The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Game 8, Capitals at Oilers, October 27th

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

The Caps depart the Eastern time zone for the first time this season, not to mention the amber waves of grain and purple mountain majesties of the good ol’ U.S. of A. They are on the road to Edmonton, the capital of the Province of Alberta and that province’s second largest city. It’s nickname is “Festival City,” because of what the city notes is its abundance of successful festivals. However, the name, “Edmonton,” is a Latinized version of a Saxon word meaning "Happy Hamlet,” and was used to honor the home of Hudson Bay Company governor James Winter Lake who was from Edmonton, England. We think “Happy Hamlet” was really a goalie for the Montreal Maroons.

But perhaps most interesting about Edmonton is that it has a “poet laureate.” The City of Edmonton describes the position thus…

“The role of a Poet Laureate is to reflect the life of a city through readings of poetry. As an ambassador for the literary arts, the Laureate incorporates poetry into a range of official and informal city activities. The creation of this position confirms the city's support for the arts in general, and for the literary arts in particular. A jury, assembled by the Edmonton Arts Council, selects a new Poet Laureate every two years.”

It pays, too! $5,000 (CDN) for each year as an honorarium. The position is currently held by Anna Marie Sewell, who has been active in Edmonton cultural life for two decades. But it might be her predecessor who is a bit more interesting. A gentleman by the name of “Roland Pemberton” ended his two-year tenure as poet laureate this past July. He was, and is, a musical personality of note in that part of the world, having been nominated for the 2006 Polaris Music Prize, which awards $20,000 for the Canadian album of the year. He was also named by Chart magazine as one of the 15 Canadian artists to watch in 2006. The thing is, though, not many folks know “Roland Pemberton” the musician. Maybe they know him by his stage name... “Cadence Weapon.”

Well, the Caps take their considerable weaponry to Rexall Place tonight to take on the Edmonton Oilers. Two teams in very different stages of their development, the Oilers are what the Caps once were – a team with a deep, yet green pool of talent that will make its share of mistakes now, but that will be formidable in a few years. Here is how the two teams stack up so far…

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1. Edmonton is young…very young. Of the 23 skaters to take the ice so far this season for the Oilers, 11 of them are age 25 or younger. Four have not yet reached their 21st birthday. Two of that under-21 crowd happen to be the Oilers’ top two scorers – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (5-3-8, plus-4) and Taylor Hall (2-5-7, plus-5). Along with Jordan Eberle (age: 21), these three are a combined 8-14-22, plus-13. The other 20 skaters combined have seven goals and are a minus-8. Might want to keep an eye on those three guys.

2. Much has been made of the goaltending in Los Angeles and the penalty kill in Pittsburgh. Both have been fine. But Edmonton is allowing 1.50 goals/game through eight games (tied with the Kings) and has a 91.4 percent penalty kill (rank: fourth). The Oilers have killed off their last 22 shorthanded situations.

3. Hard to say which goaltender will get the call. Nikolai Khabibulin has been “The Bulin Wall” once more this season (3-0-2, 0.97, .963, one shutout), but his career against the Caps has been uneven (8-7-3, 2.27, .910, one shutout), and his last two games against Washington have been dreadful – a 5-0 loss last season in which he allowed five goals on 36 shots, and a 4-2 loss in the season opener of the 2008-2009 season (he was with Chicago) in which he allowed four goals on 34 shots. On the other hand, The Oilers’ other netminder – Devan Dubnyk – has never faced the Caps.

4. No team has allowed fewer first period goals than the Oilers (two). They have not allowed a first period goal in any of their last five games.

5. Edmonton protects its kiddie line. The trio of Nugent-Hopkins, Hall, and Eberle all have offensive zone starts at 5-on-5 over 60 percent. Interestingly enough, only Eberle is over 50 percent in offensive zone finishes (numbers from behindthenet.ca).

1. Balance…going into Wednesday night’s play, the Caps led the league in scoring (4.14 goals/game) but had only one player in the top 33 in points (Nicklas Backstrom). They had seven in the top-100, though.

2. Lean, Mean, but Fightin’ Clean. The Caps are the least penalized team in the league in minutes per game (8.1), barely half of that which Edmonton sees (15.1).

3. One of the things Caps fans might have been wishing for was having the top line of Nicklas Backstrom, Alex Ovechkin, and Troy Brouwer (or Mike Knuble) start more often in the offensive zone. Well, through eight games Backstrom and Ovechkin are each at 50.0 percent, and Brouwer is at 51.1 percent at 5-on-5 (numbers from behindthenet.ca).

4. At the moment the Caps rank 15th in power play-less-penalty killing time, but only eight teams have allowed fewer shots on goal on the penalty kill. On the other hand, only six teams have recorded fewer shots on goal than the Caps…and the Caps are second in the league on the power play at 29.6 percent.

5. The Caps have the best takeaway-to-giveaway ratio in the league (1.80:1). They lead the league in takeaways (88), and only three teams have fewer giveaways (49).

The Peerless’ Players to Ponder

Edmonton: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins

Picked first overall in last June’s entry draft, “RNH” leads all rookies (as of Wednesday) in goals and points, is tied for the lead in power play goals, is tied for third in plus-minus, has one of only five game-winning goals scored by any rookie so far this season, leads all rookies in shooting percentage (for rookies with at least two shots on goal), and is tied for first among all rookie forwards in ice time. Nice start. No surprise, since he hails from Burnaby, British Columbia, which is quite the well-spring for talent – Joe Sakic, Darren McCarty, Glenn Anderson, and of course, Caps defenseman Karl Alzner.

Washington: Alex Ovechkin

So far this season, Ovechkin has scored all three of his goals in two road games. He is 5-3-8 in five career games against the Oilers. He is also 2-3-5 in his last three games. But there is this odd fact. Last season in those instances in which he played in the first game on the road after a game in Washington (a total of 23 games), Ovechkin was only 4-15-19, plus-2. In 18 other road games he was 14-10-24, plus-8. While true that the Russian Machine might never break, sometimes he needs a bit to get started when on the road.

Keys:

1. Win the War of Wills…early and late. Edmonton has allowed the fewest first period goals in the league so far this season; only one team has scored more first period goals than has Washington. Only three teams have allowed fewer goals in the third period than Edmonton; only two teams have scored more third period goals than has Washington. Who imposes whose will on whom in this area will be an indicator of whether the Caps have brought their “A” game.

2. Win the War of Wills, Part II. One area in which the Caps have struggled some is in shots allowed. Only five teams have allowed more than the 32.7 shots per game the Caps have given up so far. On the other hand, Edmonton ranks 23rd in shots on goal per game. More to the point, Edmonton is 3-1-0 when outshooting their opponent, 1-1-2 when they don’t. Edmonton has played two Eastern Conference opponents so far (Pittsburgh and the Rangers), outshooting both and beating both.

3. Win the War of Wills, Part III. The Oilers have killed off 22 straight shorthanded situations. The Caps have power play goals in five straight games and are 6-for-15 doing it (40.0 percent). How this ends might turn on opportunities. The Oilers haven’t allowed more than five power play chances to opponents since their season opener. The Caps have had more than five chances only once in this five game power-play goal streak.

In the end…

This is another one of those “no peeking” games. The temptation is to look ahead to the game in Vancouver on Saturday. Edmonton is spunky enough to make the Caps pay for that. At 4-2-2 so far, they are hardly a doormat. But this game should turn on the Caps depth against the Oilers being what amounts to a one-line team. In eight games the Oilers have faced only one team that poses a consistent threat on offense – Vancouver (twice). Four opponents (Minnesota twice, Nashville, the Rangers, and Calgary) rank in the bottom ten in offense. The Caps are several weight classes above that group, and that is going to serve as a rude awakening for the young Oilers.

Caps 4 – Oilers 1

Dynamic Presence and "Using the Rink"

Today, the subject of Troy Brouwer and his ability to affect a presence in front of the opposition’s net has received some attention. That kind of generosity Brouwer provides a goaltender in giving him a close and personal view of his backside is paying demonstrable net dividends for the Caps in the form of goals on shots the goalie cannot see.

But there is more to this than merely “being there” in front of the opponent’s net, there is the matter of “getting there.” And that is what we will refer to as “dynamic presence.” It was on full display on the Caps’ first goal in last Saturday’s 7-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings. Folks probably remember the Mike Green one-timer, and if they read the fine piece by Neil Greenberg in today’s Capitals Insider in the Washington Post, they will see how Brouwer’s presence eliminated goalie Ty Conklin’s sight line to the shooter.

But there is more to this goal, and that takes place before the shot, and it is how the Caps “used the rink” to spread the defense while Brouwer angled himself into a screening position. It all came together when Mike Green ended up with a clear look from the top of the left wing circle. Watch the video…



Here is how it unfolded, piece by piece…

1.  Nicklas Backstrom wins the faceoff to the left wing wall, where Mike Green collects the puck and eases back to the blue line.

2.  Green sends the puck deep, where Troy Brouwer is camped.  Brouwer sends the puck around the wall and to Dennis Wideman at the right point.

3.  Wideman completes the circle, sending the puck across to Green at the left point.

4.  Green drops down and slides the puck to Brouwer, who has come out from behind the net to the low left corner.

5.  Brouwer circles, and as he does so to send a pass to Nicklas Backstrom in the other corner, Alex Ovechkin slides down from a position waiting for a shot to a spot below the goal line,

6.  Here is the key sequence.  Backstrom exchanges passes with Ovechkin, and as they do so, Brouwer circles back to the left wing faceoff circle.  As the return pass is sent to Backstrom, Brouwer heads for the net.  With defensemen Niklas Kronwall and Brad Stuart on the same side of the ice as Backstrom, Brouwer heads for the net, pulling Darren Helm (43) with him.

