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A Speed Bump Ahead On the Historic Road?
by Stephen Pepper on Feb 9, 2010 2:30 PM EST
19 comments
A two day breather gives us a chance to reflect for a moment on the next potential step of this stupendous 14-game run of the Washington Capitals. Shattering the previous franchise-best mark of 10 straight victories, and besting the arch-rival Penguins twice in the process, the 14-game winning streak is just three short of the record of 17 straight, set by those same Penguins in 1992-93 (which, incidentally, included one victory over Washington by a 7-5 score).
Anyone who has looked at the schedule ahead knows that the Caps could tie that historic mark by the Olympic Break. That is, if they manage to prevail in three straight road games (and two back-to-back), a feat the team has accomplished just once in 12 opportunities during the Bruce Boudreau era.
Most players on the team will be on hiatus until shortly before March 3. As Tarik put it: "Many of the players who are not participating in Vancouver will go find an island and a palm tree" and players are not permitted to use the Kettler facilities until official practices resume. Some might view this as a speed bump for the otherwise unstoppable Capitals victory bus, regardless of whether the team wins out this week. To me, the break might better be viewed as an opportunity to halt and correct a few negative trends that have crept their way into this exhilarating ride.
1. Discipline. As we noted yesterday, Jose Theodore, during his personal win streak, has faced 5.2 power play opportunities per game. The Caps have been shorthanded an average of 4 times per game this season (236 times in 59 GP), but allowed 4.6 PP opportunities per game during the streak, and 6 opportunities in three of its last four contests. During those four contests, Capital players have committed 10 HHT (hooking, holding, or tripping) infractions.
2. Slow starts. In its last five outings, the Caps have managed just two first period goals, both of which served to tie the game at 1-1. (The team leads the league in first period goals scored to date, with 69.)
3. Defensive mistakes. This is more anecdotal, and no collection of players makes the right plays with the puck 100% of the time, or even close to that. But more frequently during this past week of action, high-percentage scoring opportunities, if not goals, for opponents are directly resulting from poor clearing attempts and outlets, and unwise east-west passing from those manning the points (for example, this one and this one from Sunday). Overall, the Caps have also allowed at least 35 SA/G in each of the the last four games.
By contrast to Coach Boudreau's consistency in setting out the forward lines during nearly this entire streak, the defensive pairs have been rearranged frequently, rotating Brian Pothier, Tyler Sloan, and Karl Alzner (and not all due to the recently-served Mike Green suspension). But differences in skating abilities and the ability to rest guys may suggest sticking with such a rotation.
4. Scoring depth. For sure, the Caps are still the class of the league offensively. But in the last five contests, the team's third line has scored 2 of the team's 23 goals. (Reborn sniper Boyd Gordon, however, has two himself during that span.) While Craig Laughlin may have called Jason Chimera's blast from the left circle last Friday "Bobby Hull-ish!," the third scoring trio, in particular a struggling Brendan Morrison (2 goals, 5 assists, and just 17 shots in his last 15 GP), is going to have to be a little more productive to cause concern for opposing coaches and potentially create more favorable match-ups for the top two lines.
So while we continue to celebrate the unprecedented success of Les Capitals, these trends give us something to chew on for the remainder of the week. I'm not at all suggesting that this team needs to lose a game to get back on track: these Caps have already lost big games and know in their heads what it takes to avoid it. Elite teams find a way to make timely adjustments, to prune mistakes before they become ugly, deep-rooted weeds in the Garden of Eden that is this Caps season-to-date.
19 comments | 3 recs |
Caps recall Varlamov
"Caps recall Semyon Varlamov. He is skating with the team at Kettler this morning." - @WashCaps
about 8 hours ago
J.P.
