A NO-point night: Lightning 7 - Caps 4

When you crawl all the way back from a 4-1 deficit to tie the game, then you give up a goal in the last five minutes of the period to relinquish the lead once more, it’s an even steeper hill to climb to get back in the game.

The Caps paid that price tonight in dropping a strangely mesmerizing 7-4 decision to the Tampa Bay Lightning, ending a 12-game winning streak against the Bolts. It was a game that had everything…

-- 11 goals on 72 shots – a .847 combined save percentage, which makes things look better than they were. Nine goals were scored on the first 41 shots (.781 SV).

-- All four goalies played. If Bruce Boudreau could have transported Jason Bacashihua from Hershey, he probably would have. It wasn’t as if either Michal Neuvirth (four goals on 15 shots) or Jose Theodore (three goals on 21 shots) had a night for the scrapbook.

-- But it wasn’t as if the Caps were giving their goalies much help. Tampa Bay was 4-for-7 on the power play for the evening, the first time the Caps have allowed four power play goals since Carolina converted four of seven in a 6-3-loss on February 23, 2008.

-- Tampa, who skated in four nights out of five before getting yesterday off, looked like the fresher, not to mention more motivated team. The Caps skated the first 20 minutes as if they just came from the pool.

-- Alex Ovechkin got about as close to a Gordie Howe hat trick without getting one as is possible. He had eight shot attempts (three shots on goal, no goals), two assists, and he got the gloves and helmet off to square off with Steve Downie before Underdo- uh, Matt Bradley swooped in to save the day and take one for the Captain.

-- Seven goals on 61 shot attempts would be a miserable save percentage (.885).

-- Brendan Morrison… 10:12 of ice time, and he had only four shifts in the third period. He did finish in plus territory though (plus-1)… not that it mattered.

-- Odd stat… 12 Caps took faceoffs tonight. Well, they spread something around, at least (well, other than manure).

-- The Martin St. Louis goal with 2:32 left in the second period after the Caps crawled back to tie was an absolute killer. It took the Lightning off the hook and sucked the air out of the Capitals’ bench.

-- Marc Joanette and Francois St. Laurent lost control of the game in the third period – 60 minutes in penalties were dished out in the third, 46 of them in fighting/roughing related fouls.

-- Talk about a rough night… Shaone Morrisonn was on the ice for every one of the Lightning goals. Mike Green was on for six of them.

-- Steven Stamkos had more power play shots (six) than any Cap had in total.

-- When Zenon Konopka gets almost 10 minutes of ice time and finishes a plus-1 (his second “plus” game since November 27th), you know it was a bad night for the Caps.

-- When someone named Brandon Bochenski has a three-point night (0-3-3) – his first since February 13, 2007, you know it was a bad night for the Caps.

-- Why did Tyler Sloan get more ice time (16:33) than Brian Pothier (16:17)? OK, yeah, they were paired, but there is still something not right about that.

-- The Peerless will be saying a rosary for the fast(er) recovery of Semyon Varlamov.

As far as the game film for this one is concerned, we have but one question….

“Anyone got a match?”

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Caps vs. Panthers, January 13th

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

It’s back-to-backishness as the Caps close their trip down Florida way with a stop in Sunrise to visit the Florida Panthers. Florida has had a difficult time of late, and there are any number of reasons for their 3-6-0 record in their last nine ga—

“The only thing that matters is the evidence…”

Come again?

“The only thing that matters is the evidence.”

You look familiar…have I seen you on TV?

“Caine… Lieutenant Horatio Caine, supervisor, Miami-Dade Crime Lab.”

And you’re here because…

“The Panthers are 7-8-5 at home this year… that qualifies as a crime scene. I’m here to investigate.”

It is a pretty disappointing record.

“Life, Stewart, is filled with disappointment?”

Peerless…

“Huh?”

The name’s “Peerless.”

“Right…”

So what’s your take on the Panthers’ recent woes?

“It seems to be a problem of not scoring more goals than their opponents….that or giving up more goals than they score.”

You get right to the crux of it, don’t you?

“It is a skill I perfected, Carlos.”

Huh?

“It is a skill I perfected, Carlos.”

Peerless!

“Oh, yeah…right…”

What?

“I said, ‘Oh, yeah…right.’”

What’s with the mumbling?

“Makes me sound thoughtful and powerful, sort of like William Shatner, but with longer pauses.”

But what?

“Pauses, pauses… are you folks up north deaf?”

No, these Panthers don’t have paws, they’re hockey players.

“We are being detoured into the land of make-believe.”

Make-believe or not, the Caps will play the Panthers tonight, and they will be facing a team that has had a bit of a rough go of it lately with that 3-6-0 record in their last nine games. The result is that Florida has tumbled to 13th in the East. The overall numbers look like this (going into last night’s action)…


Those last nine games have been something of a thrill ride for the Panthers. The fact is, they have outscored their opposition 23-22 in those games. The trouble is that they have relied on the knockout punch, with all three of their wins coming by at least three goals. Four of their losses have come by one-goal, lending an air of deception about that 3-6-0 record being an accurate reflection of their play overall. Certainly the Panthers have been successful defensively. In addition to allowing only 2.44 goals/game in the last nine games, they have killed off 28 of 32 shorthanded situations (87.5 percent) and allowed more than three goals only twice. The Panthers’ problems seem to be on the offensive end of the ice, where they have scored two or fewer goals in five of the nine games and lost all of them.

Florida is not an especially deep team offensively (reflected in their 15th-place ranking in goals-per-game). There are 13 20-goal scorers in the NHL, and the Panthers have none of them. Florida has only five goal scorers in double-digits (the Caps have nine).

Nathan Horton leads the Panthers in scoring overall (15-28-43) and in this most recent nine-game slump (4-4-8). He does, however, have points in four of his last five games and netted the game-winning goal in the Panthers’ last game, a 3-0 shutout of the Senators. Horton – a third-overall draft pick in 2003 – has struggled to reach the performance level suggested by his draft status. He has become a reliable 25-30 goal scorer in the last four seasons and is on a pace for 27 this season. He hasn’t recorded the assist totals he would need to be a more reliable point-a-game player, but he is as close as the Panthers have as a go-to scorer. In 33 career games against the Caps, Horton is 7-7-14.

Stephen Weiss and Michael Frolik have identical 2-5-7 lines in these last nine games, although how they got there is a little different. Weiss doesn’t have a goal in his last seven games and has four of those seven points (1-3-4) in a 4-1 win over the Flyers on December 21st. Frolik had three points in that game against Philadelphia, but has chipped in three points in his last five games as well. In nine career games against the Caps, Frolik is 4-4-8, while Weiss – in 34 career games – is 9-17-26.

Florida has had a lot of production from the back line so far this year. Five defensemen have at least ten points. Bryan McCabe (2-2-4) and Dennis Seidenberg (0-4-4) each have four points in their last nine games. Seidenberg has had some success against the Caps in his career – 1-5-6 in 20 career games – but McCabe has been something of a Cap-killer. In 47 career games against Washington he is 11-20-31.

Tomas Vokoun has gotten the call in goal in each of the last five games and seven of the nine in this 3-6-0 run for the Panthers. Frankly, he has deserved better. He is 3-4-0 in his last seven, 2.31, .935. He’s had similar career success against the Caps. Despite a career 2.37 GAA against Washington, his record is 7-10-0.

The Peerless’ Players to Ponder

Florida: Radek Dvorak

Dvorak has failed to light the lamp in nine of his last ten games. The one game in which he did find the back of the net he did so three times, recording the hat trick against Pittsburgh in a 6-2 win. It was his first multi-goal game since February 21st of last season. In 50 career games against the Caps he is 13-10-23.

Washington: Boyd Gordon

In 23 career games against the Panthers, Gordon has yet to register a single point. It is the longest scoreless streak he has against any opponent in the NHL. Going into last night’s game against Tampa Bay he had points in his previous two games. Baby steps.

Keys…

1. Don’t be stupid. Florida has had precious few power play opportunities lately, 20 in their last seven games. Their two goals (10.0 percent) speaks to some serious frustration on the man advantage. Don’t give them any more opportunities to allow them to work themselves out of it.

