Saturday Roundup - Caps 5, Sens 1 - Gamenight: Caps @ Habs
by J.P. on Dec 13, 2008 2:00 AM EST
30 comments
[AP Recap - Game Summary - Event Summary - WashingtonCaps.com Postgame - AP Preview - WashingtonCaps.com Preview]
On a night dominated by the story of the most HTML-savvy goalie to ever suit up for an NHL game, the on-ice story was about a Caps team getting healthy (well, the skaters, at least) and getting real good, real fast.
A few quick thoughts on the game:
- I would have liked to have seen Ottawa get taken to task for running Brent Johnson (who was once again brilliant in net).
- The Sens twice got lucky that Alex Ovechkin misfired on one-timers from the left wing faceoff circle. They weren't so lucky the third time. What's the saying? Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me; fool me three times, our team really sucks?
- Two goals from Ovechkin. One from Alex Semin. One from Brooks Laich. A goal and two assists from Mike Green. Three helpers apiece from Nicklas Backstrom and Sergei Fedorov. When GMGM dreams of scoresheets, that's what they look like (though they probably have a couple of Ryan Getzlaf assists on them too... jokes, people!).
- The power play, after a 3-for-7 night, is now firing at an unreal 40% clip (10-for-25) over the last six games and the penalty kill, after a 4-for-4 night, has now gone three games without allowing a goal and has killed 90.5% of the shorthanded opportunities it has faced over the last five games.
- Tyler Sloan had a nice run, but it's time for him to go, and ASAP. Corsi agrees (and just look at Karl Alzner's rating for the game).
- AO wasn't credited with a single hit. How 'bout that?
- Donald Brashear had a strong game (other than the forementioned lack of enforcing with respect to Ottawa's net crashing, which comes on the heels of Boston using the Caps crease as a throughway... this is becoming a bit of an issue, isn't it?).
- Memo to Senators: when things are going well, you can pull off "the goofy mustasche" thing; when they're not, you look foolish.
- Another strong game for Milan Jurcina. Could Alzner, a kid with less than ten NHL games under his belt, be that positive an influence on an vet like Juice?
And so it's off to Montreal, where the Caps will be the national game on Hockey Night In Canada for the second consecutive week. Coincidence? Yup. But who wouldn't want to watch this team and embrace any of the storylines it's creating on a nightly basis?
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Defending the Goalie? Nah...
Caps have had this problem with not sticking up for their goalie for some time now, not a new phenomenon. Remember how players as scrawny as Briere had their way with Huet in the playoffs?
I wouldn’t pin the responsibility all on Brash at all. I’d leave it mostly to the captains. It’s their job to stick up for their players (and they probably get a lot more ice time than Brash, too).
by Ben Rothenberg on Dec 13, 2008 7:19 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
The captain’s Chris Clark, and he’s hurt. Ovechkin was wearing one of the ’A’s, but you don’t want him fighting. The other guys who wear ’A’s at time are Poti (don’t want him fighting), Bradley, and…Brashear.
It’s pretty clearly Brashear’s role to come in and make people pay in those types of situations; it’s the only reason he’s getting paid over a million dollars and gets a regular shift. C’mon if the Caps are going to have to keep Alzner in the minors because of Brash’s contract, he could at least do his job.
by David M. Getz on Dec 13, 2008 11:57 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
now i remember...
so THIS is what our team looks like. its amazing how exciting a healthy Caps team can be,
re: Juice – he really has been playing better, but i can’t imagine they will offer him any more than the minimum pay increase fore an RFA. he’s just too inconsistent.
by ns on Dec 13, 2008 8:15 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
@ns: I think I want to hold the discussion on Juice until the end of the year and see how he does after Alzner is sent down, if he is. It might just be a matter of pairing Juice with someone he knows he can trust and that frees him to play his game, and when he can play his game, great things happen.
by gotsparkly on Dec 13, 2008 9:01 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
I can't believe it
But Juice has been legitimately good with Alzner, for whatever reason. If this continues, it’s going to make it extra hard to send Alzner down.
by grapejoos on Dec 13, 2008 11:28 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
If I have to personally ensure Clark and/or Schultz (and even maybe JT?) is on LTIR, I’m doing it. Alzner cannot go back to Hershey…
by macvechkin on Dec 13, 2008 4:55 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
I dunno. I thought I saw Mo stick up for Johnson and that was how he got that roughing penalty in the second. I had no problem with that penalty AT ALL.
