[AP Recap – Game Summary – Event Summary – WashingtonCaps.com Postgame]
When the Washington Capitals play as a cohesive unit – twenty men reading off the same sheet of music, anticipating one another’s actions before they happen, creating chances where none seemed to exist and enveloping opposing forwards before they can get to within spitting distance of the crease – it’s a truly beautiful sight to behold.
Last night wasn’t that. Not by a long shot.
And yet, the Caps turned it on when it mattered and pocketed another two points in the standings with a win over a decent team that probably played with as much effort and emotion as their coach had hoped in the wake of the shakeups of the past few days.
We’ve talked ad nauseum about this team’s focus (or lack thereof), so we’ll skip that for now and get right to some post-game thoughts:
But two points are two points, and the Caps have another desperate team – the Avs – coming to town tomorrow night, so fire up the ol’ “gotta play sixty minutes” cliches and “we need to be better disciplined” speeches and see if they work this time. Maybe fifteenth time’s the charm.