, all eight blueliners dressing for Columbus this year have registered at least one point. Then again, only one of five defensemen who have played in at least ten of the 12 games for Columbus are on the plus side of the ledger. Then again, Jan Hedja (who?) is plus-8 in five games, best among the defensemen. And while it has nothing to do with numbers, we just think it odd that defenseman Mike Commodore was born in Fort Saskatchewan… Alberta. That would be like being born in East Minneapolis… Ohio.

Here is your fun fact for Columbus to take to the rink. In eight seasons, the Blue Jackets are 21-32-13 on Sundays, and the worst year they’ve had on that day of the week was last year (1-5-1). OK, here is another... the Blue Jackets did not lose to a Southeast Division team in regulation last year. They have not yet played a Southeast Division team this season and in fact have played only one team from the Eastern Conference – a 4-3 Gimmick loss to Pittsburgh last Friday.

OK, let’s cut to the chase. The Caps are either going to score a lot, because Steve Mason hasn’t been very good, and the Caps should be looking for revenge. Or, the Caps aren’t going to score at all, because there is always one team that one goaltender owns. We thought it was Martin Brodeur that owned the Caps. Well, the Caps have scored on Brodeur, they haven’t scored on Mason.

If you’ve paid any attention to what we do here, you know which of these we think will happen…

Capitals 5 – Blue Jackets 2

A ONE-Point Night: Islanders 4 - Caps 3 (OT)

Well, it finally caught up with them.

Often times in a winning streak, you can see the end coming, even when the team continues to win. In the last two games the Caps were bailed out by good goaltending in the third period, as both Semyon Varlamov and Jose Theodore had to withstand 20 shots on goal in that period in wins against Philadelphia and Atlanta.

They didn’t get that good goaltending tonight, and the Caps continued their somewhat iffy play among their skaters in a 4-3 overtime loss to the New York Islanders. They got a standings point, but the Islanders – winners of only their third game of the season and first on the road – made this one feel like worse than the overtime loss it was.

Here is how bad it was… Brendan Witt got his first point of the year. Frans Nielsen got his first goal of the year… then another. Radek Martinek got his first assist of the year.

The Caps got the required goal from Alex Ovechkin (14th in 13 games), a pair of goals from Tomas Fleischmann, and a pair of assists from Mike Green, but this was about breakdowns and goaltending. First, it was Kyle Okposo skating into the Caps’ zone and getting defensemen Milan Jurcina and Shaone Morrisonn to back off. With the space being granted, Okposo sent a shot that Jose Theodore probably stops 99 times out of 100. But this shot snuck through. It wouldn’t be the last, not that Theodore didn’t have help.

The help came in the form of a truly ugly turnover by Mike Green who, with Frans Nielsen standing almost right in front of him, tried to send the puck up the middle of the ice. Green whiffed on the pass attempt, and Nielsen was right there to accept the gift and roof the puck over Theodore to give the Islanders a lead.

Then, barely a minute after the Caps had taken a 3-2 lead, it was Nielsen again, taking a pass from Mark Streit and snapping the puck through Theodore’s pads – another shot Theodore would be expected to stop – to tie the game.

With there being no scoring in the third period, the game went to overtime, where the final sequence looked a lot like the latter stages of the Caps winning streak. John Tavares took a pass from Radek Martinek just outside the Caps’ blue line going down the right side. Tavares carried the puck into the corner where he was picked up by Nicklas Backstrom. Backstrom rode Tavares along the end boards, then let him go. Tavares continued skating and without anyone trying to separate him from the puck, he was able to send the biscuit out in front, where Mark Streit was waiting in the slot all alone. Streit buried the puck behind Theodore, and the six-game winning streak was over.

Other stuff…

- Tomas Fleischmann had a pair of goals, his first two-goal game since October 25, 2008, against Dallas. But it wasn’t the goals as much as where they came from. One was a wrap-around, the other a wrister from in tight. They were the kind of goals in traffic that Fleischmann might not usually be counted on to get, and it was pleasant to see. What made this particularly odd was that both goals, scored from in tight, were scored with Andy Sutton – five inches taller and 50 pound heavier – standing right next to him. Seems the Caps aren’t the only ones, perhaps, with the occasional crease clearing problem.

