Saturday Roundup - Caps 3, Habs 0 - Gamenight: Caps @ Jackets

by J.P. on Nov 29, 2008 10:54 AM EST Comment 31 comments

[AP Recap - Game Summary - Event Summary - WashingtonCaps.com Postgame - AP Preview - WashingtonCaps.com Preview]

Due to a prior commitment, I missed last night's game and won't try to recap it, so it's on you guys to tell me in the comments the good and the bad of what went down.

The Columbus Blue Jackets will always hold a special place in the hearts and minds of Caps fans, as it was the Jax against whom Alexander Ovechkin made his NHL debut. The AP described his performance on that night:

His first NHL check was so fierce it dislodged a support beam. He refused to let his team lose, twice answering with goals less than 90 seconds after the opponents took the lead. And when his face appeared on the large scoreboard, he stuck out his tongue and flashed a charismatic smile.

AO's second game against Columbus was similarly special:

Alexander Ovechkin and the young Washington Capitals are maturing—and that is definitely not good news for the rest of the NHL.

Ovechkin padded his NHL-leading goal total by scoring twice, including the winner in overtime, to lead the Capitals back from a two-goal deficit to beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-3 on Tuesday night.

One can only guess what Alex might have in store for the Jackets tonight.

On the Columbus side of things, they've gotten an influx of young talent, as Derick Brassard and Jakub Voracek (second and fourth, respectively, among rookie scorers) have joined Rick Nash up front to provide some scoring punch (with 2008's second overall forward selected, Nikita Filatov, as well as top prospect Maksim Mayorov waiting in the wings in the AHL), and rookie netminder Steve Mason looks to be well on his way to being "The Next Carey Price":

	GP	MIN	W	L	T	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2008 - Steve Mason	7	427	4	2	1	1	17	2.39	185	168	.908	1

Despite an improved offense, however, the Jackets are dead last in the League with a woeful power play that's only scoring on 10.2% of its chances. And despite a young stud goaltender, the team is fifth from the bottom of the League in goals against average. As you might suspect, all of this adds up to a mediocre record and a beatable team for a Caps squad playing its 15th game of the month and first of four straight against teams in the bottom third of the League standings.

Look for Brent Johnson and his sparkling 9-1-2/1.96/.919 career mark against Columbus to be between the pipes for the visitors, and for the under-manned Caps to keep up the impressive and gutsy effort.

Just one request - no Bill McCreary, please.

P.S. How about a better effort in tonight's game thread? You guys are embarrassing me.

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Bryan Helmer and the new guys

I didn’t catch the game last night. How did Bryan Helmer and the other callups play?

by kvarnson on Nov 29, 2008 11:13 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Helmer

It’s hard to adjudicate defencemen when watching on TV, but from my perspective, Helmer was fine. Helmer did a good job of never getting noticed, which is what I wanted. I thought Alzner was really good, from the similar perspective. I thought Lepisto was really good, although I had thought he was going to be faster (I hope that’s him getting used to the NHL, not he’s just slow.)
Sloan played good enough. I thought by far our worst defenceman was Jurcina, but like I said, it’s different when you’re not there.

Don’t let the AP report fool you, Ovechkin was not the reason we won last night. He had a REALLY ugly goal. That was it. Flash had one of the best forecheck plays I’ve seen in a long time.

The reason we won (And Jose shut the Habs out) was the d-man play in front of the net. I can’t tell you how many times I saw the bread and butter play of the Canadiens (The wall pass to the front of the net that gets deflected in) not work. I stopped counting after the seventh time. Alzner did it a LOT, I noticed. There were so many timely stick lifts, and the puck just went through every time. It was pretty surreal watching and having nothing go in.

by Whiter Mage on Nov 29, 2008 11:39 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Helmer

He must have been better than I realized when at the game. He had 16 minutes of ice time and I only saw him out there once or twice. Generally, that’s what you hope for.

by grapejoos on Nov 29, 2008 12:23 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Gabby is really keeping an eye on every d-man’s ice time. He’s trying to keep things as even as possible. Right now he’s not going to sit players or lean to heavily on any of them.

by marky narc on Nov 29, 2008 5:31 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

NO ONE SCORES WHEN HELMER IS ON THE ICE. NO ONE!

by marky narc on Nov 29, 2008 11:41 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

D Performance

Saw a few turn overs by Sloan and Lepisto but that’s about all. Was more than impressed with our D effort.

by dcrock on Nov 29, 2008 11:58 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Agreed

For having that many guys out, the kids played well.