340 comments
0 recs
Tuesday Caps Clips: Caps/Pens Aftermath, Day 2
by J.P. on Feb 9, 2010 7:00 AM EST
in Caps Clips
435 comments
Your savory breakfast links:
- A bit more coverage from Sunday's game:
- A closer look at NBC's coverage of the game. [D.C. Sports Bog]
- Steinz on Mr. Nasty vs. The Kid, Jordan Staal, The Phantom Slash, and more. [D.C. Sports Bog]
- "Reckless and disgraceful." Don Cherry describing Alex Ovechkin's style of play? Nope (at least not that I'm aware of); a Pittsburgh writer on the League's decision to play Sunday's game. [Chipped Ice]
- The ratings for the game tied a non-Winter Classic season-high for NBC... which has to be a little disappointing, no? [Puck the Media]
- George McPhee took Metro to the game (which is not to be confused with "George McPhee signed/claimed Metro). [D.C. Sports Bog]
- If you like stories about not disappointing those who are most important, this one's for you. [CSN Washington]
- The game within the game on Sunday: Russia 3, Canada 2. [SovSport via @dchesnokov]
- More on the blogger/Milbury incident. [Puck Daddy, FanPost]
- Tarik El-Bashir held a live chat yesterday which was chock full of "unreal pessimism." [WaPo]
- Crosby or Ovechkin? Two CBC writers are asked the question, one answers it while the other talks about team accomplishments and frivolities. [CBC]
- Can the Caps' style of play win a Cup? [THN]
- To answer that last question: of course it can. Related: the Caps are compared (yet again) to the "pre-Cup" Oilers. [TSN]]
- The Caps are getting their social networking on. [WaPo]
- Fresh power rankings are out, with the Caps holding the top spot again at The Hockey News, Sporting News and CBS Sports, and up one to first at ESPN and CBC.
- They're still missing Mike Knuble in Beantown. [Boston Herald]
- Step 1: Learn how to properly pronounce Russian names. Step 2: Be "That Guy," correcting everyone you meet. [RMNB]
- Per the HHoF, on this date back in 1975, the Caps "fired head coach Jimmy Anderson, five months into the team's first season." Thirteen years later, the team acquired Grant Ledyard from the Kings for the one and only Craig Laughlin, and four years after that, "John Druce scored his first NHL hat trick, and Michal Pivonka picked up four assists to lead the Capitals to a 6-2 win over the visiting San Jose Sharks."
- Finally, happy 50th birthday to Harvard boy Neil Sheehy who, in 72 regular season and playoff games in 1989-90, had a plus-12 rating and 383 penalty minutes... and a role in each of these two gems.
435 comments | 0 recs |
When Caps Goalies Get Red Hot
by J.P. on Feb 8, 2010 2:30 PM EST
144 comments
With yesterday's 5-4 win over Pittsburgh, Jose Theodore ran his personal win streak to a career-best ten games, including victories in each of his last nine starts. (The first win in the streak came in relief of Michal Neuvirth in Florida.) Theodore also tied Pat Riggin for the longest winning streak in franchise history, a mark set 26 years ago.
Theodore's run isn't even the first nine-start win streak by a Caps goalie in the past two calendar years, though, as Cristobal Huet ended the 2007-08 regular season a perfect 9-0-0. Here's a look at the numbers for each goalie over the course of his streak:
Huet was an absolute brick wall during his streak. But how much more impressive was he?
Take a look at the shot totals - Huet faced just 25.7 shots-per-sixty-minutes playing behind a team that knew it couldn't afford to lose even a single game and played with the kind of defensive commitment we haven't seen often in the Bruce Boudreau era. Theodore, on the other hand, has been asked to stop 35.3 shots-per-sixty on a team that's playing under different pressures and coasting to victories. Theo has made 40 saves twice during the streak and 30 saves another four times; Huet only had one 30-save effort during his run.
Another point of difference is in team discipline - Huet's Caps were only shorthanded 3.8 times per game during the netminder's win streak, while Theodore has been faced with 5.2 power plays per game during his, four time being tasked with killing off six or more penalty kills in a game, something Huet didn't have to do even once.
Here's one stat that tells you everything you need to know about Theo's run - of the 23 goals he's allowed, only four have come in the third period (Huet, for what it's worth, allowed just two third-period tallies during his streak). Jose Theodore is getting the job done, often bailing his team out and holding the fort down to allow the 18 guys in front of him the chance to do what it does best - score goals (one needs look no further than his constant denial of what would have no doubt been a back-breaking fifth Pittsburgh goal on a lengthy 5-on-3 yesterday afternoon to find a prime example of this).
