Capital Ups and Downs: Week 8

by Becca H on Nov 28, 2011 11:00 AM EST in Capitals Ups and Downs

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

Goalies	Trend	Notes
Michal Neuvirth		Gave up six goals on thirty-three shots in his only action of the week, including a flubbed play with his glove that led to the fourth (and ultimately game-winning) goal by the Rangers. As is the case with the rest of the team, the poor play is more frustrating because we know what he's capable of - we're just not seeing it, and his abysmal numbers to-date show that.
Tomas Vokoun		Speaking of what someone's capable of, it's likely that Tomas Vokoun wants to throw tape of Saturday night's debacle in Buffalo into the trash - right alongside his games against the Islanders and Lightning earlier in the season. He did earn two wins prior to that performance, but the Caps are going to need better than a .855 save percentage going forward.
Defensemen
Karl Alzner		Somehow managed to be on for just three goals-against in a week in which the Caps gave up seventeen (and wasn't on for more than one goal-against in each game). Despite earning a minus-one for the week, he still leads all defensemen - and is tied for the team lead - with a plus-eight on the season. Le stud.
John Carlson		Actually had a pretty decent week offensively, scoring two goals and adding a couple of assists to bring his point total up to twelve on the year (and allow him to finish the week a miraculous plus-three). He's looked a little better in his own end, as well, but two flubbed pucks at the blueline led to the opening tally in two different games - one of which came shorthanded.
John Erskine		Took a fall in practice that apparently caused him to reinjure his shoulder, but has practiced with the team in the last few days and could be back sooner rather than later.
Mike Green		Not playing. Not skating. Not winning. Game Over Green has a bittersweet ring to it these days.
Roman Hamrlik		On for half the team's sixteen goals-against and was particularly painful when paired up with Dennis Wideman. It'd be nice to get more than just a passing glimpse of the type of player he could be, but so far a passing glimpse is all we've gotten. Not good enough.
Dmitry Orlov		Made a quiet but solid debut against Phoenix Monday night, then upped the ante with a much better performance on Wednesday in which he threw a memorable hip check and picked up his first career NHL point. That performance earned him some power play time on Friday, which led to his second career point. And the best part? On for just three goals-against while getting an increase in ice time each night. No savior, but a nice start for sure.
Tom Poti		Welcome to the Tom Poti LTIR Comedy Moment... A priest, a rabbi and Tom Poti walk into a ba-...oh, never mind.
Jeff Schultz		Picked up his fifth assist of the season against Phoenix, made a great play to break up a 2-on-1 that helped set up the Caps' OT winner against the Jets and was on for the same number of goals-against (4) as he was goals-for.
Dennis Wideman		Made a tremendous pass to set up Chimera's OT winner Wednesday night (earning him his lone point over the four games) but has had a week filled with miscues and miscommunication while continuing to have to carry the load in terms of ice time. Well, with the exception of Friday's third period, that is.
Forwards
Nicklas Backstrom		Seemed to regain his scoring touch after last week's slump, with two goals and three assists over the four game stretch to give him a team-leading (and NHL top-ten) twenty-five points on the season. Also seems to be finding his faceoff prowess, finishing the week on the good side of 50% in three of the four games and an overall win percentage of 54.4%. That minus-four Saturday night stings a bit, though...
Jay Beagle		Always a little scary when there doesn't seem to be much progress or even many updates on a guy believed to have a concussion (or "concussion-like symptoms", whatever). Get well soon, Jay.
Troy Brouwer		Five shots, twenty-one (credited) hits, a goal and two assists... yup, that'll do.
Jason Chimera		Chimera's Season of Disbelief continues with two goals against the Jets (including the OT game-winner) and a penalty shot tally against Buffalo to extend his team-leading goal total to nine. And oh by the way, he's tied for the team lead in plus-minus, as well, with a plus-eight. Keeping 'em out at one end, scoring 'em at the other - not much more you can ask from the guy.
Cody Eakin		Scored his second goal of the year against the 'Yotes but took a bad penalty that led to the Rangers' second goal on Friday, cracked the ten minute-mark in ice time just once in his three games and was a healthy scratch Saturday night.
Jeff Halpern		On for just three goals-against (one on the power play) and won 68.6% of his draws on the week, bumping his season faceoff percentage up to an impressive - but not unexpected - 61.2%.
Matt Hendricks		His teammates credit his fight Monday night against Phoenix's Kyle Chipchura as being the spark that ignited the comeback, which is great. Not so great? No points in over a month, and just three on the season (all of which came in the span of two games).
Marcus Johansson		Helped wreak havoc in Winnipeg's zone, forcing the turnover that led to the overtime winner Wednesday night, and added another assist against the Rangers. With thirteen points, he's now almost halfway to last year's point total (27) with just a quarter of the season under his belt.
Mike Knuble		After inexplicably wallowing on the fourth line in recent weeks, it was Knuble who led all forwards in ice time Monday night... but it was a shortlived phenomenon, as his ice time gradually dropped back down to the 12-14 minute range by the end of the week. And after starting the season hot (and thanks to that no-goal on Wednesday), Knuble has now gone almost a month without a point.
Brooks Laich		On the ice for five goals-against on the week (and leads all Caps' forwards in that department)... but his performance on the penalty kill Wednesday night is probably enough on its own to warrant an up arrow. Because let's face, it losing your stick, blocking a couple of shots and then mauling an opponent to take away his stick? Pretty badass. Add in a goal and an assist for the week and it's a no-brainer.
Alex Ovechkin		Had what was easily his best game in awhile against Phoenix, picking up an assist on one goal and doing some excellent backchecking that led to another. He even seemed to carry over his performance a bit into Wednesday's game, adding a beauty of an assist on Semin's goal, and Friday, where he finally scored at home (and had a nice hit on Gaborik to set up a goal, as well). Hard to ignore his work, or lack thereof, against Buffalo, though, and the hockey world has come to expect more than three points in four games from the Great Eight... but since everyone else is kicking him, we won't.
Mathieu Perreault		Back in the lineup at the beginning of the week, took an undisciplined penalty against the Jets, sat out Friday, back in on Saturday. These are the days of our Perreaults...
Alexander Semin		Was benched on Monday night and responded in a big way against the Jets two nights later, with a goal, a plus-two rating, a solid defensive game and (gasp!) no penalties. Sadly he was right back in the sin bin on Friday, however, and again Saturday (despite the call being a bunch of bull... stuff), and failed to register a single point in either game. Sasha giveth...
Joel Ward		After a great game against the Coyotes in which he never seemed to get off the ice, Ward was a somewhat controversial scratch Wednesday night due to a missed practice. He handled it with the maturity we've come to expect in his short time here, though, and was right back in the lineup for the last two games of the week.