I thought Jurcina made several mistakes out there and displayed cement feet on several occasions. I wish we could keep Lepisto or Alzner up, both of whom are already better based on last night. Lepisto’s outlet passes are sometimes frightening, but he has a ton of potential and will be a very solid NHL defenseman. Alzner got beat a few times along the boards but displayed great instincts.

The first goal was beautiful, though an epic fail by the Habs defenseman. Nylander’s assist was beautiful, and the Flash-Nyls-Fehr line was very good offensively last night. Nylander did have 3 extended noodling sessions with the puck in his own zone, but none costly.

Theodore was spectacular in the 2nd period. He was in the zone, and the D did a nice job around the net.

Overall, a very satisfying team game and effort despite a shaky 2nd period.

by grapejoos on Nov 29, 2008 12:15 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

And re: Flash’s goal – right on cue after we showed him to be a top forechecker, eh?

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by J.P. on Nov 29, 2008 12:33 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

The box score credited Alzner with five giveaways (which really is a ton – Mo has six in 17 games), but I haven’t heard/read/seen anything but positive things about his performance.

Sloan was credited with one and Sami with three, fwiw.

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by J.P. on Nov 29, 2008 12:29 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Alzner giveaways

I think several of his “giveaways” were hard around the boards in his own end where there was no forward to play the puck. I saw – or I think I saw – two in the second period. Plus there was one time where he tried to get rid of the puck by banging it off the glass, but it went right to a Canadien who promptly fumbled it away.

Overall, I thought Alzner player really well. Apparently BB did too or he wouldn’t have had 28 shifts and 23+ minutes.

by Old Bob on Nov 29, 2008 1:18 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

indeed

though not quite a convert yet, I have to say I was impressed with 27 last night, and the gives Old Bob alludes to are spot on. but to get 23 minutes in gm 2 of your NHL career? wow, he looked really good. one poor area he (and every other young D) will improve as he gets minutes and confidence is giving attacking wings too much room from blue line to goal line; that said, he looks comfortable one on one and breaks out superbly.

Have to admit I wished for 40 games in Hershey for him, but it looks like 20 is enough.

by bigonetimer on Nov 29, 2008 1:38 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Check out the post I just threw together. It would seem that the scorer at the VC has an itchy trigger finger on giveaways.

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by J.P. on Nov 29, 2008 2:34 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I sure didn’t see five Alzner GVs. That said, MTL’s puck possession was formidable. Surely some of that had to be because Caps Ds failed to move the puck out of the zone. But still, five? Not sure I really remember one, let alone five.

Lepisto has clearly progressed from his callup last year. But he still needs to be a better skater. Maybe the organIzation can hook up up with Sloan’s dad, ha ha.

by TylerG on Nov 29, 2008 12:45 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

My two cents:

Ovi/Backstrom/Kozlov and Flash/Nylander/Fehr are keeper lines. Both lines make things happen out there.

D looked pretty good a lot of the time, to me. Lots of blocked shots and no odd-man rushes or panic moments.

I thought we lost more draws than the numbers say.

by gotsparkly on Nov 29, 2008 1:00 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Filatov

I think he was the sixth pick in the draft. ISS at one time rated him second.

by Old Bob on Nov 29, 2008 1:19 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

You’re absolutely right. I meant second forward taken in the draft. Duh.

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by J.P. on Nov 29, 2008 1:23 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Bourque

Did Chris Bourque stand out at all or was he just dead weight?

by kvarnson on Nov 29, 2008 1:23 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Bourque was energy on a night when defensive energy was all that mattered. The Caps Fs stayed home in the d-zone all night. They didn’t cheat, they didn’t play up around the blue line, they were down around the tops of the circles all night long. Pretty clear that Mission No. 1 for the Fs was to support the D.

by TylerG on Nov 29, 2008 1:32 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Is anyone else nervous about tonight’s game? I know that it’s the Blue Jackets, but that’s what bothers me. I don’t want these guys getting the idea that they’re a pushover or blowing them off. We will end up getting our asses kicked if we do that.

by gotsparkly on Nov 29, 2008 1:59 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Intensity?