2. Pace yourselves. After last night’s track meet with the Lightning, beware the Panthers trying to run the Caps out early to take their legs away from them. Trouble is, Florida is 19th in goals scored in the first period this year. Until last night, the Caps had allowed the fewest in the first frame.

3. Bad habits. Last night’s game film should be burned. After allowing only 48 goals in their previous 20 games, the Caps just kept hemorrhaging goals against the Lightning. Hopefully, with a game coming only 24 hours later, they can correct problems before they become habits.

In the end, the Caps have a solid edge on paper in just about every respect. They will need to get the bad taste out of their mouths from last night’s game. The recent trend is decisions in threes – three wins in a row, then three losses, then three wins before last night’s decision against the Lightning. Hopefully, the Caps will have learned a lesson about motivated teams, regardless of their record, from last night’s game. The Caps have won three in a row from the Panthers so far this year. We’ll call it four.

Caps 4 – Panthers 2

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Caps vs. Lightning, January 12th

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

It’s the middle game of a three-game road swing as the Caps head into Tampa to take on the Lightning in hopes of extending their franchise-longest winning streak against one team to 13 games. The last time the Caps lost to the Lightning was November 16, 2007, a 5-2 loss. In 12 games since then, the Caps have outscored the Lightning 50-24. And if there is anyone in these parts who knows losing streaks, it is the former coach of the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers (one-time owners of an 0-14 season), John McKay. Coach, welcome…

“The pleasure is all yours, Peerless.”

Uh, yeah. Coach, would you say that over this 12-game losing streak against the Caps that the Lightning have lacked emotion?

"Emotion is highly overrated... My wife Corky is emotional as hell but can't play football worth a damn."

Well, I’m sure she would appreciate the sentiment. The Lightning have struggled on the power play against the Caps. Any advice there?

“They were absolutely horrible and that’s the best thing I can say. Besides that they were bad. These people are not poorly paid you know.”

I suppose not. But coach, the Lightning have only played the Caps once this year, a 3-0 shutout loss. Did you happen to catch that one?

“There were times I felt like leaving the stadium and hitchhiking home.”

Coach, you’ve had a chance to see Alex Ovechkin. Some folks think he shoots too much. Do you agree?

“He doesn't belong to a union. Anyway, the puck doesn't weigh that much.”

Tampa Bay has had its troubles over the last month or so. What do you think of the Lightning’s execution?

“I think it's a good idea.”

What about the playoffs, coach? Do you think Tampa Bay has a prayer of getting in?

“You do a lot of praying, but most of the time the answer is `No.'”

Well, the Lightning might want to resort to beseeching the Almighty after dropping a dozen consecutive games to the Capitals by that combined 50-24 score. In those 12 games for the Caps…

-- 16 different skaters have goals
-- 26 different skaters have points
-- The power play is 10-for-56 (17.9 percent)
-- The penalty killing is 34-for-38 (89.5 percent)
-- There have been five wins by at least three goals
-- They have never trailed at the first intermission
-- ...because they scored 20 goals in the first period of those 12 games
-- ...including three occasions in which they put up three goals in the first period
-- ...and they were held scoreless in the first period in only one of those 12 games.

You could call that “domination.”

Since the Caps and Lightning last met – a 3-0 win for the Caps in Tampa on December 7th, the Lightning have gone 6-7-2. The Eastern Conference being what it is, though, that has allowed the Lightning to hang around the edge of the playoff mix. The overall numbers for the Lightning look like this…


Tampa Bay is really a tale of two different teams, home version and road, and in that fashion must be respected by the Caps. There is, of course, the record (10-5-5 at home, 7-12-5 at home). But beneath that there is the matter of scoring (2.70 G/G at home, 2.33 G/G on the road), defense (2.20 G/G home, 3.42 G/G road), the power play (17.6%/16.7%) and penalty killing (86.7%/76.6%). Tampa Bay is a much different team at home – especially on defense. Another way to look at it is this – in 13 home games since November 1st, the Lightning have allowed more than three goals only twice.

Perhaps one of the reasons Tampa Bay hasn’t broken through into the top-eight in the East is that they rely on so few players for offense. Four players – Steven Stamkos, Ryan Malone, Martin St. Louis, and Vincent Lecavalier have accounted for 57 percent of the 110 goals Tampa Bay has scored this year. They are the only players in double digits in goal scoring thus far.

Stamkos got off to a fast start in the goal scoring department this season – 17 goals in his first 24 games. But he has only six in his last 20 games and two in his last eight (both in the fragmented 4-2 win over New Jersey that began on Friday and ended on Sunday). He is 3-0-3 in seven career games against the Caps.

Malone is on a pace to eclipse his career highs in goals, assists, and points. He has arguably been the Lightning’s best all around player this season (he is also tops in plus-minus and hits, and he has a positive takeaway/giveaway ratio). But after registering game-winning goals in two of three games in late December, Malone is 0-2-2 in his last six games. In 21 career games he is 5-9-14 against the Caps.

Martin St. Louis has been a thorn in the Caps’ collective side for almost a decade. In this, his ninth season with the Lightning, he is one of the elder statesmen on the club. He doesn’t seem to be letting up, though. With 49 points in 44 games he is on a pace to record his highest point total (91) since his 102-point season in 2006-2007. He has been on a tear of late, too. He is on a ten-game points streak (5-9-14) and has points in 14 of his last 17 games (6-15-21). In 51 career regular season games against Washington, St. Louis is 19-33-52.

Last year, Vincent Lecavalier had his worst season, statistically, since the lockout (29-38-67, minus-9 in 77 games). It could have been considered an aberration, a product of his coming back from off-season shoulder surgery and having to endure a wrist injury late in the year that would put him on the shelf for the last five games of the season. This year, though, he is on a pace for 75 points and 19 goals, the latter of which would be his lowest total since his rookie year. This isn’t part of the plan for a guy who is a 7.8 million a year salary cap hit (and will be through the 2019-2020 season). He is showing signs of busting loose, though. He is 5-13-18 in his last 18 games, but has points in 12 of those games. In 58 career regular season games against the Caps, Lecavalier is 26-29-55.

Mike Smith got off to a rather grim start in goal for the Lightning this season. In his first 14 games through December 2nd, he was 4-5-5, 3.28, .893. Since ending that run with a 4-0 shutout of the Islanders on December 5th, Smith is 6-6-1, 2.57, .919. He is 5-2-1 in his last eight appearances and has allowed more than two goals only three times in that span. It’s a good thing for the Lightning that Smith has found his stride, because backup Antero Niittymaki has hit a bit of a bumpy road of late. After allowing three or fewer goals in 13 of his first 15 appearances, he is 1-2-0, 3.97, .843 in his last four appearances.

The Peerless’ Players to Ponder

Tampa Bay: Kurtis Foster

Foster leads all Lightning defensemen in scoring (6-11-17 in 34 games) and has the only game-winning goal among the blueliners. He is 3-8-11 in his last dozen games, which corresponds with an increase in ice time. He has recorded 20-plus minutes in five of those dozen games, compared to having not hit the 20-minute mark in any of his previous 22 games this season. It is somewhat new territory for Foster, who is on a pace to set career highs in goals-assists-points (an 11-21-32 pace).

Washington: Matt Bradley

Yes, Alex Ovechkin has made the Lightning a personal chew toy (22-20-42 in 31 career games, 10-8-18 on this 12-game winning streak). Yes, David Steckel has “Ovechkinized” the Lightning in his career (6-5-11 in 14 career games, 5-5-10 in the 12-game streak). Mike Green set his consecutive games goal-scoring record against the Lightning last year and is 6-10-16 in the 12-game streak. But Matt Bradley is putting his own imprint on this winning streak, too. In the 12-game winning streak, Bradley is 4-5-9. He has more career goals, assists, and points (5-11-16) against Tampa Bay than he has against any other team in the NHL. In fact, he has at least twice as many points against the Lightning as he does against any other team. Bradley is 0-3-3 in his last two games.

Keys:

1. There is no streak…there is no streak. One of the problems teams have in extending streaks is sometimes they focus more on the streak than the game. Tampa Bay has not been especially competitive in this series lately, evidenced not only by the streak but by the Caps getting off to such fast starts in games (those 20 first period goals in 12 games, four times netting three in the opening frame). The Caps are better, by a lot. If they play to that level of effort, forgetting that they have dominated this series over the dozen games, this is another one that could be over early.