- The Ovechkin-Backstrom-Semin trio finished the game with 15 shots on goal (of 40 the Caps had), a goal, and an assist. OK, you expect that. The Brendan Morrison-Mike Knuble-Brooks Laich trio had six shots on goal (Laich had four of them) and no points. Not exactly what one would expect.

- 18 giveaways. An indicator of the somewhat sloppy play that has crept into the Caps’ game of late.

- Special teams weren’t the problem tonight. Taking only three minor penalties and killing them all off, drawing six penalties and scoring twice with the man advantage – that’s the way you draw it up. It was the fourth straight game in which the Caps had five or fewer shorthanded situations, and ninth in the last ten games. In games in which they face five or fewer shorthanded situations, the Caps killed 85.7 percent of them.

- Speaking of special teams, 15 shots from five different players on six power plays in 9:50 of power play time. If anyone was shouting “SHOOOOOT,” they should just shut up.

- Brendan Witt is on a streak. Not only did he get an assist – his first point of the year – he finished on the plus side of the ledger for the second straight game… his only two plus games of the year. That’s OK, he’s still on a pace to finish minus-67.

- Richard Park led all players in taking 21 faceoffs – none of them in the offensive zone.

- All of a sudden, the Islanders have 11 points, which is as many as the Philadelphia Flyers and Boston Bruins have.

All good things come to an end. And if a winning streak is to come to an end, then by gosh, end it as a team. The Caps did. They didn’t get good goaltending tonight, by and large (although Theodore did have a few top notch saves), and the Caps didn’t play particularly inspired hockey in front of him. The trick is not to make it a habit. They’ll get a chance to rectify this on Sunday against Columbus, when they will have a chance to match their longest points-earned streak of last year, an eight-game streak that last from November 4th through November 19th. It would be a nice way to start this November.

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Caps vs. Islanders: October 30th

The Peerless Prognosticator is on the AIR!!!

Tonight the Capitals return home to finish up a back-to-back, this game against the New York islanders. The Caps defeated a game Islander squad last Saturday on Long Island, 3-2, in overtime. It is a surprisingly competitive team, given the predictions for it, in that they have played in seven one-goal games so far (1-1-5). They have that plucky, hard working ethic that characterized the Caps of a few years back when they were in the midst of hard times themselves. It is a tribute to…

Excuse me, can I help you? You looked a bit dazed.

“I’m fine, thanks.”

What’s your name?

“Prendick… Edward Prendick.”

And where are you from?

“I just came from an island… the Island of Dr. Garth Snow…”

The island…

“…of Dr. Garth Snow, that’s right. The things they’re doing on that island."

For instance…

“They’re doing these experiments… like the one where they combine a defenseman with this animal that looks like some mangy antelope…”

You mean a…

“Yes, a Witt-debeest. And then there is combination of a sloth and a rhinoceros that they call…”

Yes?

“An ‘Andy Sutton.’”

GASP!

“And the worst of them all… I, I can’t…”

Calm yourself. Tell me what you’ve seen.

“It’s something they put together from a goalie mask, a pair of linebacker shoulder pads, and parts that I don’t even know where they came from.”

And that is…

“They called it a Martwayne DiBironoloson, whatever that is.”

What does it look like?

“It looks like a goalie, but not a very good one, and always hurt.”

Who is this fiend you call Dr. Garth Snow?

“Oh, I don’t know… I don’t know… ”

Well, what Snow has put together so far and what he is called upon to manage might just have the makings of a pretty good team down the road, although for now, things are not going well…


First, there are the kids – John Tavares, Kyle Okposo, and Josh Bailey, who are a combined 7-12-19 through 11 games, not bad for a trio whose oldest member (Okposo) won’t turn 22 until next April.

There is what, for lack of a better term, might be considered the “mid-range” prospects – players who have entered or are entering their mid-20’s who have not yet reached their prime – Jeff Tambellini (three goals in his last two games after being a scratch in five straight), Jack Hillen (a defenseman who got 40 games worth of experience last year with the Islanders), Blake Comeau (a winger whose production was virtually a carbon copy of Bailey’s last year), and Frans Nielsen (who has appeared in the last five games after arthroscopic surgery on his knee). None of this quartet has yet seen his 26th birthday.

