Recap: Bruins 3, Caps 2

I think what happens tomorrow against the Senators will be critical in the future of this season and Boudreau’s tenure with this team. Something has to give. You can give as much third period effort as you want, but it’s not going to be enough in the end. They need a complete game and they need a win. Period.

Only saw the last half of the game, but looked like the Caps had ample opportunity to come away with the W in this one. Thomas was good but they definitely missed some shots on goal that I have seen go in before. But hey, if they play like this tomorrow night, I guarantee they will come away with 2 points. ;)

And when the night ends with yet another loss (3-2 at the hands of the host Bruins) and the Caps looking up at a Southeast Division leader at this point in the season for the first time since 2007, it seems to become just a question of when.

Agree with you here. Can’t be coming out and coughing up a 3-spot on the road when you’re staring an 8 game losing streak in the face.

That looks bad.

The fact that they fought back some is nice…but it doesn’t erase that the team came out yet again flat in a big moment.

I don’t think BB survives this thing.

I liked Mackan’s game. Going for that top corner snap shot on Thomas was a lot more confidence than he’s shown all year shooting the puck.

Neuvirth has to be better. You could easily say goaltending was the difference. Two bad goals against by Neuvirth. One bad bounce. Thomas had a tough bounce on the Alzner goal and you could question the quality of the Bradley goal but he also came up with more big saves. When you’re on a losing streak, you just can’t afford soft goals (and I don’t necessarily mean just on the goalie, soft from a team standpoint). The first goal should have been stopped, but it should never have been a shot. Steckel has to get that puck deep. Brutal mistake from a 4th line guy. Absolutely no excuse for him to do anything but the absolute most simple play. Then it was poor coverage by Green not reading the play and seeing Bergeron coming in. You could ask Erskine to step up sooner, but all in all he was the least of the problem on that goal.

I still haven’t seen the second goal.

Wheeler got a hold of that third goal, but Neuvirth absolutely needs to come up with that save.

I think AO’s line did better tonight, but maybe that’s just because Backstrom looked so good. His strength on the puck was fun to watch. AO brought his physical game, which is nice, but the physical play has always been a perk on top of the scoring. Without the scoring, he’s just not AO. It sure was nice to see both him and Nick in front of the net on Alzner’s goal, though. If only we could see some more of that.

We’re talking about the caps, dude. Ain’t happening.

The Bruins showed up for 40 minutes and won. The Caps showed up for 40 minutes and lost. Caps are shooting at a 3% clip over this streak. Yeah, there are some bad trends that need to be corrected, but the bad bounces are piling up. When will they end?

Maybe BB needs to (will?) be fired, but IMHO the leadership problem is in the locker room. I had fantasies after the third goal of Boudreau calling a timeout, telling his boys: “you’re on your own” and storming down to the dressing room with his assistants. If that happened, WHO on this team would step up and lead? Ten Scotty Bowmans couldn’t solve that problem.

But one step forward, one or two steps back isn’t good enough

was good enough for these two

Enough already, dammit!

1) The goal scorers on the last three Caps goals (which is all the goals for the past 3 games): Brooks Laich, Matt Bradley, Karl Alzner. A second line winger, a 4th line forward (playing the third line due to injuries) and a defensive defenseman. No Ovechkin, Backstrom, Green, Knuble…. yes, getting secondary scoring is nice, but it only matter is there is primary scoring.

2) How many more whiffs and blowouts does Ovechkin have to have this season. I’ve seen enough of them. He’s holding something back, like he’s trying to avoid getting suspended again. C’mon Ovie… go nuts.

3) Remember how cool it was to be in first place… yeah.. not anymore. The Caps are behind the [Franceschetti] Atlanta Thrashers, and are also behind the Lightning as well. Yeah, those teams have improved, but the Caps should not be getting challenged by them.

4) Oh, look. The ‘Canes also won…. that means the Caps are only 6 points into a playoff berth. And the Canes have three games in hand…. it’s just better and better.

This is not the time to panic, but at the same time something has to happen. What, I don’t know. Boudreau needs to send a message to this team, one that will hit them like a slap in the face. They can’t come out in the first period that flat and expect to win. Being outshot 11-5 in the first isn’t good, esp. if Neuvy lets in bad goals (and the first and third were pretty bad goals). Yes, it’s nice that they outshot the B’s 36-10 in the last two periods was nice, but they had help in that 18 of the Bruins players quit. Everyone but Thomas who should have been the game’s #1 star, not the #2…

I don’t get it…

Too many crap shots from way outside until 2nd half of the third.