2. Short legs. Tampa Bay had hockey on three consecutive nights, two of them in New Jersey (a place that can sap the life out of anyone, and that’s not even counting having to play the Devils). Even with a day off, will Tampa have the legs for 60 minutes? Another reason to look for the Caps to jump on the Lightning early.

3. I’m special…no, I’m special. The Caps are 8-for-28 on the power play in their last eight games (28.6 percent). The Lightning are 23-for-25 on the penalty kill in their last seven games (92.0 percent). This could be the fault line on which this game is decided. Despite that fine power play number, the Caps haven’t had a lot of opportunities (3.5/game in their last eight games). And the Lightning have killed off penalties as a product of not having to do it often (3.57 shorthanded situations per game in their last seven). The key for the Caps might be getting four or more chances with the man advantage.

In the end, this is another case of the Caps being too deep for the Lightning. The Caps have nine players with double-digit goal totals, 13 with double-digit point totals (the Lightning have four and 10, respectively). What’s more, the Caps have allowed two or fewer goals in eight of their last 11 games. Unless Mike Smith has a big night, this shouldn’t end well for the Lightning. Make it 13…

Caps 5 – Lightning 2

A TWO-point night: Caps 8 - Thrashers 1

OK, how bad does it get when you lose a game, 8-1 on your own ice?

-- The biggest cheer from the 15 fans left in the arena comes in the third period when the public address announcer comes on and says, “one minute…one minute remaining in the period."

-- The last three goals are scored by: a) a fourth liner, b) the second pair power play quarterback (who hadn’t had a goal in 72 games), and c) the new guy

-- You get one goal on 39 shots against the number three goalie in the Caps’ system

The Caps laid the wood to the Atlanta Thrashers tonight – early, often, and with authority – as they skated the Thrashers out of their own arena in the 8-1 win. It was as complete a game as the Caps have played this year. Why? Well, let’s take a look…

-- 16 skaters – sixteen! – had points (only John Erskine and Shaone Morrison failed to get at least one point, and Erskine skated only one shift in the third period).

-- Jeff Schultz, plus-5 and two assists, a team high 26-plus minutes, a team-high 3:09 of penalty killing time…and he doesn’t even get a star.

-- Mike Knuble had a pair of goals that had Kanoobie yipping for glee in that neither involved and actual shot type motion – a deflection and a redirect off a skate. Now that’s the Knuble we want to see!

-- 12 skaters finished in “plus” territory, eight of them plus-2 or better.

-- All those goals, and Mike Green was the only Cap skater who did not record at least one shot on goal.

-- Only six giveaways, and two of those were by goalie Michal Neuvirth.

-- The Caps were not only 2-for-3 on the power play, they were 2-for-3 on power play shots.

-- The Caps had 1:53 of total power play time tonight. Five seconds of that was the product of overlapping minors to Alex Ovechkin and Slava Kozlov. That was the only power play the Caps did not score on. Otherwise, they needed a total of 108 seconds to score two power play goals.

-- Oh, and of that 1:53 of power play time…Alex Ovechkin only got 33 seconds worth of it, another indicator of how early this one was over.

-- Spreading it around? First line (8-19-22): 3-1-4, plus-6… Second line (28-14-21): 2-3-5, plus-5… Third Line (25-9-16): 1-2-3, even… Fourth line (15-39-10): 1-2-3, plus-3.

Michal Neuvirth stopped 38 of 39 shots, but might have won the game for the Caps with his play in the first period when the Thrashers actually had the territorial advantage early. Ilya Kovalchuk had seven shots for the game for the Thrashers, six of them in the first period – all of them with the Caps nursing a 1-0 lead – and several of them top-notch scoring opportunities. If Neuvirth lets any of them in, it could have stemmed some of the Caps’ momentum.

Mike Knuble’s two goals make nine in double-digits for the Caps (they had nine for all of last season). Next up, Matt Bradley (seven).

Ilya Kovalchuk… seven shots, 11 shot attempts, 21 minutes of ice time… minus-3. He might take a discount to get OUT of Atlanta.

That’s fastest to 60 points in the history of the franchise (44 games), besting the 28-13-4 record the Caps had in the first 45 games of the 1985-1986 season.

And if you’re interested in that vile plus-minus statistic…



Now it’s on to Tampa, where the Lightning will meet the Caps with one day off after three straight days of hockey – the game on Friday that was suspended when the Devils' check for the light bill didn’t clear, the loss in Philadelphia tonight, and tomorrow’s resumption of the Devils game. It sets up well for the Caps, who will try to extend their 12-game winning streak against the Lightning. But tonight was one of those games you want to wrap with a bow and save it to watch again sometime.

Hey...We Have Mid-Season Award Picks, Too

Since everyone else is doing it, we’ll chip in with what are the ne plus ultra of mid-season trophy awards. So, let’s get to it…

Lady Byng Trophy: The Lady Byng Memorial Trophy is an annual award given to the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability. The winner is selected in a poll of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association at the end of the regular season.

Contenders: Any player with: a) more than 40 points, and b) less than 10 penalty minutes.

The Winner: Zach Parise, New Jersey Devils

Why? Parise will be a contender for other awards – this year and in years to come – but he has 43 points (14th in the league), eight penalty minutes, and what’s more, he is plus-20.

Frank J. Selke Trophy: The Frank J. Selke Trophy is an annual award given to the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game. The winner is selected in a poll of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association at the end of the regular season.

Contenders: Any forward with at least 40 points and a plus-12 or better, unless you’re a former winner, then you’re grandfathered in. Of course, any forward who might be unknown to the casual fan would be a contender, insofar as it demonstrates the voter’s vastly superior knowledge of hockey.

The Winner: Jonathan Toews, Chicago Blackhawks

Why? OK, Toews doesn’t have 40 points, but the Blackhawks are one of the best defensive teams in the league. They are not doing it with goaltending. They are doing it because other teams don’t get many shots on goal (the Hawks have allowed the fewest per game in the league). Toews has been on the ice for only 18 of 90 goals scored against the Hawks this year, although he leads all Hawks forwards in average ice time.

Jack Adams Award: The Jack Adams Award is an annual award presented by the National Hockey League Broadcasters' Association to the NHL coach adjudged to have contributed the most to his team's success. The winner is selected in a poll among members of the NHL Broadcasters' Association at the end of the regular season.

Contenders: Coaches who are doing “better than expected” or who have teams that have already clinched their division.

The winner: Dave Tippett, Phoenix Coyotes

Why? Oh, let’s see… road kill franchise about to be scraped off the pavement and shipped to somewhere in Canada, playing in an arena where one could hit a five iron during a game and probably not hit another fan, previously coached by the games’ most legendary player (if not a Scotty Bowman behind the bench), with talent that can best be described as “middling.” And you have the fourth best record in the Western Conference. We have a winner.

Calder Trophy: The Calder Memorial Trophy is an annual award given to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the National Hockey League. The winner is selected in a poll of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association at the end of the regular season.

Contenders: Rookies who have been named one of the NHL’s three stars of the night at least once, is a “surprise,” or is named “John Tavares.”

The Winner: Tyler Myers, Buffalo Sabres

Why? OK, he’s the sexy pick at the moment, but he deserves it, too. It’s harder to quantify statistics for defensemen than for forwards (which is why comparatively few defensemen win the award, sportwriters generally eschewing statistical analysis in favor of another trip to the buffet). But Myers leads all rookies in ice time (responsibility), is fourth in shot percentage (efficiency), is tied for second in plus-minus (effectiveness), is tied for eighth-fewest penalty minutes among rookies playing in at least 20 games (maturity), is tenth in hits (physicality), leads all rookies in blocked shots (fearlessness), and he’s even made one of two Gimmick goals (impishness). He gets the nod.

James Norris Memorial Trophy: The James Norris Memorial Trophy is an annual award given to the defense player who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position. The winner is selected in a poll of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association at the end of the regular season.

The Contenders: Nicklas Lidstrom and a bunch of other guys.

