Capitals Ups and Downs: Week 19
by Becca H on Feb 14, 2011 11:01 AM EST
in Capitals Ups and Downs
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PrintOur weekly look at individual Washington Capitals' ups and downs:
| Goalies | Trend | Notes |
| Michal Neuvirth |  |
Let in two goals in his only action this week, at least one of which probably needs to be stopped, and was called out for it by his coach...but there's no way that game is even close without his stellar play to that point, and to expect perfection from him (and excuse the team in front of him for less-than) is hardly fair. |
| Semyon Varlamov | |
Got slightly more run support than his counterpart in his one game against the Kings (i.e. one whole goal) but received much less help where he needed it - in front of the net. If only we could attribute that .857 save percentage to his teammates... |
| Defensemen | ||
| Karl Alzner |  |
Had been on the ice for just one goal-against in the seven games prior to this week but has been on for three since, including both San Jose goals on Tuesday. |
| John Carlson | |
His 3:52 of power play time led the team Tuesday night, but he didn't do much more than Mike Green has with that time and, like Alzner, was on the ice for three goals-against in just two games. And with just one point in his last eight games, he's not producing enough to make that okay. |
| John Erskine | |
Four hits, six blocked shots and 31:48 of ice time without being on for a goal-against...yeah, we'll take that. |
| Mike Green | |
Missed Tuesday's game with a lingering headache but was back in action against the Kings, where he proceeded to get an up-close view of three of LA's four goals. That would normally earn him a down-arrow...but the man took a slapshot to the head and was back on the ice less than a week later, so he gets a pass. |
| Scott Hannan | |
Followed up a fairly solid week with another fairly solid week, with two hits, three blocked shots and just under three minutes of perfect penalty-killing time. |
| Tom Poti |  |
Skated with the team this week but isn't taking contact yet and isn't on the road trip. Anticipaaaation... |
| Jeff Schultz | |
Was on the ice for three of the Kings' four goals Saturday afternoon and didn't look good on any of 'em, which probably was a factor in him getting his lowest ice time since January 1. |
| Tyler Sloan | |
Saw his first action since late December Tuesday night, skated 14:38, wasn't on the ice for a goal-against, had one hit, blocked one shot...and was back in the press box by Saturday. Oddly enough, that's almost enough to earn him an up arrow. Almost. |
| Forwards | ||
| Nicklas Backstrom | |
Hasn't completely fallen off but managed no points and only three shots on net this week, while winning just thirteen of his thirty-two draws. As always, the team needs more from its best players and they're simply not getting it on a consistent basis from #19. |
| Matt Bradley | |
Skated less than twenty minutes total this week, and while a couple of hits in limited time is nice, these lifeless games against Western Conference opponents are really where they need someone to create some energy. One might even say they need more Bradley... |
| Jason Chimera | |
His line was victimized for both of San Jose's goals Tuesday night, and by Saturday it was no longer his line. The demotion certainly didn't help his numbers much, as he finished the week a -4 and failed to capitalize on the almost three minutes of power play time he "earned" against the Kings. |
| Eric Fehr | |
Skated in the snazzy yellow no-contact jersey in practice and could be back sometime in the next one to thirty weeks, give or take a week. |
| Boyd Gordon | |
Won six of his eight draws (including two of four defensive zone draws), got two shots on net against San Jose, then was banished to the press box in favor of King. Know Boyd Gordon, know....oh, never mind. |
| Matt Hendricks | |
Was a non-factor against San Jose and a hit factory against Los Angeles, and has now gone two straight games without trying to kill the opponent's goaltender. For shame, Hendy. |
| Marcus Johansson | |
Was 3-for-8 on faceoffs in two straight games and was inconsistent in both, with some good defensive instincts and offensive chances combining with a couple of turnovers and a minus-one for the week. |
| D.J. King | |
Was his insertion into the lineup against the Kings an attempt at adding some passion to an otherwise passionless matchup? If so, well...it didn't really work. But a pointless fight (that may have fired the visitors up more than the home team), four hits and just over seven minutes of work earns him that paycheck, so there's that. |
| Mike Knuble | |
Started the week on the third line, finished it on the top line and will probably be playing center on the fourth line by next week. Or not. |
| Brooks Laich | |
Is definitely shooting more (no doubt fueled by a bit of confidence after his two-goal week last week) and had more shorthanded time - without giving up a power play goal - than any other forward, but was a minus-two against the Kings before being benched in the third period. Message received? We'll find out. |
| Alex Ovechkin | |
The fact that he had the only goal for his team this week (and that it was one of those "Ovechkin-esque" goals we're starting to see more often) doesn't excuse the fact that his line got hemmed into its own zone far too often and allowed opponents too much time and space. The fact that he looked more engaged than many of his teammates, however, just might. |
| Mathieu Perreault | |
That scoring streak was fun while it lasted, wasn't it? Consistency is overrated. |
| Alexander Semin | |
Finished the week with no goals, no assists, a minus-one, two penalties drawn, five shots (four of which came in one game), an ill-fated (and short-lived) stint on the top line and, along with Laich, had his butt stapled to the bench as Saturday's game drew to a close. Some of that may just be due to rust...here's hoping a lot of it is. |
| David Steckel | |
Won nine of his sixteen faceoffs...but we already knew he could do that. |
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Comments
I clicked through to see if there would be an up arrow, intrigued to see who that might be.
