Capital Ups and Downs: Week 1

Erskine was bailed out plenty by Poti. If Poti wasn’t so Poti during the first game, he’d deserve the up.

That open ice hit alone makes it so he doesn’t get an “up” in my mind. Poor decision making. Lucky his teammates bailed him out.

Erskine has looked terrible. He’s been slow and constantly a step behind the play. Now that ShaMo and Juice are gone, his inability to make plays with the puck under pressure (other than banging away at it) seems even more egregious.

His “even” is deserved because, even if he’s looked terrible, the results haven’t been awful.

I was torn on MoJo, to be honest, but thought he deserved the benefit of the doubt. If he keeps making similar mistakes with similar frequency, however, he’ll get a down arrow before long.

I think Johansson’s rookie mistakes are balanced by his good (albeit brief) work on the PK and his marked improvement on faceoffs.

Of course he’s going to be in the right place. He’s 9 and a half feet tall with a 37 foot wingspan. He’s everywhere all at once!

Backstrom was 2-8-10, plus-6 in his first four games last season.

I think he already is!

(He also had a tough act in training camp for the other “bubble” players to compete against. Hat trick and a fight with the guy who boarded Ovi the previous day.)

He’s playing well and I’m jumping on to his ship form what I’ve seen so far. Forechecks especially well, finishes checks, and fights. He’s almost like a cloned Matt Bradley thus far. and of course

#needmorebrads

Green looked kind of blase during both games. Chimera took a really bad penalty as well — he got back to even on that goal, not up.

Agree completely on Chimmer. He can’t be faulted on either of the goals against by NJ. The penalty wound up a positive — the Caps killed it and then he had that nice out-of-the-box shot against Marty. Not sure what the man has to do to get an up arrow. Especially with the emphasis this year on strong leadership and physical play, Chimmer deserves better.

How can it be tough? If the players talk about not playing to full potential, then having high expectations is a given all around.

Green could’ve gotten an up arrow for solid play in areas we’re not used to seeing him be solid in, but he hasn’t brought that edge-of-your-seat excitement or power-play proficiency yet, and that’s what I really expect from him. Even it is.

Also remember that an even rating isn’t necessarily a bad thing – it’s more a commentary on the fact that both guys pretty much brought what was expected and didn’t stand out in any way. Green’s explosiveness hasn’t really returned and Chimmer balanced out some good stuff w/ some bad stuff.

Don’t think of this as JP being Mr. Pessimist and trying to bring you down – just look at it as a way of setting the bar for them exceeding expectations well into June…

I could buy an up arrow for Chimmer. Definitely right in between the two.

For Chimmer’s goal after getting out of the box. It’s what called “redeeming yourself”.

The goal was an impressive one for him. If you had told me beforehand that Chimera would score a breakaway goal in the second game of the season, I’d probably have just laughed in your face.

If we’re giving out arrows for non-players, how about one for a new-look, agressive, 7-for-7 Penalty Kill?

Thanks, Laichitor.

Pretty sure he just played NHL 11 earlier that day and figured he’d try it out. Anyone who plays that game knows what I’m talkin’ bout.

I think the sports psychologist stuff is good. Bad would be not going to one when he needs to. Green is a fantastic player, and a massive headcase. Hopefully the psychologist helps.

I think “doing your job” should get an even. Going beyond expectations gets a plus and failing to meet expectations gets a minus.

Thus far, Schultz has done his job, but he’s done nothing extraordinary.

Ah, the rookies with their growing pains.

He did do some good things at that game though. Alzner worked hard with Carlson to spring the puck that Flash passed to Chimmer just as he got out of the box. Personally I like Carlson and Alzner as a pair, even if they’re both rookies. They just seem to have a kind of synergy, a way of reading each other’s mind.

I won’t presume to speak for JP, but for me I would say lack of points, lack of power play success, and lack of sizzle on breakouts, outlet passes, etc.

I don’t know if anyone else noticed it but in our section at least, everyone was frustrated with Green the whole time. He did have a few bad plays where he let the puck get out of the offensive zone on the PP but it didn’t ultimately hurt us. I know I’m a little harder on him just b/c of the playoffs but I’ll be the first to say I didn’t realize he led the team in so many categories.

Because…?

Laich hasn’t committed the turnovers that Flash has or the penalties that Semin has.

Flash has had several horrendous turnovers and Semin has taken two boneheaded penalties.

And neither of them has an unassisted SHG.

Flash’s pass on Chimera’s goal was sweet, and the passing play on the Caps’ first goal vs. Atlanta was nice, but balanced against the rest of what Flash and Semin have done, even is about as good as they ought to get.

Meaning you’re willing to forgive and forget Flash’s “outlet” against Atlanta? That play alone is worth a down arrow.

I give Semin the most credit for that goal. The pass Flash sent to Semin was fucking brutal but Semin swatted it out of mid-air. The Flash-to-Laich pass was nice but Semin is the reason that play went anywhere.

If nothing else, Sasha’s straight line “-” should be trending up “/” for his exuberant yelling (in English, I believe) from the bench in support of MoJo!

His goal wasn’t garbage, but it came after the game was already well in hand, hence garbage time.

When you make that ballsy move from behind the goal line and sneak it between an armpit, I have a problem with it. It was lucky that he scored, but it wasn’t a good play. Generally speaking, when you’re playing around the net, we want you in front of the net on the edge of the crease, making the goalie uncomfortable and taking away sight lines, which Fehr definitely was not doing. I equally hate it when Brooks makes the same play.

I’m happy for any goal the PP scores right now, even in garbage time. They need to get the PP back on track.

Jesus, that’s crazy.

Since PPL only plays a few minutes a night, it should increase the workload for anyone. However, if there’s an injury in the game…

Wonder if he has any regrets now?