Lots of rumors about Nylander going to the Blackhawks. Well, your ol' pal Peerless has the intel on the top ten signs that a deal is imminent...
10. He comes into the locker room with football shoulder pads, announcing, "look, I'm the city of the big shoulders."
9. He asks how "da bearss" are doing against Bridgeport
8. When asked about his favorite SNL sketch, he doesn't miss a beat... "The Super Fans"
7. He sings "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" at the second intermission
6. When Washington beats San Jose, he goes back to the clubhouse screaming, "CAPS WIN! CAPS WIN! CU...UH, CAPS WIN!"
5. He starts talking about how much he likes "sassages" with his morning breakfast
4. Someone discovers he has Cristobal Huet on speed dial on his cell phone.
3. He's seen in front of his locker reading the latest Roger Ebert movie review in the Sun Times
2. A teammate overhears him ordering ahead for a Lou Malnati's deep dish
And the number one sign Michael Nylander is about to be traded...
1. Eklund DOESN'T post about it!
Friday, November 21, 2008
Melrose on coaching, broadcasting...
In Wednesday's St. Petersburg Times, Damian Cristodero wrote about former Lightning coach Barry Melrose and his alleged clashes with owners over players' ice time. Fine...that sort of thing is always an interesting read, but we have no idea how true it is.
However, we were taken by a quote later in the article from Melrose on another subject. Cristodero writes...
"Melrose predicted he "quickly" will be back in broadcasting. He also said his coaching days are over. 'It was perfect,' he said. 'My last game (Thursday) was against the Red Wings, the organization I started with. I think God was trying to tell me something.'"
Perfect? Detroit spotted Tampa Bay two goals before storming back with four of their own (three in the third period) to beat Tampa, 4-3.
Sometimes, God doesn't speak in mysterious ways. He just says, "get out!"
A NO-point night: Kings 5 - Caps 2
They just never got started.
Three shots in the first, six in the second. The Caps just never put enough early pressure on the Los Angeles Kings to remind them of which team had the 25 points and which team had the 16 points as the teams took the ice. The result is that the Kings got a lead, added to it, then padded it with a couple of late empty netters in beating the Caps, 5-2, last night in Los Angeles.
It was a night when things finally caught up with the Caps – the back-half of a back-to-back (following a game in which the Caps might have been tenderized for the Kings a bit by the Anaheim Ducks); the injuries that had piled up to Alexander Semin, Sergei Fedorov, Shaone Morrisonn (who returned last night), and Mike Green; a long run of success by the top line that finally fell a bit to earth (a combined -11 for the Ovechkin-Backstrom-Kozlov line).
It happens. So here are some observations…
The guys the Caps had to watch closely – Dustin Brown, Drew Doughty, and Patrick O’Sullivan – were the ones who did them in. They were the ones who gave the Kings the lead, broke the ensuing tie, and scored the game-winner. Brown added four hits, all of which might have been at the expense of Alex Ovechkin.
Maybe it’s a scoring thing, but 34 hits credited to the Kings? Only three skaters failed to record one. We can understand that might have been a strategy to employ against a team that had played the previous night against a physical opponent, but…34 hits? John Zeiler (you’ll be forgiven if you didn’t have him on your fantasy team – he was making his season debut last night) was credited with five in just over seven minutes of play. There are linebackers in the NFL who don’t get that many hits in a game.
How odd was the scoring on hits?...Michael Nylander was credited with one. That makes three for the year, if you’re counting.
Speaking of Doughty, we don’t get to see this guy a lot, given that he plays most of his games so late for us east-coasters. But if last night was representative of his play, he gets our quarter-pole nod for Calder Trophy favorite.
It isn’t often that the Caps get out-attempted on shots, especially against a team like the Kings that isn’t especially prolific to begin with. But the Caps were out-attempted, 67-55 last night, another indication that their legs just didn’t make the trip from Anaheim.
The power play bugaboo hit the Caps again…five opportunities, five shots (three of them by Ovechkin). Last night they had 11 shots (three goals) on seven opportunities.
The Caps had 12 blocked shots, certainly not a particularly high (or low) number…but Tyler Sloan had six of them.
The Caps took three shots in the first period…all by Alex Ovechkin from an average distance of 49 feet. Second period? Six shots (none from Ovechkin this time) from an average distance of 29 feet. Perhaps not coincidentally, the goal was scored on the shot taken closest to the net (Nicklas Backstrom on a deflection from nine feet). Sure, the Kings came into the game having allowed the fewest shots on goal in the league, but the Caps didn’t do a lot early to keep the Kings from imposing their will, either.
Three shots in the first, six in the second. The Caps just never put enough early pressure on the Los Angeles Kings to remind them of which team had the 25 points and which team had the 16 points as the teams took the ice. The result is that the Kings got a lead, added to it, then padded it with a couple of late empty netters in beating the Caps, 5-2, last night in Los Angeles.
It was a night when things finally caught up with the Caps – the back-half of a back-to-back (following a game in which the Caps might have been tenderized for the Kings a bit by the Anaheim Ducks); the injuries that had piled up to Alexander Semin, Sergei Fedorov, Shaone Morrisonn (who returned last night), and Mike Green; a long run of success by the top line that finally fell a bit to earth (a combined -11 for the Ovechkin-Backstrom-Kozlov line).
It happens. So here are some observations…
The guys the Caps had to watch closely – Dustin Brown, Drew Doughty, and Patrick O’Sullivan – were the ones who did them in. They were the ones who gave the Kings the lead, broke the ensuing tie, and scored the game-winner. Brown added four hits, all of which might have been at the expense of Alex Ovechkin.
Maybe it’s a scoring thing, but 34 hits credited to the Kings? Only three skaters failed to record one. We can understand that might have been a strategy to employ against a team that had played the previous night against a physical opponent, but…34 hits? John Zeiler (you’ll be forgiven if you didn’t have him on your fantasy team – he was making his season debut last night) was credited with five in just over seven minutes of play. There are linebackers in the NFL who don’t get that many hits in a game.
How odd was the scoring on hits?...Michael Nylander was credited with one. That makes three for the year, if you’re counting.
Speaking of Doughty, we don’t get to see this guy a lot, given that he plays most of his games so late for us east-coasters. But if last night was representative of his play, he gets our quarter-pole nod for Calder Trophy favorite.
It isn’t often that the Caps get out-attempted on shots, especially against a team like the Kings that isn’t especially prolific to begin with. But the Caps were out-attempted, 67-55 last night, another indication that their legs just didn’t make the trip from Anaheim.
The power play bugaboo hit the Caps again…five opportunities, five shots (three of them by Ovechkin). Last night they had 11 shots (three goals) on seven opportunities.
The Caps had 12 blocked shots, certainly not a particularly high (or low) number…but Tyler Sloan had six of them.
The Caps took three shots in the first period…all by Alex Ovechkin from an average distance of 49 feet. Second period? Six shots (none from Ovechkin this time) from an average distance of 29 feet. Perhaps not coincidentally, the goal was scored on the shot taken closest to the net (Nicklas Backstrom on a deflection from nine feet). Sure, the Kings came into the game having allowed the fewest shots on goal in the league, but the Caps didn’t do a lot early to keep the Kings from imposing their will, either.
If there was one Cap who did look to be working hard and giving the effort, it was Brooks Laich, who scored a goal, but more importantly was terrific in helping kill off a 5-on-3 power play, getting two blocked shots for his effort.
Unlike most of their recent history, this Kings team has the look of one that could be very good in a couple of years. They skate, work hard, play solid defense, and they have a young core. They are somewhat offensively challenged, but they look as though they have some promise in that area, too. Erik Ensberg wasn’t tested much, especially early, which can be hard on a young goalie in terms of focus. But he played a solid game backstopping the Kings, too. This will be a team to be reckoned with in years to come.
For the Caps, they might have been a bit weary from the contest against the Ducks, and they might have been peeking ahead a bit to the big game against the Sharks on Saturday. Whatever the case, they just didn’t show up with their usual high-tempo game, and the Kings took the initiative. Bruce Boudreau seemed to strike the right tone in describing the effort in his post game comments…
"I just think they were more emotionally into the game than we were at the beginning, and that's the part that's unacceptable. We weren't up to our standards by any stretch of the imagination. And once you let a team get on a roll like that, it's tough to stop them. They were taking away time and space and just working hard. It's that simple. But when you can't get a shot on goal even-strength, that means your team's not working hard enough."
That’s not a blistering attack on his team, but it is a fair statement of what took place. Again, it happens. It just shouldn’t happen again tomorrow night, because if it does…
Thursday, November 20, 2008
The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Caps vs. Kings, November 20th
The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE (yawn..) AIR!!!
After a stirring 6-4 win over the Anaheim Ducks, the Caps get right back to it tonight against the 7-8-2 Los Angeles Kings.
The Kings come in rested, not having played since being shut out by Anaheim, 2-0, last Sunday. From the looks of things, the Kings needed it. The loss to Anaheim was their second straight after peeling off four straight wins. Overall this season, the Kings are a club that hasn’t struggled as much as some might have expected, and that is due to contributions from the defense and timely goaltending, as the numbers suggest…
Record: 7-8-2
Standing: 4th in Pacific/T-12th in West
Goals-per-game: 2.41 (27th)
Goals allowed-per-game: 2.59 (T-8th)
5-on-5: 0.79 (T-25th)
Power play: 16.7% (T-17th)
Penalty killing: 86.1% (3rd)
Winning-pct/scoring first: 6-2-0/.750 (T-6th)
Winning-pct/trailing first: 1-6-2/.111 (28th)
What’s noteworthy about those numbers is that for a team predicted to struggle this year, they’ve hung around in games. They’ve scored first in eight of 17 games and have fared well when doing so. But, their record when trailing first is a reflection of an offense that hasn’t done a lot this year. And, they’ve struggled more lately – only once in their last ten games have the Kings scored more than three goals (a 5-3 win against St. Louis on November 8th). By way of comparison, the Caps have scored more than three goals five times in their last ten games.
Individually, the Kings are led in scoring by Anze Kopitar who, for someone playing in one of the world’s great media markets, is a comparative unknown. Perhaps contributing to his anonymity is his lack of goal-scoring. Following a 32-goal season last year, he has only two so far this year. If Kings fans are looking for a ray of hope here, both goals were scored at home.
The goal-scoring chores have so far been the responsibility of Dustin Brown (6-5-11, -2) and Jarret Stoll (6-2-8). Brown is a particularly interesting case and must be considered perhaps the most dangerous offensive weapon the Kings have. In three seasons, he’s gone from 14 to 17 to 33 goals – a handsome progression of improvement. His six so far puts him on a pace for 29.
