Tuesday Roundup/Wings 4, Caps 3 (SO)

[AP Recap - Game Summary - Super Stats]

I'm not huge on "moral victories." I'm also not big on "at least we didn't get blown out on (quasi-) national television." But going into The Joe and leaving with a point is somethin', so there's that. And yet I'm sure there's not a single player who dressed for the Caps last night who is happy with just that one point - and that's a the real takeaway from a game like this, and it's another difference between this team today and this team one month ago. Some other thoughts on the game:

• Olie Kolzig's lateral quickness (or lack thereof) was exposed on the Henrik Zetterberg goal, and his performance in the shootout - getting beat three times on the same shot - was... well... not good. Still, he made a number of outstanding stops (one in particular, on Tomas Kopecky, comes to mind), and at least Pavel Datsyuk didn't embarrass him with this move.
  
• Was Ed Olzczyk really blaming Michael Nylander for getting checked from behind headlong into the boards by Johan Franzen in the second?
  
• And did Alex Semin actually try to get up in Franzen's mug in Nyls' defense? Looks like Gabby's message (or, as Dan Cleary might call it, a "tongue-licking") may have gotten through to Sasha, as he also added the game-tying goal and a shootout tally and had not a single giveaway.
• Speaking of turnovers, was the scorekeeper sleeping on this stat, or did the Caps really only have four giveaways and Detroit only four takeaways?
• Despite the goal, Alex Ovechkin wasn't particularly sharp, as this was one of those games where he looked to be trying to do too much on his own and he looked disinterested in displaying everything in his arsenal. But the fact that it's been since November 5 and 6 since AO went two straight games without a goal is pretty amazing.
  
• You might have known that Quintin Laing, who assisted on the Jeff Schultz's fourth goal in the last six games was drafted by the Wings back in 1997. You might not have known that so was former part-time Cap Petr Sykora.
• Mike Green rushing the puck has become just about my favorite things to watch during Caps games, perhaps only trailing AO crushing a defenseman against the boards on the forecheck.
• The power play's inefficiency shouldn't be overlooked. Two-for-seven is nice in the box score, but the unit did not look good last night and failed to click (or even really threated) on any of three straight opportunities sandwiching the second intermission.
  
• David Steckel won 13 of 16 faceoffs (81%), and while Nicklas Backstrom won only 48% of his draws, he had a huge win late in regulation in the defensive zone (which didn't quite make up for his poor backchecking on Tomas Holmstrom's second goal).
• Viktor Kozlov was the only Cap skater not to register a shot on goal, and even went as far as to ring his shootout attempt off the iron. Ugh.
• When Backstrom was born, Chris Chelios had already been in the NHL longer than Shaone Morrisonn has now.
• Green and Schultz have combined for 13 goals, which is tied with Ryan Whitney and Sergei Gonchar for the most in the League by a pair of blueliners on the same team. The Caps' 2004 Draft is looking better every day, isn't it?
  

So the Caps will take the point (something only four other teams have been able to do when visiting Detroit this season) and head home to face the Habs. With every game bigger than the last one, Thursday's matchup should be both hard-fought and entertaining, and hopefully worth two points for the home team.

Daily Awards

• Hart: Tomas Holmstrom (2G, 3 SOG, 2 hits)
  
• Ross: Pavel Datsyuk (3 points)
  
• Norris: Brett Clark (2A, +2, 4 SOG)
  
• Vezina: Dominik Hasek (3 goals allowed on 30 shots against in shootout win)
  
• Richard: Tomas Holmstrom (2G)
  
• Calder: David Steckel (+1, 81% faceoffs one, 1 Esa Tikkanen)
  
• Aiken: Jack Johnson (0 points, 0 SOG, -2, 2 minor penalties, 4 giveaways, 0 takeaways)