Wednesday Roundup - Caps 5, Rangers 4 (OT)
by J.P. on Dec 24, 2008 6:31 AM EST
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[AP Recap - Game Summary - Event Summary - WashingtonCaps.com Postgame]
If there's anyone in the hockey world who still questions who the best player in the NHL is, send 'em a tape of last night's game.
Five minutes into the second period, the Caps found themselves in a 4-0 hole on enemy ice and playing in front of a goalie in whom they seemingly had about as little confidence as he had in himself. At the risk of being overly dramatic, the Caps could have packed it in, blamed the injuries and hoped to get healthy over the Christmas break. But they didn't - because they have Bruce Boudreau behind the bench and Alex Ovechkin... everywhere.
Ovechkin potted a fluke goal more than half way through the game to cut the lead to 4-1, then had one of those shifts that teammates rally behind and opponents fear. At the time, it was mentioned in the Open Thread (definitely worth reading, by the way), that "the shift was great, but you kind of hate to waste one like that especially down three," to which I responded, "Setting an example is never a waste." And it wasn't:
Some thoughts on a true pre-Christmas miracle:
- Shaone Morrisonn scored the OT game-winner - his first goal since February - on his birthday. Unreal.
- It was easy to scapegoat Jose Theodore early, but Tomas Fleischmann's decision not to backcheck on the first goal, the forwards' inability to get out on the second goal and Ovechkin's poor backcheck (see? I criticize) on the second Ryan Callahan tally deserve blame as well. And down the stretch, JT60 came up large times. He gutted it out last night, and hopefully can take some away confidence from the game.
- Viktor Kozlov had a minus-4 rating through 25 minutes, but was Robin to AO's Batman in the comeback - a force with whom to be reckoned.
- Nicklas Backstrom had three primary assists on the first three Caps tallies.
- The Rangers had been 59-for-65 (90.8%) on the penalty kill at MSG before allowing two power play tallies in 5:23 of the third period.
- Back to Ovechkin, along with his two goals and single assist, he 13 shots on goal (and another ten that didn't make it to the net), four hits (I'll take the over), two takeaways and no giveaways... all in just 22:02, nearly a minute under his season average.
- The D-pairing of Karl Alzner and Milan Jurcina struggled early (and often, really), combining for a minus-six rating and minus-21 Corsi Rating.
- You can see why Alex Giroux scores a lot of goals in the AHL - he cherry picks and had a wide array of not-ready-for-primetime moves that probably work on crappy minor league netminders.
- Andrew Gordon's NHL debut wasn't particularly noteworthy.
- I'm spent.
So the Caps get a couple of days off to heal, perhaps enjoy some time with family and friends, and savor a fantastic win... and remember how nice it is to have the best player in the world on their side.
Elsewhere 'Round the Rinks:
Craig Custance gives Gabby and AO their year-end due.... Stefan Della Rovere: "Difficult for opposing players to contain."... Sticking with Caps prospects at the WJCs, Dmitry Kugryshev, inspired by OFB, is now a blogger.... This is who you get today for not commenting on yesterday's Cap of the Day.... Patrick McNeill is playing well in Hershey (and gets a shout out in Bear Tracks).
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that was stupendous.
this is a minor quibble, considering that the Caps won, but does anyone think that the tripping penalty drawn by Kozlov in the 3rd should have been a penalty shot?
Yeah, Ovi did.
I didn’t think he was quite in the clear. Close, but not quite.
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I did too. I thought for sure it was going to be a penalty shot., The trip definitely came from behind. But, all things considered, I’m happier with the power play. We haven’t done so hot on penalty shots this season, and Kozzie potted one when it mattered.
One comment, though....
As I said last night, Ovi doesn’t get all the credit. That was a stupendous coaching job by Boudreau to pull that out and turn it around. And … had the Rangers gotten even one more goal, it would have broken our momentum, and the run would have been over. Theodore was the goalie he’d been being paid to be in that last 40 minutes, and his sharpening up made the team believe that maybe, just maybe, Ovi and Boudreau were right, that they had a chance. And each and every one of them went for it with everything they had.
We have not just Ovi, but Boudreau and Theodore and the entire team to thank for last night.
After a game like that, you’d think the Rags need to take a look a long look at themselves. Going into a shell and hoping your goalie bails you out is no way to play if you want to be a contender.
