Recap: Pens 2, Caps 1

It’s damn near impossible to imagine that we kept their top line off the board and still lost. Just too much one-and-done in the offensive zone.

Malkin and Sid had a combined 18 shot attempts.

Ovechkin had one.

How does that even happen?

It took me 5 bullets to realize there was no acrostic.

I hope this wasn’t just “Pens effort.” This better keep up.

+1 for the defense
-1 for the softie Vokoun let in
-2 for offensive performance

And yet if Backstrom had put that one in, or if they converted on just one other chance (obviously not during the 3rd period) they’d still manage to get a point.

Well, they held The Kid off the scoreboard and Jason Chimera’s (almost literally) unbelievable 2011-12 season continued as he scored the Caps’ only goal on a great individual effort.

Gotta give Ward some credit on this, he negated the icing on the play, then made the pass to Chimmer and drove the net making the defender worry enough about him to leave Chimmer all that open space.

the answer is simple

convert Ovechkin to goalie

We’re 20+ games into the season. It drives me crazy that the Caps are allowing guys to score their second goal. And callups in their first game to get a point.

Gah.

is more than “a bit” of a concern. It’s terrible—and has been terrible for a while. 4 shots in the first; 2 in the second—when you are a goal behind? Pathetic is the word.

Also, the Caps goalies are not helping this team much. They are not terrible, just mediocre and not good enough to steal wins—and each seems to give up at least one soft goal a game, and it is typically a key goal. Vokoun should have stopped that second goal. Granted, the anemic offense leaves them no margin for error, but there have been very few really stout performances from either this year.

Also, I’m not sure why it would take “months” to learn a new defensive system. First time I’ve ever heard that from a coach. Is there a system that NHL guys haven’t seen or played before, at some point in their careers? I doubt it.

The breakout was good… until the final two minutes when they couldn’t get out to save their lives.

So over/under on Chimera scoring 20? Gotta think over now, right?

You think Hunter is a big fan of line matching because of his days watching Dahlen’s famous checking line? Couldn’t hurt…

As gut-wrenching as it was with that Backstrom shot not going in, loved seeing Brouwer take the hit to make the play. Textbook. Bet that woulda hurt a bit less if that shot goes in though

And yet, if not for a soft goal-against (or one defensive breakdown), Dale Hunter might have had his first NHL win.

Don’t forget that miracle save on Backstrom. Saving a goal with the wrong end of your stick? Yeah, that’s luck.

JP – you have so perfectly described my sentiments. If anyone thought changing the coach would bring immediate dividends, then they don’t understand sports or even business. Changing strategies, schemes, routines, etc. and learning the new boss’s preferences takes time. It will come. I like the progress from the STL game and hope to see more against OTT on Saturday.

I wonder if they’ll make a huge deal about how great Crosby is…including his faceoff percentage which hasn’t even dropped with his long layoff.

Except tonight when he went 6 of 22.

Are the Pens overall a decent faceoff team? 2 games is too small a sample size to say anything definitive but we seem better at the dot under Hunter.

Why? Cause fuck it, I do. Baby steps. More on Saturday. Hopefully a win.

I will go back a read everything, promise. But for now, I;m just tearing my hair out screaming. These are the Washington Capitals—the most terrifying goal-scoring machine the NHL has seen in nearly a generation. How on earth have they fallen to this? I am so sick of these one goal games. Sick. And if it wasn’t for Jason chimera, a guy who worked hard to earn the nickname Stone Hands, they’re be a hell of a lot more zero goal games.

On a more positive note: Hell of a fight, Erskine, hell of a fight.

I’m looking at the glass a little half-empty right now, honestly. Some points, which I’ll preface with the obligatory “It’s only two games”…

(1) That was about as lopsided a 2-1 loss as you’ll ever see. Pens totally dominated. Discouraged further by Hunter’s BB-like postgame comments, which intimated that the game was closer than it was. What I saw was a nonstop barrage of Pens’ chances off of odd-man rushes and sweet passing plays.

(2) The PP actually looks worse. Which is astounding.

(3) Jordan Staal gets away with a lot of crap. Saw at least two minors that could’ve been called on him, in addition to the one he was actually called for.

(4) Nobody else but Hamrlik said he’d have second thoughts about hitting Crosby, but the other Caps sure acted like they were shying away from Sid. A couple of times he came across the middle and nobody seemed to want to take the body.

(5) Still scratching my head sometimes about the love affair with Schultz here. He may be a serviceable 5th or 6th D-man, but mostly what I see is a bumbling, clumsy defenseman who never plays the body, even with a decided size advantage. It’s like a 7-foot basketball player who never ventures inside the three-point line.

(6) Again…two games, etc. etc. But I really do think it will be a dogfight to get into the playoffs this season. Take a look around the East. Are there any teams other than the Islanders that you can comfortably say the Caps are better than?

(7) And, that said… there has to be a major trade coming. Because (again, two games), early returns show that there needs to be a shakeup on the ice as well as behind the bench. Confidence is draining fast in this collection of players.

Pens fans are up in arms that Carlson gave Cooke a head shot at the end of the game. Anyone care? Didn’t think so.