The bottom line here is that Jose Theodore, like the team, is on a historic run. And while we have a fairly recent barometer by which to measure lights-out goaltending over the course of a streak, don't sell Theodore short on what he's accomplishing these days - like Huet in March and April of '08, this team wouldn't be where it is without its goaltender.
144 comments | 3 recs |
Ovechkin, Backstrom named 1st, 3rd Stars of the Week
"With a national TV audience watching on NBC and a full house at the snowy Verizon Center looking on, Ovechkin lit up the ice on Super Bowl Sunday, capping yet another brilliant week.... He ended with 6 goals and 10 points in four games (all victories) while going plus-6. Sunday's hat trick moved him past Sidney Crosby and Patrick Marleau into first place in the goal-scoring race with 42 (he's the first 40-goal scorer this season).... As great as he is, Ovechkin is hardly a one-man show. Backstrom, his center, is a key cog in the Caps' juggernaut -- and he was almost as good as his linemate last week, scoring twice and adding eight assists. With 73 points in 59 games, Backstrom is on his way to a 100-point season of his own."
- NHL.com
1 day ago
J.P.
33 comments
0 recs
Capital Ups and Downs: Week 19
by J.P. on Feb 8, 2010 11:00 AM EST
in Capital Ups and Downs
326 comments
Our weekly look at individual Washington Capitals' ups and downs:
| Goalies | Trend | Notes |
| Michal Neuvirth |  |
Was spectacular on Friday night, allowing just one-and-a-half goals on 45 shots against. Wait, what? Have Alex Semin kick it into your own net after you've made the save counts as a full goal against? That hardly seems fair. Anyway, Neuvi is 4-0-0/1.38/.961 since getting yanked in back-to-back games in the Sunshine State. |
| Jose Theodore | |
The 3.29 GAA for the week isn't impressive, but the 3-0-0 record and .913 save percentage are more indicative of the week Jose had - just three of the ten goals he allowed came at five-on-five, and two came three-on-five. |
| Semyon Varlamov |  |
Stopped 26 of 30 starts yesterday in Hershey's win over the Baby Pens. Could he see a start in D.C. before the break? |
| Defensemen | ||
| Karl Alzner |  |
Played sparingly on Friday night after being recalled, scratched and scratched (and prior to being sent back down to Hershey); maybe we should rename this feature "Capital Karl Alzners," given how frequently he's up and down between Chocolatetown and D.C. |
| John Erskine | |
Plus-four for a week that included a fight (which he won)... and some notably questionable on-ice decisions and/or poor execution. |
| Mike Green | |
Returned from suspension with an empty net goal and a plus-two rating in two games in which he led the team in ice time. |
| Shaone Morrisonn | |
Pretty solid week for Mo, whose most impressive recent stat might be that Sunday was his first minus-rating for a game in 14 games (hmm... there's that number again) and only his second since December 18. |
| Brian Pothier | |
Speaking of plus-minus streaks, Pothier hasn't been a minus in a game since November 14, and that's his only game in the red (so to speak) since October 17. Sidenote: the Pothier hip check is one of my favorite semi-regular Caps plays. |
| Tom Poti | |
One goal and three assists and a plus-four rating for the week, but had his worst game in a while on Sunday and was on the ice for seven of the 12 goals the Caps allowed in the four games (five of which came with the Caps down a man or two). |
| Jeff Schultz | |
With a plus-three Sunday, Schultz has now been a plus in his last eight consecutive games, bumping up his plus-minus by 14 during that stretch. Throw in his brilliant outlet pass to Ovechkin on the Caps' first goal on Sunday (and the accompanying Pierre McGuire love) and a little jawing with the Golden Boy and, yeah, nice week for Mr. Nasty. |
| Tyler Sloan | |
Sloan's failed clear that was intercepted by Sidney Crosby and deposited behind Jose Theodore to give the Pens a 1-0 lead on Sunday is precisely the type of play he can't be making in his limited ice time if he wants to see any increase in it. |
| Forwards | ||
| Nicklas Backstrom | |
A couple of goals, eight assists and a plus-six week highlighted by a one-goal, four-assist game at MSG has vaulted Nick into the top four in the League in points, assists and plus-minus (and he's 11th in goals). Reminder: he's not yet 23-years-old. |
| Matt Bradley | |
Had a couple of assists on the week and sits a goal and two helpers shy of his career bests. |