7.  With Brouwer having gone to the net and Helm sliding down to prevent a centering pass from Backstrom, Mike Green fills the void left by Helm and jumps into the space at the top of the left wing circle.

8.  Backstrom has a clear passing lane to Green and uses it.  Green wastes no time shooting the puck, and with Brouwer in screening position on goalie Ty Conklin with no defender high on that side of the ice, it is an opportunity Mike Green does not waste.

The Caps used the whole rink to spread the defense. And Brouwer’s active play not only established a presence, but his hustle out of the corner charging to the net pulled a defender away from a part of the ice that a dangerous shooter would fill.

A similar set of actions by Brouwer was also the subplot to the second Green goal...



In this one, Dennis Wideman and Alex Ovechkin were credited with the assists, but the last stages of the play were initiated by Brouwer from behind the net. It is his pass from the end wall finding Wideman at the left point that was then converted to a pass to Ovechkin and one across the ice to Green – while Brouwer was circling out to get in screening position – that got the whole thing started.

It isn’t just about planting yourself in front of the goalie and keeping on your skates while getting abused, although that is what the Caps have too often lacked on the power play.  It is also about the things that one does to get there – being active and making the defense aware of your presence, forcing them to defend and perhaps taking them out of position to open shooting lanes – that creates the sort of dynamic presence that leads to goals.

Sittin' at the end of the bar...

It’s a little known fact…

-- That Dennis Wideman is the only player in the league who has a point in each of his team’s games so far this season. The seven-game streak surpasses the longest streak any Caps defenseman had last year. Mike Green had a six-game streak from October 28th through November 9th (4-6-10).

-- Alex Ovechkin had a two-goal game last Thursday. Once upon time, that was pretty common. But this one broke a 16-game streak (25, including playoff games) dating back to last March 9th against Edmonton. It was only his third in 74 regular season games since last October 30th.

-- John Carlson had a streak of three games from February 25th through March 1st last season in which he finished on the minus side of the ledger, the longest streak of his young career. In the 25 regular season games since he has a total of four such games (none so far this season) and is a plus-14.

-- Mathieu Perreault played his last seven games with the Caps last season to a 1-1-2, minus-7 result. His first five games this year are 3-2-5, plus-6. Whatever he did over the summer…it worked so far.

-- Maybe no one except Kanoobie has noticed, but Mike Knuble has points in four of his last five games (1-4-5, plus-3). In his last 21 regular season games he is 10-8-18, plus-9.

-- Jason Chimera scored his fourth goal of the season in the season’s fifth game. Last year he didn’t get his fourth goal of the season until November 20th, in Game 21.

-- Matt Hendricks is plus-5 for the season and has a pair of plus-2’s in his last two games. Hendricks did not have as many as two games better than plus-1 in either of his two full seasons before this one and in fact had only one game better than a plus-1 in his career over 142 games before finishing plus-2 in his last two games (plus-3 in a 6-4 win over Atlanta last November 14th).

-- Alex Ovechkin has gone five consecutive games playing fewer than 20 minutes. It is the first time he has gone five consecutive games under 20 minutes since his first five games in the NHL.

-- Nicklas Backstrom got to ten points in his seventh game of the season. The only other time in his career he got to ten points in fewer than ten games he had his only 100-point season (2009-2010, ten points in his first four games on his way to 101 points).

-- Alexander Semin is 5-7-12, plus-6 in his last dozen regular season games dating back to last March 26th.

The Goals Project -- Update

After the second full week of games, the picture, well... paints a picture

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After seven games and 29 goals scored, you can see that not many of them are scored above the circles.  And of the six game-winners (the other win coming via shootout), only one could be considered of the long-range variety. It is worth noting that 19 of the 29 goals have been scored below the dots.  The Caps have been going to the net, and it has paid dividends.  It goes to show that there really isn't much of a secret to offensive success in the NHL.  Goalies being what they are, if you shoot from distance, you are going to be disappointed.  But get in close, and the chances for success increase substantially.  Seven wins in seven tries is testimony to that.

That Was The Week That Was -- Week 2 (October 16-22)

It was a fine week, a good week...nay, a great week.  For October, that is.  But while it didn't have the satisfaction that, say, maybe 16 playoff wins might have in the spring, it sure was fun to watch the Caps pulverize a couple of top-notch foes. So, how did the week go?

Record for the week: 3-0-0

The week began with the Caps setting a franchise record for consecutive wins to start a season (five) and ended with a dismantling of the only other remaining undefeated team in the league to extend that streak to seven. In between the Caps smacked around one of their most hated rivals.  Hard to imagine a better week unless your fantasies tend toward shutting out the Penguins three times by 10-0 scores. Shutting out Florida to start the week might not have qualified as an historic achievement (the Panthers have been shut out twice in their last three games), but the combined records of the Caps’ last two opponents of the week going into those games was 10-0-1. In each instance, Philadelphia and Detroit left the ice with their first loss in regulation on their record in emphatic fashion.

Offense: 5.00 goals/game (season: 4.14, NHL rank: 1st)

Fifteen goals for the week. The Caps have not scored that many total goals in three consecutive games since they scored 16 over a three game stretch, October 30 – November 5, last season (a 7-2 win over Calgary, a 5-4 Gimmick win over Toronto, and a 5-3 win over Boston…we do not count trick shot goals in the total). OK, in two of the games the goal barrage came against backups – Detroit’s Ty Conklin and Florida’s Jacob Markstrom (making his first NHL start), but two of the games were played against a pair of the league’s best defensive corps, too – Philadelphia and Detroit.

Nine players shared in the fifteen goals, and six of them came from the third and fourth lines. Of the 18 skaters dressing for the week, all of them had at least one point except Karl Alzner. And it is worth noting as well that the leading point-getters for the week were Alex Ovechkin (2-3-5) and Nicklas Backstrom (1-4-5).

The Caps have been accused of lacking the “ruthless” gene, lacking the killer instinct to put a team away. This week, they showed what they were capable of. They scored eight of their 15 goals (including an empty-netter) in the third periods of the three games. Six of them came against those vaunted Flyer and Red Wing defenses.

Defense: 1.00 goals/game (season: 2.00, rank: T-5th)

Allowing three goals in three games is impressive any time. But given that two of the three opponents were top-five offenses made it all the more so (explain that away with the “backup goaltender” argument). And the three-in-three extended the streak to four-in-four (goals in games).

Here is another way to look at it. In 180 minutes of hockey this past week the Caps trailed for a grand total of 4:15, the time elapsed between Claude Giroux scoring the first goal of the game against the Flyers and Mathieu Perreault tying it up. The Caps did not relinquish any lead they took during the week. Odd fact…the Caps allowed three goals for the week; Brooks Laich was the only Cap on the ice for all of them.

If there is one area that bears watching, it is shots against. The Caps yielded 95 shots on the week, 75 in the last two games.

Goaltending: 1.00/.968

Tomas Vokoun had a spectacular week, given the opponents. The 3-0, 20-save shutout of his former team was business-like. His performance against the Flyers, when Philadelphia was ratcheting up the pressure to try to get back into a game in which they fell behind (11 shots faced in the first period, 14 in the second, and 17 in the third), kept the notoriously rabid Flyer crowd out of the game. His performance against the Red Wings, in which his stoning of Pavel Datsyuk’s deke attempt with the game still scoreless (ok, the puck might have hit teammate Dan Cleary’s skate) kept things even until the Caps could get their bearings. His save percentage for the week when the Caps were shorthanded was .929 (13 saves on 14 shots). His save percentage when the Caps are shorthanded (.931) is fourth among all goaltenders who have faced at least 100 shots so far this season. 

Power Play: 4-for-11/36.4 percent (season: 29.6 percent; rank: 1st)

Three games played, three games with at least one power play goal. That makes five games in a row and six of seven with at least one power play goal. But perhaps more impressive is that the Caps netted four goals on eight power play shots on goal in exactly 15 minutes of total power play time for the week. Alex Ovechkin led the Caps in power play points with a 1-3-4 week. That’s a good sign. With five power play points for the season he is almost a quarter of the way to his total power play point total of last season (24) after only seven games. With Mike Green chipping in two goals and Nicklas Backstrom getting three assists, it was a good extra-man week for the Young Guns (although Alexander Semin did not get a point in 4:30 in power play ice time). It is worth noting as well that Dennis Wideman recorded a pair of assists to leave him at 1-3-4 in power play scoring for the season, adding another dimension to the power play from the blue line. That one power play goal – a game-winner – remains the only power play goal the Penguins have allowed this season in 33 shorthanded instances.

Penalty Killing: 7-for-8/87.5 percent (season: 81.8; rank: 18th)

As much as the fine kill numbers for the week is the fact that the Caps allowed opponents only eight power play opportunities. Only four teams in the NHL have allowed fewer power play opportunities than have the Caps. But the story for the week was the 7:34 stretch in the second period in which the Detroit Red Wings had two five-on-three power plays totaling 1:04 in which they had six shots on goal and only one goal. They had two other 5-on-4 power plays in that window and failed to score on either of them. That could have ended much worse for the Caps, and had it done so would likely have spelled the end of the winning streak to start the season.