Typical Ovi post Montreal when he turned it over with14 seconds left and 4/5ths of the rest of the caps sisters waiting for a team oriented play up at the blue line. Way more depressing than the losing streak is the possibility that gets more real each week that Ovi is past his peak already while Sid keeps getting better. Losing streaks happen. Our win streak last year was fun but didn’t mean much come playoffs, but Ovi failing to develop or even maintain 90% of his peak ability is dismaying.

Another game, another minus from hannon. I thought he screened neuvy on what you all are calling a softy, but I’m biased since I hated the trade.

I’m not coming back here until they win. See you tomorrow night everyone!

Meh.

As long as they’re in the playoffs and playing well in the playoffs

Maybe this is all a conspiracy. Maybe 2-3 weeks ago a conversation went down like this

GMGM: “So Bruce, we’re trading flash”:

Bruce: “Fuck you! If you do, I’ll see to it we’ll lost every game till new years!”:

around Ovechkin—and frankly he’s been bad this year. Let’s call a spade a spade and stop with all the excuse-making. Second, the goal-tending is utterly mediocre—so the Caps simply don’t get any exceptional performances that enable them to steal a win in a game in which the offense isn’t clicking—which has been the case in most games this year. Your best player and totem in a total funk and goalies who can’t really get it done = losing streak and a long one

What has happened here?

1) Should we blame me for failing to bring my tote bag of bells for the game on December 4? I brought them for most of Oct and Nov but my tote bag got so loaded with other stuff and I had forgotten them that day? Should we blame me for failing to wear red for most of that same day — until it was game time? (Okay, the losing streak started before that)

2) Was it the trade of Flash for Hannan? Except, at the time the trade was consummated, it seemed like the logical thing to do — trade an offensive forward for a shutdown defenseman since our depth at D was so bad.

3) The flu epidemic sapping everyone’s energy.

Why the hell did they get the flu? Flu Shots, Dammit.
If they lose tomorrow Gabby’s 50-50. If they lose tomorrow & keep losig through the next home game, 100% gone.
BTW, I was getting hammered here re BB; now not so outrageous.

It would make for some extreme drama if going into the Winter Classic, assuming BB is still there and they have lost most if not all the games in between then, if in his pre-game speech Bruce tells his team straight up before the game that if they lose this game, he will lose his job. Or if GMGM tells them all together that if they lose, BB is gone. I’m sure HBO wouldn’t mind. See how they play when they know their coach’s job is on the line.

As someone who knows nowhere near enough to actually have an opinion-
1. We need our mojo back. When this team plays well, there’s this vibe you feel from the players that we’re better than you and no, you’re not going to beat us. Ovechkin would turn it on and saying “Nope, we’re not losing tonight.” Think back to the Caps-Pens superbowl Sunday last year. Or the huge comback against the canadiens at home in the series last year. Our mojo is gone- until we get that back, we’ll keep spiraling
2. It’s not that Boudreau’s a bad coach- he’s a bad coach for this situation. Put him on the struggling team with young scorers, he’ll turn them around. Give him an offensive juggernaut that’s thriving and he’ll lead them on a long winning streak. Unfortunately, he’s not the best coach for a team in a rut (especially the one we’re in right now). That’s not to say we should fire him, but he might not be good at managing a struggling team with huge expectations.
3. There’s clearly something wrong in the mindset of the whole franchise. What other NHL team crumbles under pressure of winning a cup? Sorry, last time I checked everyone was trying to do that. At some level, there is a problem with the mindset that’s causing a team that we know is better than this to be plagued by such a bad mindset. Something about the way we’re approaching our expectations seems to be bad for the team we have. That must change (Whether it’s Leonsis or GMGM or Boudreau or players on the team)
4. HBO was very ill-timed…..if anything the players are really embarrassed. I would be.
5. Can we play fun hockey again? Maybe in trying to play a more grinding style of hockey while under the weight of the huge expectations, we’re neutralizing the huge talent of Ovechkin/Backstrom/Semin. Funny, it almost sounds like Boudreau would be the perfect coach to become the new coach.
6, and most importantly- We’re a better team than this. Things will get better, hopefully we do nothing too rash or drastic to do that. I defer to all of you to determine what that would be.

Last year when we lost 2 or 3 in a row I was enraged

This year when we lost 8 straight I don’t seem to give a shit.

