Capital Ups and Downs: Week 4

by Becca H on Oct 31, 2011 11:00 AM EDT in Capitals Ups and Downs

VANCOUVER, CANADA - OCTOBER 29: Goalie Roberto Luongo #1 of the Vancouver Canucks makes a glove save on Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals as Alexander Edler #23 of the Vancouver Canucks and Marcus Johansson #90 look on during the third period in NHL action on October 29, 2011 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo by Rich Lam/Getty Images)

Our weekly look at individual Washington Capitals' ups and downs:

Goalies	Trend	Notes
Michal Neuvirth		Sent out to relieve Vokoun in the second period against Vancouver and subsequently picked up his first loss of the season, giving up four goals on twenty-six shots (including three in the third period, two in the span of a minute and one that he'd like to have back). Not the best of showings for Neuvirth... but the abruptness of his return to action combined with the lack of support in front of him spares him a down arrow.
Tomas Vokoun		Came up just short in a goaltending duel in Edmonton, surrendering two goals that both came on the power play, and then faced seventeen shots to open Saturday's game before getting the ol' "try to wake up the team" hook. The three goals allowed in that opening frame were the most Vokoun's given up since the Tampa debacle.
Defensemen
Karl Alzner		Scored his first goal of the season against the Oilers, giving him four points on the season already - also known as a third of his entire offensive output last year - but was on the ice for both Edmonton goals and four of the seven in Vancouver.
John Carlson		Was "only" on the ice for one Oiler goal and three Canucks tallies, and fired six shots on Roberto Luongo, but looked particularly rough on Saturday night and reminds us all that he still has some learnin' left to do.
Sean Collins		Appeared in his 20th career NHL game against Edmonton in which he finished a plus-one with three shots on goal, then followed up his milestone game with a bit of a clunker in which he was on ice for two Vancouver goals to finish minus-two in less than ten minutes of ice time.
John Erskine		No offense to Sean Collins, but when a Caps' defenseman gets injured we'd much prefer to see big #4 patrolling the blue line in his place. Hurry back, Ersk.
Mike Green		Somehow managed to twist his ankle while taking a puck to the face, proving there's no puck luck quite like Mike Green puck luck. It's not supposed to be too serious but he's already had to sit out two games...and the team missed him. Badly.
Roman Hamrlik		Was on for just one of the week's nine goals-against, blocked four shots and skated almost thirteen minutes on either the penalty kill or the power play between the two games, but it was his penalty that turned a 5-on-4 into the 5-on-3 against Edmonton - a 5-on-3 that led to the eventual game-tying goal by the Oilers.
Tom Poti		Welcome to the Tom Poti LTIR Comedy Moment... Q: Why'd Tom Poti cross the road? A: To get to LTIR. Try the veal.
Jeff Schultz		Was on for two goals-for and two goals-against in Vancouver, and fired six shots on or toward the net this week - including a season-high two shots Saturday night - but saw his ice time take a hit (especially against the Canucks) upon drawing Sean Collins as his D partner.
Dennis Wideman		Had his point-per-game streak snapped Thursday night against Edmonton but was right back at it against the Canucks with an assist on Johansson's goal. More impressive is the fact that he was on for two goals this week, both of them Caps' goals, and hasn't been on the ice for a goal-against in over two weeks.
Forwards
Nicklas Backstrom		Finished with his second-highest faceoff percentage of the season (which was also only his second game above 50%) against Edmonton but was right back below 40% (!) in Vancouver...so that's something to keep an eye on. Hard to argue too much with the rest of his game, however, as he picked up another two points Saturday night to keep him among the League's assist leaders and atop the team's scoring leaders.
Jay Beagle		Says he doesn't have a concussion but still needs clearance from team doctors to resume skating and the coach won't comment...hmm.
Troy Brouwer		After firing just seven shots on goal in seven games he's now had nine in his last two, including some oh-so-close chances against the Canucks - all while doing what he does and adding nine hits and an assist to his scorecard.
Jason Chimera		Thanks to a healthy dose of special teams work, Chimera's10:34 of ice time Thursday night was his lowest of the season...that is until Saturday, when it slipped to 9:13. Finished even for the week and added an assist as well as a handful of shots on goal, so he'll be taking back the team goal-scoring lead any day now. Right?
Jeff Halpern		Followed up a dominant faceoff night on Thursday (6-for-7) with an abysmal one on Saturday (1-for-6) and was on the ice for three goals-against, including two at even strength and both game-winners. Oof.
Matt Hendricks		Pretty quiet week for Hendricks, with a few shots on goal, a few hits and a few blocked shots to his name. Of course, that call for "diving" livened things up a bit...
Marcus Johansson		Picked up one of the dumber penalties you'll see Johansson take - or anyone for that matter - when he closed his hand on the puck against the Oilers, but (somewhat) balanced that out by picking up his fifth goal of the season against Vancouver.
D.J. King		The team may have picked up its first two losses of the season but two more scratches means it's same old, same old for King.
Mike Knuble		If you could pick anyone from the Caps' top six forwards to take a penalty shot, the first choice may not be Knuble...but there he was getting hauled down against the Canucks, then getting a fluky goal on a penalty shot to remain perfect (2-for-2) in his career.
Brooks Laich		It's probably not a good thing when one of the team's better defensive forwards is on the ice for five of the nine goals allowed in two games - three of them while shorthanded. Also not a good thing? That he won just one faceoff in eight tries against Edmonton.
Alex Ovechkin		The team may have lost two straight but it didn't seem to be for lack of trying on the part of the captain, who fired twelve shots on net over the two games and earned his second two-goal game of the season against Vancouver. Having said that, he can't be taking the kind of penalty he took in the third period Saturday night, a penalty that led to the eventual game-winner...even if it wasn't technically a power play goal.
Mathieu Perreault		For the first time this season, Perreault went two straight games without a point - which considering his role and ice time is fairly impressive in and of itself. And he still has yet to be on the ice when an opponent scores.
Alexander Semin		Two games, two more minor penalties (albeit one of which was a bit ticky-tacky in nature) a minus-two and just a handful of shots for Sasha, who is now in a four-game goalless drought. Snipers run hot and cold, though, so perhaps he's coming close to breaking out. We hope.
Joel Ward		Picked up his first penalty as a Cap (thanks to Ryan Kesler's performance as Wounded Man #2 in Spielberg's Ow, My Eye!) on Saturday and consequently was in the box for Vancouver's first power play goal, which was followed by the first time Ward's been on the ice for a goal-against since October 10. Tough to punish him too much for that, though...time to start a new streak.