Between the positive tone and the shitty loss, are we sure this wasn’t a Becca recap?

I think Cody Eakin looks really out of place out there lately. Sure, he’ll get one solid chance a game, but then he’s either losing puck battles on the boards or making bad decisions with the puck. I think once he grows up/bulks up he’ll be more effective. Time to send him down. The lines should look like this: 8-19-22 (reunited, and it feels so good), 28-90-20, 25-21-42, 26-15-85.

I also worry about MJ90 as our 2nd line center. The kid has a great north-south game (in the open ice, he might be our best player), but his east-west game is lacking. As soon as the opposition steps up on him and takes away his ice, he’s utterly ineffective.

A couple of breaks going our way, and we walk way with 2 points tonight. I agree with the recap in that this team seems ready to turn a corner. They lost, but you can’t question their effort tonight, and I think that’s going to be the norm with Hunter’s Caps. I think a weak team (like Ottawa) to beat up on is just what the doctor ordered.

At least the last half hour of Rocky IV is on Versus right now.

Ottawa is usually good for the Caps to snap a losing streak, yes?

Ovechkin’s play on the power play is an illuminating microcosm of his mental state right now: lost. One particular instance during the first power play speaks volumes.

Semin gathered a loose puck in the far corner, and drifted up the half-wall towards the blue line to evade slight pressure. Ovechkin was on the half-wall. While Semin coasted towards Ovi, clearly too close to make a pass to Ovi at that point, Ovechkin should have cleared the way and replaced Semin in the corner. That’s the right play in any sport, and particularly during an NHL power play. (“Don’t bunch up!” said the coach to his 5 year old soccer team.) Instead, Ovi stood there, clogged Semin’s lane, allowed two Pens defenders to converge and strip Semin and clear the puck.

The only explanation for Ovi standing there are a) laziness, b) a complete lack of hockey sense, or c) he is pressing so hard to score a goal, that he can’t fathom the thought of physically removing himself from a scoring position, even if it’s the right hockey play.

It’s a microcosm because it’s an example of Ovechkin’s mental block; he can’t let his instincts take over, so he is, like, trying too hard or something. Goddamn that play was frustrating, and goddamnit if there were some mental switch that would flip in Ovi’s head where he just relaxed and played a mindless game like he used to, I wouldn’t want to cry myself to sleep every night.

At least there was some continuity out there. The worst D play of the night was made by a guy wearing 44.

I am starting an OT Hockey fanshot if anyone wants to talk about the 5 games going on now.

I’m now parked on I-64 and have been for about 20 minutes. I’m the third car stopped behind an awful two car accident. One guy taken away on a stretcher, but other is ok. Cars are mangled. Highway totally blocked by debris. I walked up to look. Really a miracle anyone survived. Police wouldn’t let me take photos.

Again, couldn’t get the puck out of their own end, and gawd-awful inability to hold the puck in at the blue line on offense (Orlov, mainly) to stay in their end.

8-19-28
20-90-22
25-21-42
85-15-26

I’m just gonna keep reposting this until it sinks in.

2nd verse, better than the first. Not there yet, but curious to see where this is headed.

I don’t care if they finish 8th if they continue to get better & healthy in time for the real season.

All right, my eyes are crossing. Bed time.

See you boyos tomorrow.

Last pessimistic thought of the night. I just imagined this chain of events: (1) The Caps continue to spiral to one-goal defeats for the next few weeks; (2) BB immediately inspires a huge winning streak for the Ducks, with all their star players getting untracked; (3) the national hockey media piles on the Caps eve more; (4) GMGM blows up the team.

The Caps went from being blown out by the depleted Leafs and Sabres to losing by one goal to the top team in the East right now (not to mention stacked) Penguins team. And how about that penalty kill. I’d say that is progress.

They are still transitioning to the new system. The offense will come.

The night is darkest just before the dawn. Night all.

I told the guy next to me to wake me when the Caps got a shot on goal… where’d everybody go?

1) First of all, the big issue is that the Caps are not generating enough chances in the offensive end. It’s as if they’re afraid of taking a chance on the forecheck because they might get crosschecked in practice. There is no such thing as a bad shot on goal, and you don’t score on 100% of the shots you don’t take.

2) A decent game from Semin, but there were a couple of times where he had the puck coming to him for a good chance and he missed the net…

3) There were some great saves by both goaltenders, but I’m sure both of them would love to have another shot at all three of the goals that did go in. None of the goals scored are ones they usually let in.

4) Tried the Hard Times Cafe chili nachos for dinner last night at the rink. Rather tasty, but my stomach is still saying “no mas” this morning. Oooo….

5) Or perhaps it was watching the power play last night causing the stomach issues.

6) At least once near the end of the game, Hunter put Chimera out with Backstrom and Ovechkin to try to generate any offense…

So in the peripheral stats (face offs, hits, etc.) the Caps did a pretty good job, but in the big boy stats (goals), they ended up 2-1…

Next up, the cure for whatever ails ya…. Ottawa. The Caps need to win in this new system otherwise they’re not going to be believers in it.