There are guys here, too, who are the good soldiers. They are the veterans who almost certainly will not be Islanders when the club returns to competitiveness. Doug Weight is in his second year with the Islanders, and it’s been difficult. Last year, he was held to 53 games with knee and leg injuries. This year, it’s been a case of swine flu that has limited him to six games. He did return to the lineup in the Islanders’ last game – a 3-1 win over the Rangers. He was out for last Saturday’s game against the Caps, but he was 1-1-2 in three games against Washington with the Isles last year.

Richard Park is one of those players who you might think has been around forever, and in fact he has been in the league since 1994-1995 with six teams. He is also only 33 years old, and he is in his fourth year with the Islanders. In the last three years on the Island, he is 5-3-8, plus-2 in 13 games against the Caps. As much as anyone on the club, attention has to be paid to him.

Then there is the enigma that is Brendan Witt. Back in 2005, Witt – who had once been a co-captain for the Capitals – expressed a desire to be traded, not wanting to be a part of the rebuild that was just getting underway. He was sent to Nashville later that season, in time to join the Predators for a playoff appearance (they were eliminated in the first round). Then he moved to the Islanders for the 2006-2007 season, where he reached the playoffs once more (also eliminated in the first round). Since then, though, it’s been rough. His fortunes and the Islanders’ have marched in lock-step. While the Isles were going 35-38-9 in 2007-2008, Witt was limited to 59 games with ankle and knee injuries. Last year, the Isles were going 26-47-9, and Witt was struggling along with the team, finishing dead last in plus-minus among 885 skaters in the NHL (minus-34). He does, however, provide a physical presence and a degree of enforcement against other teams taking liberties with the young guys.

Under the Islanders faithful alternating of goaltenders, Martin Biron will get the call against the Caps. Biron has not yet won a game this year (0-3-2), and his other numbers are grim as well (3.45 GAA, .891 save percentage). Biron spent the past two and a half years with the Flyers, and in that time he was 1-2-2, 2.96, .905 against the Caps in the regular season. He did have that playoff win in a seven game playoff series in 2008 that Caps fans will remember. Biron has not face the Caps this year, but his last three games have been a struggle – 0-2-1, 3.96, .884.

An odd thing about the Islanders… in six of the 11 games they’ve played thus far they have allowed precisely three goals (not including the trick shot competition). And that’s not all. In all of them, the games went to extra time. The Islanders are 1-0-5 in those games. This is another of those games that on paper the Caps should win handily, certainly by scoring more than three goals. But if paper was the standard, we could cut to the chase and a Pittsburgh-Washington Eastern Conference final. But the fun is in the journey and in seeing what adventures lay along the way. Right, Prendick?

"Not me… I’m done with adventures."

Caps 5 – Islanders 2

A TWO-point night: Caps 4 - Thrashers 3

They gotta stop doing this.

Another run out to a lead, then hang on for dear life at the end sort of game against a team they should have squashed like a bug. But those are our Cappies these days, winners of a 4-3 decision last night.

Alex Ovechkin got his points early (2-1-3 in the first 25 minutes), Semyon Varlamov got his saves late (17 on 20 shots in the third period).

For all the teeth knashing that might have gone on in the third period (and Coach Bruce Boudreau had a look about him that would melt iron in the post game), the game turned on a five minute sequence in the first period. It started with a simple play that the Caps haven’t been getting right much lately. With Jim Slater in the box for the Thrashers after a hooking penalty, Brendan Morrison won a faceoff over to Brooks Laich along the boards. Laich sent the puck back to Mike Green, who forwarded it to Alex Ovechkin on the left point. Ovechkin wired it past goalie Ondrej Pavelec before he (or Marty Reasoner, who had that part of the ice to cover) could react, and the Caps had the lead.

Then, Jim Slater was hooked down as he was crossing the Caps’ blue line on a breakaway. A penalty shot was called, and Slater had his penalty shot attempt swallowed up by Varlamov. A minute later, Nicklas Backstrom found Ovechkin streaking down the middle, and Ovechkin undressed Pavelec with a leg-kick-wrist shot over the glove hand and just under the crossbar. What could have been a 1-1 game was 2-0, and with leading goal scorer Ilya Kovalchuk out of the lineup, it was a deep hole for the Thrashers to climb out of.