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Comments

Downs. evens and band-aids. That’s what your D-corps looks like when they give up nine goals in two games. :(

You perhaps knew me better as "Your Nation's Capital." Same great commentary, now with 100% more transparency!

by EmilyB on Oct 31, 2011 11:03 AM EDT reply actions

Except for Dennis Wideman, who is a Grade A badass.

The definition of being a Caps fan is watching the same team over and over and expecting different results.

by Becca H on Oct 31, 2011 11:09 AM EDT up reply actions

3 Up's for the first line

Nice to see the top line coming into form. It will be nice to see TBrouw nail one of those open shots he gets in the slot

RAMPAGE

by JediChewbacca on Oct 31, 2011 11:13 AM EDT reply actions

Somewhat ironic that the first week in which they were the best line, the team was winless, and in the weeks they weren’t, the team was perfect.

Japers' Rink: Hockey blogging from the most powerful city in the world

by J.P. on Oct 31, 2011 11:15 AM EDT up reply actions

Yeah I’m waiting for when all four lines play great within the same game.

by capsyoungguns on Oct 31, 2011 11:22 AM EDT up reply actions

I thought Becca was a 3 fan…brutal. But spot on for the arrow distribution.

Cross check and all call.

by bigonetimer on Oct 31, 2011 11:22 AM EDT reply actions

___

She is, and even forced me to honor him last weekend:

Japers' Rink: Hockey blogging from the most powerful city in the world

by J.P. on Oct 31, 2011 11:26 AM EDT up reply actions

Remember kids, if he wants to give you a gorilla mask for the holidays, just say no.