A big surprise for the Kings is how Drew Doughty – the defenseman selected second overall in last June’s entry draft – has stepped right in and made significant contributions. In addition to his 2-4-6 scoring line, which ties him with Tom Preissing for the team lead among defensemen, he is a team best plus-6 and leads the team in ice time (22:48).
Speaking of defensemen, here is your odd Kings stat…the blueliners have scored, as a group, seven goals. Of that number, three are game winners (two by Kyle Quincey, one by Doughty).
In goal, Erik Ensberg has started seven straight games and performed quite well – 4-2-1, 1.98, .914. His overall goal-against average of 1.96 ranks fourth in the league. Given the hiatus since the last Kings game, one would expect former Caps bench boss Terry Murray to ride the hot goalie for this one.
The Peerless’ Players to Ponder
Los Angeles: Patrick O’Sullivan
The talented forward has not (yet?) blossomed into the sort of forward the Kings might have expected when taking him in the 2003 draft. This year, he started well but has struggled recently. After starting the year 3-3-6, +7 in his first six games, he is 0-1-1, -3 in ten games since. The Kings are a team that struggles on offense, perhaps due in part to the lack of production from O’Sullivan, from whom contributions are expected. Given how the Caps are scoring these days, getting something more than two goals is a requirement for the Kings if they are to compete in this game. And to do that, they need O’Sullivan to get off the schneid.
Washington: Tom Poti
If Mike Green’s shoulder won’t allow him to go, Poti is going to assume more of the burden on offense, both at even strength and on the power play. Poti is already third on the team in ice time (21:27) and second to Green among defensemen. The Caps woke up from a power play funk in last night’s win over Anaheim. If they are to continue that, Poti could be a key ingredient tonight.
Since the Caps are doing so well, we have a sparkle in our eye, and a song in our prognosticatorial heart…so we’ll leave it with a song (with our apologies to Randy Newman)…
Hate New York City
It's cold and it's damp
And all the Rangers looks like donkeys
Let's leave Chicago to the Blackhawks
That team's a little bit too ragged
For you and me you Caps fans
Rollin' down the Imperial Highway
With a big nasty redhead at my side
Santa Ana winds blowin' hot from the north
And we as born to ride
Jump over the boards, skate down the ice
Put on the intro baby
It’s all so very nice
We're gonna ride it till we just can't ride it no more
From our blue line to their goal line
From the end boards to the corners
Everybody's very happy
'Cause the goals are coming all the time
Looks like another perfect day
We’ll beat L.A. (We’ll beat ‘em!)
We’ll beat L.A. (We’ll beat ‘em!!)
Look at that goalie
Look at those D’s
Look at that bum over there, man
We’ll score on him with ease
Look at these Caps
There ain't nothin' like 'em nowhere
Alex Ovechkin (We love him)
Nicklas Backstrom (We love him)
Donald Brashear (We love him)
John-ny (We love him, we love him)
We’ll beat L.A. (We’ll beat ‘em!)
We’ll beat L.A. (We’ll beat ‘em!!...We’ll beat ‘em!!)
Beat ‘em, indeed…
Caps 4 – Kings 2
After a stirring 6-4 win over the Anaheim Ducks, the Caps get right back to it tonight against the 7-8-2 Los Angeles Kings.
The Kings come in rested, not having played since being shut out by Anaheim, 2-0, last Sunday. From the looks of things, the Kings needed it. The loss to Anaheim was their second straight after peeling off four straight wins. Overall this season, the Kings are a club that hasn’t struggled as much as some might have expected, and that is due to contributions from the defense and timely goaltending, as the numbers suggest…
Record: 7-8-2
Standing: 4th in Pacific/T-12th in West
Goals-per-game: 2.41 (27th)
Goals allowed-per-game: 2.59 (T-8th)
5-on-5: 0.79 (T-25th)
Power play: 16.7% (T-17th)
Penalty killing: 86.1% (3rd)
Winning-pct/scoring first: 6-2-0/.750 (T-6th)
Winning-pct/trailing first: 1-6-2/.111 (28th)
What’s noteworthy about those numbers is that for a team predicted to struggle this year, they’ve hung around in games. They’ve scored first in eight of 17 games and have fared well when doing so. But, their record when trailing first is a reflection of an offense that hasn’t done a lot this year. And, they’ve struggled more lately – only once in their last ten games have the Kings scored more than three goals (a 5-3 win against St. Louis on November 8th). By way of comparison, the Caps have scored more than three goals five times in their last ten games.
Individually, the Kings are led in scoring by Anze Kopitar who, for someone playing in one of the world’s great media markets, is a comparative unknown. Perhaps contributing to his anonymity is his lack of goal-scoring. Following a 32-goal season last year, he has only two so far this year. If Kings fans are looking for a ray of hope here, both goals were scored at home.
The goal-scoring chores have so far been the responsibility of Dustin Brown (6-5-11, -2) and Jarret Stoll (6-2-8). Brown is a particularly interesting case and must be considered perhaps the most dangerous offensive weapon the Kings have. In three seasons, he’s gone from 14 to 17 to 33 goals – a handsome progression of improvement. His six so far puts him on a pace for 29.
A big surprise for the Kings is how Drew Doughty – the defenseman selected second overall in last June’s entry draft – has stepped right in and made significant contributions. In addition to his 2-4-6 scoring line, which ties him with Tom Preissing for the team lead among defensemen, he is a team best plus-6 and leads the team in ice time (22:48).
Speaking of defensemen, here is your odd Kings stat…the blueliners have scored, as a group, seven goals. Of that number, three are game winners (two by Kyle Quincey, one by Doughty).
In goal, Erik Ensberg has started seven straight games and performed quite well – 4-2-1, 1.98, .914. His overall goal-against average of 1.96 ranks fourth in the league. Given the hiatus since the last Kings game, one would expect former Caps bench boss Terry Murray to ride the hot goalie for this one.
The Peerless’ Players to Ponder
Los Angeles: Patrick O’Sullivan
The talented forward has not (yet?) blossomed into the sort of forward the Kings might have expected when taking him in the 2003 draft. This year, he started well but has struggled recently. After starting the year 3-3-6, +7 in his first six games, he is 0-1-1, -3 in ten games since. The Kings are a team that struggles on offense, perhaps due in part to the lack of production from O’Sullivan, from whom contributions are expected. Given how the Caps are scoring these days, getting something more than two goals is a requirement for the Kings if they are to compete in this game. And to do that, they need O’Sullivan to get off the schneid.
Washington: Tom Poti
If Mike Green’s shoulder won’t allow him to go, Poti is going to assume more of the burden on offense, both at even strength and on the power play. Poti is already third on the team in ice time (21:27) and second to Green among defensemen. The Caps woke up from a power play funk in last night’s win over Anaheim. If they are to continue that, Poti could be a key ingredient tonight.
Since the Caps are doing so well, we have a sparkle in our eye, and a song in our prognosticatorial heart…so we’ll leave it with a song (with our apologies to Randy Newman)…
Hate New York City
It's cold and it's damp
And all the Rangers looks like donkeys
Let's leave Chicago to the Blackhawks
That team's a little bit too ragged
For you and me you Caps fans
Rollin' down the Imperial Highway
With a big nasty redhead at my side
Santa Ana winds blowin' hot from the north
And we as born to ride
Jump over the boards, skate down the ice
Put on the intro baby
It’s all so very nice
We're gonna ride it till we just can't ride it no more
From our blue line to their goal line
From the end boards to the corners
Everybody's very happy
'Cause the goals are coming all the time
Looks like another perfect day
We’ll beat L.A. (We’ll beat ‘em!)
We’ll beat L.A. (We’ll beat ‘em!!)
Look at that goalie
Look at those D’s
Look at that bum over there, man
We’ll score on him with ease
Look at these Caps
There ain't nothin' like 'em nowhere
Alex Ovechkin (We love him)
Nicklas Backstrom (We love him)
Donald Brashear (We love him)
John-ny (We love him, we love him)
We’ll beat L.A. (We’ll beat ‘em!)
We’ll beat L.A. (We’ll beat ‘em!!...We’ll beat ‘em!!)
Beat ‘em, indeed…
Caps 4 – Kings 2
A TWO-point night: Caps 6 - Ducks 4
“Thanks, Coach.”
It’s one thing to shutout the Los Angeles Kings, a team that is 27th in the league in goals-per-game, but when Randy Carlyle rewarded goalie Jonas Hiller with another start after such an effort, he might not have been doing the youngster any favors. Hiller moved up in weight class and promptly wilted, giving up three goals on seven shots in less than six minutes as the Caps made it eight in a row without a loss in regulation with a 6-4 win over Anaheim last night.
What we saw (with one eye open as the game went past midnight)…
Alex Ovechkin went 1-3-4 last night to add another game to his blazing streak (6-11-17, +15 in his last seven games). He is now 8-14-22, +18 after 16 games. In his first 16 games last year, he was 10-8-18, +4.
Brian Sutherby played 4:35 last night. His score sheet line?...
It’s one thing to shutout the Los Angeles Kings, a team that is 27th in the league in goals-per-game, but when Randy Carlyle rewarded goalie Jonas Hiller with another start after such an effort, he might not have been doing the youngster any favors. Hiller moved up in weight class and promptly wilted, giving up three goals on seven shots in less than six minutes as the Caps made it eight in a row without a loss in regulation with a 6-4 win over Anaheim last night.
What we saw (with one eye open as the game went past midnight)…
Alex Ovechkin went 1-3-4 last night to add another game to his blazing streak (6-11-17, +15 in his last seven games). He is now 8-14-22, +18 after 16 games. In his first 16 games last year, he was 10-8-18, +4.
Brian Sutherby played 4:35 last night. His score sheet line?...
...yup, that’s it.
The win came at a price. Mike Green flew awkwardly into the boards after being hit by Chris Pronger, injuring his shoulder. He did not return after that first period hit.
Getting the Young Guns on the score sheet is one thing (Ovechkin, Green, and Nicklas Backstrom were a combined 3-4-7, +2), but the Caps had goals from Tomas Fleischmann, David Steckel, and Matt Bradley, and had points from a total of 12 players.
The three power play goals was a first this year and the most the Caps have had in a game since netting four in a 10-2 win against Boston on March 3rd last season.
The watchword was “simple”…as in, “"We just tried to play simple. This is our key. We sometimes try to be too fancy. Tonight, we just shoot the puck, control the puck and get some traffic to the net. You see the result." So said Alex Ovechkin, anyway. The Caps had eight power plays, of which they converted three into goals. Just as important, they had 11 shots on those power plays coming from eight different players.
John Erskine…19 minutes, plus-1, a hit, a takeaway, and he was not on the ice for any Ducks’ goals. No, he’s not facing the top scoring lines (Corey Perry, Bobby Ryan, and Ryan Getzlaf combined to go 3-5-8), but he’s not making bad mistakes out there that lead to other players getting on the scoreboard and making things even more difficult for the Caps and their goaltenders.