The Winner: Mike Green, Washington Capitals

Why? OK, for a long time the NHL would just look at the points rankings for defensemen and give it to the name at the top of the list. That sort of ended with the run of wins by Lidstrom. It continued with the win last year by Zdeno Chara. But look at the citation for the award…"the defense player who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position (emphasis added).” Green is the top offensive defenseman in the game. But here are some numbers for you to chew on, too, while you are reminded that Green skates a ton of minutes… Scott Niedermayer (selected as an Olympic team defenseman), on ice for 75 goals against; Dan Boyle (yes, an Olympian), on ice for 51 goals against; Shea Weber (another Olympian defenseman), on ice for 46 goals against; Duncan Keith (this year’s “smart” pick for the Norris), on ice for 44 goals against.

Mike Green – on ice for 44 goals against.

Vezina Trophy: The Vezina Trophy is an annual award given to the goalkeeper adjudged to be the best at this position as voted by the general managers of all NHL clubs.

Contenders: Martin Brodeur and… uh… uh… we’ll think of some

The Winner: Ryan Miller, Buffalo Sabres

Why? Well, there are the games played (37/tied for seventh), wins (25/second), GAA (2.04/third), save percentage (.935/first), the shutouts (5/tied for first). But then there is this, he leads all goalies in save percentage (20 games, minimum) while his team is shorthanded, no small consideration given that the Sabres are a middle-of-the-road offensive team. And no goalie has faced more shots with his team on the power play than Miller, and he has the best save percentage of such situations. He’s been tight as a drum when his team is skating off penalties, and he doesn’t allow the sloppy shorthanded goal. He gets the nod over Mr. Shutout Record Setter.

Lester B. Pearson Award: The Lester B. Pearson Award is presented annually to the "most outstanding player" in the NHL as voted by fellow members of the National Hockey League Players' Association.

Contenders: Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, [enter third name here]

The Winner: Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals

Why? “Outstanding” covers a lot of ground. It could be raw, unvarnished statistical superiority. It could be literally “standing out” from among your peers. In either case, Ovechkin has a compelling case. First, to take care of the atmospherics, he is both the one player who can draw fans out of their seats in any arena in which he plays every time he touches the puck, and he is becoming the face of the game – not in the Pre-Scandal Tiger Woods “I drive a solid, responsible Buick” sort of endorsement lineup, but as a guy who will do anything (and with an understanding of proper product placement) to sell the game and those products he endorses as one of the elite players in the league. Statistically, he is on an 82-game scoring pace that would challenge or easily surpass his previous career highs – goals (63 versus 65 in 2007-2008), assists (61; previous high 54, twice); points (124/112); plus-minus (plus-52/plus-28), hits (239/243), and he is on a pace to have the best turnover ratio of takeaways to giveaways of his career (0.85, not altogether bad for a forward who has the puck so much – compare it to, say, Sidney Crosby, whose ratio is 0.63). If Ovechkin was the standard as the best player into the league coming into the season, and his performance is eclipsing that, well…

Hart Memorial Trophy: The Hart Memorial Trophy is an annual award given to the player judged to be the most valuable to his team. The winner is selected in a poll of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association in all NHL cities at the end of the regular season.

The Contenders: See “Pearson Award,” above

The Winner: Ryan Miller, Buffalo Sabres

Why? Read the citation… “given to the player judged to be the most valuable to his team.” It doesn’t say “skater” or “player who doesn’t wear big pads and a mask,” it says simply, “player.” And “most valuable” doesn’t necessarily mean “best.” If that was the case, we would have no reason for a Pearson Award. Miller gets the nod here, because let’s face it, if the Sabres are relying on Patrick Lalime and Jhonas Enroth in goal, the Sabres are flirting with lottery territory. The man has one one-goal loss in regulation this year, and the Sabres are tied for the fourth fewest three-or-more goal losses in the league this year. He keeps his team in games, and he wins the close ones. No team would be more seriously affected by their most valuable player’s absence than would the Sabres with Miller’s.

Not now, kids... the CAPS are on!

From the club...

The Washington Capitals are partnering with American Media Services Interactive to launch “Capitals Radio,” a customized audio-on-demand player on WashingtonCaps.com. “Capitals Radio” will play Capitals’ podcasts and other digital streaming content. Click here to listen to the Capitals Radio player.

The custom audio-on-demand player will give fans access to high-quality streaming music featuring Capitals’ arena favorites, music from the locker room featuring artists and songs selected by Capitals players. Fans will also have the opportunity to search channels, artists and genres, Capitals archived press conferences, post-game commentary and other audio highlights throughout the season. Fans that have recorded their own songs can share them with the Caps community by uploading their music through the player either by just clicking on the fan band link or going to WashingtonCaps.com/fanband.

The player is the first of its kind in the Eastern Conference and second in the National Hockey League.

Back to the future, I tell ya!

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Caps vs. Thrashers, January 9th

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

It’s on the road – again – for the Caps, and as a public service, your ol’ Uncle Peerless is going to provide you with some travel tips, courtesy of the Transportation Security Administration, where every day is the Fourth of July.

First of all, the friendly folks at the TSA want make sure that your “screening experience” – and we are not making that term up, kids – ensures that “you move more quickly and efficiently through the security process.” To that end, you have to “dress the part.” TSA recommends that you “avoid wearing clothing, jewelry or other accessories that contain metal when traveling through the security checkpoints”, such as:

* Heavy jewelry (including pins, necklaces, bracelets, rings, watches, earrings, body piercings, cuff links, lanyards or bolo ties)… world junior championship gold medals probably fall under this category.
* Clothing with metal buttons, snaps or studs… there is no mention of “fighting straps” on hockey jerseys
* Metal hair barrettes or other hair decoration… Is the “M-11 helmet” considered “hair decoration?”

Oops, helmets appear to be covered under “head coverings” (makes sense)…

“You are permitted to wear head coverings and religious garments during the screening process. You may be directed to additional screening if your headwear or clothing (religious or otherwise) is loose fitting or large enough to hide prohibited items.”

Is Sean Avery’s head considered a “prohibited item?” Well, it should be.

We also noted that TSA considers “sabers” a prohibited carry-on item. Ryan Miller must get very uncomfortable stowed in cargo for those trips out west.

And if you’re wondering, yes, hockey sticks are not allowed in carry-on luggage.

Philistines…

However they get there – airplane, train, car, rickshaw, skateboard, Segway (well, maybe not Mike Green) – the Caps are in Atlanta tonight to take on the Thrashers. Talk about teams headed in opposite directions. Since December 1st the Caps are 10-6-0; not great, perhaps, but compared to the Thrashers’ 5-11-3 record (which included a nine-game winless streak) it is positively glowing. The overall numbers look like this…



The Thrashers broke that nine-game winless streak in their last game, a 2-1 Gimmick win over the Rangers. It is worth noting that the Thrashers have not won a game in regulation since November 30th, a 4-3 win over Florida. What happened? Well, it boils down to these two general statements…

They stopped scoring goals.

They gave up a ton of goals.

Since December 1st the Thrashers have scored 50 goals in 19 games (not including Gimmicks). Ten of those goals were scored by Ilya Kovalchuk. That leaves 40 goals for 19 other skaters in 19 games. In those 19 games for Atlanta…

-- They scored two or fewer goals ten times.
-- They had 13 skaters scoring goals.
-- They had only three goals from defensemen.
-- The power play went 11-for-65 (16.9 percent).
-- They had two players who scored at a “20-goal” season pace – Kovalchuk (10 goals in 19 games) and Nik Antropov (nine in 17 games).
-- They have no goals from Todd White (who played in 18 of the 19 games); White has but three goals for the season, compared to 22 last year.
-- They have two goals from rookie Evander Kane (playing 18 of those 19 games), this after Kane registered eight in his first 24 games.

The dropoff in offense is matched only by some ghastly results at the other end of the ice. In the last 19 games for Atlanta…

-- They have allowed four or more goals 13 times.
-- They had a streak of six consecutive games of giving up at least four goals.
-- Penalty killers skated off only 50 of 66 shorthanded situations (75.8 percent).
-- In 57 periods of regulation hockey, they gave up two or more goals in 22 periods, three or more in six, and gave up five goals in the second period of a 5-2 loss to Toronto on December 7th.
-- They failed to achieve a save percentage of .900 in 15 games.