"My favorite fan base in D.C. Is United's. Period. The end." - Steinberg

"I worry that we're reaching that point where college-age kids don't know what goatse is anymore."

by Bald Pollack on Oct 31, 2011 11:39 AM EDT up reply actions

I have no words…

Patron saint of quality footwear.

by fat_daddyo on Oct 31, 2011 12:05 PM EDT up reply actions

“Flagged” comes to mind. Shame on you, J.P.! ;)

by bigeugene on Oct 31, 2011 2:28 PM EDT up reply actions

…should I be glad that I can’t see this?

The definition of being a Caps fan is watching the same team over and over and expecting different results.

by Becca H on Oct 31, 2011 12:05 PM EDT up reply actions

i’m sorry that I can, so – yes.

You perhaps knew me better as "Your Nation's Capital." Same great commentary, now with 100% more transparency!

by EmilyB on Oct 31, 2011 12:10 PM EDT up reply actions

I would have thought the punchline for the Poti joke would have been “Because he’s allergic to this side of the road.”

Winnipeg? Winnipeg??? Oy! (And now it's official...)

by MikeL-Pivonka on Oct 31, 2011 1:17 PM EDT up reply actions

Don’t know how Collins manages an even. He was pretty brutal in VAN, even apart from the blown wheel that lead to the GWG. He coughed up the puck in the D zone a couple times in egregious fashion, failed on clears had a golden opportunity to score that he failed to even get on net. He also looked pretty shaky at times vs. EDM. I know he’s a fill-in, but he didn’t approximate a guy who can take an NHL shift for the most part.

I also thought Brouwer had a really bad game against VAN, the +1 notwithstanding.

Patron saint of quality footwear.

by fat_daddyo on Oct 31, 2011 11:23 AM EDT reply actions

I’m guessing Collins was spared by low expectations.

Please, call me F&B.

by Rob Parker on Oct 31, 2011 11:26 AM EDT up reply actions

Do those expectations rhyme with “Miler Blown”?

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by J.P. on Oct 31, 2011 11:27 AM EDT up reply actions

What were we expecting him to do? Commit genocide?

RAMPAGE

by JediChewbacca on Oct 31, 2011 11:29 AM EDT up reply actions

He was adequate-to-good in Edmonton – fired three SOG, didn’t make any terrible mistakes (that cost the team, at least). He was awful in Vancouver.

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by J.P. on Oct 31, 2011 11:31 AM EDT up reply actions

Exactly – one good game, one bad. Hence the even rating.

And I think expectations in this case are important. If you’re expecting him to come in and basically be Mike Green Lite, you’re expecting him too much, and having him fall short of that shouldn’t automatically earn him a down arrow.

…not that anyone was expecting that, of course, just saying. I certainly didn’t think the guy would get called up and instantly be awesome. He surpassed expectations one night. Two nights later he fell short of them.

The definition of being a Caps fan is watching the same team over and over and expecting different results.

by Becca H on Oct 31, 2011 11:53 AM EDT up reply actions

Not even Mike Green Lite. If you are expecting him to come in and look like an everyday NHL D you probably are aiming too high.

Please, call me F&B.

by Rob Parker on Oct 31, 2011 11:58 AM EDT up reply actions

Right – if Sean Collins was an everyday NHLer, he’d be an everyday NHLer.

Japers' Rink: Hockey blogging from the most powerful city in the world

by J.P. on Oct 31, 2011 12:00 PM EDT up reply actions

Exactly. He’s an upgrade over Tyler Sloan (which…y’know, bar low and all that) but he’s an AHLer being asked to fill in on an NHL team. Temper expectations accordingly.

The definition of being a Caps fan is watching the same team over and over and expecting different results.

by Becca H on Oct 31, 2011 12:02 PM EDT up reply actions

I certainly wasn’t expecting anything that would remind us of Mike Green. I was thinking he could at least avoid the big mistake.