Caps seem focused….even on that west coast swing. I loved the Dux game! But we haven’t lost focus against lesser teams, have we? Besides, we stil have so many bears on the team looking to make their mark – they will be hungry!

by Cal in DC on Nov 29, 2008 2:05 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

If there’s one upside to the current “Washington Bears,” it’s that there’s no way a bunch of AHLers, adjunct NHLers, and NHLers-who-know-they’re-surrounded-by-AHLers is going to take anyone lightly.

by TylerG on Nov 29, 2008 2:06 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Lepisto

How does Lepisto look in his own zone? Does he display solid dman potential or is he just an offensive defenseman who looks lost in his own end? Thanks.

by kvarnson on Nov 29, 2008 2:08 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

D-Men

Helmer, Sloan and Alzner had decent games – they didn’t stand out for any mistakes or any unbelievable plays, either. Alzner got a ton of playing time, second only to Jurcina, so it’s not as though Boudreau was trying to shield him from anyone. In fact I seem to remember Alzner making a nice recovery against Kovalev on a 2-2. Otherwise, just steady and consistent.

Lepisto looked ok in transition and in the offensive end, but he was physically overmatched by the Habs forwards in his own end. He also pounded a couple of shots into shinguards. He’s not a big guy, so he’s going to have to learn to use his skating ability and positioning to make up for it. So far, he hasn’t figured it out at this level. However, from his AHL stats, I’m not sure he has much left to learn down there.

I’m not sure why some have panned Jurcina’s game last night. He laid a couple of hits and led the team in ice time.

The Caps D-men excelled at two areas last night, one of which was holding the puck in the zone at the points. There was one stretch of about 2.5-3 minutes in the first where the Caps held the Habs in their own end, generating scoring chances while changing lines behind the play. The other area was in clearing rebounds. Theo was good last night, but he gave up his share of juicy rebounds – the Caps’ D-men just cleared them before the Habs could do anything with them. The ESPN shot chart really shows this, the Caps had a ton of shots in the “triangle of death” (20/30), whereas the Habs had much fewer (12-14/28)

by D'ohboy on Nov 29, 2008 3:24 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Test for the AHlers?

Back-to-back NHL games for the first time for some of the guys (alzner, bourque). Anyone else think this game will be a test of their endurance, as well as one of the last times they will get to show off as players may be returning to the line-up soon?

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by CapitalsKremlin on Nov 29, 2008 3:37 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Not really a test of endurance

I’m guessing not, since the AHL schedule is heavy with back to back weekend games. Flying between back to back nights might be new though.

I think the “showing off” aspect is more important for Bourque and Lepisto. Sloan has already shown what he can do, Helmer knows that he’s headed right back to the AHL, and Alzner knows that he would be in the NHL this year if it weren’t for the Caps’ cap problems.

by D'ohboy on Nov 29, 2008 3:51 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

CSN+

So the game is only on CSN+ tonight eh? No high definition? killer :(

by OvechkinLaichsSemin on Nov 29, 2008 4:20 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

That friggin’ blows. Hard.

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by J.P. on Nov 29, 2008 4:45 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Ugh…that means its on Channel 1 on FiOS. Absolutely horrid. It’s like your watching the game underwater.

by Cluster on Nov 29, 2008 5:27 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Wizards take the HD feed.. really – the 2-11 wizards.

by OvechkinLaichsSemin on Nov 29, 2008 6:42 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

game thread

since i’m not at the game tonight, i can probably chirp in.

by CAPS NEWS NETWORK on Nov 29, 2008 5:15 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

The Hershey Connection and Caps Blueline Remarks

I’m fairly satisfied with the play of the call-ups. Alzner will be much better later in the year and will be a top-four with us by next year. I’m also guessing we’ll see Carlson sooner rather than later. We still need to add a blueliner over the summer, if possible. Alzner & Carlson are likely NHL talents but young. Morrisonn has regressed and Jurcina is either good or horrid with not much in beteeen. Poti is pretty solid and we really miss Green. I think folks will realize that Schultz is better than lots of board posters and fans seem to think. Coach BB and GMGM are not idiots.

by Dougeb on Nov 30, 2008 10:59 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

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