Paying the Price: 66 hits/39 blocked shots (season rank: 8th/15th)

We have become accustomed to Alex Ovechkin being the big bopper for the Caps, leading the team in hits. But he had only four for the week, none of them coming in either of the last two games. He had as many total hits for the week as Jeff Schultz. Of the 66 hits for the week, Matt Hendricks led the Caps with 11, and Troy Brouwer was close behind with nine.

The blocked shots were down this past week, but they were spread around. Three defensemen – Dennis Wideman, Roman Hamrlik, and John Carlson – had six apiece. Karl Alzner had another four for the defense. In all, 15 of 18 skaters recorded at least one blocked shot.

Faceoffs: 79-for-168/47.0 percent (season: 48.3 percent; rank: 23rd)

In recent years the Caps were one of the league’s best faceoff teams. Those were the days of Boyd Gordon and David Steckel. Things haven’t changed; those two are currently ranked second and fourth in the league in faceoff winning percentage. They also play for other teams. Meanwhile the Caps did not hit 50 percent in any game this week. And it was an ugly week, for the most part, for each of the principal centers. Jeff Halpern saved some respectability for the week by winning the majority of his draws in each of the three games and going 20-for-25 overall. But the others…ugh. Nicklas Backstrom was below 50 percent in all three games and was 12-for-35. Marcus Johansson was under 50 percent in two of three games and was 10-for-29 overall. Brooks Laich was under 50 percent in all three games and was 20-for-53 overall. No Cap qualifying among the league’s face off leaders is over 50 percent (Halpern’s 67.8 percent does not qualify on 56 draws, otherwise he would be first), and Brooks Laich is the highest ranking Cap at 69th.

Turnovers: Plus-24

This is always going to be one of those metrics one takes with a grain of salt because of the differences in scoring across NHL arenas. But 25 giveaways for the week is still a pretty good number (15 coming against the Red Wings, which wasn’t so good). In the first two games of the week (in which the Caps had five giveaways in each) defensemen were responsible for only two of the ten total recorded. Hard for opponents to generate much in terms of odd-man rushes when the defense is being responsible with the puck.

Of 19 players dressing this week (18 skaters and Tomas Vokoun) only two – Nicklas Backstrom and Vokoun – had more giveaways than takeaways. Backstrom was two and one; Vokoun was credited with one giveaway in the three games.

Impressions:

No, it’s not the playoffs, but there are items on the checklist for the regular season in preparing for the playoffs that need to be addressed… Demonstrate an ability to compete with elite teams, check. Demonstrate that you have balance on both offense and defense, check. Show an ability to close teams out with enthusiasm, check. It all part of the process in becoming a complete hockey team. Or, to put it as the great hockey sage Donnie Shulzhoffer once put it…

"This is hockey, okay? It's not rocket surgery. If you don't play this game with a lot of heart and a big bag of knuckles, you don't got dinky-doo."

The Caps bared their knuckles this week and left teams with big piles of dinky-doo in their wake.

Three Stars for the Week:

First Star: Tomas Vokoun (3-0-0, 1.00, .968, one shutout)
Second Star: Alex Ovechkin (2-3-5, plus-2; two goals against Philadelphia, two assists against Detroit)
Third Star: Mike Green (2-2-4, plus-3; almost 23 minutes of ice time per game)

Honorable Mention: Mathieu Perreault (3-1-4, plus-4), Nicklas Backstrom (1-4-5, plus-2), Joel Ward (2-0-2, plus-3, three takeaways...no giveaways).

A TWO-point night -- Game 7: Caps 7 - Red Wings 1

Before the puck dropped at Verizon Center to begin tonight’s game between the Washington Capitals and the Detroit Red Wings, most folks would have heard the words, “seven and seven” and thought, “hmmm…a shot of Seagram 7, some 7-Up, and ice.” When the final horn sounded the end of the game, folks might have been forgiven if they thought it meant, “seven in a row after a 7-1 win.”

The Caps scored early, scored late, and scored in-between in handing the Red Wings their first loss of the season, leaving the Capitals as the last remaining undefeated, unblemished team in the NHL. Detroit fans might fall back on the fact that the Red Wings came into the game having played the night before against Columbus, were starting backup goaltender Ty Conklin, and were missing the human brick wall, Tomas Holmstrom.

Still, seven goals against? One for?? Whatever the Red Wings were missing, or substituting, or missing for a lack of sleep (hey, it was only their second game in a week), it didn’t explain how it is that the Caps took away early on what they did best – control the puck. Detroit had only six shots on goal in the last 18:06 minutes of the first period (eight for the period) as the Caps took the lead on goals by Mike Green and Marcus Johansson. Green got another 4:59 into the second period to put the Wings down by three goals for the first time this season. After Detroit got one back on a 5-on-3 power play midway through the middle frame, the Caps abused goalie and the evening’s sacrificial lamb, Ty Conklin, for four goals on the last 12 shots they took in the contest to end the Red Wing’s attempt to tie their franchise record for consecutive wins to start a season.

Other stuff…

-- The game turned on a 7:34 stretch of time in the second period. It began with Matt Hendricks taking what might otherwise have been an innocuous hooking penalty at the 9:10 mark and the Caps holding that 3-0 lead. And then… Roman Hamrlik was whistled for a delay-of-game penalty at 10:39 for lifting the net from its pegs, putting the Caps down two men…Niklas Kronwall got the Red Wings back in the game 26 seconds later with only six seconds left in the two-man advantage on a slapper from the top of the zone that goalie Tomas Vokoun was screened from seeing. Only 2:17 after Kronwall’s goal, Alexander Semin was sent off for a high-sticking call, and then Marcus Johansson joined him in the box 1:22 later to put the Caps down two men for the second time in the period. But the Caps killed both of those penalties off, preserving the two-goal lead at the critical juncture of the game.

-- Over that 7:34 stretch in which the Caps took four penalties and were defending 3-on-5 twice, the Red Wings launched nine shots at the Capitals’ net, six of them getting through to Vokoun, but only one made it to the back of the net. It was the kind of situation the Red Wings often feast on, and it was their inability to do so in this instance that turned the game.

-- Mike Green had his first four point game since December 5, 2009 (against Philadelphia), but it was a brief sequence midway through the first period that illustrated how far he has come as a defenseman. In it, he had to make one of those decisions that is among the hardest for a defenseman to make – whether to step up at the blue line to check a puck carrier. Green did, and separated a Red Wing from the puck. The Caps could not get the puck out of their own end, though, and seconds later, there was Green – on the other side of the ice – deep in the zone blocking a centering attempt from behind the Caps’ net. He might not make that play last year; he certainly doesn’t make it two years ago.

-- In 2007-2008, Alex Ovechkin figured in 47 percent of the Caps’ goals (65 goals and 47 assists among 238 goals the Caps scored that season). The Caps barely made the playoffs. After tonight’s game to make the Caps 7-0, Ovechkin has figured in seven of 29 goals – 24 percent (3-4-7). There are games when Ovechkin is going to have to be “the man.” But he doesn’t have to be “the man” for this team 60 games out of 82. This is a deeper, arguably better team than the ones on which Ovechkin lit up the scoreboard largely by himself. Tonight he had one shot on goal, but he record two points tonight, anyway, assisting on both goals by Mike Green.

-- Your odd Ovechkin fact for the night... Alex Ovechkin skated 13:00 minutes at even strength tonight. That would be less than Jason Chimera (13:54) and Joel Ward (13:25).

-- The fourth line needs a new label. Jeff Halpern, Matt Hendricks, and Mathieu Perreault went 2-3-5, plus-6. As a group they are 3-7-10, plus-14.

-- Balance, balance, balance. After tonight’s game the first line has six goals, the second line has seven, the third line has six, and the fourth line has those three.

-- And speaking of balance, the defense now has six players with points (as in, “every defenseman to dress so far this season”) and is 6-15-21, plus-22 as a group.

-- Fourteen skaters recorded points; and even though the Caps had five even strength goals and didn’t allow one, no Cap finished greater than plus-2. But every skater ended in the “plus” column. More balance.

-- Joel Ward scored the fifth goal for the Caps tonight, but it might not have been possible but for Liane Davis. She is the power skating trainer that has been working with Brooks Laich on his skating for some time. And that work might have been reflected in the ability of Laich to keep his skates under him, control the puck while fending off defenseman Brad Stuart (a pretty sturdy player in his own right), separate himself from Stuart, and find Ward for the lay-up to stick the stake in the Wings’ hearts.

-- Since allowing five goals in his first appearance as a Cap, Tomas Vokoun is 5-0-0, 1.19, .965, with one shutout.

-- A couple of things about the Wings…watching Nicklas Lidstrom is always a clinic, but in the offensive zone he was amazing in a subtle sort of way. He earned the second assist on the Wing’s goal, but it was his work at the top of the offensive zone that was educational. He had nine shot attempts, and only one was blocked. He was credited with five shots on goal, but even the three misses seemed to have a point. They looked like “sight line” shots that were intended to get through to teammates either on rebounds from the end boards or for potential deflections. None of the misses looked like “misses.”

-- On the other hand, we understand that it was Fabian Brunnstrom’s first game with the Wings, but it doesn’t seem surprising in one respect why Detroit is his third organization. It looked amazingly easy to push him off the puck. Any contact whatsoever ended whatever skating momentum he had and usually resulted in his losing possession of the puck. It was the sort of game that might have had one scratching their head wondering what the big deal was when he was a sought-after free agent out of Sweden in 2008.