I also hesitate to award him a “good” game in EDM. He mostly avoided the big mistake, although he failed on a couple of clears. So I guess I’d give him a “meets expectations” there.

Patron saint of quality footwear.

by fat_daddyo on Oct 31, 2011 12:13 PM EDT up reply actions

Really? I thought Brouwer was really good, he’s getting better at making space for himself as well as his linemates and getting some chances of his own…that none of them have connected yet is another issue, but I thought he showed some nice hustle in that game.

The definition of being a Caps fan is watching the same team over and over and expecting different results.

by Becca H on Oct 31, 2011 11:41 AM EDT up reply actions

The DOG penalty (when he wasn’t really all that pressured) was bad imo; he had an icing on a bad breakout pass that led to extended zone pressure against; he routinely coughed the puck up in the offensive zone; he failed on two clears that recall that also led to extended zone pressure.

He shot directly into the crest on two glorious opportunities.

I was not impressed with his game at all. However, I’ll give him some time to adjust, I guess.

Patron saint of quality footwear.

by fat_daddyo on Oct 31, 2011 12:10 PM EDT up reply actions

Wasn’t the DoG tipped? If not tipped, really damn close, which would indicate he was under some pressure, no?

Please, call me F&B.

by Rob Parker on Oct 31, 2011 12:11 PM EDT up reply actions

Not tipped, but he had a VAN player fishing for the puck. He wasn’t totally by himself. But he just needed to pull it to his backhand, shield the puck and he had a clear lane out of the zone. Bit of a panic play, but he may have been gassed from the forechecking pressure by that point, I don’t recall.

Patron saint of quality footwear.

by fat_daddyo on Oct 31, 2011 12:14 PM EDT up reply actions

It’s very easy to say “he just needed to do X, Y and Z” – maybe a bit of a panic play but he was definitely being pressured. No clue if it was the end of the shift or not, I honestly wasn’t paying THAT close attention at the time.

He shot into the crest on two golden opportunities. So he now joins the rank of just about every other NHLer who does the same, especially the guys who don’t have moves like Ovi or Semin or Backstrom. And sometimes the only thing to shoot at is goalie, no? Better to take the shot and hope for a rebound (or at least an offensive zone draw) than to attempt an ill-advised pass or to get too fine with your shot and miss completely.

The definition of being a Caps fan is watching the same team over and over and expecting different results.

by Becca H on Oct 31, 2011 12:17 PM EDT up reply actions

Well, at least he got it on the net, that’s true.

I do expect a guy in the Top 6 to bury his chances, though.

Patron saint of quality footwear.

by fat_daddyo on Oct 31, 2011 12:40 PM EDT up reply actions

I thought CSN showed it pretty conclusively tipped.

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by J.P. on Oct 31, 2011 12:20 PM EDT up reply actions

Yeah, you said that during the game but I watched the CBC feed.

Please, call me F&B.

by Rob Parker on Oct 31, 2011 12:27 PM EDT up reply actions

I don’t think it was, it took a pretty straight path – CSN showed it pretty conclusively close to another stick, but it didn’t seem to hit something and go off in another angle like you’d expect with a tip.

The definition of being a Caps fan is watching the same team over and over and expecting different results.

by Becca H on Oct 31, 2011 12:29 PM EDT up reply actions

Hmm. I had the CBC feed, which showed the opposite as I recall.

Patron saint of quality footwear.

by fat_daddyo on Oct 31, 2011 12:28 PM EDT up reply actions

I could be wrong.

Japers' Rink: Hockey blogging from the most powerful city in the world

by J.P. on Oct 31, 2011 12:42 PM EDT up reply actions

CSN did say it was tipped, and it certainly looked like it might have been.

My mind is all twisted like a peanut.

by timmyv38 on Nov 1, 2011 11:22 AM EDT up reply actions

Yeah, I remember thinking it was a bogus call live, but the CBC replay showed that the refs got it right.