Tweet Comment 15 comments | 10 recs |

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Comments

Rec’ing it, figure it needs the page hits.

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

Keep United in DC. A Fair Deal at RFK, and a Pathway to a Stadium for a team loyal to the city.

by Bald Pollack on Nov 28, 2011 11:13 AM EST reply actions

Hah, love this line “Because let’s face, it losing your stick, blocking a couple of shots and then mauling an opponent to take away his stick? Pretty badass.”

If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you.

by zephyr on Nov 28, 2011 11:19 AM EST reply actions

Also rec’ed. Listened to The Fan—oh my is it bad—but since they were trashing Ovi hard I’m thankful he got a break here.

Also thinking that Orlov has done well in part because he has been paired with Le Stud.

by capsyoungguns on Nov 28, 2011 11:52 AM EST reply actions

I think Knuble has been putting in one helluva lot of effort during his shifts. He’s one of the hardest working forwards on the team. He’s gotta be damn close to an ‘up’ arrow.

"And as it’s my personal opinion, I’d appreciate not being told it’s stupid, thanks." - BeccaH

by hotdog88gt on Nov 28, 2011 12:10 PM EST reply actions

And now for a partial-season cumulative update

Seems a coaching change is as good a time as any to give a cumulative update. First up is your starting line up of top performers:
In goal, with a cumulative total of 0:
Tomas Vokun
On defense, tied for the team lead with 4 up is:
Karl Alzner
Also on defense with 1 up:
Denis Wideman (honorable mention to Mike Green also with 1 up)
And now for your forwards all tied with 4 up:
At right wing:
Troy Brouwer
At left wing:
Jason Chimera
And starting at center:
Nicklas Backstrom

Now for the rest of the team:
Neuvy -1
Carlson -2
Erskine 0
Green +1
Hamrlik -4
Orlov +1
Poti IR-for-life
Schultz -1
Beagle 0
Eakin -1
Halpern +2
Hendricks +2
Johansson +3
Knuble +1
Laich +2
Ovi -1
Perrault 0
Semin -5
Ward +3

LET'S GO CAPS!!!

by Elliotte on Nov 28, 2011 1:44 PM EST reply actions

Awful lot of “up” arrows and too few “down” arrows for a team that has played this poorly.

E Rockibus Redum

by TrolleyLeaguer on Nov 28, 2011 1:49 PM EST reply actions

With which ones, specifically, do you take issue?

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

by J.P. on Nov 28, 2011 3:54 PM EST up reply actions

I won’t speak for TrolleyLeaguer, but I think over a month without a point deserves a down arrow, even for 4th liners like Hendricks and Knuble. Also thought that the up arrow for Laich was extremely generous. And it’s a bit sad that we now see this past week as meeting expectations for AO.

Release the Mackan!

by Killer_Carlson on Nov 28, 2011 4:10 PM EST up reply actions

AO’s rating was hotly contested among our editors. I don’t necessarily disagree on those fourth-liners, but they’ve slowly recalibrated expectations to the point where they weren’t, in my mind at least, decidedly worse than what I’d anticipated for the week. And Laich… well… author’s discretion.

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

by J.P. on Nov 28, 2011 5:49 PM EST up reply actions

Hamrlik and Wideman have been bad enough for all of them

by brianblack on Nov 29, 2011 9:06 AM EST up reply actions

Schultz played no better than Hamrlik over this recent stretch.

by DonnieKnutts on Nov 28, 2011 5:08 PM EST reply actions

I’d disagree with that pretty strongly.

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

by J.P. on Nov 28, 2011 5:49 PM EST up reply actions

A standings point saved...

"Fais gros comme moi!" - Alex Ovechkin

by Gould Old Days on Nov 29, 2011 12:50 AM EST up reply actions 6 recs

Against the (alleged) biggest competition in the Division, making it a two-point play, really.

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

by J.P. on Nov 29, 2011 7:40 AM EST up reply actions

Finally got around to reading this today. I’m confused, under Alzner it says the Caps had 17 goals scored against them during the week but under Hamrlik, it says 16 goals against? Either way it’s pretty disgusting.

by vtcapsfan99 on Nov 29, 2011 1:48 PM EST reply actions