In the end…7-0, tops in the league in offense and the power play, and they are tied for fourth in goals allowed per game. They have scored five or more goals in three of seven games and allowed one or fewer goals in three (two or fewer in five straight). If you are a Caps fan and are not pleased, or you are inclined to complain about anything, you are beyond hope. Hockey is a hard game, and to perform at this level of efficiency and effectiveness, even for a seven-game stretch, is indicative of a very, very good team. Yeah, yeah…we’ll see in May or June. But a team – any team – can only play the game in front of it. And seven times the Caps have taken care of business. It was a very, very good night.

Good enough to send the Wings in search of seven and sevens.

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Game 7, Red Wings at Capitals, October 22nd

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

Well, here we are. Caps…Red Wings. The last two undefeated teams in the NHL. The Caps, of course, are in uncharted territory, having already set a franchise record for consecutive wins to start a season. Detroit is in kind of rare air, too. The Red Wings can tie a franchise record for consecutive wins to start a season with a win in this game. The Wings won six in a row to start the 1972-1973 season. And October 22nd is the 39th anniversary of that sixth consecutive win to start the season, a 6-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Contrary to what fans might think, Nicklas Lidstrom did not play in that game. He was only two years old. But tonight he will play in his 1,500th game, and although he is 41 years old, Lidstrom shows little signs of slowing down. Last night, for instance, he was 1-1-2, plus-2, with two hits and three takeaways in almost 24 minutes of ice time in a 5-2 win against Columbus. Some other fun facts about Lidstrom…

-- When Lidstrom was born on April 28, 1970, The Beatles were still together (their last album – “Let It Be” – was released a little more than a week later).

-- Lidstrom was drafted in the third round (53rd overall) in the 1989 entry draft on June 17, 1989. Neither John Carlson nor Marcus Johansson of the Caps had yet been born.

-- In that 1989 draft the Caps passed on Lidstrom twice, opting for goalies with the two picks they had before Lidstrom was taken – Olaf Kolzig and Byron Dafoe.

-- The Red Wings passed on Lidstrom twice as well, going for Mike Sillinger with the 11th overall pick and Bob Boughner with the 32nd overall pick.

-- That’s okay; the Wings passed on Sergei Fedorov to take Lidstrom with the 53rd pick. They took Fedorov at 74th overall. That draft might have been the most successful for one team in NHL history. The Red Wing picks in that draft have played almost 5,900 regular season games in the NHL, and counting.

-- Lidstrom was picked between Blair Atcheynum (Hartford) and John Tanner (Quebec). Combined NHL games played, 217.

-- Lidstrom himself is now in his 20th season. In addition to the 1,500-game mark he is about to achieve, he has…four Stanley Cups, a Conn Smythe Trophy (first European player to win it), seven Norris Trophies (one behind Bobby Orr), ten first team NHL All Star selections, and five pages of his own in the Red Wings media guide.

It’s not as if Lidstrom is the only spark plug in this engine. The Red Wings aren’t 5-0-0 by accident. They are skilled, deep, balanced, and experienced. Their numbers bear that out…

(click on pic for larger image)

Balance

Detroit is second in the NHL in scoring, behind the Caps. Of the 19 skaters to take the ice for the Red Wings this season, 17 of them have points but only two with more than five. Ten of them have goals but only one with more than two. No player is on the minus side of the ledger.

Paying Dues

This is a team on which it is expected that youngsters will pay their dues in terms of serving an apprenticeship. The Red Wings have not had more than one rookie play in at least half the club’s games in a season since Jiri Hudler and Valtteri Filppula played in 76 and 73 games, respectively, in the 2006-2007 season. And no more than two rookies played in that many games in the last dozen seasons. At the moment, Cory Emmerton is the only rookie on the roster for Detroit, and he seems typical of the arc that Red Wing prospects take to the NHL. A second round pick in 2006, he spent three-plus seasons with Grand Rapids in the NHL (the last of which included a two-game cup o’ coffee with the Wings) before sticking with the team at the start of this season.

Red and White, Blue and Yellow

So far this season, 54 players born in Sweden have played in at least one NHL game. Six of them have played for the Red Wings – Johan Franzen, Nicklas Lidstrom, Tomas Holmstrom, Henrik Zetterberg, Niklas Kronwall, and Jonathan Ericsson. This group accounts for half of the Red Wings’ 18 goals so far. Six is not a record for the Wings, though. As recently as 2009-2010 they had eight skaters born in Sweden dress for at least one game, and they had nine dress in 2007-2008.

Home Grown

Of the 21 players taking the ice so far for Detroit this season, 14 of them were drafted by the Red Wings. And of that group, only two – Jakub Kindl and Niklas Kronwall – are first round draft picks. By round, the other picks are : second (4), third (3), fifth (1), sixth (1), seventh (1), ninth (1), and tenth (1).

Power Play With a Bullet

Going into last night’s game, the Red Wings were 29th in the league on the power play (1-for-19; 5.3 percent). When they were done carving up the Columbus penalty killers for three goals on five chances, the Wings jumped to 15th in the league. Oddly enough, they scored three power play goals in four chances in a total of only 3:10 of 5-on-4 ice time, but didn’t score in 1:51 of 5-on-3 time.

Frequent Flyer (Not the Team) Miles

Ian White is one of those odd Wings not drafted by the club. He was, in fact, drafted by Toronto in 2002. After spending some more time in Canadian juniors and the AHL, he joined the Leafs for a short stint in 2005-2006 (12 games) and then stuck with the big club in 2006-2007. He might made it a long career in Toronto, but it was not in the cards. White was traded in January 2010 as part of a seven player deal with Calgary that secured Dion Phaneuf for the Maple Leafs. It would be the start of a phase of White’s life in which realtors would figure heavily. The following November, after having inked a one-year deal with Calgary, he was traded to Carolina. February 2011…traded to San Jose. July 2011…he signs with Detroit. Five teams in 18 months.

The Peerless’ Players to Ponder

Detroit: Ty Conklin

Even though Jimmy Howard started, finished, and won last night’s game against Columbus (32 saves on 34 shots in the 5-2 win), he could get the call tonight. It’s not as if he’s been getting worn out. Last night was the Wing’s first game in almost a week, since beating Minnesota in overtime last Saturday. But if Howard does get the baseball cap, Ty Conklin would be getting his second start of the season. Given that this is the Wings we are talking about, it should not be surprising that Conklin’s only appearance so far is a shutout, a 3-0 win at Colorado two weeks ago. Conklin has carved out for himself a long career being the supporting actor, the reliable backup. Only once has he played in as many as 40 games in a season (coincidentally, in his first tour with the Red Wings in 2008-2009). But by the same token, only once in nine NHL seasons did he finish with a below-.500 record (3-5-2 with Columbus and Buffalo in 2006-2007). His 92-61-20 win-loss record over those nine seasons reflect his talent to come into games on an infrequent basis and give his club solid goaltending. He might be a backup, but he is not a liability. In four career games against the Caps he is 1-2-1, 3.06, .889.

Washington: Jeff Schultz

In the last three games between these teams the Red Wings have scored a total of only seven goals. And of that number Jeff Schultz was on the ice for only one of them. A fluke? Well, so far this season, of 211 defensemen having dressed for games, only 33 have been on the ice for fewer goals than Schultz, who has been on ice for only two of the 13 goals allowed by Washington so far. And of those 33 defensemen on ice for fewer goals, 19 of them have played in only one or two games. Schultz isn’t going to win any style points (or, it seems, much credit from Caps fans). He is never going to be a big hitter, and he can seem a bit ungainly on his skates. But bad things don’t generally happen when he is on the ice, and above all, that is the object of the exercise for a defenseman. In this game, that has to continue.

Keys:

1. Early Pressure. No team has allowed fewer first period goals so far than the Red Wings, part of how it is that no team has allowed fewer goals than Detroit, period. Teams have not been successful moving the Wings out of their comfort zone and forcing them to play from behind. Only once this season have the Wings fallen behind by more than one goal in a game. It happened to be the only time they were taken to overtime (they beat Minnesota, 3-2, after spotting the Wild two goals). Once taking a lead in a game, they have not relinquished it at any further point in that game.

2. Kill Fil. Valtteri Filppula is hot. 2-5-7, plus-4 in his last three games, including a four-point night last night against Columbus. Currently tied for the club scoring lead, he is not too shabby against the Caps, either – 1-5-6, plus-3 in five career games against Washington.

3. Turn Off the Power. The Wings started the season 0-for-18 on the power play. They are now four for their last six chances. If there is one area that the Caps can be said to have underperformed so far, it is penalty-killing. They are tied for 15th in the league going into this game. The saving grace is that only three teams have faced fewer shorthanded situations. Unfortunately, one of those teams is Detroit, which has faced the fewest such situations (15 in five games).

In the end, it is way to early to call this a potential preview of a Stanley Cup final. What it is, is two teams near the top of their respective games. They are two teams that dealt with early shortcomings – the Wings and their power play, the Caps and allowing teams to hang around too long – and have, at least for the time being, dealt with them. This is not likely to be a high-scoring game. Although they are the two top scoring teams in the league, the Wings are tops in defense (1.40 goals allowed/game), and the Caps have been even stingier in their last four games (1.25) after allowing eight in their first two contests. This game could turn on whose backside is more effective screening a goaltender – Tomas Holmstrom for the Wings or Troy Brouwer for the Caps. “B” comes before “H.”

Caps 2 – Red Wings 1

Everybody Sing!

"Vokey play unbelievable and he keep us in the game and keep the lead..."

So said Alex Ovechkin of goaltender Tomas Vokoun's play last night.  And ever since we have been humming this...