Matt Bradley…a goal (the game winner), three hits, a couple of takeaways. He made us look pretty good out there.
After Ovechkin’s goal, you knew it was coming…Brashear…Parros. The Caps withstood that bit of mischief to score the next two goals. Good teams do that.
Good teams don’t let the other guys get a whiff of comeback when getting out to a 6-2 lead, though.
It’s going to be hard to sit, let alone send down, Tyler Sloan once Shaone Morrisonn is healthy. 20 minutes, a hit, three blocked shots. He was on the ice only for Anaheim’s last goal, on a power play (and that wasn’t the brightest interference penalty taken by Ovechkin that led to it). Only Tom Poti had more penalty killing time among defensemen (6:11) than Sloan’s 4:51.
That was a career high five shots on goal for David Steckel. Add in a goal, an assist, a takeaway, and winning three of five draws, and it was a pretty good night.
“One gets the feeling he’s going to be very, very good, or very, very bad.” So we said of Jean-Sebastien Giguere before the game...he resembled more the latter than the former. Too many rebounds. He got off lucky giving up only three goals.
All in all, a very good game for the offense and the power play in particular, a somewhat indifferent game on defense and in goal. The Caps needed to do a better job of standing on the Duck’s throats and not letting them up with those two goals in less than 90 seconds in the third period to give them a breath of life. But they held on against a difficult team that had been playing pretty well of late. A nice start to the western trip. Well done, boys.
The win came at a price. Mike Green flew awkwardly into the boards after being hit by Chris Pronger, injuring his shoulder. He did not return after that first period hit.
Getting the Young Guns on the score sheet is one thing (Ovechkin, Green, and Nicklas Backstrom were a combined 3-4-7, +2), but the Caps had goals from Tomas Fleischmann, David Steckel, and Matt Bradley, and had points from a total of 12 players.
The three power play goals was a first this year and the most the Caps have had in a game since netting four in a 10-2 win against Boston on March 3rd last season.
The watchword was “simple”…as in, “"We just tried to play simple. This is our key. We sometimes try to be too fancy. Tonight, we just shoot the puck, control the puck and get some traffic to the net. You see the result." So said Alex Ovechkin, anyway. The Caps had eight power plays, of which they converted three into goals. Just as important, they had 11 shots on those power plays coming from eight different players.
John Erskine…19 minutes, plus-1, a hit, a takeaway, and he was not on the ice for any Ducks’ goals. No, he’s not facing the top scoring lines (Corey Perry, Bobby Ryan, and Ryan Getzlaf combined to go 3-5-8), but he’s not making bad mistakes out there that lead to other players getting on the scoreboard and making things even more difficult for the Caps and their goaltenders.
Matt Bradley…a goal (the game winner), three hits, a couple of takeaways. He made us look pretty good out there.
After Ovechkin’s goal, you knew it was coming…Brashear…Parros. The Caps withstood that bit of mischief to score the next two goals. Good teams do that.
Good teams don’t let the other guys get a whiff of comeback when getting out to a 6-2 lead, though.
It’s going to be hard to sit, let alone send down, Tyler Sloan once Shaone Morrisonn is healthy. 20 minutes, a hit, three blocked shots. He was on the ice only for Anaheim’s last goal, on a power play (and that wasn’t the brightest interference penalty taken by Ovechkin that led to it). Only Tom Poti had more penalty killing time among defensemen (6:11) than Sloan’s 4:51.
That was a career high five shots on goal for David Steckel. Add in a goal, an assist, a takeaway, and winning three of five draws, and it was a pretty good night.
“One gets the feeling he’s going to be very, very good, or very, very bad.” So we said of Jean-Sebastien Giguere before the game...he resembled more the latter than the former. Too many rebounds. He got off lucky giving up only three goals.
All in all, a very good game for the offense and the power play in particular, a somewhat indifferent game on defense and in goal. The Caps needed to do a better job of standing on the Duck’s throats and not letting them up with those two goals in less than 90 seconds in the third period to give them a breath of life. But they held on against a difficult team that had been playing pretty well of late. A nice start to the western trip. Well done, boys.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Sittin' at the end of the bar
If you go to NHL.com and take a look at the All-Star voting this morning, you’ll see that Montreal Canadiens occupy all six Eastern Conference starting positions, five of them by more than twice as many votes as their nearest non-Canadien pursuers. Seems the fans of Hab Nation have figured out a way to game the system. Oh, it might have been “corrected” by the slow-footed folks at NHL.com, but we’re reminded of a time honored tradition in sports, captured in the oft-quoted statement, “if you’re not cheating, you’re not trying.”
Did Habs fans cheat? Did they play dirty? Shoot, we’ll bet somewhere, Dale Hunter is smiling.
*****
Steve Eminger is now the sixth leading scorer for the Lightning and the top scorer among their defensemen.
Did we just see the sun stop in the sky?
*****
In case you weren’t paying attention in all the Geno-love these days, his fellow Pennsylvanian, Simon Gagne, is making quite a comeback for the Flyers…tied for fourth in scoring (22 points) and goals (11), tops in short-handed goals (four), fifth in shooting percentage, and plus-8.
*****
Who is Devin Setoguchi, and how did he get to be tied for fourth (with Gagne) in scoring?
*****
Alex Ovechkin’s slump might be over, but whatever he had, it seems Ilya Kovalchuk has it. The Thrasher forward has only one multi-goal game this year (he had eight last year, total, and three by this time last year) and trails both Vyatcheslav Kozlov and Brian Little (Brian Little?) on his own team. He’s a streaky sort, so something might break pretty soon for this guy.
*****
One wonders…Do Minnesota Wild players play a “system” even in the boudoir? Geez, they could make whoopee boring. That game against the Pittsburgh Penguins last night…the NHL had better have a deal with Versus to burn all evidence of that game having been played. Those weren’t blue uniforms the Penguins were wearing, that was the color of their skin from the energy being taken out of their game. It worked, though, so $#@& you, Peerless!
*****
Jay Bouwmeester…0-6-6, -8, 24 PIMS. He’s on a pace for his lowest scoring total from the blue line (on a points-per-game basis) since his second year, the highest PIMS total of his career (he’s currently tied for 11th in minor penalties taken), and is on his way to his worst plus-minus as a pro. We don’t know if he’s costing himself money in the long run, but about that return Florida is going to get at the trading deadline for him?...That might be another story.
*****
The Ducks might be anxious to have Alexander Semin sitting in the press box tonight. You really don’t want this guy coming into your building. In eight road games this year, he is 5-10-15, +7. Among players playing at least five road games, Semin has the second best points-per-game average (if you had Lee Stempniak as number one, would you pick my Powerball numbers for me?).
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Caps vs. Ducks, November 19th
The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!
I found out long ago
It's a long way down the holiday road
Holiday road
Holiday road
It’s off to Anaheim for a tilt with the Mighty Ducks, and since we don’t get out here too much, we thought we’d take advantage of the tips and tricks learned by that holiday road warrior, himself…Clark Griswold. Clark, thanks for having us along. Are you anxious to get a chance to see Alex Ovechkin and the Caps?…
“Well, it’s like I told my wife, ‘It's living history, Ellen. But if you'd rather see your cousins...personally I'd rather see a pile of mud than Eddie.’”
The Caps are playing the first game of a western road trip. They’ve been very good at home, but they’ve struggled on the road. You’re an experienced road-tripper, Clark. What do you tell the boys?
“The old west was dirty. Everything isn't like home. If everything were like home, there would be no reason for leaving home. Right, Rusty?”
It’s “Peerless.”
“Whatever…”
Clark, I know you’re something of a hockey fan, and you know that the season is no “vacation,” so to speak, but you also know it’s not all grim faces and such. What do you tell the boys in an effort to balance the two?
“I'll tell you something. This is no longer a vacation. It's a quest. It's a quest for fun. I'm gonna have fun and you're gonna have fun. We're all gonna have so much f**king fun we'll need plastic surgery to remove our goddamn smiles. You'll be whistling 'Zip-A-Dee Doo-Dah' out of you're a**holes! I gotta be crazy! I'm on a pilgrimage to get a Cup. Praise the Stanley Cup!”
Well, the Caps have been "zip-a-dee-doo-dah-ing” at home, but now they’re touring the west hoping to add to the pile of wins they’ve been stacking up lately.
In Anaheim, the local hockey team might have discarded the word “mighty” from their name, but not from their play. The Ducks started the year poorly, losing their first four and five of their first six, but have since gone 9-2-2, averaging 3.3 goals a game in the process, while giving up 2.8 goals. Their overall performance looks like this...
While the Ducks have been scoring and allowing goals at a somewhat brisk pace, one thing about th
eir game remains a constant. The Ducks that led the NHL with 17.8 penalty minutes a game in their Stanley Cup-winning year of 2006-2007 don’t lead the league in PIMS thus far, but their 19.5 penalty minutes a game is still good for fourth in the league. Their 20 fighting majors is tied with Vancouver for the league lead. In fact, the Ducks might as well practice at the Kronk Gym (if it wasn’t in Detroit) as at Anaheim ICE. Nine different players have fighting majors, led by George “Did You Like Me As An Extra in ‘The Magnificent Seven’” Parros, who has five.
As far as actual hockey type skills are concerned, Washington has its “Young Guns,” but Anaheim has its Dynamic Duo of Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry. The two have combined for 13 goals and 29 assists to take the top two spots in the Ducks’ scoring ranking. Getzlaf got off to a rough start, going 0-1-1, -5 in his first six games, but he is 7-14-21, +9 in his last dozen contests. He had a five points game (0-5-5) against Detroit on October 29th. He hasn’t had much experience against the Caps, notching an assist in two games against Washington.
Perry started as slowly as did Getzlaf, also going 0-1-1 in his first six games (with a minus-4 to go along with it), but is 6-13-19, +9 in his last 13 games. He had a five-point game of his own (1-4-5) against Vancouver on Hallowe’en. In his two games against Washington, he has one goal (what, are he and Getzlaf joined at the hip?...ok, maybe they are).
Teemu Selanne, who (contrary to urban legend) did not skate along Wayne Gretzstone for the Bedrock Neanderthals of the Pangaea Hockey League, is still contributing at age 38. He leads the team with nine goals, which also ranks in the top dozen in the league. Having played in the Western Conference for his entire career, he doesn’t get many looks at the Caps, but he’s made the most of his opportunities. In 21 career games, he is 17-16-33, +22.
The former Cap angle is covered by Brian Sutherby, who is the sixth-ranked scorer on this team (3-3-6). He’s also second in plus-minus (+6) and tied for third in fighting majors (three). All this for 7:21 a game in ice time (only Brad May and George Parros have less). This will be his first matchup against his former team.