Other stuff…

- We noted that the Caps scored a goal on a play that they hadn’t been getting right lately. Well, Brendan Morrison taking an offensive draw on a power play is a signal of a lingering problem. Nicklas Backstrom hasn’t finished a game on the plus side of faceoffs since October 10th against Detroit. Since then he has been over 40 percent only once and under 30 percent three times (including last night) in six games. Perhaps ironically, Backstrom was on the plus side in the offensive zone last night (4-for-7), while Morrison was not (4-for-9).

- Having said that about Backstrom, we have to point this out, too. His assist to Ovechkin was magnificent. From the top of the circles in his own zone, he lofted a saucer pass out and over Maxim Afinogenov’s stick between the Caps’ blue line and the red line, right onto Ovechkin’s stick blade just outside the Thrashers’ blue line. There aren’t three people on the planet who make that pass. Backstrom seems to make those saucer passes three times a game (though not that spectacularly).

- Brooks Laich: three assists. And yes, he has done it before, the last time being last March 27th against Tampa Bay.

- That’s two straight games the Caps have surrendered 20 shots on goal in the third period. That’s not something you’d like to see become a habit.

- Two minor penalties speak to the kind of road-game discipline you’d like to see. The two shorthanded situations faced is the low for the year so far.

- Tomas Fleischmann might not have gotten on the board, scoring-wise, but seven shot attempts, a hit, and splitting two faceoffs in 16 minutes of ice time was indicative that he’s ready to go.

- Speaking of hits… your hits leader: Jeff Schultz (3).

- It was good to see Mike Knuble break the five game goal-less streak, even if it was an empty netter. The odd part, though, is that his 15:11 in ice time was his low for the year.

- Ice time was distributed rather evenly. Only three Caps had over 20 minutes, none of them forwards, and only Tyler Sloan skated for fewer than ten minutes.

All-in-all, it was another successful, if exasperating result. But, to wear the grooves on this record down some more – two points is two points, and they sure beat the alternative.

So, a pig and a hockey player walk into a bar...

Quintin Laing is being treated for the H1N1 "swine flu" bug. While it is no laughing matter, we decided it was, well, a laughing matter (laughter being the best medicine and all that crap)...


Alex Ovechkin walks into a clinic. He says, I'm here for my shot. The nurse says, "Mr. Ovechkin, you've already taken six shots. We can't give you another."

*****

Bruce Boudreau walks into a clinic. He sees Sean Avery there sitting in the waiting lounge. Avery looks up and says, "I thought you were dead." Boudreau says, "I must be in the wrong place, this must be the second hand clothing store for fashion wannabes."

*****

Alexander Semin walks into a clinic. He says, "I'm here for my flu shot." The nurse swabs his arm, administers the shot, and applies a band-aid. Semin is day-to-day.

*****

Brooks Laich walks into a clinic. The nurse asks him if he needs a flu shot. Laich smiles, arches an eyebrow, turns and leaves. The nurse says to herself, "yeah, that was a stupid question."

*****

Nicklas Backstrom walks into a clinic. The nurse looks up and asks if she can help him. He says, "no, I'm here to assist you."

*****

Mike Green is sitting on the examining table at the clinic waiting to get his flu shot. The nurse comes in with tray with a syringe and the vaccine on it. She sets it down, then pulls on a pair of latex gloves. Green says, "so... where can someone get a pair of gloves like that?"

*****

Jeff Schultz walks into a clinic and asks politely if they are administering flu shots today. The nurse sighs, takes his name and grunts, "wait over there." Schultz sits down and waits. Finally, the nurse calls him over, tells him to sit down, and roll up his sleeve. Schultz does so, and the nurse proceeds to administer the shot in most painful fashion. Schultz frowns and says, "you don't have to do it like that, do you?" The nurse replies, "No, and you don't have to suck, either."

*****

George McPhee walks into a clinic. The nurse asks if he is there for a flu shot. He says that the team doesn't disclose that information.

*****

Ted Leonsis walks into a clinic, walks up to the nurse's station and happily announces, "Hi. I'm here for my flu shot." The nurse tells Ted to sit down. Ted says, "oh, wait. I have to get a camera so I can put this up on SnagFilms."

*****

The Peerless walks into a clinic. The nurse asks if he wanted a shot. The Peerless says, "I believe it was the philosopher Plato who said, 'a state arises, as I conceive, out of the needs of mankind; no one is self-sufficing, but all of us have many wants.'" Then he proceeds to recite the history of the modern process for producing flu vaccine.