They have been, be kind, awful. What might be more amazing is that they won five games at all, although all of them were won in extra time, and three of them went to a Gimmick.

The big story for the Thrashers isn’t even on the ice. It is whether Ilya Kovachuk will hold out for an $11.36 million a year (add your own number of years here) deal to stay in Atlanta or be traded sometime over the next two months as a rental for picks, prospects, and/or players. After missing six games with a broken foot in November he is 16-21-37 in 29 games (25-22-47 in 37 games overall). Since single-handedly keeping the Thrashers in last Saturday’s game against the Islanders until they could lose in a Gimmick (he was 1-3-4 in a 5-5 game after regulation), he is scoreless in his last two games and in danger of setting a personal season high streak of three games if he fails to get a point tonight. It would also tie his season high streak of games without a goal (three). Given his history against the Caps though, it will be a tall order to keep Kovalchuk off the score sheet. In 43 career games against Washington he is 24-28-52, and he has a pair of goals in the only meeting in which he skated this year.

After two seasons in Buffalo lost to injury and ineffectivess, Maxim Afinogenov was given up for dead, so to speak, as an NHL-caliber player. The Thrashers signed the winger to a free-agent deal on the eve of the regular season, and at $800,000, one might have to consider him a bargain. He is second on the team in goals (15), third in assists (24), second in total scoring (39), tied for third in power play goals (three), and is fourth in ice time (17:58) among forwards. His 15 goals almost equals the total of his last two years in Buffalo combined (16) in fewer than half the games played. He has found the going a little more difficult lately – 4-10-14, minus-13 in 19 games since December 1st. Afinogenov is 11-11-22 in 32 career regular season games against Washington.

Until Vyacheslav Kozlov finished the 2007-2008 season with only 17 goals, he had a string of 12 seasons out of 13 in which he scored goals at a 20-plus-per-season pace. When he slipped to 17 two years ago, it might have signaled the beginning of the end for the then 35-year old forward. But he rebounded to 26 goals last year giving hope to Thrasher fans that there would be a scoring complement to Kovalchuk. But this year he has eight goals in 43 games and only 11 assists to go with them. He is 4-2-6 in this 19 game slump the Thrashers are in. Perhaps more alarming, he has no goals in his last nine games and no points at all in his last eight. What he does do well, though, is get the Gimmick goal. He is 4-for-6 this year, and he is 27-for-46 over his career (58.7 percent shooting percentage). Kozlov is 18-22-40 in 54 career games against the Caps.

If a goal was scored by the Thrashers in the past six weeks, there was a good chance Tobias Enstrom was in on it. He hasn’t scored any of those goals in the past 19 games during which the Thrashers have slumped, but he has 15 assists over that time and authored a six game points streak along the way. Enstrom is a defenseman who always seems to be flying under the radar of a Zdeno Chara, a Mike Green, or a Chris Pronger, but he has been one of the bright lights for Atlanta this year and is very much an underrated commodity. He is fourth among all NHL defensemen in scoring, and on a team that has had a lot of difficulty keeping pucks out of its own net lately, his plus-6 is commendable. He is 2-10-12 in 16 career games against Washington.

OK, so who will it be in goal? Will it be “The Moose,” Johan Hedberg – 4-4-3 in this 19-game slump, 2.62, .907, or will it be “The Sieve,” Ondrej Pavelec – 1-7-0, 5.25., 860? It might be worth noting that in Pavelec’ only win he allowed five goals in a 6-5 overtime win against Dallas. He hasn’t allowed fewer than three goals in a game since he shut out the Red Wings on November 25th (the shock appears not to have worn off). He even allowed three goals in less than 11 minutes worth of work in a 6-4 loss to Boston in the game before Christmas. He has had his troubles against the Caps, too – 1-4-0, 3.90, .868, and he has lost his last four decisions.

Meanwhile, Hedberg has allowed more than three goals in “only” four of 13 appearances since December 1st (including two of his last three). He came into the first meeting of the clubs, on October 22nd, in relief of Pavelec and pitched shutout ball for 26:11 in a 5-4 loss. Otherwise, he is 9-3-2, 2.87 over his career against the Caps.

The Peerless’ Players to Ponder:

Atlanta: Rich Peverley

Peverley has been a royal pain in the backside for the Caps since he was claimed off waivers by the Thrashers from Nashville in January 2009. He has played in six games against the Caps since and has a point in every game (2-4-6). However, he is only 3-6-9 in 19 games since December 1st. If Atlanta is going to win games, they have to get players like Peverley started to take pressure off of Kovalchuk.

Washington: Brendan Morrison

Morrison has had his own slump lately. In his last 14 games he is 1-1-2 and except for a three-game run in which he had a total of 12 shots on goal has had trouble getting anything on net (nine shots on goal in the other 11 games). He has, however, had success against the Thrashers. Morrison is 6-10-16 in 11 career games against Atlanta, including points in each game this season (1-1-2 in two games).

Keys:

1. Remember the Hurricanes! OK, so it doesn’t have quite the juice of “Remember the Alamo!,” but the Caps should be mindful of taking a club having their troubles too lightly. Carolina came into Verizon Center a couple of weeks ago with their one road win and their league worst record and pasted the Caps, 6-3. Yes, Atlanta has had a devil of a time winning games of any sort recently, but they’re not dead, either.

2. Score early, score often. The Thrashers have allowed 42 first period goals this season, fourth most in the league. No team has scored more in the first frame than have the Caps – 51 goals. Do the math.

3. On your mark…get set… Since Bruce Boudreau took over the Caps, Washington is 9-3-1 against Atlanta. The common thread in the four losses is that the Caps failed to score in volume (a total of seven goals in the four games). Since John Anderson took over behind the Thrasher bench, the winner of every game has scored at least four goals. These haven’t been goalie duels. Atlanta has had trouble scoring goals lately (49 goals in 19 games since December 1st – 2.58/game), Washington hasn’t (60 goals in 16 games since December 1st – 3.75/game).

In the end, if the Caps don’t look at recent records, take the ice, and just take care of business, this should not be a competitive game. But there is the matter of the divisional rivalry of the teams, the personal rivalry of Alex Ovechkin and Ilya Kovalchuk, and the coaching rivalry between friends Bruce Boudreau and John Anderson. No two teams in the division might take more joy at beating the other than the Caps and Thrashers. That said, this is likely to be a track meet, but Atlanta hasn’t had enough of the support scoring to take enough of the burden off of Kovalchuk to make Atlanta a favorite…

Caps 6 – Thrashers 3

A TWO-point night: Caps 5 - Senators 2

Ain’t nothin’ like home cookin’, is there?

The Caps made it two in a row and seven of eight at home with a 5-2 win over the Ottawa Senators. Not that is wasn’t without its moments of suspense, thanks to a somnambulistic second period. But the Caps kicked things into high gear in the third period with three goals to win going away.

The Caps mixed things up offensively. Three players had multi-point nights, but ten players shared in the scoring. You knew it might be a big night on offense when “Muffins,” himself – Boyd Gordon – got things off and running by putting a shot on goal (only his sixth of the year), then pouncing on a rebound off a shot by Matt Bradley a couple of seconds later, laying out and sweeping the puck past goalie Pascal Leclaire.

Then, as if to continue the “dog-bites-man” sort of evening it was becoming, Mike Knuble gathered the puck and dashed (no, really… dashed) down the right side, letting fly with an innocent looking shot on goal that somehow eluded Leclaire to give the Caps a 2-0 lead at the first intermission.

But there must be something about the goal at the eastern end of Verizon Center. When the teams changed ends for the second period, the Caps offense (so active in the first, while shooting toward the east), went dormant in the other end. Not that Ottawa was putting on fireworks display of their own, but they did manage the only goal of the period. At 17:45 Chris Phillips used Alex Kovalev as a enough of a screen (or at least a nuisance to goalie Jose Theodore) to fling a wrist shot home to halve the lead at the second intermission.

Then it became “The Nicklas Backstrom Show.” In the first minute of the third period, Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin played the puck back-and-forth as they were crossing the Ottawa line. Backstrom looks as if he would carry the puck around the net, but instead fired a shot from a bad angle that handcuffed Leclaire dropped behind him to restore the two-goal lead.