On defense, the Ducks have a solid group led by Chris Pronger, Scott Niedermayer, and Francois Beauchemin (who is on injured reserve and is out for the rest of the year), who have combined to go 10-19-29. But the Caps might be renewing acquaintances with an old adversary, too. Bret Hedican, who played for ten seasons in the Southeast Division with the Panthers and the Hurricanes, could be playing in his 999th career game tonight. 50 of those have been against the Caps, in which he is 3-7-10, -6.
In goal, chances are that the Caps will see Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who has spun off into a ditch in his last three games. After winning six consecutive decisions in seven appearances (his no-decision being one in which he was pulled after allowing four goals on 13 shots against Vancouver), he is 0-2-1, 4.51, .851, in his last three and was pulled against Dallas after once more allowing four goals on 13 shots. In fact, the six winning decisions in a row is somewhat misleading. Giguere has allowed four goals in each of five games out of his last ten, displaying an inconsistency that has crept into his game this year. In 15 appearances, he has two shutouts, but he also has allowed at least four goals eight times. It is little wonder that his overall numbers – 3.21 GAA and .905 save percentage – rank in the lower half of the NHL rankings. He has had success in his limited experience against the Caps, though – 3-1-0-1, 1.39, .951, with two shutouts. One gets the feeling he’s going to be very, very good, or very, very bad.
If it isn’t Giguere and his inconsistency, it might be Jonas Hiller and his comparative lack of experience. Hiller is 3-1-1, 2.18, .926 and a shutout in six appearances this year. He was 10-7-1, 2.06, .927 in 23 appearances last year, so he’s at least mastered the job of being an effective backup. If Giguere continues his ups and downs, Hiller might be getting more responsibility. He has never faced the Caps.
The Peerless’ Players to Ponder
Anaheim: Samuel Pahlsson
In 2006-2007, Pahlsson anchored what we thought was a benchmark “in your face” line. Last year he missed 26 games to a sports hernia. He’s apparently healthy again, and he could be called upon to help shut down the hottest Caps – the numbers one and two stars in the NHL last week, Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin. It will be a tall order.
Washington: Matt Bradley
Anaheim relies on physical intimidation as a part of their strategy. That is something not limited to fighting heavyweights, but is something that pervades their roster. That could make the contributions of a player such as Bradley important, not so much for dropping the gloves, but for standing firm against the style the Ducks choose to play. Washington has a lot of skill guys who do not, as a rule, relish contact. It would be expected that the Ducks will test this early and often. Bradley is a guy who can help even the odds.
This is as clear a contrast in styles as one is likely to see – Anaheim’s in-your-face, bare-knuckled approach versus the Caps attacking with waves of skill and speed. It will be important for the Caps not to fall behind. Anaheim is undefeated in seven games in which they have carried a lead into the final period. If the Caps can withstand the figurative (or literal) punch in the nose they’ll get early and post a goal or two, this will be a much easier task, especially against the inconsistent Giguere. It’s like the song in the movie…
Jack be nimble, Jack be quick
Take a ride on the West Coast kick…
Caps 5 – Ducks 3
I found out long ago
It's a long way down the holiday road
Holiday road
Holiday road
It’s off to Anaheim for a tilt with the Mighty Ducks, and since we don’t get out here too much, we thought we’d take advantage of the tips and tricks learned by that holiday road warrior, himself…Clark Griswold. Clark, thanks for having us along. Are you anxious to get a chance to see Alex Ovechkin and the Caps?…
“Well, it’s like I told my wife, ‘It's living history, Ellen. But if you'd rather see your cousins...personally I'd rather see a pile of mud than Eddie.’”
The Caps are playing the first game of a western road trip. They’ve been very good at home, but they’ve struggled on the road. You’re an experienced road-tripper, Clark. What do you tell the boys?
“The old west was dirty. Everything isn't like home. If everything were like home, there would be no reason for leaving home. Right, Rusty?”
It’s “Peerless.”
“Whatever…”
Clark, I know you’re something of a hockey fan, and you know that the season is no “vacation,” so to speak, but you also know it’s not all grim faces and such. What do you tell the boys in an effort to balance the two?
“I'll tell you something. This is no longer a vacation. It's a quest. It's a quest for fun. I'm gonna have fun and you're gonna have fun. We're all gonna have so much f**king fun we'll need plastic surgery to remove our goddamn smiles. You'll be whistling 'Zip-A-Dee Doo-Dah' out of you're a**holes! I gotta be crazy! I'm on a pilgrimage to get a Cup. Praise the Stanley Cup!”
Well, the Caps have been "zip-a-dee-doo-dah-ing” at home, but now they’re touring the west hoping to add to the pile of wins they’ve been stacking up lately.
In Anaheim, the local hockey team might have discarded the word “mighty” from their name, but not from their play. The Ducks started the year poorly, losing their first four and five of their first six, but have since gone 9-2-2, averaging 3.3 goals a game in the process, while giving up 2.8 goals. Their overall performance looks like this...
While the Ducks have been scoring and allowing goals at a somewhat brisk pace, one thing about th
eir game remains a constant. The Ducks that led the NHL with 17.8 penalty minutes a game in their Stanley Cup-winning year of 2006-2007 don’t lead the league in PIMS thus far, but their 19.5 penalty minutes a game is still good for fourth in the league. Their 20 fighting majors is tied with Vancouver for the league lead. In fact, the Ducks might as well practice at the Kronk Gym (if it wasn’t in Detroit) as at Anaheim ICE. Nine different players have fighting majors, led by George “Did You Like Me As An Extra in ‘The Magnificent Seven’” Parros, who has five.As far as actual hockey type skills are concerned, Washington has its “Young Guns,” but Anaheim has its Dynamic Duo of Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry. The two have combined for 13 goals and 29 assists to take the top two spots in the Ducks’ scoring ranking. Getzlaf got off to a rough start, going 0-1-1, -5 in his first six games, but he is 7-14-21, +9 in his last dozen contests. He had a five points game (0-5-5) against Detroit on October 29th. He hasn’t had much experience against the Caps, notching an assist in two games against Washington.
Perry started as slowly as did Getzlaf, also going 0-1-1 in his first six games (with a minus-4 to go along with it), but is 6-13-19, +9 in his last 13 games. He had a five-point game of his own (1-4-5) against Vancouver on Hallowe’en. In his two games against Washington, he has one goal (what, are he and Getzlaf joined at the hip?...ok, maybe they are).
Teemu Selanne, who (contrary to urban legend) did not skate along Wayne Gretzstone for the Bedrock Neanderthals of the Pangaea Hockey League, is still contributing at age 38. He leads the team with nine goals, which also ranks in the top dozen in the league. Having played in the Western Conference for his entire career, he doesn’t get many looks at the Caps, but he’s made the most of his opportunities. In 21 career games, he is 17-16-33, +22.
The former Cap angle is covered by Brian Sutherby, who is the sixth-ranked scorer on this team (3-3-6). He’s also second in plus-minus (+6) and tied for third in fighting majors (three). All this for 7:21 a game in ice time (only Brad May and George Parros have less). This will be his first matchup against his former team.
On defense, the Ducks have a solid group led by Chris Pronger, Scott Niedermayer, and Francois Beauchemin (who is on injured reserve and is out for the rest of the year), who have combined to go 10-19-29. But the Caps might be renewing acquaintances with an old adversary, too. Bret Hedican, who played for ten seasons in the Southeast Division with the Panthers and the Hurricanes, could be playing in his 999th career game tonight. 50 of those have been against the Caps, in which he is 3-7-10, -6.
In goal, chances are that the Caps will see Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who has spun off into a ditch in his last three games. After winning six consecutive decisions in seven appearances (his no-decision being one in which he was pulled after allowing four goals on 13 shots against Vancouver), he is 0-2-1, 4.51, .851, in his last three and was pulled against Dallas after once more allowing four goals on 13 shots. In fact, the six winning decisions in a row is somewhat misleading. Giguere has allowed four goals in each of five games out of his last ten, displaying an inconsistency that has crept into his game this year. In 15 appearances, he has two shutouts, but he also has allowed at least four goals eight times. It is little wonder that his overall numbers – 3.21 GAA and .905 save percentage – rank in the lower half of the NHL rankings. He has had success in his limited experience against the Caps, though – 3-1-0-1, 1.39, .951, with two shutouts. One gets the feeling he’s going to be very, very good, or very, very bad.
If it isn’t Giguere and his inconsistency, it might be Jonas Hiller and his comparative lack of experience. Hiller is 3-1-1, 2.18, .926 and a shutout in six appearances this year. He was 10-7-1, 2.06, .927 in 23 appearances last year, so he’s at least mastered the job of being an effective backup. If Giguere continues his ups and downs, Hiller might be getting more responsibility. He has never faced the Caps.
The Peerless’ Players to Ponder
Anaheim: Samuel Pahlsson
In 2006-2007, Pahlsson anchored what we thought was a benchmark “in your face” line. Last year he missed 26 games to a sports hernia. He’s apparently healthy again, and he could be called upon to help shut down the hottest Caps – the numbers one and two stars in the NHL last week, Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin. It will be a tall order.
Washington: Matt Bradley
Anaheim relies on physical intimidation as a part of their strategy. That is something not limited to fighting heavyweights, but is something that pervades their roster. That could make the contributions of a player such as Bradley important, not so much for dropping the gloves, but for standing firm against the style the Ducks choose to play. Washington has a lot of skill guys who do not, as a rule, relish contact. It would be expected that the Ducks will test this early and often. Bradley is a guy who can help even the odds.
This is as clear a contrast in styles as one is likely to see – Anaheim’s in-your-face, bare-knuckled approach versus the Caps attacking with waves of skill and speed. It will be important for the Caps not to fall behind. Anaheim is undefeated in seven games in which they have carried a lead into the final period. If the Caps can withstand the figurative (or literal) punch in the nose they’ll get early and post a goal or two, this will be a much easier task, especially against the inconsistent Giguere. It’s like the song in the movie…
Jack be nimble, Jack be quick
Take a ride on the West Coast kick…
Caps 5 – Ducks 3
Monday: Young Guns and an Old Coach
Tomorrow night, the Caps will visit the Anaheim Ducks in the midst of a 5-0-2 streak that has seen them leap to the head of the Southeast Division and the third spot in the Eastern Conference. Over those seven games, the Caps have scored 24 goals and allowed 14. The Young Guns – Alex Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, Nicklas Backstrom, and Mike Green – have been the key parts on offense in crafting that streak:
Ovechkin: 5-8-13, +13
Semin: 5-6-11, +11
Backstrom: 2-10-12, +11
Green: 2-4-6, +10
But lost in all that is the 14 goals allowed in seven games. Jose Theodore is 1-0-1, 2.20, .924 in his three appearances in this streak. Good as that is, Brent Johnson has been lights (as in “red” lights) out – 4-0-1, 1.82, .949. And one could conclude it really has been goaltending, too, as the Johnson/Theodore tandem have had to face a somewhat higher number of shots per game in this streak (33.7) than they did in the previous ten games (27.2).