But agreed that we need our players to stick up for each other. We’re just too nice out there, and a little sandpaper would be appreciated. I’ll admit that I’d like to see Greg Amadio or Grant McNeill called up from Hershey for that reason – both of them have a fair amount of grit in their game and will cheerfully drop the mitts if it’s called for, McNeill more so than Amadio.
Not a bad night when you consider that we were playing the refs too half the time. :P Lot of cheap / BS calls, to my eyes.
As for Sloan … has this been consistent over the last several games? I think it’s unfair to throw him out based on three games if he performed well in the ten before that. I think I’m just not ready to give up on the guy yet. More seasoning may be appropriate, but remember that we have to waive him if we send him down, and I would be very unsurprised to see another team claim him off of waivers.
by gotsparkly on Dec 13, 2008 8:59 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
I wonder if maybe he’s still injured but is afraid to loose his job and is playing anyway.
But I would think the coaches could spot that. So I don’t know.
I’d be fine if Erskine doesn’t come back anytime soon though. :)
by DebCapsFan on Dec 13, 2008 10:33 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
AO Hurt?
Despite his two goals, there seemed to be something missing last night from his game. The no hits stat wasn’t a mistake, he purposely seemed to be shying away from big hits. Since I’m not a doctor and don’t play on one TV, this is just a guess but it looks like his shoulder might be a little dinged. Notice how the usual post-goal jump into the boards wasn’t there?
by b.orr4 on Dec 13, 2008 9:00 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
That’s been gone for a while. I do think he is playing hurt and I’ve been hoping that when everyone else is back and healthy, AO can sit a couple of games out to heal.
by gotsparkly on Dec 13, 2008 9:02 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
i don’t see Ovie sitting out any games unless it is something he can’t play through, or if it’s the end of the regular season and it truly doesn’t matter. that’s the type of player he is.
by macvechkin on Dec 13, 2008 4:57 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Hockey Night in Canada
Well, it’s the first time the Leafs won’t be on it in the regular season since March of 1996. So at least it’s the Caps. Please stuff the Habs.
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
by PPP on Dec 13, 2008 10:01 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
Brashear
I was saying the same thing last night-why hasn’t Brashear broken one of these guys’ nose?
Why is he getting paid 1 mil a year again? What does this guy bring? He’s dropped the gloves like once this year.
-shwedy
by shwedy on Dec 13, 2008 11:39 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
He’s dropped the gloves like once this year.
Five times. But I still think you’re point is entirely valid and correct.
by David M. Getz on Dec 13, 2008 11:59 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Brash has actually played pretty well this year and he’s been effective keeping the peace…there’s not a lot of guys in the league who want to tangle with him, and it does take two… The guy still works hard and grinds in the corners, and if some fool wants to drop ‘em, don’t think he won’t oblige. While the stats don’t bear it out, this is the best I’ve seen him play while he’s been in DC. Is it $1.2M worth? Probably not, but there’s a few guys on the team who haven’t exactly lived up to their salaries this year.
Now, last night, someone should have squared away the runs at Johnny in the first—and I think it was Ruutu on the second one with whom Mo took a coincidental rough—but when you are up 2 and 3 goals, the last thing you want is an instigator call to give a team an unnecessary extra PP chance.
by bigonetimer on Dec 13, 2008 12:36 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
bigonetimer, that’s an excellent point. Brashear is so well established that he doesn’t need to drop the gloves to be a factor. I recall one game last year, I believe against Tampa, where the opposition was a lot more chippy that usual because Brashear was out with a minor injury.
by David M. Getz on Dec 13, 2008 1:17 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
So Brash is Enforcer Emeritus?
Japers' Rink: Hockey blogging from the most powerful city in the world
by J.P. on Dec 13, 2008 2:01 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
love his left
when his opponent forgets…
My favorite all time Cap tough guy has to be John Kordic. Now, THAT coke addled roidster liked to fight. He was worth the price of admission alone that year.
by bigonetimer on Dec 13, 2008 4:42 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Random thoughts on the D situtation
We now have 8 D who are legitimate NHL starters: Green, Poti, Mo, Schultz, Juice, Sloan, Alzner, and Erskine. This doesn’t include Collins (who impressed), Helmer and of course Pothier. What to do?
