Saturday Roundup/Gamenight: Caps @ Sabres

by J.P. on Nov 1, 2008 8:08 AM EDT

[AP Preview - WashingtonCaps.com Preview]

When Alex Ovechkin misses games, nearly everyone misses him. The Caps miss his offense and his leadership. Those watching miss the chance to see perhaps the greatest player in the game. And, in Buffalo, fans miss the chance to jeer one of their favorite villains (too bad Puck Daddy didn't ask Alex Semin what he thought of Thomas Vanek, eh?).

But missed the Great Eight will be tonight when the Caps take on the Sabres, and that's unfortunate - the Caps sure could use him. Buffalo comes into the game at 6-2-2 (but losers of three straight) and should be salty after an embarrassing 5-2 home loss to the Bolts on Thursday. Vanek leads the League in goals, Ryan Miller is 5-1-1/2.07/.928, the Sabre power play is humming along at 21.4% (so discipline, as we talked about yesterday, will be key if the Caps are going to have any chance), neither Caps goalie has a career save percentage above .900 against the Sabres, and the Caps are 1-5 in Buffalo since the lockout.

So, um, yeah... tough test tonight (and for more from the other side, be sure to stop by our good buddies at BfloBlog).

But here's your "glass is half full" stat of the day: Jose Theodore's career GAA and SV% in October are worse than any other month of the year. We all changed those calendars overnight, right?

Elsewhere 'Round the Rinks:

Following a 38-goal campaign, Alex Semin's 26-goal 2007-08 "made you wonder just a bit" (presumably about whether he was any good or not), according to Pierre LeBrun. LeBrun's cursory look at Semin's stat line made me wonder just a bit whether or not he realized that Semin scored at a 41-goal pace over his last 47 games last season (i.e. once he was healthy).... Speaking of Semin, more fallout from his comments on Sid the Kid here (and still no one mentioned the word "blog" in their story).... TH has the translation on a Sergei Fedorov interview from a few days ago.... And speaking of Sid, Fark has an update on his injury.... DMG catches us up on how a bunch of Caps prospects are doing so far this season.... A Kris Beech Calgary Hitmen sweater is my confession/entry into this conversation (h/t Caps Message Board).

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Thank you, JP for NOT having an incredibly annoying and distracting animation on your page, like your good buddies at BfloBlog. Gaaak.

by Uncle Jekel on Nov 1, 2008 10:35 AM EDT reply actions

I kinda dig the rampaging buffalo with his dangling junk.

by JP on Nov 1, 2008 10:49 AM EDT reply actions

JP - just a general comment, not specific to tonight's game. I've been a Caps fan since 1980, the year we had to "Save the Caps", and Chris Valentine made us all think he was going to be a great player for years to come. I've been following your blog for a couple of years now, and yours is the first I go to for all Caps related news and analysis. I'm not one to usually leave comments, but felt this was long overdue: Thank you for your efforts! Go Caps!

by rllpe on Nov 1, 2008 11:12 AM EDT reply actions

After the awful way the Sabres played against the Lightning the other night, the Caps had better be ready to play.

by HotDog88GT on Nov 1, 2008 12:14 PM EDT reply actions

God forbid a blog be newsworthy.

by Garrett on Nov 1, 2008 12:26 PM EDT reply actions

--- I kinda dig the rampaging buffalo with his dangling junk.---

Kind of hypnotic, ain't it? ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

; ; ; ;

;

by Anonymous on Nov 1, 2008 12:54 PM EDT reply actions

Fark FTW! :) -JW

by JWJr on Nov 1, 2008 2:34 PM EDT reply actions

Corey's blog entry has a long quote from Big Boo where he is dancing all around Semin's frank assertion that KoolAid Lips is overrated. Boudreau is trying to spin it every which a way. It's quite comical. Good ole Bruce! Even if he shouldn't have a comment on something, he does anyway!

by Aquarella on Nov 1, 2008 3:24 PM EDT reply actions

Thanks for the link love. LET'S GO CAPS!

by Gunaxin on Nov 1, 2008 4:07 PM EDT reply actions

Thanks, rllpe - that means a lot.

by JP on Nov 1, 2008 4:16 PM EDT reply actions

So, who else watch Jurcina and Schultz screw up all over the place? Sure, our offense stunk too, but I specifically watched at least 2 goals that were 100% Jurcina's fault and 1 that was Schultz's.

Can we PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE stop saying Jurcina is a pro hockey player and send his ass to whatever gutter we picked him up out of? He's absolute garbage. The sooner we realize that, the sooner we can get some prospects in and hopefully salvage this half of the season. This is atrocious.

by Hazardous on Nov 1, 2008 10:05 PM EDT reply actions

That was as poor an effort as I have seen over the last 5 years. Too many penalties, horrible defense, way too fancy. It seemed like zombies on the ice. Where is the passion and hard work? Even without Ovie, this team should never be outplayed that badly. Unless we are just simply blind to the fact that this team overachieved last year?

by Anonymous on Nov 1, 2008 11:23 PM EDT reply actions

I got a #46 Sutherby jersey from his rookie, "makings of a future captain" and MVP of the "Young Stars" game, season.

by pepper on Nov 2, 2008 10:34 PM EST reply actions

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