It is a case of what a difference a year makes. Last year at this time, the Caps were returning home on heels of what had been to that point a dismal November -- 1-6-1, scoring only 12 goals while allowing 24. The Young Guns were very much young, but not gunning so much:
Ovechkin: 5-1-6, even
Semin: did not play (injured)
Backstrom: 1-3-4, -1
Green: 0-1-1, -4
Then there were the 24 goals allowed in those eight games. Olaf Kolzig was 1-5-0 over that stretch, 3.05, .898. Johnson was backing him up and was 0-1-1, 2.64, .905. It wasn’t a matter of poor goaltending as much as it was mediocre. 24 goals in eight games is not great defense, but it isn’t a catastrophe, either. But getting shutout twice in those eight games, and scoring more than two goals only once (the only win) made life difficult for Kolzig and Johnson on a night-in, night-out basis.
When the Caps returned home a year ago tomorrow night, they would lose to Florida 4-3, seeing a furious third period rally fall short. But in the midst of falling to a record of 2-6-0 at home in that game, fans began voicing their displeasure in the second period by chanting, “Fire Han-lon” – a reference to head coach Glen Hanlon – as the Panthers were building a 4-1 lead.
Ovechkin: 5-8-13, +13
Semin: 5-6-11, +11
Backstrom: 2-10-12, +11
Green: 2-4-6, +10
But lost in all that is the 14 goals allowed in seven games. Jose Theodore is 1-0-1, 2.20, .924 in his three appearances in this streak. Good as that is, Brent Johnson has been lights (as in “red” lights) out – 4-0-1, 1.82, .949. And one could conclude it really has been goaltending, too, as the Johnson/Theodore tandem have had to face a somewhat higher number of shots per game in this streak (33.7) than they did in the previous ten games (27.2).
It is a case of what a difference a year makes. Last year at this time, the Caps were returning home on heels of what had been to that point a dismal November -- 1-6-1, scoring only 12 goals while allowing 24. The Young Guns were very much young, but not gunning so much:
Ovechkin: 5-1-6, even
Semin: did not play (injured)
Backstrom: 1-3-4, -1
Green: 0-1-1, -4
Then there were the 24 goals allowed in those eight games. Olaf Kolzig was 1-5-0 over that stretch, 3.05, .898. Johnson was backing him up and was 0-1-1, 2.64, .905. It wasn’t a matter of poor goaltending as much as it was mediocre. 24 goals in eight games is not great defense, but it isn’t a catastrophe, either. But getting shutout twice in those eight games, and scoring more than two goals only once (the only win) made life difficult for Kolzig and Johnson on a night-in, night-out basis.
When the Caps returned home a year ago tomorrow night, they would lose to Florida 4-3, seeing a furious third period rally fall short. But in the midst of falling to a record of 2-6-0 at home in that game, fans began voicing their displeasure in the second period by chanting, “Fire Han-lon” – a reference to head coach Glen Hanlon – as the Panthers were building a 4-1 lead.
Hanlon probably deserved better. He drew a bad hand when he took over as the Caps’ coach after 28 games of the 2003-2004 season. It was a team that had been bloated by payroll, demoralized by performance, and looking for purpose as the team was in the throes of a transition to a youth-centered rebuild.
Hanlon would be relieved of his duties after the second game of that late-November home stand last year, a 5-1 loss to the Atlanta Thrashers. The rest is a fond memory for Caps fans. But as we’re getting along toward Thanksgiving week, it might pay to heed some lessons and give some thanks. First, thanks to Glen Hanlon, for if he wasn’t the right guy to bring the Caps all the way home, he was the right guy to get them started. That shouldn’t be forgotten. And the lesson is perhaps that just as fortunes can turn for the better in short order, so can they turn in the other direction as quickly. The Caps have shown themselves to be a very good team, not just the best of the lot in a weak division. But there is much work to be done by those precocious youngsters putting up those gaudy numbers this month…and all their teammates.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Why Boyd?
There is a lot of knashing of teeth this morning about the selection of Boyd Gordon to take the decisive -- and ultimately unsuccessful -- Gimmick shot in last night's 6-5 loss to the Devils.
Fair question.
Viktor Kozlov and Alex Ovechkin had already tried and failed, and the Caps didn't have, say, a Sergei Fedorov available to use his vast store of experience in that situation. Alexander Semin, with his bag of stick-handling tricks, was sitting this one out, too. So...Gordon?
Well, to whom could the Caps turn in that situation?
There was Michael Nylander, who was 11-for-27 in his career in the Gimmick phase of the game, including 1-for-2 this year. But there is the fact that Nylander hasn't had a real goal of his own since the Pittsburgh game on October 16th. Then again, his was the game-winning Gimmick goal against Nashville on October 28th.
There was also the possibility of Brooks Laich, but he was 2-for-10 for his career in this thing and hadn't had a successful attempt since the 2005-2006 season (neither of his successful attempts had been on the road).
Nicklas Backstrom? The kid's been on a roll lately, and he was 1-for-3 in his career attempts.
Gordon was also 1-for-3 in his career attempts, but failed even to get a shot off as Scott Clemmensen guessed right and poke-checked the puck off of Gordon's stick before an attempt could be made.
In retrospect, we suspect Coach Boudreau was playing a hunch of sorts. But all other things considered, we just wish Matt Bradley took things into his own hands one more time.
Do Special Teams Matter?
Well, you'd think they would, just intuitively. But over our morning coffee we took a quick look at the "Index of Specialness" -- the sum of a team's power play effectiveness and that of its penalty kill, and what we found was that 15 of the top 20 teams in the index were in the top eight of their respective divisions (as of this Sunday morning):
But does it really matter any more than how a club does at even strength? Well, 13 of the top 17 clubs in 5-on-5 goals scored-to-goals allowed ratio are in the top eight of their respective conferences:
But does it really matter any more than how a club does at even strength? Well, 13 of the top 17 clubs in 5-on-5 goals scored-to-goals allowed ratio are in the top eight of their respective conferences:
If you take a moment to combine the two (and we're really too lazy this morning to undertake anymore sophisticated that literally combining the two), then what you suspect is true...
...good teams are good teams on both special teams and at even strength. But there are interesting things to be found within. Buffalo (5th vs. 25th), Carolina (15th vs. 26th), and Calgary (12th vs. 28th) are all substantially better in the Index of Specialness than they are at 5-on-5, yet all are top-eight teams. For you Caps fans, note that the Caps are ranked high in this combined measure, but are none-too-special (18th in the IoS). Boston is first in the combined measure, but only 13th in th IoS.
The NHL is said to be a league of special teams these days? Really?
Discuss.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
A ONE-Point Night: Devils 6 - Caps 5 (OT/SO)
Well, now we know the wisdom behind the phrase, “play for 60 minutes.”
Actually, 59:59 would do for the Caps to escape Newark with a point in the standings, as Alex Ovechkin scored a doorstep goal with one tick left in regulation to earn the Caps the point in a 6-5 shootout loss to the New Jersey Devils.
This was one of those games that one might have figured the Caps were going to lose, no matter what. They fell behind early (an unlikely goal from David Clarkson at 1:09), gave up yet another first minute goal (Jamie Langenbrunner at 41 seconds of the second period) and generally looked pretty indifferent on defense most of the night. If giving up five goals can be said to be a good goaltending performance, then Jose Theodore had one. The Devils that took the ice tonight shouldn’t score more than two goals against anyone (they’d gone four in a row without doing so), but if you’re going to go out, stand around, and watch things go on around you in your own end…well, five goals happens. Theodore was especially good in the first, when the Devils had several point blank chances, as the shot chart for the period indicates…
Perhaps it was too much a case of finding the possibilities against Scott Clemmensen, returning to the nets for a second consecutive evening for the Devils, a little too mouth-watering for any attention to be paid to the other end of the ice. And a few Caps certainly had big evenings. None had a bigger one than Nicklas Backstrom (how fat is he now?). The center had his first five-point game as a Cap (he had three four-point nights in his rookie year), his 1-4-5, +3 putting him now on almost a point-a-game pace for the year (2-14-16 in 17 games). He is 2-10-12, +10 in his last four games (still think he’s fat?).
Backstrom wasn’t alone. Alex Ovechkin was 2-1-3, +3 himself. He had a whopping 20 attempted shots (12 of them on goal), three hits, and a blocked shot. His night left Ovechkin 4-6-10, +11 in his last four games (about that "slump?"...over). Add in goals by Tomas Fleischmann, who had another night of several highlight reel stickhandling moves (if he ever starts finishing these, Caps games are going to be track meets), and Viktor Kozlov, and it was a good night for the offense.
It was a night, though that had just too many breakdowns and too much passivity in their own end for the Caps. And some guys had difficult nights individually. We’re not sure what to make of Chris Clark. He came into the game without a point since the third game of the year (his only point this year) and was not on the plus side of the ledger in seven straight games. He finished this game scoreless and minus-2 (although he certainly had no hand in the Devils’ fifth goal, by Brian Gionta, but we’ll get to that).
Michael Nylander is another player who has us scratching our head. He came into this game with one point in his last seven and left this one scoreless (and minus-2 to go to -4 in his last eight games). It’s worth noting that Nylander and Clark both logged about 12 minutes tonight. For Nylander, it was his second lowest amount of ice time this season. To complete the comparison, the 12:52 was the second highest time on ice total for Clark in his last nine games.
Some other things we saw…
Mike Green had a rather quiet night, and that’s not altogether a good thing. He looked to have underestimated the speed of Patrik Elias entering the Capital zone in the final period, but even with that he seemed to have a decent angle to foul the rush by Elias. But Elias got his shot away cleanly over Jose Theodore’s glove to score the Devils’ last goal.
The home-and-home might not have been tougher on anyone than it was on the Devils’s John Madden. Last night, Madden did his defensive thing, finishing the game even and winning eight of 12 draws. He was on the ice for only one of the Caps’ three goals. Forward to tonight…Madden was on the ice for all five Washington goals, won 13 of 24 draws, and finished -3. Bet he’s feeling 35 tonight.
The best player on the ice for the Devils might have been the one that didn’t get a goal. Travis Zajac had three assists, was plus-3, and abused Michael Nylander in the faceoff circle (winning five of six on his way to splitting 22 draws).
From the “reward a player for hustle” file, Donald Brashear got 10:56 in ice time tonight, following up on the 11:17 he got last night. It’s the first time Brashear has had consecutive double-digit results in ice time since January 1-3 last season.