Green, Poti and Alzner are clearly here for the long term. The contracts for Mo, Juice and Shultz are up at the end of the year. Erskine has two more years. And we have cap problems this year.
When Schultz comes back either Sloan or Alzner would seem to be the odd men out but only Alzner can be sent down without clearing waivers- but he is really impressing.
I think Sloan will surely be claimed off wavers and that his overall pay has been good. I trust him with the puck, decision-making and skating significantly more than I trust Erskine Yes, his play has slipped some but that slip also seems to coincide with him not playing with a consistent partner. And Poti’s corsi rating last night was -9.
And when Erskine comes back, it gets even worse.
Bottom line: I can’t see any way out of this but to trade/waive Mo, Shultz, Juice and/or Sloan. (Erskine as well but I have discounted him to a degree as who would trade for him with the contract and the concussions?). Of these, I see reasons to keep and get rid of all of them. I would have traded Juice before the last 10 games but his shot and physicality are impressing me of late. Mo frustrates me but he has the biggest contract and will be hard to move. That leaves trading Schultz and Sloan which might just make cap room for Alzner.
But the pairings might look like this:
Green and Mo
Poti and Erskine
Alzner and Juice.
That middle paring is unnerving; I would rather have Shultz or Sloan paired with Poti any day.
That Erskine contract just looks worse and worse. It makes unsavory thoughts occasionally flick across my mind.
Any thoughts?
by ChrisAm on Dec 13, 2008 12:38 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Well, firstly I don’t think the Capitals have eight legitimate starters, I think they have five: Poti, Green, Schultz, Alzner, and Morrisonn. Jurcina, Erskine and Sloan are all okay but they aren’t really the kind of guys you want to count on night in and night out (the same could be said of Morrisonn). That’s not to say that they can’t pull their weight most of the time, but if you were counting on one of them as one your top six, you’d probably be looking to upgrade. (Note: Pothier is a good NHL defenseman, but I don’t think he’s ever going to play professionally again).
Looking past this season, Alzner, Green, Poti, Schultz and Erskine are all still going to be in D.C.. Morrisonn’s at $1.975 million and would need at least that much to avoid becoming an unrestricted free agent and Jurcina would need a raise over his current $880,000 to stay. My guess is that neither will be back because the Capitals figure they can use that 2.7 million more efficiently – and they’re probably right. As to who the sixth defenseman might be next year, I don’t know. Maybe they keep Sloan, maybe Josh Godfrey or John Carlson is ready (I’ve seen neither play but some people have suggested that if they develop well they could be NHL ready by 09-10), or maybe they make a trade or sign a free agent.
At this point I’d predict this for next season:
Green – Schultz (gives Green a stay-at-home defender to work with and Schultz is capable of being that guy, so it works for both of them)
Poti – Alzner (Alzner’s still young and Poti is the most well rounded defenseman. Plus this could be used as a shut down pairing)
Erskine – Sloan/Godfrey/Carlson/free agent/traded player/??? – the third pairing that wouldn’t get a ton of ice time.
by David M. Getz on Dec 13, 2008 1:26 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
What about this season?
My post is really about what the Caps are going to do in the next two weeks when Schultz comes back and then Erskine after that. The Caps obviously cannot keep 8 D men m the roster and I am trying to figure how they are going to solve the problem this year. Who are they going to keep, trade, send down or waive?
by ChrisAm on Dec 13, 2008 3:50 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
I suspect that we’re going with our orig. 6 when they get healthy at least til the deadline.
Alzner, unless he plays out of his mind, is going back to Hershey and will be the first call up. As much as I hoped for him to get at least half a year with da bears, he’s quickly becoming a fixture back there.
Sloan very well could be moved in a trade, ’cause I think Tampa someone would jump on picking him up on waivers, and why should we just give him away? We might have something cooking on that front by the time Schultz gets back, assuming no one else goes down.