You keep your right pad in,
You kick your right pad out,
You bring your right pad in
And you shake it all about.
You do the Vokey Pokey
And you make another save
That's what it's all about. 

A TWO-point night -- Game 6: Caps 5 - Flyers 2

On December 20, 2008, the Washington Capitals went to [Insert Name of Large American Banking Firm Here] Arena and were pasted by the Philadelphia Flyers, 7-1, in what was one of the more frustrating games in Caps’ history. In that game the Caps launched 25 shots at the Flyer net in the first period, only to be frustrated on all of them. They outshot the Flyers, 39-13, over two periods, yet found themselves down 3-0 after 40 minutes before losing by that frustrating 7-1 score.

Why do we bring that up? Well, going into tonight’s game at Wells Fargo Arena, it was the last time a Caps team has lost a hockey game in regulation in the regular season in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. That’s right. Against the Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins the Caps were 9-0-2 in their last eleven regular season visits to the Commonwealth heading into Thursday's game. And when they skated off the ice at Wells Fargo Arena, it was 10-0-2 after a 5-2 thumping of the Flyers.

One is tempted to say that the game was closer than the final score indicated, but the truth of the matter is, the apt description of this game is that it laid bare the current state of results of actions taken long before the first puck was dropped in this game. Actions taken last summer. On the one hand there was one team that added some grit on the forward lines, depth on defense, and elite goaltending. On the other was a team that moved a large part of the core that sustained it for the last several years, opting to try and forge a new chemistry. Oh, and add what they believe to be elite goaltending.

The results for a game at this early stage might not have been predictable, but their weren’t surprising. The Caps spotted the Flyers an early goal, then roared back with two quick strikes in the last 80 seconds of the first period and three more in the first five minutes of the third to turn a close game into a rout. A late goal by rookie Sean Couturier was like trying to put an evening gown on a pig for the home team in the 5-2 final.

Other stuff…

-- The Caps are a more complete product than are the Flyers at the moment. Certainly they got more out of their summer additions than did the Flyers. Roman Hamrlik and Joel Ward each scored their first goal in a Caps uniform, and Tomas Vokoun stopped 40 of 42 shots. Even Jeff Halpern, who did not figure in the scoring, won four of five defensive zone draws and five of six overall.

-- On the other side, the 51 Million Dollar Man stopped the first eight shots he saw, then allowed five goals on the last 20 he faced. For Ilya Bryzgalov, that makes him 1-0-1, 3.98, .872 in three appearances since shutting out New Jersey.

-- Every goal has a story before the puck hits the back of the net, usually one of hard work or smart play before the shot is taken. For instance, on the Caps’ first goal Mathieu Perreault played the kind of smart zone defense he is not often credited with playing. Patrolling the middle to prevent an exit pass, he did just that, stealing a blind pass that Flyer Scott Hartnell put right on his stick (it might have been the best pass of Hartnell’s recent career). And then Perreault did what one does in that situation…put the puck on net. It hit something on the way through and eluded Bryzgalov to tie the game.

-- On the second one, Alex Ovechkin whacked home a rebound into an open net. But it was Nicklas Backstrom beating Claude Giroux to a loose puck behind the Flyer net, getting position on him, then going strong to the net to force Bryzgalov to defend the near post. Backstrom was not able to stuff the puck in, but there was Ovechkin, playing low and positioning himself on the other side of the crease to whack in the rebound.

-- On the third one, Roman Hamrlik scored from long range, but it was the work of Matt Hendricks behind the net, fending off defenseman Andreas Lilja as he was circling behind the cage and pushing the puck out to Hamrlik, who then wristed it off Lilja’s stick to give the Caps a cushion and end a shift that Lilja will want to forget.

-- The fourth one was a product of a different-look power play. Alex Ovechkin wasn’t manning the Distant Early Warning Line 60 feet from the goal. He was in the middle of a 1-3-1 set up, and as Nicklas Backstrom held the puck on the right wing wall, he jumped into a void at the edge of the right wing circle where he snapped a pass from Backstrom past Bryzgalov before Maxime Talbot could close in and neutralize his stick.

-- On the last one, Joel Ward simply beat Kimmo Timonen to a spot and couldn’t be moved off his position by the smaller defender. But Ward doesn’t get a chance to deflect the puck behind Bryzgalov if defenseman Jeff Schultz doesn’t send a shot low along the ice. It is a basic, yet too often neglected skill.

-- At the other end of the ice, Tomas Vokoun continued his sizzling run of puck-stopping. Since allowing a goal at the 12:56 mark of the third period against Tampa Bay he has stopped 139 of 144 shots for a .965 save percentage, and he has a goals against average of 1.18.

-- Vokoun did not lack for work. Every Flyer skater registered at least one shot on goal except Andreas Nodl. It also happened that Nodl was the only Flyer with less than ten minutes of ice time, or he might have gotten one of his own.

-- That’s the fourth straight game in which Ovechkin finished with less than 20 minutes of ice time (tonight: 17:59). At first glance, one might think it a product of a deeper Caps power play that relieves him of some of that responsibility. But he is skating only about 40 fewer seconds a night on the power play than he averaged last season. His even strength time is down 1:28 from his average last season. That is where the Caps’ depth is being reflected.

-- This was an odd game for a goaltender in this respect. Goalies have to prepare for every shot, whether they get all the way through or not. Yes, Vokoun faced 42 shots on goal – not something one would like to see on a regular basis. But the Flyers had only 61 attempts, 19 of them either blocked or missing the net. The Caps had “only” 28 shots on goal, but finished with 64 attempts. Vokoun had a bigger shot workload, but did he have to expend that much more effort than Bryzgalov than the shot totals would suggest?

-- If Alex Ovechkin got the hard hat for his two-goal night, the fourth line should get the tool belt. Mathieu Perreault, Jeff Halpern, and Matt Hendricks finished 1-2-3, plus-5, had four hits, two takeaways, a blocked shot, and were 13-for-17 on faceoffs.

-- Speaking of the blocked shot for that line, it was half a foot away from being a disaster. Matt Hendricks dropped in front of a drive by Andrej Meszaros and took it right in the middle of his chest, on the third star above “Capitals” on his jersey. Painful as it had to be, six inches higher, and it might have been worse.

-- It had to happen in Philly. One might remember in the movie, “Rocky,” the title character is very proud of never having his nose broken in more than sixty fights, until he has his beak busted by Apollo Creed in Philadelphia. Well, Brooks Laich might not have had his nose broken (no report of it after the game), but it wasn’t for lack of effort by the Flyers. Twice he was the victim of high sticks in the schnozz, once courtesy of Braydon Coburn (a double-minor), once courtesy of Danny Briere, a penalty that would have been a double-minor had Laich not been bloodied by the earlier high-stick.

-- With Ovechkin’s power play goal tonight, that makes power play goals in five of six games (6-for-23) and four in a row. The Caps did not have a streak of four games with a power play goal all of last season. The last time they had a longer one was a seven-game streak, March 6-18, 2010. They were 4-1-2 in that sreak.

-- The Caps were 2-for-14 on faceoffs to start the game (14.3 percent), 26-for-45 to end it (57.8 percent).

-- And here’s one for the Schultz haters… Hits for the night: Jeff Schultz, 1 (in 16 minutes)…Chris Pronger, 1 (in 21 minutes).

In the end, what might have been anticipated as a close game at the start, and in fact was one through 40 minutes, ended up displaying the relative states of these teams. The Caps are deeper with more top-end talent that the Flyers, who are relying on Danny Briere and Claude Giroux to take up the slack after the departure of Mike Richards and Jeff Carter in the middle. And with Brayden Schenn , Sean Couturier, and Matt Read in the lineup they are uncharacteristically young, too. Whether that will yield dividends for the Flyers down the road, one cannot know. But one has to wonder about the differences between the pipes for these teams. Vokoun’s recent record we noted above, but as for Bryzgalov, in his last 15 games (including playoffs) he is 5-7-3, 3.04, .902, with one shutout (against, it should be noted, a team that isn’t especially frightful on offense – New Jersey, currently averaging barely a goal and half a game). He has allowed three or more goals in 11 of those 15 games.

But that’s the Flyers’ problem to solve. The Caps began a difficult stretch of their schedule – four of five opponents being playoff teams last season – on the right foot. A tough road test passed. It gets harder, though, with the Red Wings coming to town on Saturday.

Maybe they can play in Pennsylvania?

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Game 6, Capitals at Flyers, October 20th

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

The Capitals face their stiffest test of the young season with a visit to Philadelphia to take on the Flyers. The orange and black, fresh off a 7-2 thumping of an Ottawa Senator team that the Caps struggled to subdue, bring a 4-0-1 record into this contest. If recent history is a guide, the Caps will resume their propensity for playing games in extra time. Last season all four games in the series went to extra time, two of them to the Gimmick. The Caps finished 2-0-2 in those four games.

This season the series takes a dramatic twist. The Flyers no longer employ the services of Mike Richards and Jeff Carter, both of whom were banished to the Western Conference. But a familiar face takes one of those roster spots, a player who wore the red, white, and blue and who, ten years ago, ushered in a new, promising day in Capitals history. Here are some of the things said about him in those warm summer days of July 2001…

"Make no mistake: The Jagr Derby is a one-horse race and Sather's riding it."

-- Larry Brooks (New York Post); July 11, 2001. However, not long after that…the same day, in fact...