If you’d have told me that the Devils would get only one shot on goal from Zach Parise tonight and seven from David Clarkson, I’d have been thinking Theodore would have had a shutout. The Caps just let too many secondary contributors who hadn’t really contributed much lately for the Devils too much freedom to roam. It was, for example, the first time since the first two games of the year that Patrik Elias had goals in consecutive games (Elias had a pair in this one). Gionta had two goals total in 15 games before netting one in this one. Ditto Jamie Langenbrunner, and he hadn’t scored one in seven games.
But since losing to Buffalo, 5-0, on the first day of the month, the Caps are now 5-0-2, and this was the first of those seven games in which the Caps gave up more than two goals. As if one needed reminding, offense makes the highlights, but defense wins in the end. All-in-all, a point earned is a good thing, especially when you didn’t even have that with two seconds left. It isn’t the best way to start on a trip west, but it isn’t the worst way, either. Nice job getting the point, boys.
Actually, 59:59 would do for the Caps to escape Newark with a point in the standings, as Alex Ovechkin scored a doorstep goal with one tick left in regulation to earn the Caps the point in a 6-5 shootout loss to the New Jersey Devils.
This was one of those games that one might have figured the Caps were going to lose, no matter what. They fell behind early (an unlikely goal from David Clarkson at 1:09), gave up yet another first minute goal (Jamie Langenbrunner at 41 seconds of the second period) and generally looked pretty indifferent on defense most of the night. If giving up five goals can be said to be a good goaltending performance, then Jose Theodore had one. The Devils that took the ice tonight shouldn’t score more than two goals against anyone (they’d gone four in a row without doing so), but if you’re going to go out, stand around, and watch things go on around you in your own end…well, five goals happens. Theodore was especially good in the first, when the Devils had several point blank chances, as the shot chart for the period indicates…
Perhaps it was too much a case of finding the possibilities against Scott Clemmensen, returning to the nets for a second consecutive evening for the Devils, a little too mouth-watering for any attention to be paid to the other end of the ice. And a few Caps certainly had big evenings. None had a bigger one than Nicklas Backstrom (how fat is he now?). The center had his first five-point game as a Cap (he had three four-point nights in his rookie year), his 1-4-5, +3 putting him now on almost a point-a-game pace for the year (2-14-16 in 17 games). He is 2-10-12, +10 in his last four games (still think he’s fat?).
Backstrom wasn’t alone. Alex Ovechkin was 2-1-3, +3 himself. He had a whopping 20 attempted shots (12 of them on goal), three hits, and a blocked shot. His night left Ovechkin 4-6-10, +11 in his last four games (about that "slump?"...over). Add in goals by Tomas Fleischmann, who had another night of several highlight reel stickhandling moves (if he ever starts finishing these, Caps games are going to be track meets), and Viktor Kozlov, and it was a good night for the offense.
It was a night, though that had just too many breakdowns and too much passivity in their own end for the Caps. And some guys had difficult nights individually. We’re not sure what to make of Chris Clark. He came into the game without a point since the third game of the year (his only point this year) and was not on the plus side of the ledger in seven straight games. He finished this game scoreless and minus-2 (although he certainly had no hand in the Devils’ fifth goal, by Brian Gionta, but we’ll get to that).
Michael Nylander is another player who has us scratching our head. He came into this game with one point in his last seven and left this one scoreless (and minus-2 to go to -4 in his last eight games). It’s worth noting that Nylander and Clark both logged about 12 minutes tonight. For Nylander, it was his second lowest amount of ice time this season. To complete the comparison, the 12:52 was the second highest time on ice total for Clark in his last nine games.
Some other things we saw…
Mike Green had a rather quiet night, and that’s not altogether a good thing. He looked to have underestimated the speed of Patrik Elias entering the Capital zone in the final period, but even with that he seemed to have a decent angle to foul the rush by Elias. But Elias got his shot away cleanly over Jose Theodore’s glove to score the Devils’ last goal.
The home-and-home might not have been tougher on anyone than it was on the Devils’s John Madden. Last night, Madden did his defensive thing, finishing the game even and winning eight of 12 draws. He was on the ice for only one of the Caps’ three goals. Forward to tonight…Madden was on the ice for all five Washington goals, won 13 of 24 draws, and finished -3. Bet he’s feeling 35 tonight.
The best player on the ice for the Devils might have been the one that didn’t get a goal. Travis Zajac had three assists, was plus-3, and abused Michael Nylander in the faceoff circle (winning five of six on his way to splitting 22 draws).
From the “reward a player for hustle” file, Donald Brashear got 10:56 in ice time tonight, following up on the 11:17 he got last night. It’s the first time Brashear has had consecutive double-digit results in ice time since January 1-3 last season.
If you’d have told me that the Devils would get only one shot on goal from Zach Parise tonight and seven from David Clarkson, I’d have been thinking Theodore would have had a shutout. The Caps just let too many secondary contributors who hadn’t really contributed much lately for the Devils too much freedom to roam. It was, for example, the first time since the first two games of the year that Patrik Elias had goals in consecutive games (Elias had a pair in this one). Gionta had two goals total in 15 games before netting one in this one. Ditto Jamie Langenbrunner, and he hadn’t scored one in seven games.
But since losing to Buffalo, 5-0, on the first day of the month, the Caps are now 5-0-2, and this was the first of those seven games in which the Caps gave up more than two goals. As if one needed reminding, offense makes the highlights, but defense wins in the end. All-in-all, a point earned is a good thing, especially when you didn’t even have that with two seconds left. It isn’t the best way to start on a trip west, but it isn’t the worst way, either. Nice job getting the point, boys.
Friday, November 14, 2008
A TWO-point night: Caps 3 - Devils 1
Rollin’-rollin’-rollin’
Keep those two points rollin’
That’s five in a row for the good guys as the Caps defeated a gimpy but game New Jersey Devils team, 3-1 tonight at Verizon Center, or as it’s becoming known, “Bruce’s House of Horrors.” The win gave the Caps a 7-0-1 record at home (13-0-1 dating back to last season) and put them four points ahead of Carolina with a game in hand for the Southeast Division lead.
It was bobblehead night – the featured Cap being Coach Bruce Boudreau – although most of the bobbling of head was done by Devils goalie Scott Clemmensen, who saw chance after chance coming his way and skittering just past a post or just off the end of a stick in close. Clemmensen stopped 24 of 26 shots, but was more lucky than good on this night as the Caps seemed to get far more chances than usual against this team.
Brooks Laich, Tomas Fleischmann, and Alex Ovechkin did the honors – Laich redirecting a drive by Ovechkin in an example of the goal from “Dirty Jobs” area, Fleischmann making us look good by snapping a one-timer off a feed from Viktor Kozlov (his 500th career NHL point), and Ovechkin sticking the dagger in the Devils with an empty netter.
At the other end, Jose Theodore was staking a claim to regain his number one status with a 32-save effort, the only goal he allowed coming as the result of a ghastly line change that left Patrik Elias alone without a Cap within 20 feet of him as he converted a breakaway on Theodore.
If not a dominating effort, the Caps were clearly the better team and gritted one out against the plucky, throw-sand-in-your-skates Devils. What we saw…
-- Dainius Zubrus…two shots, two faceoff wins (in 12 draws). No hits, no blocked shots, no takeaways, no shots that were missed or blocked. Mighty skimpy score sheet. Want him back, Caps fans?
-- Alex Ovechkin had a difficult night on the score sheet, despite going 1-1-2. He was originally credited with the first goal, but the scoring was changed to credit Brooks Laich. Then, he was originally credited with an assist on the Fleischmann goal, but that was changed to credit Mike Green. There was no doubt who scored the third goal.
-- Give Paul Martin credit. He was out there toughing it out for the Devils (his playing was reported to be a game-time decision as he had an injury) with two hits, two takaways, and a blocked shot in more than 22 minutes.
-- Tom Poti had a pretty quiet score sheet, himself, but he had a fine game in his own end, cleaning up a lot of loose pucks and getting the biscuit out of the zone on the penalty kill. We don’t remember him being this responsible in a lot of his other stops along the way in the NHL.
-- And it seems a contract has done John Erskine a world of good. He has ramped up his game quite a bit since inking the new deal. Tonight, he kept things simple and just kept the puck moving. And five blocked shots? He must be channeling Quintin Laing.
-- Brooks Laich had another one of those games we might call “score sheet buffet.” A goal, an assist, two hits, a takeaway, four blocked shots, and he won six of 11 draws. Fine game.
-- Alexander Semin did not appear in the third period. He is said to have a…no, not even an injury by hemisphere (lower body?...upper body?)…he’s just called “day-to-day.” Let's hope it's just "day"...as in "available tomorrow night."
-- Tomas Fleischmann is what one might refer to as a “sneaky SOB.” He had several occasions of all-but-undressing a defender with his puck-handling, leaving him with excellent chances (“that he really needs to finish” is the clause to end that thought, but tonight, saying it would be picky).
-- In the Battle of the Defensive Centers, it was John Madden with four shots, one takeaway, one blocked shot, and eight of 12 draws won; versus David Steckel with one shot, one hit, one takeaway, four blocked shots, and nine of 13 draws won. Call that one a draw (although Madden had the tougher assignment).
-- Deuces were wild for Mike Green…two assists, two shots, two shots blocked, two giveaways.
-- And here is the stat that really caught our eye…21:34. That was the ice time for Tyler Sloan, who continues to impress by doing things simply. Only Green had more ice time among the defensemen. If I was Milan Jurcina, I'd be concerned.
Good thing the Caps took the four games at home these past eight days, for now they go on the road against New Jersey to complete the home-and-home, then on to Anaheim, Los Angeles, San Jose, and Minnesota.
Finally, we give up. This Pittsburgh-Washington thing has finally jumped the shark. Even on a night honoring Bruce Boudreau with his own bobblehead, you can’t escape it (if you read the fine print on the bottom of the box)...
Keep those two points rollin’
That’s five in a row for the good guys as the Caps defeated a gimpy but game New Jersey Devils team, 3-1 tonight at Verizon Center, or as it’s becoming known, “Bruce’s House of Horrors.” The win gave the Caps a 7-0-1 record at home (13-0-1 dating back to last season) and put them four points ahead of Carolina with a game in hand for the Southeast Division lead.
It was bobblehead night – the featured Cap being Coach Bruce Boudreau – although most of the bobbling of head was done by Devils goalie Scott Clemmensen, who saw chance after chance coming his way and skittering just past a post or just off the end of a stick in close. Clemmensen stopped 24 of 26 shots, but was more lucky than good on this night as the Caps seemed to get far more chances than usual against this team.
Brooks Laich, Tomas Fleischmann, and Alex Ovechkin did the honors – Laich redirecting a drive by Ovechkin in an example of the goal from “Dirty Jobs” area, Fleischmann making us look good by snapping a one-timer off a feed from Viktor Kozlov (his 500th career NHL point), and Ovechkin sticking the dagger in the Devils with an empty netter.