Japers' Rink: Hockey blogging from the most powerful city in the world
that’s how they’ve been playing all season…i was actually surprised they were able to even score four goals!
Yeah, they clearly got to four and banked their two points. Not so fast, my friends…
Japers' Rink: Hockey blogging from the most powerful city in the world
And it appeared their strategy was to get that point after 4-4, force the shootout for a win because we had Theo and they had Hank.
You’re right it’s not going to get them far. It’s like they’re just playing to get a playoff berth; no plans beyond that (like a Stanley Cup or something).
Well, given their OT/shootout record — it’s worked for them so far, why not? Granted that Lundqvist is a beast and they’re making use of their strengths.
Except with three goals in twelve and a half minutes of play, we already had Lundqvist on his heels. We were on a roll. And we were making things happen out there. Lunqvist had been beaten cleanly three times in a row – you can’t strand a goalie who’s been through that. You’ve got to rally around him, and they didn’t. They hung him out to dry.
Well, given their OT/shootout record — it’s worked for them so far, why not?
Because there are no shootouts in the playoffs… yet (cue clap of thunder).
Japers' Rink: Hockey blogging from the most powerful city in the world
The minute they add shootouts to the playoffs is the minute I stop watching the NHL.
by Whiter Mage on Dec 25, 2008 11:06 PM EST up reply actions
Agreed.
And … as good as us being able to come back from a four-goal deficit to win is, we’ve got to stop spotting three- and four-goal leads if we want to contend in the playoffs. It’s got to start now. We’ve got to stop saying “next year” or “maybe in a couple of years” and start thinking “we could have it all, now, this year, let’s go”. Philly crushed the life out of us. The Rangers failed to do so, and their loss in OT was the result.
I’ll admit to being a competitor. I’m not content to wait for another year, play with placeholders, and idle my way through the season. Two things have to happen for us – the goaltending needs to get solved one way or another, and we have to get healthy. That’s IT. If we can believe, if we can say to ourselves “this is the year, we won’t put it off any longer, let’s go for it”, and stop waiting for next year, then I really believe that this team could have it all.
But to do that, we have to think like winners. We have to play with the killer instinct that Philly does (without being dirty rotten scoundrels like most of them are) or that San Jose or Boston does. We have to expect it all, want it all, and go in hell-bent-for-leather every night. Ovi knows how. Boudreau knows how. If he can teach the team how, I think we can win, after seeing last night.
I was at an office party last night and wasn’t able to watch the game. I checked the score after the 1st and just kinda considered myself lucky that I wasn’t watching it unfold (deja vu from Saturday).
I left the party just after nine and tune into the game on XM (unfortunately it was the Rangers’ call). Not more than a minute after I turn it on, Kozlov scores and I hear the score is 4-3. What!?! What have I missed?!? Needless to say, I was glad I caught the end of the game (and even gladder I had Tivo-ed the game to watch when I got home)—I thought I was going to run my car off the road when I hear Morrisonn had scored the game winner in OT!
Great comeback. This game could have easily gone the way of the Flyers game just a few days before. Good job by Ovechkin and Co. for continuing to press forward even when they were down; good job by Theo for making some nice saves in the 3rd when it mattered most; and good job by coach BB for keeping everyone focused and motivated. Merry Christmas indeed!
by PaintDrinkingPete on Dec 24, 2008 8:52 AM EST reply actions
It just hit me that there’s no hockey today. Or tomorrow.
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Theo
Maybe it’s just the Christmas spirit, but I’m not sure why so many were bashing on Theo for those four goals. The first was a great play by the Rags and a bad forecheck by Flash. The second I’m assuming he never saw since he never moved to block the shot. The third he might have been overreacting to the puck, but still Callahan was left completely alone and the fourth was a clean breakaway. Not really a bad goal in the bunch. I think Bruce pulled him more to shake up the team than to punish JT. Nevertheless, I really like the way he responded. My question is if Johnny was so sick or injured that he couldn’t last more than a few minutes, why was he even backing up?
He could probably have gutted it out in an absolute emergency (i.e. Theo being physically unable to continue). If the question is, “Why didn’t they recall Varly?” the answer is probably that the roster wouldn’t allow for it – with so many day-to-day guys, they are at the roster max (I believe) after the Giroux/Helmer/A.Gordo recalls, and putting one of those d-t-d guys on the IR wouldn’t have been worth it for Varly to sit on the bench (when Johnny could do that).