Once again, Becca is spot on. I don’t need micro analysis to tell me no one deserves an up arrow. In fact, 8 down/14 flat may be too generous. You could have given any one of those 14 “flat” players a down arrow, and I probably wouldn’t have complained.
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My view: there weren’t a lot of particularly "bad" performances this week (and it is kind of a small sample set), it was just a lot of uninspired…meh. A lot of times I considered tossing someone a down arrow then changed my mind because I couldn’t rationalize giving someone else with a similar week a down arrow.
If anyone needs me, I'll be at Kettler.
When the team scores 1 goal in a week, don’t most of the forwards have to get a down arrow?
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No. It’s subjective, sure, but I see it as based on expectations – haven’t yours been tempered a bit when it comes to scoring?
If anyone needs me, I'll be at Kettler.
After that LA game, nobody deserves an up. That was the first game all year that I walked out of early.
And what I’m pretty sure will be the last game I’ll see before getting the inevitable price increase and renewal packet…
Of course, there is the growing chance that you won’t have to pay for playoff tickets this year. So there is that savings.
I’m only worried that somehow they’ll end up with home ice and I’ll get hit for four home games again.
"It's always good to have vikings."
"The Caps fan doesn't say, 'is the glass half full' or 'is the glass half empty'. He wonders when the glass is going to spill."
by gfcaps fan on Feb 14, 2011 11:50 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
I am choosing to believe that all the red is really just in honor of Valentine’s Day and has nothing to do with the Caps play.
by Crabby Appleton on Feb 14, 2011 11:10 AM EST reply actions
Someone’s been listening to a lot of early 70s music lately.
"Here's what you do. First you go to Rotterdam, then you go to Amsterdam, then you get on the road to my city. It's a little place called I don't give a damn."
by Bald Pollack on Feb 14, 2011 11:25 AM EST up reply actions
Well, what can I say? This team certainly doesn’t make me want to put on…mah mah mah mah mah boogie shoes.
If anyone needs me, I'll be at Kettler.
Solid, nay seamless work on the Clips sister. I’ll leave before I let the beast entirely out of the cage.
"Here's what you do. First you go to Rotterdam, then you go to Amsterdam, then you get on the road to my city. It's a little place called I don't give a damn."
by Bald Pollack on Feb 14, 2011 11:45 AM EST up reply actions
I haven’t perused the other comment sections since the LA debacle so I apologize for a possible retread. The thing that stood out the most for me in that game was MP85 coasting on the back-check when they gave up the 2nd goal (I think) on the two-on-one. I had to watch it a couple times to make sure I saw it correctly and there was no doubt he could have taken away that pass if he skated all the way. How does a bubble player get away with that kind of nonsense? He’s a down arrow in my book and if I were coaching, he’d be on the bench for most of the next game. I would also pin an open-ended bus ticket to Hershey to his suit and make him keep it there for the rest of the road trip.
Was just about to post the same comment. He was late getting back on both those two on ones. Giving him an even is very generous.
Not that what you’re saying isn’t true, but really, is that any different than how the entire rest of the team has been playing as well? Perrault certainly hasn’t been great, but then, nobody has. The two games this week were characterized by lazy, uninspired play up and down the lineup. He’s hardly alone in that respect.
I will admit to being a huge Matty P fan, but I’m tired of seeing him called out for inconsistency when the only consistent thing about this team as a whole (with the possible exception of the goalies) is, well, being bad.
by Murshawursha on Feb 14, 2011 11:46 AM EST up reply actions
I can see your point about Perreault being singled out. I’m just struggling to understand what could cause a player in his circumstances to watch a play like that. There’s no excuse for anybody to make that play but when a player that could just as easily be suiting up in the AHL on a nightly basis does it, I have to question what is going on behind the doors in that locker room. Without trying to write a thesis on the subject, I just think it is more telling when bubble players play lazy hockey than when somebody who is a solid NHL player does. One doesn’t justify the other – from either side of the calculation. It just confirms everything that I believe about the state of this team (and as was nicely articulated in the OFB post from today’s links). A half hour bag skate and some misguided f bombs won’t fix that kind of attitude at this point.