At the other end, Jose Theodore was staking a claim to regain his number one status with a 32-save effort, the only goal he allowed coming as the result of a ghastly line change that left Patrik Elias alone without a Cap within 20 feet of him as he converted a breakaway on Theodore.
If not a dominating effort, the Caps were clearly the better team and gritted one out against the plucky, throw-sand-in-your-skates Devils. What we saw…
-- Dainius Zubrus…two shots, two faceoff wins (in 12 draws). No hits, no blocked shots, no takeaways, no shots that were missed or blocked. Mighty skimpy score sheet. Want him back, Caps fans?
-- Alex Ovechkin had a difficult night on the score sheet, despite going 1-1-2. He was originally credited with the first goal, but the scoring was changed to credit Brooks Laich. Then, he was originally credited with an assist on the Fleischmann goal, but that was changed to credit Mike Green. There was no doubt who scored the third goal.
-- Give Paul Martin credit. He was out there toughing it out for the Devils (his playing was reported to be a game-time decision as he had an injury) with two hits, two takaways, and a blocked shot in more than 22 minutes.
-- Tom Poti had a pretty quiet score sheet, himself, but he had a fine game in his own end, cleaning up a lot of loose pucks and getting the biscuit out of the zone on the penalty kill. We don’t remember him being this responsible in a lot of his other stops along the way in the NHL.
-- And it seems a contract has done John Erskine a world of good. He has ramped up his game quite a bit since inking the new deal. Tonight, he kept things simple and just kept the puck moving. And five blocked shots? He must be channeling Quintin Laing.
-- Brooks Laich had another one of those games we might call “score sheet buffet.” A goal, an assist, two hits, a takeaway, four blocked shots, and he won six of 11 draws. Fine game.
-- Alexander Semin did not appear in the third period. He is said to have a…no, not even an injury by hemisphere (lower body?...upper body?)…he’s just called “day-to-day.” Let's hope it's just "day"...as in "available tomorrow night."
-- Tomas Fleischmann is what one might refer to as a “sneaky SOB.” He had several occasions of all-but-undressing a defender with his puck-handling, leaving him with excellent chances (“that he really needs to finish” is the clause to end that thought, but tonight, saying it would be picky).
-- In the Battle of the Defensive Centers, it was John Madden with four shots, one takeaway, one blocked shot, and eight of 12 draws won; versus David Steckel with one shot, one hit, one takeaway, four blocked shots, and nine of 13 draws won. Call that one a draw (although Madden had the tougher assignment).
-- Deuces were wild for Mike Green…two assists, two shots, two shots blocked, two giveaways.
-- And here is the stat that really caught our eye…21:34. That was the ice time for Tyler Sloan, who continues to impress by doing things simply. Only Green had more ice time among the defensemen. If I was Milan Jurcina, I'd be concerned.
Good thing the Caps took the four games at home these past eight days, for now they go on the road against New Jersey to complete the home-and-home, then on to Anaheim, Los Angeles, San Jose, and Minnesota.
Finally, we give up. This Pittsburgh-Washington thing has finally jumped the shark. Even on a night honoring Bruce Boudreau with his own bobblehead, you can’t escape it (if you read the fine print on the bottom of the box)...
Melrose Fired, Peerless Translates Press Release
Barry Melrose was relieved of his duties as head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning today. As is the custom with such things, the Lightning released a statement about the firing and the selection of a replacement, former associate coach Rick Tocchet. Consider this translation of the highlights a public service...
“This was a tough decision to make. Barry is a good man and we have a great deal of respect for him. We wish him nothing but success."
Translation: "We'd have done this a month ago, but it would have really made Oren, Len, and me look like a bunch of boobs."
"However, the results were unacceptable and the players have to understand that we need to be better. Hopefully this change helps push them."
Translation: "Hey, we can't fire the players. We're in hock up to our eyeballs to pay these losers. We'll just cross our fingers they can win a few games by accident."
“As for Rick Tocchet, we think this is a great opportunity for him and we believe he’s the type of coach who can take the team to the next level. Our players have a great deal of respect for him.”
Translation: "Scotty Bowman wasn't available."
photo: Dirk Shadd/St. Petersburg Times
NHL, Ticketmaster partnering on ticket re-sale service
"The Official Resale Ticket Provider of the NHL" is how it is billed.
"Ticket holders seeking to sell tickets through NHL.com can do so in the dependable and convenient domain of the official ticket exchange. The ticket resale service provides fans the opportunity to find and buy tickets in a fan-friendly and secure environment. It also enables ticket buyers to electronically validate the resold tickets at the time of purchase."
"Fan-friendly"..."secure"...can I have cookies with that warm milk, too?
What's wrong with this picture?
Is it going to be the "Montreal Canadiens vs. the Western Conference All Stars?"
Just wondering...
The Bilateral Periorbital Hematoma
Dan Steinberg, in DC Sports Bog, notes that Tom Poti has one of those injuries that doesn't hide itself well, as do sprains, strains, and the like.
Black eyes.
Having the memory of suffering this malady from time to time ourselves, we thought we'd do a little research on the matter and see just what one does to treat the affliction. Poti noted that ""You've just kind of got to let it run its course. Usually it starts black, and then turns blue, and then yellowish greenish, and then it goes away." But what do the experts say?
According to the Mayo Clinic, one should take care of the injury by "using gentle pressure, apply a cold pack or a cloth filled with ice to the area around the eye. Take care not to press on the eye itself. Apply cold as soon as possible after the injury to reduce swelling, and continue using ice or cold packs for 24 to 48 hours. Be sure there's no blood within the white and colored parts of the eye."
The online site, WebMD suggests that for self-care at home...
- Ice helps to decrease swelling by constricting blood vessels, by decreasing fluid accumulation, and by cooling and numbing the area.
- Apply ice for 20 minutes an hour every hour while awake, for the first 24 hours. Ice should not be applied directly to the injury.
- To avoid potential cold injury to the site, wrap the ice in a cloth or use a commercial ice pack. A bag of frozen vegetables wrapped in a cloth makes a good ice pack.
- Protect the area from further injury. Stay away from athletic or other possibly injurious activities until after the eye has healed.
- Forget the old adage about putting a steak or a piece of raw meat on a black eye. No scientific evidence supports this claim. In addition, there is a danger in putting potentially bacteria-laden meat on a mucous membrane or an open skin injury.
Interesting...vegetables, but no meat. Wonder if brussels sprouts work better than peas and carrots.
We also came across remedies that included some truly strange applicatons...
- Using the back of a spoon to dissipate the blood (didn't say if it was a teaspoon or a tablespoon...guess that depends on the size of the bruise)
- Eating pineapple or papaya (something about an enzyme, but we're thinking this is a ruse by the tropical fruit lobby)
- Witch Hazel
- "restful sleep' (we think this was in a Tempur-Pedic mattress ad once)
- A mixture of 1 part cayenne pepper and 5 parts melted Vaseline, to be mixed and cooled, then applied once a day.
- A tea made with confrey root or buchu, in which a rag is then soaked and applied to the bruised area
Of course, if you can't get to the grocery store for frozen peas or to your neighborhood health foods store for confrey root, there's always the old school remedy...
...leeches.
Black eyes.
Having the memory of suffering this malady from time to time ourselves, we thought we'd do a little research on the matter and see just what one does to treat the affliction. Poti noted that ""You've just kind of got to let it run its course. Usually it starts black, and then turns blue, and then yellowish greenish, and then it goes away." But what do the experts say?
According to the Mayo Clinic, one should take care of the injury by "using gentle pressure, apply a cold pack or a cloth filled with ice to the area around the eye. Take care not to press on the eye itself. Apply cold as soon as possible after the injury to reduce swelling, and continue using ice or cold packs for 24 to 48 hours. Be sure there's no blood within the white and colored parts of the eye."
The online site, WebMD suggests that for self-care at home...
- Ice helps to decrease swelling by constricting blood vessels, by decreasing fluid accumulation, and by cooling and numbing the area.
- Apply ice for 20 minutes an hour every hour while awake, for the first 24 hours. Ice should not be applied directly to the injury.
- To avoid potential cold injury to the site, wrap the ice in a cloth or use a commercial ice pack. A bag of frozen vegetables wrapped in a cloth makes a good ice pack.
- Protect the area from further injury. Stay away from athletic or other possibly injurious activities until after the eye has healed.
- Forget the old adage about putting a steak or a piece of raw meat on a black eye. No scientific evidence supports this claim. In addition, there is a danger in putting potentially bacteria-laden meat on a mucous membrane or an open skin injury.
Interesting...vegetables, but no meat. Wonder if brussels sprouts work better than peas and carrots.
We also came across remedies that included some truly strange applicatons...
- Using the back of a spoon to dissipate the blood (didn't say if it was a teaspoon or a tablespoon...guess that depends on the size of the bruise)
- Eating pineapple or papaya (something about an enzyme, but we're thinking this is a ruse by the tropical fruit lobby)
- Witch Hazel
- "restful sleep' (we think this was in a Tempur-Pedic mattress ad once)
- A mixture of 1 part cayenne pepper and 5 parts melted Vaseline, to be mixed and cooled, then applied once a day.
- A tea made with confrey root or buchu, in which a rag is then soaked and applied to the bruised area
Of course, if you can't get to the grocery store for frozen peas or to your neighborhood health foods store for confrey root, there's always the old school remedy...
...leeches.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Caps vs. Devils Home-and-Home Two-fer
The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!
It’s a home and home two-fer prognosto for your hockey weekend against the New Jersey Devils. In fact, this is the first home-and-home of the fall season, and such occurrences can pose special difficulties for teams that host a team one night and who visit the same team the following night. So, with that in mind, we asked Miss Ettie Quette about the proper customs for hosting and attending hockey games with the same parties…
Miss Quette…the Caps are hosting the New Jersey Devils this evening. What is the proper attire for a Friday fete?
"Well, the traditional hockey jersey is so tired and worn for hockey games. The ‘in’ fashion this autumn for these events is something with a hint of piping on it. Perhaps piping from the shoulder to the accented waist…"
You mean, like the Reebok Edge Uniform System?
"Precisely?"
And what of refreshments? What does one serve at these parties? Wine?
"Oh, no…never wine, not for hockey celebrations. Gatorade. Or, if the host is feeling especially daring – PowerAde."
Are there any special accoutrements the smart host will pay attention to for such evenings?
"Well, you’ll want to have lots of tape on hand for sticks, to secure leggings, to wrap joints, that sort of thing."
The Caps will be hosting the event this evening. Is there anything that Coach Boudreau and the boys can do to make it a successful event?
"They should just be themselves. Alex Ovechkin is such an effervescent personality. He should be able to capture the moment and be the belle of the ball, so to speak. Alex Semin is more of that mysterious sort so many dinner guests find exotic and captivating. Matt Bradley can keep the men enthralled with talk about his taste in cars. It should be a memorable evening."