The vaccine expires in the meantime.

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Caps vs. Thrashers, October 29th

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

And tonight, the Caps take on the Atlanta Thrashers in the first of a back-to-back that will end tomorrow in Washington against the New York Islanders…

“Whoa. Déjà vu.”

“What did you just say?”

“Nothing. Just had a little déjà vu.”

“What did you see?”

“What happened?”

“The Caps played the Thrashers and Islanders last week and then another pair of games on the schedule that looked just like it.”

“How much like it? Was it the same pair of games?”

“It might have been. I'm not sure.”

“Switch! Apoc!”

What is it?

“A déjà vu is usually a glitch in the Matrix. It happens when they change something.”

“Oh my God... they cut the hard line, it's a trap, get out!!”

Uh, folks? It’s just a quirk in the schedule. The Caps play these teams more than once this year, and this is just how the second games against these two fall out. Tonight Atlanta, tomorrow the Islanders.

“Whoa, it happened again.”

No, you slack-jawed idiot! And why did everything turn this weird green color like the pixels on an old computer monitor?

Anyway, the Caps play the Thrashers in Atlanta a mere one week after they raced out to a 5-2 lead, then almost let it slip away in a 5-4 win that provided the third win in the five-game winning streak the Caps find themselves in. Here is how the numbers stack up...



Since last Thursday’s tilt, the Caps have added a pair of wins to their streak, while Atlanta sustained a 4-3 loss to San Jose in their only game since. But the loss on the scoreboard paled in comparison the larger loss for the Thrashers of Ilya Kovalchuk, who broke a bone in his foot sustained in the first period while blocking a shot. He is expected to miss four weeks.

Adding to that, Nik Antropov missed three straight practices as of Wednesday nursing a groin injury. He is expected to play against the Caps. Good thing for Atlanta – in the game last week he registered a pair of assists to bring his lifetime numbers against Washington to 7-12-19 in 26 career games. With Kovalchuk out, Antropov is now the Thrashers second leading scorer, but he is still looking for his first goal as a Thrasher, all seven of his points being assists.

Evander Kane – the fourth overall pick in last June’s draft – appears to be staying with the Thrashers for the remainder of the year. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, he’s been told by the club to move out of the hotel in which he is staying and find more permanent accommodations (we wonder when Pittsburgh is sending Sidney Crosby back to Rimouski).

Speaking of accommodations, goalie Ondrej Pavelec was also green-lighted to check out and find new digs, which is a sign that either Kari Lehtonen is going to be out for a significantly longer period of time, or Lehtonen might be finding new accommodations of his own… in another city.

Pavelec got in 30 minutes of work in the San Jose game following his 32 minute effort against the Caps a week ago. As opposed to his having given up five goals on 14 shots in the game last Thursday, he stopped all 12 Sharks shots after replacing the ineffective Johan Hedberg. Pavelec did not figure in the decision.

With Kovalchuk out, the temptation is to say that Kane has to pick up more minutes (he’s averaging 13:53 a night as he gets his feet wet in the NHL) and more points (he is 3-2-5, tied for fifth in team scoring). But the Thrashers need more goal scoring from the likes of Antropov, Brian Little, Vyacheslav Kozlov, and Colby Armstrong, who combined have a total of one goal (Armstrong). On the power play, Zach Bogosian will be assuming Kovalchuk’s position on the point (again, according to the AJC). With Kovalchuk and his nine goals gone for the time being (of 28 scored by the Thrashers), Atlanta needs to spread the offense around.

One of the problems the Thrashers have had so far this year is the schedule. After beating Tampa Bay on opening night, they waited five days before taking the ice again (a 4-2 win over St. Louis). Then, after losing to Ottawa in their third game of the season, they waited six days before their next game, a 4-2 win over New Jersey. Tonight’s game against the Caps comes five days after losing to San Jose, 4-3. The Thrashers have had no chance to establish a playing rhythm of, say, a game every other day or so. That will end right quick, though. Atlanta has four back-to-backs in November, and they are on the road for both “sandwich games” – those surrounding the Thanksgiving holiday (at Detroit and at Carolina).