| Jason Chimera | |
Scored on a laser of a shot against Atlanta and nearly finished a two-on-one with Eric Fehr in the Pens game (blame a rolling puck for his inability to do so). |
| Eric Fehr | |
Had one of his worst games in a while on Friday night and only four shots on goal in the week's first four games, but rebounded with a strong effort on Sunday. |
| Tomas Fleischmann |  |
Two power-play assists in Manhattan and a plus-one in each of the other games, but just one shot on goal for a week that ended with him getting pushed around a bit by Pittsburgh. Flash has now gone nine games without a goal (though he does have eight assists in that span). |
| Boyd Gordon | |
Two-thirds of his goal production and a swing from minus-2 to plus-two on the season came this week, and he was only on the ice for one goal that wasn't scored 5-on-3... and it was a 5-on-4 tally. Good stuff, Gordo. |
| Mike Knuble | |
A game-winner against Pittsburgh would've been up arrow-worthy on its own, but his other two goals, three assists, plus-seven and fight in defense of his captain make this Knuble's best week as a Cap. |
| Brooks Laich | |
Scored the game-winner in Boston and added an assist on Friday night (one of two beautiful set-ups he authored), but the second line's chemistry seemed a bit off this week. |
| Quintin Laing | |
Still sittin'. |
| Brendan Morrison | |
One assist, minus-three (including minus-two against Pittsburgh) and 42.2% on draws. Better believe George McPhee will spend part of the Olympic break thinking about whether his team needs another scoring-line center. |
| Alex Ovechkin | |
Seven goals (including the Caps' first hat trick of the season), three assists, plus-six and, most important of all, four more wins for the best player in the world. |
| Alexander Semin | |
Yes, two goals in four games is a 41-goal pace. And the game-winner against the Thrashers was a beauty. But there were some danger signs this week, including six minor penalties. You've still got a week left before you're supposed to be checking out for Vancouver, Sasha. |
| David Steckel | |
Plus-two on the week, and was on the ice for four goals against - two 4-on-5's and two 3-on-5's. |
326 comments | 3 recs |
Monday Caps Clips: Make That Fourteen
by J.P. on Feb 8, 2010 7:00 AM EST
in Caps Clips
519 comments
Your savory breakfast links:
- Recaps and other assorted musings on yesterday's win from the us, WaPo (blog, gamer, sports page front, blog, blog, blog, blog... awesome depth, Post), Vogs, Corey Masisak (here, here, here and here), DCEx, FanHouse, CSN Washington, Ed Frankovic, Peerless, Puck Daddy, Alex Ovetjkin, CTV, RtR, Puckhead, RMNB, FFODC, Examiner, StC, Hockey Mom, Off Wing Photo (pics) and Caps In Pictures (pics) from the winning side, and PensBurgh from the other side.
- Alex Ovechkin smashed a camera in the goal, which is apparently news. [D.C. Sports Bog, SB Nation]
- This is as good a place as any to give big kudos to WaPo photog John McDonnell for consistently great work. Here's his set from yesterday, including this shot of Mr. Nasty taking care of business.
- It looks like Ginga is the winner of our "Guess The Hat Trick" contest, correctly predicting the player and the game and guessing just 2:06 shy of the actual time of the first hat trick of the season. Very well done.
- Apparently there may or may not have been a minor incident between Mike Milbury and a local blogger yesterday as the media was leaving the press box and heading downstairs. To be perfectly honest, I don't think it does the blogging community any great service by putting a camera in a guy's face when he doesn't want it there, but maybe that's just me. [Gunaxin, Kukla's Korner]
- The WaPo ran an article over the weekend that discussed "bandwagon" Caps fans, and it has generated some reaction. [Alex Ovetjkin (thanks for the really kind words), The Hockey Chronicles, The Hockey Chronicles]
- Breaking: the world wants Ovechkin vs. Crosby in the Olympics. [CBC]
- Alexandre Volchkov. Are we at the point where we can laugh yet? [RMNB]
- Fall behind to the Penguins, come back thanks to a hat trick, win game. Like parent club, like farm team. [Patriot-News, John Walton Hockey]
- A bit more on Semyon Varlamov's performance in that game, along with some great pics. [RMNB]
- Finally, a very happy 50th birthday to a personal favorite, Dino Ciccarelli (608 goals should get you into the Hall of Fame, btw) and happy 43rd birthday to Yvon Corriveau.