Later in the period, Backstrom had Leclaire guessing wrong once more. After Ovechkin dropped Alex Kovalev at the Ottawa line (eliciting a roar from the crowd), Backstrom picked up the puck at his own blue line and skated down the middle. He had an opening to Leclaire’s righ,t and he took it. Leclaire bit on the move, overplaying the short side as if not to make the same mistake he made on Backstrom’s earlier goal. But Backstrom this time carried the puck around the horn and stuffed it on the other side before Leclaire could recover.

All that was left was to see if Ovechkin would get his first goal as Captain and send the Caps faithful scurrying to the restaurant offering free wings for five goals by the Caps. He did, taking advantage of some sloppy neutral zone play by the Senators and taking advantage. With the puck loose outside the Ottawa line, he collected, then got the advantage when Mat Carkner got turned the wrong way. Ovechkin sped in, moved the puck to his backhand with Carkner desperately trying to hook him, hold him, or sing him a lullaby. It was no use; Ovechkin flipped the backhand under the crossbar and the Capitals’ scoring ledger was complete. Ottawa added a goal in the dying seconds to make our prognostication look good, the final score being 5-2.

Other stuff…

-- Backstrom was cooly efficient, almost surgical, and error-free to boot. Two goals (on three shots), an assist, a takeaway, two blocked shots, and he won nine of 17 draws. He won the first star (to make another prognostication look good as our “player to ponder”… we had a pretty good night – go figure).

-- Ovechkin had what I might call a “three-inch night.” He had ten shots on goal, and only one went in. But if not for a shot being three inches to close to the body here, three inches too low there, and so on, Ovechkin might have had a five-goal night. He had pucks in good shooting areas and had good releases. But sometimes, like a hitter in baseball hitting line drives right at fielders, he managed to find a piece of Leclaire’s equipment often with good shots.

-- Matt Bradley gets more out of ten minutes of ice time than most guys get out of 20… ok, 15. Two assists, plus-1, a couple of decent scoring chances, and a lot of havoc created. He had a nice night.

-- For the record, the top line of Ovechkin-Backstrom-Knuble was 4-3-7, plus-8 (Ovechkin did score his goal with Bradley on the wing in place of Knuble).

-- David Steckel was 9-for-14 in the circle. That’s 19-7 the last two games. Scoring isn’t the only thing subject to being in a groove.

-- Speaking of draws… Tomas Flesichmann, 12 up and three down??

-- There might be some psychic satisfaction at seeing Mike Green pin Jarkko Ruutu to the ice, but if you’re a Caps fan, seeing that trade off – Ruutu going off with Green with the game still in doubt (3-1 at the time) -- had to get fans a bit jumpy.

-- John “five-by-five” Erskine had a nice night – five hits, five blocked shots

-- Bruce Boudreau said in the post game that with a little luck, Jose Theodore could have had a shutout. He had no chance on the Phillips goal, which looked as if it was deflected in front, and on the second the Caps were, as Boudreau put it, “brain dead.” Everyone was on the side of the ice away from Jonathan Cheechoo, who took a cross-ice pass from Shean Donovan and had time to write a sonnet before lifting the puck over Theodore. As it was, Theodore had a solid game, rarely (if at all) allowing Ottawa any rebounds to put back.

-- The nice thing about a 5-2 game is that the minutes get spread a little more evenly. Only three players with more than 20 minutes for the night, and it’s worth noting that Mike Green played “only” 22 minutes, this after logging 30-plus minutes in three of his last four games.

-- Jeff Schultz, another quiet night of effectiveness. 19:54 in ice time, two blocked shots, an assist, plus-1, and he led the team in PK ice time (3:16).

-- It was an extremely choppy game, an indicator that Ottawa really misses Daniel Alfredsson and Jason Spezza. There wasn’t a lot of flow, especially in the first two periods. One indicator of this was total shot attempts. The Caps had only 55 (they had 70 in Tuesday’s win over Montreal), and Ottawa had only 52.

-- Ovechkin is now tied for third in points, third in goals, tied for first in plus-minus, and first in shots… all while playing 6-8 fewer games than other leaders in those categories. His repeating as Hart winner is problematic, but there isn’t even a second place in the Pearson sweepstakes.

All-in-all this was the same sort of “workmanlike” effort that the Caps had on Tuesday. Coach Boudreau was right in describing the Caps as “floundering” in the second period, but they righted themselves quickly in the third period. The two games this week could be signs of a nice little run as the Caps hit the road. They are 6-0-0 against their next three opponents – Atlanta, Tampa Bay, and Florida, teams that are a combined 5-8-3 since Christmas. For now though, this is a win that had a lot of authors, just the thing to make everybody happy.

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Caps vs. Senators, January 7th

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

The Capitals skate in the second half of their mini-home set against the Ottawa Senators tonight at Verizon Center, and we have a treat tonight as the cousins – Cheerless and Fearless – honor us with a visit. Guys, how was your holiday?

Fearless: "Great as always, cuz. Good food, holiday music, good friends…"

Cheerless: "What friends? You’re about as loved as Bettman at a Stanley Cup Game 7."

Cheerless, you sound as if you had a less-than-merry Christmas.

"Well, yeah… all I wanted was "an official Red Ryder carbine-action 200-shot range model hockey stick with a compass in the blade, and this thing which tells time."

I don’t know, cuz. Sounds dangerous.

“We kept telling him, ‘you’ll shoot er eye out, you’ll shoot yer eye out.’”

“Don’t get started, cuz…”

“You should have seen him on Christmas morning, tearing around under the tree looking for his Red Ryder hockey stick. He got a dirigible, a pair of socks…”

But no Red Ryder…

“No official Red Ryder carbine-action 200-shot range model hockey stick with a compass in the blade, and this thing which tells time."

Right…

“Well, that’s not quite the way you put it, was it, cuz?”

“OK, I said, ‘O Fudge!...No official Red Ryder carbine-action 200-shot range model hockey stick…"

“yadda-yadda-yadda…Only you didn't say ‘Fudge.’ You said THE word, the big one, the queen-mother of dirty words, the "F-dash-dash-dash" word!”

Really?

“Yeah, which meant washing my mouth out with soap. Fearless over here thinks he’s such a hoity-toity gourmet, but over the years I’ve gotten to be quite a connoisseur of soap.”

Do tell…

“My personal preference was for Lux, but I found Palmolive had a nice, piquant after-dinner flavor - heady, but with just a touch of mellow smoothness. Life Buoy, on the other hand...”

That bad, eh?

“Yeah, tastes like the chicken tenders at Verizon Center.”

Well, we hope next Christmas will be kinder to Cheerless, but the task at hand is for the Capitals to go to 2-0 at home in the new year. And to do that they will have to defeat a somewhat depleted Ottawa Senator team. Daniel Alfredsson and Jason Spezza – players who have averaged 88 and 86 points per year, respectively, since the lockout, are out until at least February. Spezza is out with an MCL tear, and Alfredsson is out with a shoulder separation.

The Senators have been playing without both since Alfredsson went out in a ghastly 8-2 loss to Pittsburgh in the last game before Christmas. After that game they were 5-8-0 for the month of December. But an odd thing has happened since then. The Senators are 4-2-0 since Christmas. Their goals for/against isn’t spectacular (19 for, 18 against, not including Gimmicks), and they don’t seem to have relied on a cornerstone goalie – Pascal Leclaire went 3-1-0 in the first four games after Christmas, Brian Elliott going 1-1-0 in both starts in the new year (Leclaire relieved Elliott in the second of these games, a 4-1 loss to Boston). They’ve just found a way to muddle through.

Or perhaps more accurately, “grit” their way through. We happened upon the Ottawa Sun entry for today’s game and took note of Don Brennan’s article describing the days off a player might take when he’s got some dings and dents. Some folks might call it a “maintenance day,” but as Brennan reports, the Senators have another name for it…

“Princess Day.”

Hockey players are a tough lot.

What the absences of Alfredsson and Spezza will mean is that the scoring burden has to be spread around. The overall numbers look like this...