This is an odd game. First, there is the matter that in each of the two instances in which the Thrashers played after a long layoff, they registered 4-2 wins. Then there is the matter of the Thrasher goalies each playing about 60 minutes in their last two games (losses to Washington and San Jose), except those minutes were broken up in the odd way of both playing about 30 minutes each in each game. Pavelec was pulled against the Caps, Hedberg against the Sharks. Is the third time the charm?

Even though Atlanta has scored at least four goals in five of the eight games they have played, with Kovalchuk out it is hard to see a way to Atlanta getting to four goals. Four does seem to be a magic number for Caps goaltender Semyon Varlamov, should he get the call. He’s allowed four in three of his five appearances so far this season. He got the win last Thursday, and with this being the front end of a back-to-back, he could very well be tapped for this one.

On the other hand, the Caps have scored at least four goals in five of the 11 games they have played, including three of the five road games they’ve played. And there is this – the Caps trio of Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, and Alexander Semin skated together in the first three games and were a combined 9-15-24 (the team went 2-0-1). On Tuesday, the trio was reunited and combined to go 4-5-9 in a 4-2 win over Philadelphia. If they skate together tonight, and the Thrasher goalies continue to struggle at the start of games, the competitive portion of the evening could be over early, especially with Atlanta’s big threat – Ilya Kovalchuk – out of the lineup.

The Caps’ confounding tendency to let teams stick around in games will probably keep this from being an early evening, and if Varlamov’s own troubles make an appearance, this game could be a real adventure, not unlike last week’s game.



"Whoa…"

Caps 5 – Thrashers 3

A TWO-point night: Caps 4 - Flyers 2

Caps 4 – Flyers 2

Let that roll off the tongue and appreciate it… Caps 4 – Flyers 2. It was a game that had more than a faint whiff of a playoff air to it as the Caps and Flyers traded chances for 60 minutes, fought hard for every scrap of ice, and competed hard in what amounted to periods five, six, and seven of a year-long battle (the Flyers needing the first four periods to take a 6-5 “lead”).

The story of the night was the reunited top line of Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, and Alexander Semin, which went 4-5-9, plus-9, had 13 shots on goal (of the 36 the Caps had in total). It didn’t look good early, though. The first period ended scoreless with the Caps enjoying the only power play… for all the good it did them. With Ole-Kristian Tollefsen off the ice for cross-checking Matt Bradley, the Caps managed a grand total of no shots on goal for the man advantage. More than that, they were not credited with so much as a shot attempt. For a team that came into the game with a goose egg in their last 13 power play opportunities after finding the back of the net on their first opportunity in a 3-2 Gimmick win against Nashville, it was not a good sign.

It got worse. In the second period the Caps took three penalties, and the Flyers scored during two of them. Scott Hartnell buried a nice feed from Mike Richards to get the Flyers on the board with Brendan Morrison off for hooking, and Braydon Coburn one-timed a feed from Kimmo Timonen to put the visitors up, 2-0, with Tyler Sloan off for the same offense.

Then the top line for the Caps found their scoring muse. Nicklas Backstrom used some deft stick work to settle a puck dropping out of the air as he was crossing the Flyer blue line, with Mike Richards swatting at him, no less. Backstrom gained control of the puck and eased toward the left wing boards. Richards followed, opening a seam that was filled by Alex Ovechkin. Backstrom found him, Ovechkin snapped a shot in a blur past Flyer goalie Ray Emery, and the Caps were back within one.

Backstrom got the Caps off the power play schneid later in the period on a slick play by Alexander Semin. After Emery knocked aside a drive by Keith Aucoin from the side of the cage, the puck came to Semin in the Zamboni corner. Semin held his ground, waiting for Claude Giroux to make a move – to cover the pass to Ovechkin parked at the left wing point, or to cover the pass to Backstrom hiding along the inside of the left wing faceoff circle. Giroux chose to cover the pass back to Ovechkin. He chose poorly. Semin flicked a pass to Backstrom, who snapped the puck past Emery, and just like that things were tied going into the second intermission.

The odd pattern of scoring for the Caps continued one more time early in the third. First, Backstrom fed Ovechkin for a goal. Then Semin fed Backstrom. The third time, Mike Green fed Semin at the Flyers’ blue line, and Semin took one more stride before whipping a wrist shot past Kimmo Timonen’s leg and past Ray Emery’s blocker for the goal that gave the Caps the lead they would not relinquish.