*****
“The Capitals just made their biggest, boldest and best move since acquiring Rod Langway on Sept. 10, 1982. In fact, it's even better then getting Langway. (Don't tell anyone, but Langway was a throw-in in that deal; the Caps were after Craig Laughlin all along.)

“The Caps got Jaromir Jagr. Who is only the best hockey player in the world.”

-- Tony Kornheiser, The Washington Post

*****
“With one bold move, the Capitals have taken themselves out of the also-ran category and stepped boldly into the national spotlight and into the realm of Stanley Cup contenders.”

-- Sandra McKee, The Baltimore Sun

*****
“Talk about your marketing makeovers. In their first 27 years of existence, the Washington Capitals struggled to even register on the radar of national sporting consciousness. ... But thanks to yesterday's trade for Jaromir Jagr, the Caps suddenly have their first true celebrity, a major draw for ticket buyers and a virtually certain significant presence on national TV.”

-- Eric Fisher, The Washington Times

*****
“Apparently, the Rangers weren't the only horse in the race. Either that or, while prancing obliviously along certain of victory, they got their doors blown off by a late-runner willing to dig in down the stretch.

“While Glen Sather was in midair yesterday, flying to a charity golf outing with old pal Harry Sinden and the legendary Bobby Orr, the Washington Capitals landed Jaromir Jagr ...”

-- John Dellapina, New York Daily News

And now, to the consternation of Penguin and Capitals fans, alike, Jaromir Jagr is a Philadelphia Flyer. It still hasn’t sunk in. Watching highlights of him has the hazy look of some weird PhotoShop experiment gone awry, an orange jersey worn where it doesn’t belong. Even the NHL doesn’t seem to believe it, his picture on his NHL.com web page taken with his smiling face and a Ranger jersey.

But here he is, in the early winter of his career, puttering along with 15 minutes and change of ice time a night, less than that skated by someone named “Matt Read.” He has an assist in four of the five games played so far for the Flyers. But his value might not be in the points he scores as much as the example is providing to teammates. There is the “Jagr Hockey School,” admission: free…as long as you’re willing to attend classes at 11:00 at night. Can a Caps fan imagine a Jagr having skated around an empty rink in the late evening in suburban Maryland with guys like Jeff Halpern, Dainius Zubrus, Brian Sutherby, and others in tow?

Me, neither.

As for the rest of the Flyers, here is how the club stands as of action before Wednesday's games as they prepare to host the Caps:

The Early Bird Catches the Cheese Steak

There really isn’t much of a secret to the Flyers’ early success. They go up on an opponent and force them to play catch-up. In four of five games so far the Flyers scored first (their last four, in fact). In no game have they trailed at either the first or second intermission. The NHL is a frontrunner’s league. Score first, and chances favor heavily your winning the game. The Flyers have done just that.

Share, and Share Alike

Twenty skaters have dressed for the Flyers so far this season. Sixteen of them have points. Of the four who do not, only Braydon Coburn – not known as a big point-getter – has played in all five games. Twelve players have goals, including someone with the improbable name of “Harrison Zolnierczyk,” who happens to own the last goal the Flyers scored, their seventh in a 7-2 win over Ottawa on Tuesday. We kid. Young Mr. Zolnierczyk hails from Brown University where he was Ivy League Player of the Year in 2010-2011. And his goal came in his first NHL game. Only thing is, he’s been returned to Adirondack in the AHL. One shot, one goal, one bus ticket.

The Early Bird Gets the Soft Pretzel

Four times the Flyers have scored first in a game. Twice, that was accomplished by Claude Giroux, of whom big things are hoped for, if not expected, now that Richards and Carter are gone. Three times he scored the Flyers’ first goal of the game. Giroux leads the Flyers in goals (four) and scoring (seven points) and, if you can call it a “pace” after five games, is on a pace to finish 66-49-115. In ten career games against the Caps he has had fair success – 4-2-6, minus-2, two power play goals. The thing is, though, right now he has four goals on 14 shots. We’re guessing a 28.6 percent shooting percentage isn’t going to hold up.

There is “physical,” and there is “physical.”

The Flyers are 24th in the league in hits, not exactly "bullying" in the Broad Street way. Defenseman Andrej Meszaros lead the team with 11. Five Caps have at least that many. On the other hand, the Flyers are second in the young season in fighting majors (five), although two players – Zac Rinaldo and Matt Walker – have two apiece. Think these two are in the Flyer tradition? Well, Rinaldo has a total of 28 minutes of ice time and 28 minutes in penalties. Fortunately for the Caps (and maybe for the Flyers as well), Rinaldo has been reassigned to Adirondack of the AHL. As for Walker, he has appeared in one game so far (Tuesday against Ottawa) and recorded two fights. He skated just under 16 minutes and recorded 16 minutes in penalties. Yeah, they fit.

It depends on what the meaning of “Bryz” is…

Almost lost in this is the play of the 51 Million Dollar Man, goalie Ilya Bryzgalov. He has made folks forget so farthe revolving door of goalies for the Flyers the past couple of years. A 1.99 goals against average and .927 save percentage with one shutout in four games will do that. Then again, Michael Leighton was 4-0-1, 1.57, .946 with one shutout in his first five games after joining the Flyers in 2009-2010. How did that work out? This is not to say that Bryzgalov is the talent equivalent of Leighton (the Flyers had better hope not, anyway), only that things can turn around for a goalie in a hurry. He has played pretty well against the Caps in limited appearances: 1-1-0, 2.53, .922. It might be worth noting that after allowing only one goal on 43 shots in his first two appearances this year (against Boston and New Jersey), he allowed seven on 66 shots in his next two (against Vancouver and Los Angeles)

The Peerless’ Players to Ponder

Philadelphia: Matt Read

Who IS this guy, anyway? He is second on the Flyers in scoring so far (2-4-6, plus-4). OK, he had a four point night against the Senators, but still. Actually, he is not without his honors – College Hockey America All-Rookie Team and Rookie of the Year; CHA Player of the Year and first all star team, and he was in the Frozen Four with his Bemidji State Beavers in 2009 in Washington, losing in the national semifinals. But come on…Matt Read?

Washington: Roman Hamrlik

Washington has allowed 11 goals in five games so far, and Roman Hamrlik has been on the ice for seven of them. It might not even be the seven that is of concern, but the “three.” The Caps have allowed three power play goals in five games, and Hamrlik has been on the ice for all of them. The Caps have exhibited extraordinary balance in terms of parceling out shorthanded ice time. No Cap defenseman has an average shorthanded ice time figure of more than two minutes a game (Karl Alzner, 1:57), and none have less than one minute a game (Mike Green, 1:15). Maintaining that balance depends on the burden of goals being spread in similarly even fashion. If one player is out there for a disproportionate share of power play goals against, keeping him out there would be a problem. We would like to think it’s just a phase, part of the learning process with a new team. But we’d like to see that process come to an end soon, too, especially against a team that is fifth in the league on the power play and tied for second at home.

Keys:

1. Score First. Well, duh. But as much as any rink in the NHL, it matters in Philadelphia. All things flow from that. It would be a novel thing for the Flyers to face this season, it would take their fans down a notch or three on the rabid drool meter, and it would force Bryzgalov to play to keep his team close instead of protecting a lead.

2. Diffuse Abuse. It’s their rink, and they have a reputation to uphold – one for being royal pains in the bee-hind. They will check, they will be chippy, they will do things after the whistle. Many things flow from that, too, if the Caps retaliate. Cheap penalties leading to power plays is like opening a packet of “instant landslide” of goals. The Caps haven’t been shorthanded more than five times in a game yet this season (and only once as many as five times). They keep it to four or fewer against the Flyers, their chances for a win improve.

3. Don’t let the Flyers find their inner “Zolnierczyk.” Philly leads the league in offense, but much of that is attributable to scoring that comes from places where, frankly, it shouldn’t. Sure, Giroux has four goals. But Matt Read has two, Maxime Talbot and Sean Couturier have chipped in one apiece. Three defensemen have goals. Don’t let the support players get cheap fill-in goals.

In the end, this is the first genuine test of the season of a team that combines depth of talent and hard work (Pittsburgh came up short on the talent part with their injuries). If the Caps play like they did against Tampa Bay, or even against Ottawa, this game will be over quickly and not in a fashion Caps fans will like. Adding to the drama is that with the reassignment of Zolneirczyk and Rinaldo to the AHL, Brayden Schenn has been recalled (he was 4-4-8, plus-3 in four games at Adirondack). Another weapon. The Caps and Tomas Vokoun had better be alert…and ready for some after-60 minute hockey.

Caps 4 – Flyers 3

A TWO-point night -- Game 5: Caps 3 - Panthers 0

Really!

The Washington Capitals made franchise history tonight by defeating the Florida Panthers, 3-0, for their fifth consecutive win. With the win, this Caps team now owns the mark for most consecutive wins to start a season. It was not an easy night for the home team, as the Panthers battled gamely but looked as if they succumbed to fatigue, having played their second road game in as many nights.

And this half of the Panthers’ back to back bore no resemblance, whatsoever, to the game they had in Tampa last night. Against the Lightning, Florida pelted goalie Dwayne Roloson with 33 shots, scoring on seven of them, five goals coming via the power play and another scored shorthanded. Tonight the Panthers mustered only 20 shots on Tomas Vokoun, who stopped them all for his 45th career shutout and his first for the Capitals.