And obviously I agree on Theo being largely undeserving of blame (and deserving of praise) for his effort last night.
Japers' Rink: Hockey blogging from the most powerful city in the world
My question is if Johnny was so sick or injured that he couldn’t last more than a few minutes, why was he even backing up?
My guess would be that Johnson was good enough to go “if he had to”
by PaintDrinkingPete on Dec 24, 2008 11:04 AM EST up reply actions
You know, everyone says “sick/injured”. One look at him on he bench last night told me damn clearly which one it was. It was OBVIOUS. He looked like death warmed over, and I wanted to put him on the couch with a hot toddy and a blanket when I saw him on that bench.
I wonder if Johnson was sick on Saturday and didn’t want to tell anyone or admit it. That game was a big one for the guys – it meant a lot to them, and Johnson didn’t want to let them down at the last minute. Nobody really wanted Theodore in that net.
I do concur that the D left him hung out to dry early – Alzner/Jurcina did not have a very good game at all. The forwards didn’t do much better. But sometimes that’s going to happen in the Caps’ play system, and to make the system work, sometimes the goalie’s got to come up big. When Theo started doing that, we started roaring.
When you see Flash give an effort like that
You have to believe its hard for Gabby to put him on the ice in close late-game situations, similar to how Hanlon felt about Ovechkin earlier in his career.
Maybe in order to understand mankind, we have to look at the word itself: "Mankind". Basically, it's made up of two separate words—"mank" and "ind". What do these words mean? It's a mystery, and that's why so is mankind.
-Jack Handey
That win is even more amazing considering it came on the heels of the crushing loss in Philly. To come back like that when just in the previous game the team had gone down early is remarkable. I think the comeback against the Rangers > comeback against the Pens simply because of what happened on Saturday, and the number of Bears we had in the lineup.
Your Hershington Capibears.
+1
Philly could so easily have crushed us mentally, and in the first period, I thought it did. Ovi and Boudreau snapped the guys out of it, and Theo gave us the backstopping we needed to roar back – and the Rangers made the key mistakes and gave us the space we needed.
So much of this game is mental, and I think we dodged a bullet when we pulled out of that funk. No telling how long it would have lasted if we hadn’t pulled out last night. I happen to like where we are in the standings, and getting crushed like that can kill us fast. Philly knew that and they set out deliberately to do that by playing their top lines at the end of the game. They were out to crush and destroy, not just win, and it’s to our credit that we snapped out.
And I think that come January 6th, our boys will remember that little stunt.
Theo was great last night, but god we’ve got to do something about our goaltending.
Red Jesus and Friends
I haven’t laughed like that in a while :)
by OvechkinLaichsSemin on Dec 24, 2008 11:56 AM EST reply actions
Suggested One Timer
“He believes, so we believe.” Shaone Morrisonn on Ovie
In NYT article ‘Ovechkin Shakes Off His Garden Dry Spell’,
BYLINE: By LYNN ZINSER
SECTION: Section B; Column 0; Sports Desk; CAPITALS 5, RANGERS 4, OT; Pg. 15
How early is too early to start chanting “M-V-P! M-V-P!” in the Phone Booth? ;)
I have as many wins in a Capitals uniform as Michael Belhumeur does.
When Ovie overtakes Crosby in points this weekend, I believe we can chant it as he chases down Malkin. Merry X-mas everyone, and sorry to self promote JP but if you haven’t had a chance to check out the short animated film “The Sweater” it’s on my site. Great hockey film to watch with the family.
by CapitalsKremlin on Dec 24, 2008 8:23 PM EST up reply actions
The Sweater is great!
It really gives you a feel for how big a deal the differences in francophone vs. anglophone canada is. Cute animation, too.
Maybe in order to understand mankind, we have to look at the word itself: "Mankind". Basically, it's made up of two separate words—"mank" and "ind". What do these words mean? It's a mystery, and that's why so is mankind.
-Jack Handey
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Southeast Standings
| GP | W | L | OTL | PT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Florida
|
53 | 25 | 17 | 11 | 61 |
|
Washington
|
54 | 28 | 21 | 5 | 61 |
|
Winnipeg
|
56 | 26 | 24 | 6 | 58 |
|
Tampa Bay
|
53 | 23 | 24 | 6 | 52 |
|
Carolina
|
55 | 20 | 25 | 10 | 50 |
(updated 2.10.2012 at 3:26 AM EST)
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