Mike Fisher has inherited the description of “Senators’ leading scorer” for the moment (15-17-32), although his output has dried up a bit as of late. Since Christmas, as the Senators have gone on this 4-2-0 run, Fisher is 0-3-3 in the six games and has not had a goal since December 16th, a goal-less streak of ten games. He has, though, had a respectable output against the Caps, going 9-8-17 in 25 career games against Washington. He is 5-4-9 in his last eight games against the Caps.

Another Senator who had a ten-game goal-less streak broke out in a big way last weekend. On Sunday Alex Kovalev potted four goals in a 7-4 win over the Flyers. While Kovalev was held without a goal in a 4-1 loss to the Bruins on Tuesday (he assisted on the only Ottawa goal), the outburst is a reminder that Kovalev can still, at age 36, summon up the big score from time to time. In 59 career games against the Caps Kovalev is 17-28-45.

When last we spoke of Milan Michalek, in a preview of the November 23rd contest with the Caps, he had gotten off to a 10-goals-in-20-games start. Well, since then Mihalek has six goals in 23 games, one in his last 18, and none in his last eight. That qualifies as a slump. Despite the slump, though, Mihalek remains the top goal scorer for the Senators (16), including the absent Alfredsson and Spezza. In four career games against the Caps he is 1-3-4.

How, then, have the Senators done it? Well, 22 of 24 players who have dressed for Ottawa this year have goals. Ten have at least five. It’s not “Capitals” level of production, perhaps (Washington has eight players with at least ten goals), but it has allowed Ottawa to remain in the top-eight playoff mix. In the 4-2-0 run so far since Christmas, nine Senators have shared in the 19 goals scored. There are, of course, the four that Kovalev has, but four have come from another, unexpected source. Ryan Shannon has come alive since Christmas. Whereas he had no goals in the 31 games he played before the holiday, he has four in six games since (although none in his last three).

In goal, neither Pascal Leclaire nor Brian Elliott have a lot of experience against the Caps. In three career games against Washington, Elliott has a 1-1-0 record, 3.78, .835. Leclaire is 0-1-0, 2.55, .907 in two career appearances. Elliott has the only appearance against the Caps this year, getting the win in a 4-3 overtime decision.

The Peerless’ Players to Ponder

Ottawa: Jarkko Ruutu

Ruutu isn’t going to get you a lot of points (8-8-16 in 43 games this year, 1-2-3 in 15 career games against the Capitals). But he is a pest…ok, he’s dirty. In those 15 career games against the Caps he has 36 penalty minutes. If he’s heading off to the box (and he didn’t in the first meeting of these teams), he’s giving the Caps – with the league’s second-best power play – opportunities that a team like Ottawa (16th in penalty killing) probably can’t afford.

Washington: Nicklas Backstrom

You can’t really say Backstrom is in a slump, but he seems to have hit a pothole. In his last eight games he is 4-3-7, plus-2 (and a migraine), which is a bit off his season scoring pace. He has, however, had success against Ottawa (3-8-11 in nine games). Should he go without a point tonight, it would tie his season high streak of games without a point (three).

Keys:

1. End it early. The Caps have outscored Ottawa 49-32 in the first period this year. As if to emphasize the point, the Caps have allowed only 25 first period goals this year (fourth fewest in the league), while Ottawa has allowed 40 (sixth most).

2. Scrape off the rust. It appears as if Jose Theodore will get a chance to work his way out from the back of the dog house tonight. Theodore has played in seven of the Caps’ 17 games since Thanksgiving, during which he is 4-3-0, 2.72, .903. However, after turning away 27 of 28 shots in a 6-1 win over Colorado on December 15th, he has but two appearances since, neither inspiring a lot of confidence – a 3-2 loss at Vancouver in which he stopped 17 of 20 shots, and a 6-3 loss against Carolina in which he was lit up for five goals on 25 shots.

3. There’s even strength, and then there’s “even strength.” This gets back to a player like Ruutu and his ability to take another Cap off when he gets frisky. No team in the league has more 5-on-5 goals than the Caps (99). But at 4-on-4, the Caps rank tied for 21st in goals scored (two).

In the end, the Caps have a distinct firepower advantage with Alfredsson and Spezza out. That means they have to dictate the pace of the game. They can’t react, they have to attack, and this emphasizes once more that first key. Watch to see if the Caps go to the first intermission with a lead, preferably a multi-goal lead. Given the performance of the teams to date, you could reasonably expect that (they had a 2-1 lead in Ottawa in November and lost in overtime). That’s how we think it will play out.

Caps 5 – Ottawa 2

Role Models for a New Captain

Yesterday the Washington Capitals named Alex Ovechkin the 14th captain in team history. The honor makes Ovechkin, at 24 years of age, the third-youngest captain in the NHL, older only than Jonathan Toews (21) and Sidney Crosby (22). He inaugurated his reign with a rather poetic quote that seems to capture how Ovechkin plays the game…

“I have a 'C' on my heart, but I'm going to do the same thing."

It’s one thing to play the same way with or without a “C” on your heart, but wearing that “C” confers a certain measure of responsibility. He will not lack for role models, though. History is littered with captains. You can’t swing a deck chair or a yardarm (would that be “metre-arm” in Canada?) without hitting some captain who might serve as an example to the young Ovechkin. We’ve taken a few moments to scour the history books to see which style of captaincy might best suit Ovechkin…

Capt. Merrill Stubing

Posting: Master of the Pacific Princess, a cruise ship notorious for weekly romantic escapades in exotic locales.

Style: Good natured, father-figure to crew; skilled seaman (amazing that the Princess never sailed rough seas or sailed through stormy weather) but occasionally bumbling in dealing with his daughter, maybe because she didn’t show up until the second season.

And this applies to hockey…how? A locker room is like a cruise ship… lots of different personalities, lots of guys sent up, sent down, sent out, brought in. A captain needs to be affable and approachable to all sorts of personalities. And Stubing wears shorts… like hockey players.


Capt. Francis Xavier (Frank) Furillo

Posting: Captain, Hill Street Precinct

Style: Often reserved, with occasional flashes of moral indignation and temper, other times passionate (usually when canoodling with the public defender, Joyce Davenport). Subplot involves his long-suffering relationship with ex-wife, who is a whack job, not unlike some high-strung athletes.

And this applies to hockey… how? Police captains have to deal with a lot of nasties. Think of a city full of Sean Avery’s and Daniel Carcillo’s. Oh, and they have to deal with slow-witted police chiefs… sort of like referees, without the orange arm-bands.


Capt. Georg Ludwig von Trapp

Posting: A really big house in Salzburg, Austria…certainly a bigger house than you’d think a Captain could afford on his salary.

Style: At times rigid and overbearing, but with a heart (and voice, even if it was dubbed) of gold. Lacks management skills in some respects, requires assistance of a governess to oversee his seven children. Plays a mean whistle.

And this applies to hockey… how? Every kid wants to do his or her own thing, and it takes a stern hand with a gentle touch to keep all of them in line. You can let Mike Green wear a Mohawk, but you can’t let him wear curlers and bunny slippers.


Capt. Ahab

Posting: Master of the Pequod, a whaling ship

Style: Maniacal obsessive. Had this thing for a big fish (ok, “marine mammal”). Big quote: “To the last I grapple with thee; from hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee.” Sounds sort of like what one might say about Sidney Crosby in a Game 7 of a playoff series.

And this applies to hockey… how? What, you aren’t getting the Sidney Crosby analogy? What are you, dense?


Capt. Barney Miller

Posting: Captain of the 12th Precinct, NYPD

Style: Flexible, able to juggle many balls in the air at once. Manages a squad that can only be described as, “eclectic” (a habitually late subordinate whose name no one can pronounce, to a detective who writes books and produces adult films on the side, to a veteran nearing retirement who has lost a step (or six), to a wisecracking squad member who gambles a bit too much and makes bad coffee, to a uniformed apple-polisher who will leave no behind unkissed in his pursuit of a detective’s badge). Requires quick-thinking, tolerance, and an ability to look good in a 1970’s era moustache.

And this applies to hockey… how? You’ve seen Barney Miller having to deal with Inspector Lugar? Well, it’s kind of like dealing with Bill McCreary.