At the other end of the ice, Jacob Markstrom played between the pipes in place of Jose Theodore, who grabbed the win last night. And of the two, Markstrom had the better night. He allowed two goals on 31 shots, and we’re guessing he would want both of them back. The first came on a power play early in the first period. With Scottie Upshall in the box for tripping Matt Hendricks, Nicklas Backstrom poked a loose puck from the faceoff circle down to Marcus Johansson at the goal line extended to the left of Markstrom. With no one in a white jersey jumping out to defend him, Johansson walked the line and snapped the puck from a severe angle under Markstrom. The goalie fell to his side, but the puck was under him, inching along the goal line. Markstrom rolled to try to find and smother the puck, but he managed only to whack the puck the rest of the way over the goal line with his stick. It was Johansson’s third goal of the season and what would be his second game-winner in as many games. If Mike Green is “Game-Over Green,” perhaps number 90 is “Game-Winner Johansson.”

The second goal was scored on the rare instance when Markstrom did not seem square and aligned with the puck. Mike Knuble started the play from the Caps’ end when he corralled a puck that almost got out of reach, then sent a long cross-ice pass to Semin heading down the right side. Semin backed defenseman Ed Jovanovski off, and as he was gliding through the right wing face-off circle snapped a wrister past Markstrom on the long side at 1:49 of the third period.

Other than that, Markstrom might have been the best player on the ice for either team. It’s one thing for a goalie to be big and fill the space, but to be as calm and economical as he was, yet athletic when he had to be means that shooters are almost always shooting with very little space available and only at low-probability scoring areas of the net. The Caps missed a fair number of shots tonight (officially, 15, but it seemed like more), but that might have been as much a product of Markstrom consistently giving them so little net to shoot at.

Still, the Caps solved him enough, and Vokoun did the rest with a couple of sparkling saves of his own, one in particular – a semi-breakaway by David Booth that was ticketed low on the far side, but that Vokoun deftly turned into the corner with his blocker in the second period when the outcome was still in doubt.

Other stuff…

-- Wanna bet the Caps do 2-on-1 drills for the shooters when they get a chance to practice? Twice in the second period the Caps had excellent opportunities to score on a 2-on-1 and didn’t get a shot on either one. The first had Brooks Laich and Jason Chimera dashing into the zone on Brian Campbell. Laich held the puck but telegraphed a pass to Chimera, and Campbell smothered it with his stick. On the other, Jeff Halpern and Mathieu Perreault went in on a 2-on-1, and Halpern tried to feed Perreault at the doorstep. But Perreault could not handle the pass, and the opportunity went by.

-- The Caps had the first nine shots of the game and did not allow a Panther shot on goal until the 11:37 mark of the first period. From that first Panther shot forward, the shots were relatively equal, 23-20 for the Caps. Those first nine shots, even though the Caps scored on one of them, represented a missed opportunity to take advantage of a green goalie and put a tired team away early.

-- The Caps had 12 power play opportunities in their first two games, five in their last three (one tonight). They are 3-for-5 in those five opportunities (including their lone chance tonight). They have power play goals in four of five games.

-- Awkward moment in the second period…shot goes to the net; Vokoun turns it aside. Alexander Semin and Matt Bradley end up tangled with one another on the ice in front of Vokoun.

-- Florida had three power plays, all of them killed off by the Caps. The Panthers did not so much as register a shot on goal in either of the first two.

-- That’s 99 saves on the last 102 shots Tomas Vokoun has faced dating back to the third period of the Tampa Bay game last Monday – a .971 save percentage.

-- Caps won the turnover battle (takeaways/giveaways) 30-17. Fourteen skaters split 21 takeaways.

-- Last night the Panthers had nine power plays and won 12 of 16 faceoffs on the man advantage. Tonight they had two power plays and split two draws in those situations. 24 hours can make a lot of difference.

-- Mike Knuble skated 11:50 tonight, the lowest amount of ice time since he skated 10:00 against Atlanta last November 10th. And he did not skate in the third period of that game. He did not have a shot attempt tonight.

-- Speaking of ice time, that’s three games in a row in which Alex Ovechkin skated fewer than 19 minutes (17:35 tonight).

-- The Caps spread the ice time around. Ovechkin’s 17:35 led all forwards; the defensemen had a high of 21:56 (Roman Hamrlik) and a low of 17:22 (Jeff Schultz).

-- They spread the shots around, too. No player had more than four (Semin), and seven had three or more. Ovechkin was not among them (two).

-- Folks got to see The Full Hendricks on display tonight. There was the nifty “show em the puck and pull it back” curl and drag that he’s used on a shootout that almost solved Markstrom in the second period. There was Hendricks getting under the skin of a couple of Panthers and tangling with Jack Skille briefly in the second (each drew a minor for roughing). He drew a penalty that ended in a Caps power play.  And there was Hendricks as a one-man pursuit team on Florida’s power play in the first period. On a 38-second penalty killing shift he was all over the ice harassing Panthers and pilfering pucks. Only Mathieu Perreault skated fewer shifts than the 15 Hendricks had, but he might get more excitement per shift than almost any other Cap.

In the end, wins are wins. Was it the best the Caps can play? No. Ovechkin is still misfiring, if he’s firing at all (four shot attempts). But he was trying different things and different looks. Adding that variety is a work in progress. The defense pairs can still have their moments of indecision. That should improve as the new pairs become more familiar with one another. But the shakedown portion of the early schedule is over. In their next five games the Caps will play teams that have a combined record at the moment of 16-4-3, and the worst of the individual records belongs to last year’s Stanley Cup runner-up, Vancouver (2-2-1). Three of those games are on the road, two of them (Edmonton and Vancouver) on a short western swing.

As long as Vokoun is playing the way he is, though, it would be hard to think of the Caps as a clear underdog in any of those games. Think back on what Bruce Boudreau said about Vokoun after his last game:

"I just thought [his] first game wasn't so good, the second game was really good and [Saturday, against Ottawa] was really, really good. So you hope [he] keeps adding one of those reallys into every game."

Vokoun might not have added a “really” in this game, but he’s still on “really, really.”

Really!

Data Mining -- The Florida Power Play

In his latest edition of his "Tuesday 10," E.J. Hradek says the following about the Florida power play:

"If you're wondering how the Lightning gave up five power-play goals in a single game, here's one telling stat: They lost 12 of 16 short-handed faceoffs. When you consistently lose possession of the puck off the draw in the defensive zone, you're putting yourself in danger."

Yup, sure enough, Florida was 12-for-16 on the power play.  But there is more to this story.  Looking only at draws taken in the Florida offensive zone, Stephen Weiss was 8-1 all by himself.  Tomas Kopecky took one (an won it).  Of those ten draws, here is how they played out:

1.  Weiss (win) at 4:35 of 1st period/goal scored by Kopecky at 6:15.  According to the NHL.com play-by-play record, there were no intervening events outside the Florida offensive zone.  Chalk one up for O-zone faceoff wins.

2.  Weiss (win) at 14:09 of 1st period.

3.  Weiss (win) at 16:21 of 1st period/goal scored by Weiss at 17:12.  No intervening events outside the Florida offensive zone.

4. Kopecky (win) at 0:46 of 2nd period.

5. Weiss (win) at 1:43 of 2nd period/goal by Versteeg at 2:35.  Between these events Tampa Bay won a neutral zone faceoff.

6.  Weiss (win) at 18:39 of 2nd period/(end of period).

7.  Weiss (win) at 8:33 of 3rd period.

8.  Weiss (win) at 15:52 of 3rd period.

9.  Weiss (loss) at 16:02 of 3rd period/goal by Garrison at 16:47

10.  Weiss (win) at 19:28 of 3rd period/(end of period, but Tampa Bay did record two shots on goal).

Fine so far, although this is one instance.  But consider this, too.  Of the five power play goals scored by Tampa Bay in this game, they came from an average of more than 40 feet (according to distances recorded in the NHL.com play-by-play record).  They were not exactly standing on the door-step.

Each of the five goals had a story, though...

1.  Kopecky at 6:15/1st.  The goal was scored from 56 feet, but it clearly hit a Tampa Bay defenseman's stick in front of goalie Dwayne Roloson and changed direction on its way to the net.

2.  Weiss at 17:12/1st.  Scored from a distance ot 47 feet, Roloson looked to be screened by his own player.

3.  Versteeg at 2:35/2nd.  A 20-fotter, Roloson looked to be slow getting across his crease to defend against a shot coming from a cross-ice pass.

4.  Versteeg at 0:26/3rd.  A goal from 26 feet out, looked to beat Roloson cleanly on short side.

5.  Garrison at 16:47/3rd.  Scored from 59 feet through a nice screen set up in front of Roloson, but that goal came after Florida lost the preceding faceoff.

What to conclude?  The notion that taking a lot of shorthanded faceoffs -- and losing them -- especially in one's own zone is a bad way to play a hockey game.  But it looks as if only two of the five goals can be attributed to that factor.  One of those ended up being scored as a result of bad luck (if you are Roloson), it being scored off a teammate's stick deflection.  By the same token, if you don't lose that D-zone faceoff, you aren't put in a situation where that can happen.  Another came on what looked like a screen by Roloson's own teammate, but again...don't lose the D-zone faceoff, and it might not have unfolded that way.

Two other goals looked to be on Roloson for not being in a good position to stop the puck, and the fifth was off a long shot through a maze of players, the kind of play that doesn't depend on losing a D-zone draw.

A lot of things go into allowing (or scoring) power play goals, but two things we can safely say about this as the game is about to begin in another 90 minutes or so between the Caps and Panthers.  One, Stephen Weiss seems to be pretty good about winning offensive zone draws on the power play.  Second...

...don't take so many penalties.