Release the Mackan!

by Killer_Carlson on Oct 31, 2011 3:49 PM EDT up reply actions

I re-watched it like 10 times…imo…tipped (CSN feed). But it wasn’t 100% clear.

by bigeugene on Oct 31, 2011 2:30 PM EDT up reply actions

Semin is still on the team?

Capitals goal scored by #22, Mike...

by KNUUUUUUUUUUBLE on Oct 31, 2011 11:32 AM EDT reply actions

leading the team in PIMs….. – _ -

RAMPAGE

by JediChewbacca on Oct 31, 2011 11:34 AM EDT up reply actions

I actually had to go look that up… astonishing, but it is true.

Also astonishing, the Caps after 9 games have exactly one fight (if you want to call it that) which led to Arron Asham taking a nap on the ice, and Beagle ending up injured or not…

Winnipeg? Winnipeg??? Oy! (And now it's official...)

by MikeL-Pivonka on Oct 31, 2011 1:21 PM EDT up reply actions

Felt the up arrow for Nicky was generous. Point a game player is what we should be expecting from him. Vokoun I could see getting a down arrow, but it wasn’t all his fault so I can see the even.

by feeya7 on Oct 31, 2011 11:46 AM EDT reply actions

It’s not always about points/stats, I think Backstrom’s been playing really well and had another couple of really good games with things that don’t always show up on the scoresheet.

As for Vokoun, I didn’t think he had a shot on either Edmonton goal and was kind of hung out to dry by his team in Vancouver – 17 shots (and three power plays) in one period is nutty. He’s not entirely blameless because it’s a team game, but I don’t hang that first period on him.

The definition of being a Caps fan is watching the same team over and over and expecting different results.

by Becca H on Oct 31, 2011 11:59 AM EDT up reply actions

Disagree a little bit on the 2nd EDM goal – pretty awful rebound by him on that one.

Curious, Rob – how would you have coded that? The goal itself he didn’t have a chance on, but only because he gave up a brutal rebound.

Japers' Rink: Hockey blogging from the most powerful city in the world

by J.P. on Oct 31, 2011 12:01 PM EDT up reply actions

I think that’s gonna be an asterisk when it’s all said and done. Not a great rebound at all, but it was a pretty heavy point shot and he had a man right in his face. Ideally he controls it more, but there are some mitigating factors so I can’t call it totally soft.

Please, call me F&B.

by Rob Parker on Oct 31, 2011 12:04 PM EDT up reply actions

No, I wouldn’t think so. He’d just been putting any rebounds in safe spots until that point, so that one stood out to me.

Japers' Rink: Hockey blogging from the most powerful city in the world

by J.P. on Oct 31, 2011 12:07 PM EDT up reply actions

Yeah, any time a rebound fires into the slot it looks bad. But, given that Potter has come out of nowhere so I hadn’t heard much about him, it seems as though Potter is on that PP because he has a big shot, and the speed with which that puck shot off Vokoun’s pad seems to corroborate that. You put big shots on the point precisely because they are tough for the goalie to control. It’s not like he kicked a Johansson wrister back to the slot…

Please, call me F&B.

by Rob Parker on Oct 31, 2011 12:10 PM EDT up reply actions

I didn’t get to see the vancouver game, but I would argue that Vokoun is supposed to be a world class goaltender, and 3 goals in 17 shots is certainly not a world class performance. Plus, one of those goals came off of a misplay behind the net which is almost entirely on him. That and the fact he was pulled for the first time this year should give him a down arrow.

by cameronMD on Oct 31, 2011 1:46 PM EDT up reply actions

Not sure I agree with either the Brouwer ‘up’ or, especially, the MarJo ‘flat.’ Considering that not only is Marjo in his second year and doing some excellent playmaking, he is doing it without much help from Semin and Knuble. Further, he is outscoring some of our highly paid forwards and doing better on the defensive end as well (here is looking at you, Brooks). Come on, this kid needs encouragement from the coaches and help from his teammates.

by Wilderthing on Oct 31, 2011 12:19 PM EDT reply actions

Overall he’s doing very well – not arguing that at all. But he’s been scoring goals and generating offense and playing good defense all year, so continuing to do that while also taking a really bad penalty and not being exactly stellar in the faceoffs keeps him even.