I’ll contend along with many others that the SaH D is our weakest spot—we’ve got plenty of puck movers, not enough stoppers. Tyler took me to task recently for wistfully remembering Pots as our “shutdown” guy, and he’s right—Pothier really isn’t a classic shutdown guy, just a good two way dude. We really lack that. I could see GMGM packaging some of our depth to a team that’s out of it in February for such.
by bigonetimer on Dec 13, 2008 5:03 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
ok I'm an idiot who can't strike properly
but you get the point…
by bigonetimer on Dec 13, 2008 5:04 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Does it really matter? Don’t we all know that in a couple week when Schultz is going to be ready to come back at least two more defensemen will be on IR?
Kidding aside, I honestly don’t know what the Capitals do in that scenario. If there’s salary cap space I think they should either try and work out a trade for Jurcina or put Sloan on waivers – he might get claimed, he might not, but these things happen. If the salary cap is a problem then the only real option becomes sending Alzner to Hershey.
by David M. Getz on Dec 13, 2008 5:54 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Washington D, etc.
Each player on this team has a role — not everyone can be a Mike Green or Ovechkin & without the rest of the team, they wouldn’t look so good either. When you count the number of opponent breakaways (both on OUR PP and EV) someone’s not doing their job defensively. When you count the number of Wash. give aways it doesn’t look good either. (Lastnight Ovechkin 3, Brashear 3 & they didn’t count 2 Backstrom give aways).
Then look at penalties: Ovechkin reportedly has 11 penalties in 27 games — most of them unnecessary ones that have cost us. Our D killed off 5 penalties last night. PP was ok but only 3 goals in 9 PP. This team definitely needs good stay-at-home defencemen that can win along the boards, get the puck out of their zone quickly & efficiently, clear the opponents from in front of the net, pinching only when safe to do so. Overall Sloan has impressed me the most in this regard. He’s probably blocked more shots than any of the team as well since he’s been here. It seems fans only look at the D when one of them scores (rah rah) or when they get scored on (bash, bash). They fail to see there are other players on the ice when opponents score as well (as in lastnight when Gordon, Steckel & Brashear were on for the goal against). Same in the game when Ovie hung Lepisto out to dry, by hanging around the blue line waiting for a pass instead of going to protect the net. Alzner has had one great game, and has played fairly solid but still makes some newcomer mistakes that could have cost the team. Collins, Lepisto, Helmer, Giroux, Aucoin, Osala … all have contributed … and haven’t made any more mistakes than the regulars …it’s just that people focus attention on their mistakes because they’re looking for them. Unfair & stupid really.
by gogetem on Dec 13, 2008 1:55 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
I buy into your rationale, but it is only in the last two weeks that we are in a position to complain about “only 3 goals in 9 PP”
by Old Bob on Dec 13, 2008 3:17 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Corsi questionable on +/-
Alzner showed +2 in both of the past two games. Both times he came on the ice AFTER the play because Sloan did a timely line change after the puck was deep in the opponents zone. Sloan should have had the + in both games, not Alzner … but that’s the way the cookie crumbles and it is NOT an accurate reflection of either player’s game.
by gogetem on Dec 13, 2008 1:59 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Alzner's first Plus last night
True on the Alzner pluses. Last night was a rare play where Green received an assist on a goal (the first one) while he was sitting on the bench. He made the initial pass (I think to Semin who gave it to Backstram) and went off while Alzner came on (for Sloan). Now I remember many instances in Philadelphia when Bobby Cluck used to receive assists while sitting on the bench, but that was more a case of man boy love from the scorer.
by Old Bob on Dec 13, 2008 3:21 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
but that was more a case of man boy love from the scorer
so, you’re saying he liked Clark’s toothless grin for more than just the fine hockey aesthetics?
by bigonetimer on Dec 13, 2008 4:46 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
I don’t doubt that he appreciated Clark as an all-around player
by Old Bob on Dec 13, 2008 5:20 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
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Southeast Standings
| GP | W | L | OTL | PT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Washington
|
22 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 30 |
|
Tampa Bay
|
19 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 23 |
|
Atlanta
|
18 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 22 |
|
Florida
|
20 | 9 | 9 | 2 | 20 |
|
Carolina
|
21 | 4 | 12 | 5 | 13 |
(updated 11.21.2009 at 8:36 AM EST)
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