Not that the Flyers didn’t have an opportunity. Darroll Powe took a feed at the Caps’ blue line and split the defense to go in alone on Jose Thoedore. Tom Poti dove in an effort to sweep the puck off Powe’s stick, but was ruled to have taken out his skates before getting the puck. The referee pointed immediately to center ice to signal a penalty shot. Powe skated in and showed the crowd why he doesn’t take shootouts (he has never appeared in the Gimmick). He fired at Theodore in what looked like an effort to find the five hole, but he missed badly, hitting Theodore’s left pad to keep the Caps advantage at 3-2.

At that point, it became the Jose Theodore Show. In the 8:43 following Powe’s unsuccessful penalty shot, Theodore turned away 11 consecutive Flyer shots before the Caps would register a shot at the 15:30 mark into the period. He would turn away three more – a pop-pop-pop of shots taken in a seven second span in the period’s 18th minute – before Alex Ovechkin put the Flyers out of their misery when, with Chris Pronger trying to use his reach to deny Ovechkin a shooting lane down the left side, he flipped a backhand into the open Flyer net in the last minute to close the scoring.

Other stuff…

- Brooks Laich had, overall, a pretty good game, but he was a step late in preventing the cross-ice pass that Hartnell potted past Jose Theodore.

- Mike Green and Tom Poti victimized by... Darroll Powe steaming between them down the slot to draw a penalty shot? Bet you wouldn't put that in a script.

- Nicklas Backstrom was the only Cap taking more than one faceoff who was on the losing side of the ledger (six up, ten down).

- That’s five multi-goal games in 11 games played thus far for Alex Ovechkin. Last year, he had his fifth multi-goal game in Game 30. In 2007-2008, when he finished with 65 goals, he had his fifth multi-goal game in Game 42. The Caps are 25-0-2 when he scores at least two goals.

- That’s Backstrom’s third three-assist night this year and the 11th time in his career he has registered at least three assists in a game.

- Alexandre Giroux had another one of those nights… three hits, but no shot attempts in 8:20 of ice time.

- 20 blocked shots… Mike Green and Tom Poti had five apiece. It tied the Caps high in blocked shots this year (20 in a 3-2 loss to Detroit).

- The Caps are now 7-2-2, but consider that each of the losses are of the one-goal variety (two in regulation, one in overtime, one in a Gimmick).

- The Flyers have a keeper in James Van Riemsdyk. He didn’t show up much on the score sheet (four shots, one assist), but there is the look of maturity in his game. Never did we see him rush things that weren’t there or panic in difficult situations. When he fills out, he’s going to be a load.

- Did you ever have a dream where you are standing in the middle of a busy thoroughfare and cars are whizzing by you front and back, one side and the other? Jose Theodore is going to have that dream tonight if he ponders for a moment the abuse he took from Flyers depositing themselves in his crease (and occasionally, in his lap).

- Nine shots in four power play opportunities covering 5:30 in time isn’t too bad. They had six shots on a five-on-three over 1:41 of ice time, plus a missed attempt by Mike Knuble and a shot on goal two seconds after the first half of a two-man advantage expired. Four of those shots came from inside 15 feet (according to the play-by-play record), and the one taken just after the first penalty expired was also inside of 15 feet. Sometimes, you just don’t get the bounce.

- David Steckel was 10 for 16 in faceoffs in the defensive zone. We’re not sure which is more noteworthy, winning 63 percent of those draws or taking 16 of them (of 24 total defensive zone faceoffs). Calling Boyd Gordon... Calling Mr. Boyd Gordon...

Jose Theodore was awarded the game’s first star, and he deserved it. In a curious way, this was a disappointing defensive effort for the Caps. Here were the Flyers, playing their fourth game in six nights (three of which were against quality opponents – Boston, San Jose, and the Capitals), and the Flyers’ shot progression by period was 10-13-20. 20? In the third period? That’s right. What’s more, the Flyers had 22 other attempts in the third period that missed or were blocked. That is obscene.

But it’s a win, too. Only four teams have more wins, and three of those teams have played in more games than have the Caps. Only three teams have more standings points, and two of them have played in more games than have the Caps. And that matters more than style points, although truth be told, the Caps were a dominating team for about 20 minutes of this game (the last ten of the second and the first ten of the third). Against a quality opponent, that’s not a bad thing.