Tuesday Roundup/Thrashers 4, Ovechkin 2

by J.P. on Mar 13, 2007 9:13 AM EDT Comment 0 comments

[SeSo Open Thread]

Early in last night's 4-2 loss to the Thrash I asked the hockey gods if these Caps could "win just one [expletive] game that they're not supposed to." Maybe the puck deities are saving it for later in the season (and maybe I should have asked for more than just one win), because it sure didn't happen last night, as the Caps lost for the eighty-fourth straight time.

A couple of quick thoughts on the game:

Alex Ovechkin did his best Alex Ovechkin impression, scoring the Caps only two goals and hitting the 40-goal plateau for the second-straight year. He now has 41 goals (five back of League-leader Vinny Lecavalier) and has 12 games left in which to score 9 goals if he wants a second 50-goal campaign to start off his career. Is it likely? No. But does anyone doubt he's capable of doing it?
Milan Jurcina, Shaone Morrisonn and Chris Clark were all plus-one, the only Caps on that side of zero.
Clark's six shots on goal tied Alex Semin for the most on the team last night.
To me, Jeff Schultz is like an offensive lineman in football in that when he's at his best, you don't really notice him - he just does his job without doing anything spectacular. Last night was one of those nights.
Are Mike Green and Steve Eminger having a contest to see who can regress faster? Since the All-Star break, Green is minus-9 in 13 games and Eminger is minus-11 in 15 games, and both were awful last night, finishing minus-three with 2 shots on goal, 1 hit and 1 blocked shot between them (and all of those were Green's). And how on earth was neither credited with a giveaway?

But of course, the talk of CapsNation this morning are the money quotes in this morning's WaPo from the team's two most important players:

"It's not important for me, it's important for our team," said [Ovechkin]. "We need players. We need help. We are young, that's why we need guys who have experience, guys who [have played in the] playoffs. Sometimes experience wins the game.
"Our bosses know what they do," he said. "This summer [General Manager George McPhee] will sign somebody. Not just players, real good players. Because we need it."

"We need some players who are going to make an impact," said injured goaltender Olie Kolzig, nodding in agreement with Ovechkin's assessment. "We just have to trust that ownership and management will get the players who will help us get to the next level."

Sure, those quotes come from the "No Shit" file, but from an organization that has done a great job of keeping in-house frustration in-house, it's interesting to see these guys voicing these opinions to anyone who will listen. Obviously, we'll see what comes of it.

Anyway, the Caps next travel to Beantown for a Thursday matchup with a desperate Bruins team who, despite shelling out big bucks in the offseason, is fighting for their playoff lives. Take a good look, Caps fans, because that may be your team next year. And we'd all gladly take that, wouldn't we?

Daily Awards

Hart: Kristian Huselius (G, 3A, +1, 3 SOG)
Ross: Kristian Huselius (4 points)
Norris: Rob Blake (G, 2A, +4)
Vezina: Mikael Tellqvist (24-save shutout win)
Richard: Alexander Ovechkin, Lee Stempniak, Mike Cammelleri (2G each)
Calder: David Moss (G, A, +2, 4 SOG, 3 hits)
Aiken: Derian Hatcher (0 points, -3, 0 SOG, 2 giveaways, 0 takeaways)

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Southeast Standings

	GP	W	L	OTL	PT
Washington Japers' Rink	70	47	14	9	103
Atlanta Bird Watchers Anonymous	69	29	29	11	69
Tampa Bay Raw Charge	69	28	29	12	68
Florida Litter Box Cats	68	28	30	10	66
Carolina Canes Country	69	28	33	8	64