519 comments | 0 recs |
Recap: Caps 5, Penguins 4 (OT)
by David M. Getz on Feb 7, 2010 3:47 PM EST
in Game Recaps
841 comments
[AP Recap - GameCenter - Game Summary - Event Summary]
The Capitals current winning streak - now up to an astounding fourteen games - has been a hell of a good time but, in terms of the season's one and only real goal, it hasn't meant as much as it looks like it does on paper. Don't get me wrong -- like every other Caps fan I want to see the team win every time I was in to the Verizon Center or flip on a game. It's just that while wins over Atlanta, Boston, and the Islanders are nice, they don't exactly fill me with confidence in the Caps taking on the best teams in the NHL and coming out successful this spring. That's why today's game meant more than most of the ones in the streak. It's only February, but a come from behind win against last year Cup champs at least means a little something.
Ten additional thoughts on this afternoon's game:
- With home ice advantage and the Penguins having played yesterday and enduring a hectic travel schedule, priority one in the Caps' game plan should have been avoiding shooting themselves in the foot. They didn't do that - as goals off Tyler Sloan and Tom Poti giveaway, Brian Pothier getting out position to make a hit, and a few untimely penalties attest - and it cost them.
- Speaking of Sloan, while I still have questions about his viability as an NHL defenseman, I can get behind the decision to dress him over John Erskine for his speed. Having him on the ice to start overtime on the other hand...
- I don't think I have ever seen an NHL player pass on a net as wide open at the one Jason Chimera passed on early in the third period on his two-on-one with Eric Fehr, which was a shame because that was the culmination of a heck of play on Fehr's part.
- We could get up in arms about Craig Adams' hit on Alex Ovechkin, and many Caps fans will rightfully do so, but it's also an opportunity to demonstrate the flawed approach to using on-ice discipline as an indicator of supplemental discipline, a tactic so many fans seemed to be enamored with in light of Mike Green's suspension.
- On the topic of dangerous hits (and I know this isn't exactly breaking news), Mike Milbury's an idiot. The idea that it's perfectly acceptable for players to "cross the line", in this case defined as a cheap shot that ended the career of one of the league's best and most exciting players, as long as they're willing to fight afterward is perhaps the most perfect example of idiotic Old Time Hockey machismo I've ever heard.
- Pierre McGuire loves Jeff Schultz so much if we dropped a "Schultz for Norris" on him, he'd probably agree. Or at least give it some consideration.
- Brief message to Shaone Morrisonn: trying to control Sidney Crosby around the net is a great idea. But the way to go about it isn't by knocking Crosby into Jose Theodore and then pinning him to the ice in the crease.
- The Caps did a pretty good job in the physical game, and it showed up on the scoresheet. The team was credited with 32 hits, including six from Brooks Laich, four from Brian Pothier, and three from Jeff Schultz.
- I guess I can appreciate the effort, but if Kris Letang thinks that mixing it up with Alex Ovechkin is going to result in anything other than a very, very long night on Letang's part he is sadly mistaken.
- There's a certain irony in a guy who was assessed a game misconduct for bitching to the officials after the game had ended dropping a quote like "He’s a baby. I don’t know [if it was a high stick] but he does that all game long. I got zero respect for the kid", as Brooks Orpik did (in regards to Alexander Semin).
For now the Caps have a rare two and a half day rest. Of course, they'll probably be more than happy to take their road trip up to Montreal and Ottawa. Got to get away from all this damn snow, after all.
841 comments | 0 recs |
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Southeast Standings
| GP | W | L | OTL | PT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Washington
|
59 | 41 | 12 | 6 | 88 |
|
Tampa Bay
|
57 | 25 | 21 | 11 | 61 |
|
Atlanta
|
57 | 25 | 24 | 8 | 58 |
|
Florida
|
58 | 24 | 25 | 9 | 57 |
|
Carolina
|
58 | 21 | 30 | 7 | 49 |
(updated 2.9.2010 at 9:00 AM EST)
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