Capt. Wallace B. (“Old Leadbottom”) Binghamton

Posting: Commander of a patrol boat fleet in the Pacific theater of World War II

Style: Relentless, temperamental, perpetually frustrated, and… oh, yeah… loud. Seems to have spent entire tour of duty in a single-minded pursuit to catch a subordinate PT boat commander red-handed in one of his weekly opportunistic schemes.

And this applies to hockey… how? Well, it probably has something to do with being loud. We’re working on that.


Capt. Horatio Magellan Crunch

Posting: On the front of cereal boxes for almost half a century

Style: Well, stylish (it’s an epaulets thing). As a problem-solver, uses a method best described as “crunch-a-tizing.” We have yet to find this method in the management literature.

And this applies to hockey… how? C’mon, any Captain named “Crunch” is born for hockey. He couldn’t be any more “hockey” if his first name was “Brendan.” Besides, have you seen Ovechkin actually play?


Capt. James Tiberius Kirk

Posting: Captain of the Starship Enterprise (NCC-1701)

Style: Scene-chewing, but oh, how the ladies love him. A port in every star cluster, as it were. No one faced higher odds against him in battle; no one faced grimmer situations in going where no man has gone before (or in trying to settle one of the interminable arguments between Dr. McCoy and Commander Spock). He could be flip with a phrase one moment, deadly with a phaser the next. No Starfleet regulation was stiff enough he couldn’t bend it, no Romulan tough enough he couldn’t vanquish him.

And this applies to hockey… how? OK, OK, Ovechkin likes the ladies, too. But on the other hand, he can be flip in a commercial one moment, deadly with a laser wrist shot the next. Besides, couldn’t you imagine Ovechkin in the locker room before a big game saying, “we may go up in the biggest ball of fire since the last sun in these parts exploded, but we've GOT to take that one-in-ten-thousand chance!"


So… what sort of Captain is Alex Ovechkin going to be? Ahab-like with an obsessive desire to vanquish Sidney Crosby? The “crunch-a-tizer” that reflects a certain “Captain Crunch” mentality? The flexible and accommodating leader of an ensemble cast like Barney Miller? The hard-charging, rules-be-damned Captain Kirk? Or like the quick-with-a-whistle von Trapp? Only time will tell, but there is no shortage of role models to look to for advice.

He just might want to think twice about taking it.

A TWO-point night: Caps 4 - Canadiens 2

Workmanlike.

It wasn’t pretty, or more to the point, the Caps weren’t effective when they tried to be pretty. But when they just let fly, good things happened. They parlayed some welcome offense from Alexander Semin (two goals) and Tomas Fleischmann (goal, two assists), and a strange goal from Eric Fehr into a 4-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens in Game 1 AO (After Ovechkin was named permanent captain).

It wasn’t just a night of firsts for Ovechkin, either. It was Tomas Fleischmann’s first night as a full-time (well, almost full-time) center, and the early returns are quite encouraging. Of course, the only reason the Caps are doing this is as prelude to a blockbuster trade (hee-yeah… right).

But back to the game, it was a case of the Caps taking advantage of what looked like an off night for the Montreal defense (for the sake of Habs fans, we hope so… you’d look far and wide before you found a defenseman in white who had a good night). It would have been worse on the Canadiens had not the Caps all too often tried to make one last pass, foregoing a shot at netminder Carey Price. Bobby Bigpants had a decent game, but for the early part of the evening he either had really good looks at shots, or the Caps misfired (the Caps had 30 shot attempts in the first period, 11 on goal, none in the net).

In the second period, the Caps made things a bit easier on themselves by making things simpler for themselves. It didn’t hurt that Montreal took a couple of boneheaded roughing penalties – Scott Gomez for starting a kerfuffle moments after Semin scored to put the Caps up 3-1, retaliating for Semin tripping a Canadien who dropped Semin to the ice; and Maxim Lapierre for starting a scrum at the Washington net at a stoppage of play. The Caps didn’t score on either of those power plays, but coming in the latter parts of the second period, with Montreal down 3-1, the Canadiens could not establish any offensive rhythm to get themselves back in the game.

After that, it was a matter of clamping down. That does not mean playing prevent defense, and it looked for a while as if the Caps were doing just that. It made it easier for the Canadiens to make a game of it when Mike Knuble took the first of his two penalties in the third period. The Canadiens scored on the resulting power play, causing an uneasy grumble among the Caps faithful.

But that’s as close as Montreal would get, Semin slamming the door on the comeback by rifling a shot past Price with just over two minutes left in regulation. And thus, the Reign of Alexander The Captain began with a glorious victory… well, a victory.

Other stuff…

-- We are always impressed by Price’s preternatural calm in net. Nothing seems to faze him. But calm can become sleepy in the blink of an eye, too. Price’s calm served him well when he could get good looks at shots and let Caps commit (his waiting on Mike Green to go high glove when Green had space and time to wind and fire anywhere he wanted was the best example). But later, when Caps like Semin and Fehr were shooting from odd angles or through screens, Price could only wave at the puck.

-- The goal by Fehr was well-deserved. It wasn’t pretty, to be sure. He took a feed from Brooks Laich and just shoveled the puck to the net. But in the “good things happen when you shoot” file, it hit a body in front and caromed into the net. It’s a bit of a reward for all the hard work he does at the other end forechecking. That’s two goals in three games for Fehr (with a healthy scratch thrown in).

-- One game at center, one three-point game… Tomas Fleischmann’s first three-point game of the year. Shoot, he even won six of nine draws.

-- Whether he was a winger or a center, Fleischmann made a really smart play when defenseman Andrei Markov ended up without a stick. He skated right at him from the corner. With Markov unable to employ a stick to poke check or otherwise harrass him, Flesichmann had more or less an unimpeded path to the net, where he beat Price low to the stick side.

-- John Erskine had a rough night. He couldn’t keep Scott Gomez from bothering him off the puck behind the Caps net just before Montreal scored their first goal of the evening, and he seemed to have a devil of a time keeping his skates under him. It showed in the third period. Whereas he had 5:48 and 4:17 in ice time in periods one and two, he was limited to 2:43 in the third.

-- Interesting move with Montreal on the power play and a faceoff in the Caps end. The Caps sent out Nicklas Backstrom late with David Steckel taking the draw. Insurance, one supposes (since Backstrom came off right after the draw). Such is the Montreal power play that you’d want that second center out there in the event Steckel was tossed from the circle.

-- Here’s a line… 2:42 in ice time, no shots, no shots blocked, no missed shots, no hits, no giveaways, no takeaways, no blocked shots, no faceoffs taken . That’s your line, Georges Laraque.

-- Michal Neuvirth tied for the team lead in giveaways. OK, it was only two, but still… that’s not a stat you want your goalie tying for the team lead in.

-- Neuvirth was solid in the usual goaltender responsibilities. Montreal scored on goal off a deflection and another when a pass nicked a skate on the way through. Hard to fault Neuvirth in either instance. But something to note about Neuvirth is that the skaters look to play with more discipline in their own end in front of him. Whatever the reason, he is now 4-2-0 in his last six decisions, 2.34, .918. Pretty respectable for a guy who under normal circumstances would be starting in Hershey.

-- He didn’t get a star, but should have (we hope he got the hard hat). Matt Bradley had ten minutes of raw cracklin’ energy out there. He was chugging all over the ice hunting down Canadiens and had a couple of nice scoring chances (he had four shots to Ovechkin’s three tonight).

-- When Alex Ovechkin signed his contract extension with the Caps, he celebrated the way you might expect – he went on a six-game goal scoring streak. David Steckel signed a contract extension today, and he celebrated the way you might expect him to – he won ten of 12 draws. Each man playing their role.

The Caps looked a bit listless in the first period and tried to get a little too cute when they did have some energy. If not for that, this game might have been over early. Frankly, we were very much underwhelmed by Montreal. Perhaps it was the absence of the Kostitsyns, who provide quite a bit of skill to the lineup. But at five-on-five the Canadiens weren’t much of a threat to score, and in fact did only by way of a fluky bounce.

But two points is two points, and on the night when the Caps reached the 25-win mark, they churned out the points in a workmanlike effort, the kind that will see them through the long days of January.