I think it’s actually a credit to MoJo that he’s even on a week where he played really well again, we’ve come to expect it – and remember, being even isn’t a bad thing, it just means that either a) he didn’t stand out or b) he had some good stuff balanced out by some bad stuff.

And I’m sure he gets encouragement from his coaches and his teammates. Being neither of those things, I’m going to call it like I see it…I love the kid but he doesn’t need me to hold his hand ;)

The definition of being a Caps fan is watching the same team over and over and expecting different results.

by Becca H on Oct 31, 2011 12:34 PM EDT up reply actions

MoJo’s also skating really well for someone carrying $6.7 million on his back.

Japers' Rink: Hockey blogging from the most powerful city in the world

by J.P. on Oct 31, 2011 12:43 PM EDT up reply actions 6 recs

By that logic, unless MoJo continues to score at a 45 goal pace he’ll never get another up arrow all season.

by mechanicsville on Oct 31, 2011 2:58 PM EDT up reply actions

No, the expectations are constantly redefined.

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by J.P. on Oct 31, 2011 3:04 PM EDT up reply actions

Fair enough. Just surprised that a scant 3 weeks in, MoJo is not still considered to be exceeding expectations.

by mechanicsville on Oct 31, 2011 3:38 PM EDT up reply actions

And Knubs got an even marker even though he’s the 2nd line person who got demoted to the 4th line.

Rocking the Red for teams on the banks of the Potomac and at the Gateway Arch and Singing the Blues about Hockey.

by CapsFan75 on Oct 31, 2011 7:18 PM EDT up reply actions

Regarding the Beagle injury, after a potentially confidence-damaging injury/event, an organization may wait until the player starts expressing frustration/anger at not getting to play prior to putting them back out on the ice. If you’ve got the depth it can be good for the player and the team.

"If you want to go down in [sport] history, you have to win the [name] Cup."
-Amy Wambach

by Icebat on Oct 31, 2011 12:55 PM EDT reply actions

Have a hard time letting the Captain off the hook

…for that BRUTAL penalty. That’s an awful penalty in a tie game, and proved to be the turning point of the game.

If he’s supposed to be learning to be a great leader, it starts with not taking petty revenge on a hard hit earlier in the shift, in such a terrible spot. Leaders don’t put the team in a big hole to settle (a essentially non-existent) score.

Made me think perhaps this team is better of with someone else as captain (not that I feel captain is much more than symbolic… Though even a symbolic leader needs to be a better team guy than that).

Great. Now I have to change my name to "Jaromir meet Alex".

by Chris meet Alex on Oct 31, 2011 12:57 PM EDT via mobile reply actions

not that I don’t agree the penalty was a poor decision, but this is an overreaction. The caps were playing too loosely to beat a team of vancouver’s caliber, penalty or not. Ovechkin is the leader of the capitals C or no C – so he might as well have the C. After a showing like the one Saturday, I think there are too many things the team should be worrying about instead of a bonehead play by their captain.

by aaw6848 on Oct 31, 2011 1:42 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

Inferring from the Nicky and Halpern notes, how concerned should we be at this point with the team’s faceoff winning %, and in particular to how it affects the PK? It seemed to me over the last few games that a lot of the power play goals given up are coming shortly after a clean faceoff win by the opposition. Is this the biggest reason why the PK is struggling badly this year after being very good last season?

by cainoo7x on Oct 31, 2011 1:02 PM EDT reply actions

I wonder why there’s all the no commenting in regards to Jay Beagle. Anyone thinking that the NHL doesn’t want to confront the “fighting in hockey causes concussions” argument? Because losing consciousness after a traumatic injury to the head is a definitive symptom of a concussion (hurray webMD). It just seems fishy that the organization won’t come out and say that he had a concussion.

by cameronMD on Oct 31, 2011 2:28 PM EDT reply actions