It sounds like a broken record but that massive win streak from last year put things in perspective. This 8 game streak doesn’t mean shit. It could be a bad thing. For all we know it could be a good thing. We set a franchise record in period shots for the third period tonight. Maybe the more we lose the more we learn to try new things, the more we learn to experiment, the humbler we get.

Or maybe we just suck. Who knows.

Anyone who’s been a caps fan for a while (hell for even a year) knows this all probably doesn’t mean anything other than we’re going to eventually learn something. Whether or not it’s too late is still to early to be judged

So mellow out, drinks some beers.

And …

TwoooOoo steps forward.. two steps back.. We come toge…
fUCK! That song! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!

Which will be higher this year — Werth’s RBIs or the Capitals points?

I doubt BB will be fired until at least Jan 10. About a week after all the cameras are gone from HBO.

i’d bet money this ends. every goaltender we’e faced on this streak is capable of an outstanding game, and brought it against the caps (minus Toronto). I do not think that is the case in Ottawa.

During this 8 game stretch I have seen

Matt Bradley being a consistent Matt Bradley

Brooks Laich getting even BETTER at being Brooks Laich.

..

Ovechkin will always be ovechkin, same goes for Semin an Backstrom. I’m still counting this streak as a blessing. It’s forcing our above average and average players to be good players and above average players respectively

Boethius: It’s my belief that history is a wheel. “Inconsistency is my very essence” says the wheel “Rise up on my spokes if you like, but don’t complain when you are cast back down into the depths. Good times pass away, but then so do the bad. Mutability is our tragedy, but it is also our hope. The worst of times, like the best, are always passing away”.

I have a suggestion. The Caps’ training table is generally heavy on pasta, bread, a nice entree like lobster or salmon. I say give them nothing but sausage, five times a day, until they win. Replace their skate laces with sausage. Make them wear sausage on their heads instead of helmets. Change the team name from Capitals to Sausage. The Washington Sausage will beat the Penguins ten to minus threeve and all will be well again. Make it so.

I was fortunate enough to be at the game, and I was right next to the Caps’ bench. Here’s what I observed:

After the second Boston goal, Ovie was yelling down the bench at the team. Bruce was obviously angry.

After the third Boston goal, Bruce was livid. I didn’t think he could be angrier after the second, but he was. Bob Woods was calm for most of the game, but his facial expressions looked to be that of a witness of a car crash at that point. Couldn’t see Evason, he was too far away.

Scott Hannan had the same angry facial expression the entire night. Even in warmups. He also looks like Mark Wahlberg to me.

I also noticed some of the line combinations were getting interesting. I noticed Fehr with Backstrom and Ovie in the third (I think that was the shift Alzner scored), and earlier I noticed we had Brooks with all rookies: Mojo, A. Gordon, Alzner, Carlson, and of course Neuvy. One of the forwards might have actually been Beagle instead, but I can’t remember now. Either way, is it realistic to have such high expectations with so many rookies? I love those guys, but perhaps we’re asking too much. Also, I saw Matty P in warmups, but he didn’t play. Was he HS’d or was he sick?

That’s all I got for now. If I can motivated enough I’ll post some pics, the view I had was so awesome.

GMGM should call up Chiarelli and see what it would take to get Tim Thomas from them. It’s become clear to me that neither Neuvy or Varly is ready to be the #1 in DC. It would be a risk, but Boston might be willing to trade Thomas to get some cap space moving forward, especially since they think Rask is the future in net there anyhow. Obviously, this losing streak isn’t just on Neuvy and Varly, but I think having a guy like Tim Thomas backing them up would give the Caps some confidence.

Baileys was fun. I really thought ao was going to tie it with 15secs left. Many car bombs later with Chris…

I hear the best way to get out of a funk is to wear two different skates.

Right skate looks like a CCM U+ Pro Reloaded, the left is a CCM U+ CL.

Episode three of 24/7 will be the greatest hour of TV I’ve ever seen. I’ve always been curious to see how a hockey team responds to a mid-season coaching change and now we’ll all get to experience it behind the scenes.

So that’s a positive.

So maybe it’s time for Uncle Ted to walk into the dressing room and read Oh! The Palces You’ll Go!! to the team. Hokey, yes, but WHAT ELSE ARE WE GOING TO DO?

If I didn’t have to run out to a pee wee game, I would rewrite “The Waiting Place” part for the Caps. That’s where I feel like they are. I like the ending, though.