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Game 5, Panthers at Capitals, October 18th

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

It’s Game 5 of the young season, and the Caps are in search of setting a franchise mark for consecutive wins to start a season. Only three Caps teams have won four in a row to start a season, including the 2011-2012 edition, but none have won one for the thumb (or the big toe) so to speak. Tonight, the Caps will try to set that record when they host the Florida Panthers, a team that has more new parts than an octogenarian at a joint replacement clinic. To wit…

Sean Bergenheim (Tampa Bay)
Matt Bradley (Washington)
Tomas Fleischmann (Colorado)
Marcel Goc (Nashville)
Tomas Kopecky (Chicago)
Scottie Upshall (Columbus)
Kris Versteeg (Philadelphia)
Brian Campbell (Chicago)
Ed Jovanovski (Phoenix)
Jose Theodore (Minnesota)

And that doesn’t even include backup goaltender Jacob Markstrom, who spent last season (save for 40 minutes with the Panthers) in Rochester in the AHL. It makes one look at the Panther locker room as one big collection of new kids in school. And in that vein we took a look a the online how-to site “WikiHow” to get some advice on how to handle being the new kid in school and how this might have been translated to being the “new kids “in the Panther locker room…

1. Be confident. Walk with your head held high and don't slouch. If you look confident, everyone will think you're confident. That's why first impressions are so important.

Tough on goalies who are always dropping into that butterfly thing.

2. Get used to the school. This way you'll know where everything is. You also won't be embarrassed because you do not know where anything is.

New kid: "Hey...where's the playoff schedule?"
Old kid:  "This is Florida. We try to get outta here by April."

3. Pack a cold lunch on the first day. This way you will be able to get to the lunch room early and won't have to face the embarrassment of having no where to sit.

Cold lunch? It’s a hockey rink. Everything is cold.

4. Join in some after school activities. That way you will meet some friends that have the same interests as you. They may not go to the same school, but they're still friends, right?

New kid:  "Hey, anybody want to stick around and shoot some stick and puck a while?"
Old kid: "Hell-OH?  Florida?  Beaches?  Golf courses?  Women in bikinis?"

5. Introduce yourself to your new teachers. They will be glad that you can speak for yourself and will respect you for that. It may be hard for you but you do not have to do it in the middle of class!

“Hey coach, I’m Scottie…
“…Hey Scottie, I’m Mr. Dineen. Do you have any idea where the faculty lounge is here, I’m new.”

6. Try to look your best the first day of school. Wear your best outfit (not fancy), and do your hair nice and neat. Something like a plain shirt and jeans is fine. Remember, first impressions are important.

Shouldn’t have been a problem for Matt Bradley. Every day after the first day he’s likely to be sporting welts, bruises, or stitches from fights.  Just like a hockey player should.

7. Be confident. This is another first impression thing. People will respect you for being confident.

Sean: “Hey, any of you guys score nine goals in the playoffs last year?”
Matt: “Shut up.”

8. Be honest. If they asked you where you lived, don't lie, tell them the truth. Don't tell them you live at the White House.

Matt: "I lived at the White House..."
Tomas: [laughing] "No he didn't, he lived with Semin..."

9. Talk with the person who sits next to you. You'll make a friend you sit next to every day.

Jose: “Hi, my name is ‘Jose.’ I’m a goalie.”
Kris: “OOH! GOALIE COOTIES! GOALIE COOTIES!!”

And so it is for the new kids in the locker room. They do get to show what they’ve got on the ice, though. However, what they’ve got isn’t much on offense. In three games heading into Monday’s game with Tampa Bay, no Panther has more than one goal, and none have more than three points. Only Jack Skille among the 18 skaters having dressed so far is in “plus” territory for the young season. Here is how the Panthers break down so far…

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Return of the Native(s)

For Tomas Fleischmann and Matt Bradley, it is a homecoming of sorts. Until he was traded to Colorado for Scott Hannan last December, the Caps were the only NHL team Fleischmann played for at the NHL level. Bradley spent six seasons in Washington, playing in 417 regular season and 37 playoff games with the Caps. Their starts with the Panthers have been very different. Fleischmann has a goal and an assist in three games, while Bradley is last among 18 skaters so far in average ice time, getting a few ticks fewer than eight minutes a game. Bradley does not yet have a penalty minute this season. Perhaps he is saving himself for this game – he had 47 fights as a Capital, many of which turned his face the shade of the Diggory Venn character in the Hardy novel “Return of the Native.” Here is your fun Matt Bradley fact: In his last game played against the Caps he recorded a Gordie Howe Hat Trick, with a goal, an assist, and a fight (against Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre, to give you an inkling of how long ago that was) in a 4-3 Pittsburgh win over the Caps in the finale of the 2003-2004 season, the last game before the lockout.

Power Time

Only one player in the league averages more ice time than the 29:18 per game put up by Florida defenseman Brian Campbell thus far (the Rangers’ Dan Girardi), and none more than the 6:39 of power play ice time. But here’s the thing. He has one power play shot on goal in almost 20 minutes of power play ice time in three games. One would expect that number to change, especially since he has a career line of 20-99-119 on the power play over 629 career regular season games.  Just not in this game, we hope.

Special Time

Through three games the Panthers are fourth in the league in net special teams time (power play time less penalty killing time). Not that it matters this early in the season; Columbus is second, and they are 29th in the league in points. But it has contributed to the Panthers being one of the more efficient defensive teams in the league thus far, allowing only two goals per game. And that, in turn, has allowed Jose Theodore to sit in the eighth spot among goals against leaders (1.97/game) and 11th in save percentage (.930, with Detroit’s Jimmy Howard). It is all part of a piece. Don’t give other teams opportunities, and you have enough experience in goal to make it count in low goals allowed results.

On the Other Hand

The Panthers have not yet mastered putting pucks into the opponent’s net this season. Six goals in three games, all scored by different players. Three of them have come on the power play. The Panthers have a total of three even strength goals on 74 shots, a 4.1 percent shooting percentage. Sean Bergenheim, Kris Versteeg, and Jack Skille are the only Panthers who have recorded more than ten shots on goal on the season. None of them have an even-strength goal, and only Versteeg has a goal of any kind.

The Peerless’ Players to Ponder

Florida: Tomas Fleischmann

The easy pick here might have been Matt Bradley for it being his first appearance in Washington since his well-publicized comments about the team in general and their nonchalance, and Alexander Semin and his capacity to care about results. But that is a side show. The bigger matter is Fleischmann. On this team, it would be fair to expect him to be, if not the leading goal scorer and point getter, than certainly among them. If Florida is to contend for a playoff spot, Fleischmann almost certainly has to post career numbers in those areas. For the record, his best season was in Washington in 2009-2010 in which he was 23-28-51, plus-9 in 69 games.

Washington: Alexander Semin

No, not to try and make Bradley eat his words (for which, it must be noted, Bradley has apologized), but because he has a productive history against the Panthers (14-16-30, plus-6 in 35 career games). More to the point, half of Semin’s goals against the Panthers have come on the power play, and if there is one thing the Caps still need to establish, it is their ability to dominate teams when they enjoy a man advantage.

Keys:

1. Win the 5-on-5. Florida is not a good 5-on-5 team, particularly in terms of their ability to score goals. Three even strength goals in three games just is not going to get it done, and if the Panthers are held to this number in this game, it should end in the win column for the home team.

2. Be the Teacher. It appears at the moment that Jose Theodore, as the “hot goalie” for the Panthers, will get the nod on Monday night against Tampa Bay, meaning rookie Jacob Markstrom will make his first NHL start against the Caps in this one. Markstrom has a total of 40 minutes of NHL experience and will make his first start against one of the most formidable lineups in the league – on paper. The Caps need to provide an early lesson to the rookie and jump on him early.

3. No Fair Peeking. The Caps follow up this game with a game in Philadelphia on Thursday. That will be a much more meaningful game as a measuring stick than this one, all other things being equal, even if Florida is a division rival. And it would be natural to look ahead to that game. But if there is one reason the regular season “counts” it is in establishing good habits and not taking teams like Florida for granted. Not that they should. The Caps were 3-2-1 against the Panthers last season, although the Caps have probably the best player from that series for the Panthers now playing in goal for them in Tomas Vokoun.

In the end…

This is the last game that the Caps should be a prohibitive favorite for a while. After this, the Caps get the Flyers, Red Wings, a spunky Edmonton team on the road, Vancouver, and Anaheim before their next divisional game against Carolina on November 4th. Getting off to a 5-0-0 start isn’t just a matter of setting a franchise record, but one of banking points against teams they should and have to beat. The Caps have played too many one-goal games in a row already, and Florida is the kind of team that will look to keep things close and low-scoring. The wild-card is Markstrom, if he gets the call in goal for Florida. And the Caps need to give him a rude awakening to the lessons that need to be learned by young goaltenders in the NHL.

Caps 5 – Panthers 1

Looking Forward

In exchange for the New England Journal of Medicine's poster boy for the pathology of groin injuries, Semyon Varlamov, the Caps received from the Colorado Avalanche their first pick in the 2012 entry draft next June.  Many folks thought that pick might be a lottery pick.  So, from time to time we thought we would have a little fun with it and post the "Colorado Lottery Pick Meter" (Avs fans, it's all in fun, like photoshopping Ovechkin in a tutu or something). 

The meter runs from "1" to "30," the lower the number being worse for the Caps, for it reflects the Avalanche's place in the league standings.  For example, this morning they are fourth, according to NHL.com, and that had Caps GM George McPhee in a somewhat foul expression...

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