And tomorrow, the Caps will return the favor by visiting the Devils in Newark…
"...ugh…Newark"
Any advice for the boys on what they might bring for their guests as a gift?
"A bad attitude."
Thanks, Miss Quette, I’m sure that with this advice, this home-and-home is sure to be the talk of the season…
This weekend, the Caps will be taking on the only team in the NHL that has not won a game when being outshot. If that isn’t an incentive to throw pucks at the Devils’ net, then not seeing the steely stare of Martin Brodeur coming back at them is another one. Kevin Weekes is a fine journeyman goalie, but he is not Brodeur. And against the Caps, it doesn’t get any better. Weekes is 2-14-1 in 18 career appearances against Washington (3.24, .892). He is 0-6-1 in his last seven appearances against the Caps (3.44, .850).
If you’re thinking “backup” (and given the home and home, this is a possibility), Scott Clemmensen is 1-1-0, 2.28, .933 in three career appearances against the Caps. As for the comparisons between the clubs (as of games through November 12)...
New Jersey has scored a total of 37 goals this year. Of that number, Zach Parise has 11. He’s been a model of consistency in that regard, scoring goals in ten of 15 games. Here is the odd part – his goalless streaks have come in twos (Oct. 13-16 and Nov. 3-5). He did not score in his last game, against the Rangers, so if the pattern holds he’ll be shutout on Friday but score on Saturday.
While Parise’s 11-6-17 scoring line is good for a tie for tenth in the league, the Devils are struggling to find offense elsewhere on their roster. Travis Zajac (2-9-11) is tied for 86th, and after that, you’d really be in the depths of the rankings to find another Devil (OK, Patrik Elias, tied for 130th). It is a team that has scored two or fewer goals in nine of 15 games, and in their last five have scored a total of only seven goals in going 1-4-0.
The struggles for the Devils on offense extend to their special teams as well. Their rank of 29th on the power play does not come by accident. No team has had fewer man-advantage opportunities (59), and no team has fewer power play goals (seven). They will come into the first game of the home-and-home 2-for-26 on the power play (7.7 percent) in their last five games.
Just to pile on here, New Jersey has scored only 10 goals of any sort in six road games. Three of those came in a 4-3 shootout win over the Caps on October 18th when the Devils scored a pair of third period goals to take a lead they could not hold. Zach Parise is the only Devil with more than one goal on the road (four). That they have allowed only 14 goals on the road has helped them salvage a 3-2-1 road record.
At home, Jersey has at least a resemblance to a productive hockey team on offense – 27 goals in nine games, again, led by Parise (seven). What the home scoring for the Devils suggests is quite a home/road disparity. Jamie Langenbrunner has three goals at home, none on the road, as does David Clarkson (who?). Travis Zajac, Dainius Zubrus, and Jay Pandolfo have a pair at home, none on the road. But with the extra production at home, so have their goals allowed jumped – 25 in those nine games, 12 of which have been power play goals allowed.
The Peerless’ Players to Ponder
New Jersey: John Madden
Madden is not a big scorer. He has one point in his last five games. But if he doesn’t score a point, doesn’t take a shot, doesn’t set foot in the offensive zone, for that matter, he could be the most important man on the ice for the Devils in the absence of goalie Martin Brodeur. He will draw the big defensive assignments, and for a team that is at once offensively challenged, perhaps missing important defensemen (Paul Martin’s playing will be a game-time decision; Andy Greene is out), and without its hall-of-fame-in-waiting goaltender, defense will be especially important. That is Madden’s stock in trade. It will be interesting to see how this plays out, with the Alexes on one line and the Devils trying to match the Madden line with that pair, and whether the Caps will at some point split up the Alexes to see how that affects matchups.
Washington: Tomas Fleischmann
Fleischmann had a nice start to the season, going 4-2-6 in his first 11 games. But, he is scoreless in his last four and a minus-2. With so much attention being paid – and sure to be paid this weekend – to the BOSS line of Backstrom, Ovechkin and Semin, getting scoring from other places will be important. Fleischmann does not have a lot of career success against the Devils (1-0-1, -2 in nine career games), but there would be no time like the weekend to turn that around.
The Caps, if not yet quite firing on all cylinders, are starting to get the kinds of performances they need from the big players in their lineup. If they can start to get some secondary scoring from the like of a Flesichmann or a Michael Nylander, this becomes a very difficult team to beat. In that respect, they are catching the Devils at their most vulnerable – New Jersey is a pretty beat up team right now, and they will be starting a goalie in at least one of these games (Weekes) who has had little career success against the Caps. We see that as the makings of a good weekend…
Caps 4 – Devils 1 (Friday)
Caps 3 – Devils 2 (Saturday)
It’s a home and home two-fer prognosto for your hockey weekend against the New Jersey Devils. In fact, this is the first home-and-home of the fall season, and such occurrences can pose special difficulties for teams that host a team one night and who visit the same team the following night. So, with that in mind, we asked Miss Ettie Quette about the proper customs for hosting and attending hockey games with the same parties…
Miss Quette…the Caps are hosting the New Jersey Devils this evening. What is the proper attire for a Friday fete?
"Well, the traditional hockey jersey is so tired and worn for hockey games. The ‘in’ fashion this autumn for these events is something with a hint of piping on it. Perhaps piping from the shoulder to the accented waist…"
You mean, like the Reebok Edge Uniform System?
"Precisely?"
And what of refreshments? What does one serve at these parties? Wine?
"Oh, no…never wine, not for hockey celebrations. Gatorade. Or, if the host is feeling especially daring – PowerAde."
Are there any special accoutrements the smart host will pay attention to for such evenings?
"Well, you’ll want to have lots of tape on hand for sticks, to secure leggings, to wrap joints, that sort of thing."
The Caps will be hosting the event this evening. Is there anything that Coach Boudreau and the boys can do to make it a successful event?
"They should just be themselves. Alex Ovechkin is such an effervescent personality. He should be able to capture the moment and be the belle of the ball, so to speak. Alex Semin is more of that mysterious sort so many dinner guests find exotic and captivating. Matt Bradley can keep the men enthralled with talk about his taste in cars. It should be a memorable evening."
And tomorrow, the Caps will return the favor by visiting the Devils in Newark…
"...ugh…Newark"
Any advice for the boys on what they might bring for their guests as a gift?
"A bad attitude."
Thanks, Miss Quette, I’m sure that with this advice, this home-and-home is sure to be the talk of the season…
This weekend, the Caps will be taking on the only team in the NHL that has not won a game when being outshot. If that isn’t an incentive to throw pucks at the Devils’ net, then not seeing the steely stare of Martin Brodeur coming back at them is another one. Kevin Weekes is a fine journeyman goalie, but he is not Brodeur. And against the Caps, it doesn’t get any better. Weekes is 2-14-1 in 18 career appearances against Washington (3.24, .892). He is 0-6-1 in his last seven appearances against the Caps (3.44, .850).
If you’re thinking “backup” (and given the home and home, this is a possibility), Scott Clemmensen is 1-1-0, 2.28, .933 in three career appearances against the Caps. As for the comparisons between the clubs (as of games through November 12)...
New Jersey has scored a total of 37 goals this year. Of that number, Zach Parise has 11. He’s been a model of consistency in that regard, scoring goals in ten of 15 games. Here is the odd part – his goalless streaks have come in twos (Oct. 13-16 and Nov. 3-5). He did not score in his last game, against the Rangers, so if the pattern holds he’ll be shutout on Friday but score on Saturday.
While Parise’s 11-6-17 scoring line is good for a tie for tenth in the league, the Devils are struggling to find offense elsewhere on their roster. Travis Zajac (2-9-11) is tied for 86th, and after that, you’d really be in the depths of the rankings to find another Devil (OK, Patrik Elias, tied for 130th). It is a team that has scored two or fewer goals in nine of 15 games, and in their last five have scored a total of only seven goals in going 1-4-0.
The struggles for the Devils on offense extend to their special teams as well. Their rank of 29th on the power play does not come by accident. No team has had fewer man-advantage opportunities (59), and no team has fewer power play goals (seven). They will come into the first game of the home-and-home 2-for-26 on the power play (7.7 percent) in their last five games.
Just to pile on here, New Jersey has scored only 10 goals of any sort in six road games. Three of those came in a 4-3 shootout win over the Caps on October 18th when the Devils scored a pair of third period goals to take a lead they could not hold. Zach Parise is the only Devil with more than one goal on the road (four). That they have allowed only 14 goals on the road has helped them salvage a 3-2-1 road record.
At home, Jersey has at least a resemblance to a productive hockey team on offense – 27 goals in nine games, again, led by Parise (seven). What the home scoring for the Devils suggests is quite a home/road disparity. Jamie Langenbrunner has three goals at home, none on the road, as does David Clarkson (who?). Travis Zajac, Dainius Zubrus, and Jay Pandolfo have a pair at home, none on the road. But with the extra production at home, so have their goals allowed jumped – 25 in those nine games, 12 of which have been power play goals allowed.
The Peerless’ Players to Ponder
New Jersey: John Madden
Madden is not a big scorer. He has one point in his last five games. But if he doesn’t score a point, doesn’t take a shot, doesn’t set foot in the offensive zone, for that matter, he could be the most important man on the ice for the Devils in the absence of goalie Martin Brodeur. He will draw the big defensive assignments, and for a team that is at once offensively challenged, perhaps missing important defensemen (Paul Martin’s playing will be a game-time decision; Andy Greene is out), and without its hall-of-fame-in-waiting goaltender, defense will be especially important. That is Madden’s stock in trade. It will be interesting to see how this plays out, with the Alexes on one line and the Devils trying to match the Madden line with that pair, and whether the Caps will at some point split up the Alexes to see how that affects matchups.
Washington: Tomas Fleischmann
Fleischmann had a nice start to the season, going 4-2-6 in his first 11 games. But, he is scoreless in his last four and a minus-2. With so much attention being paid – and sure to be paid this weekend – to the BOSS line of Backstrom, Ovechkin and Semin, getting scoring from other places will be important. Fleischmann does not have a lot of career success against the Devils (1-0-1, -2 in nine career games), but there would be no time like the weekend to turn that around.
The Caps, if not yet quite firing on all cylinders, are starting to get the kinds of performances they need from the big players in their lineup. If they can start to get some secondary scoring from the like of a Flesichmann or a Michael Nylander, this becomes a very difficult team to beat. In that respect, they are catching the Devils at their most vulnerable – New Jersey is a pretty beat up team right now, and they will be starting a goalie in at least one of these games (Weekes) who has had little career success against the Caps. We see that as the makings of a good weekend…
Caps 4 – Devils 1 (Friday)
Caps 3 – Devils 2 (Saturday)
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