I don’t think I agree with you that’s it’s more telling that Matty P slacked off. He’s had issues in the past with work ethic and consistency. He doesn’t seem motivated, like most of the team, but he has a history of that at times. I’d be more worried if Hendricks stopped trying.
by vtcapsfan99 on Feb 14, 2011 12:04 PM EST up reply actions
Fair point. It does make sense that the bubble players should have more at stake then the Ovechkins of the world from a job security perspective. So yeah, when even those guys don’t seem to care… yeah.
by Murshawursha on Feb 14, 2011 12:06 PM EST up reply actions
Agree, agree, agree. His backchecking was lazy on two LAK goals. I’ve been a fan of his and have speculated that he may not get a fair shake due to his size (I like some of the puck prospectus research suggesting small players are and have for a long time been the “moneyball” play in hockey). After those two goals, I’ve seen enough of MP for a long, long time. How a fringe NHL’er doesn’t bust his @ss as hard as he can to get back and break up those plays in a tight game, I have no idea, but I do know I’d ship him to Hershey.
At this point, I’d ship Backstrom back with him. Hell, ship the whole top-6 back. If they don’t want to play hard for 60 minutes, I’m sure there’s guys in Hershey who’d kill for their spots.
by Murshawursha on Feb 14, 2011 12:09 PM EST up reply actions
A buddy and I were debating MP85 essentially giving up on those plays. His argument was that MP85 was gassed. My counter argument was, how on earth could he be gassed as the team has had hardly any ozone time or shots on net for the period? He wasn’t the only one dogging it in the game, certainly, but as a marginal player trying to claim a permanent spot on the team, the effort has to be there on plays like that. At this point, if he’s not going to give the effort, bring up somebody who will.
Surprised MP didn’t get the red arrow after the LAK game.
"And as it’s my personal opinion, I’d appreciate not being told it’s stupid, thanks." - BeccaH
I couldn’t agree more. That game showed his issues more clearly than any in a long time. He got shoved around so much he became worthless on the back check. He deserved a down arrow.
A danger to myself and others on the ice
by can't skate on Feb 14, 2011 2:32 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
I agree with your decision to leave the goalies mostly blameless. Bruce calling out Neuvirth is a bit uncalled for at the San Jose game. Last year or maybe two years ago when we were shut out of one game, Bruce said something along the lines of, “There were one or two [the goalie] should have saved, but when you don’t score any, it doesn’t really matter.”
Well, we didn’t score against San Jose so did Bruce basically wanted a 0-0 score after 65? A big change in philosophy, in my opinion, putting more pressure on the goalies instead of the forwards to win the games which they have done so more often than not where our forwards haven’t really lit the lamp.
by HobbesLionheart on Feb 14, 2011 11:53 AM EST reply actions
Yeah… pissed me off when I read that. Neuvirth stood on his head for 51 minutes and then had a mental lapse or two and gets crucified for it, while the entire rest of the team had 40 minutes’ worth of mental lapse, and gets a relative pass.
I’m so done with Bruce.
by Murshawursha on Feb 14, 2011 11:55 AM EST up reply actions
Not to reopen that can of worms, but Bruce wasn’t pissed at him for letting in a goal. He was pissed at him for letting in that goal, a routine shot from a sharp angle that he stops 100 times out of 100 in practice. Neuvy may be technically a rookie, but this is his third year as a pro. He’s won two Calder Cups. He can’t have mental lapses with nine minutes to go in a 0-0 game. Just because he’s young doesn’t make him immune from criticism and he’s received plenty of praise from Bruce over the course of his career.
But of all the things you choose to call out, of all the flaws in that game, he picks THAT? It was a bad goal, yeah. It was ONE bad goal in an otherwise strong outing while the rest of the team sleepwalked anyway. I don’t blame him for saving something to Neuvirth, but in a game like that, I think it’s the kind of situation where he should pull him aside and say “Hey, you’ve gotta make that save,” but in no way whatsoever did it warrant calling him out in the media.
by Murshawursha on Feb 14, 2011 12:18 PM EST up reply actions
It was a back-breaking goal. You could see hear it in the stands and see it on the bench. People will differ on whether it’s OK to call out a goalie for one goal, but I had no problem with it. Now if Boudreau continued to blame the goalies, it’d be a different story but Neuvy and Varly have been pretty exempt from criticism and rightfully so.
Yeah, but maybe it’s NOT a backbreaking goal if his teammates hadn’t spent the last period and a half doing nothing and actually got him some goal support. But it’s not fair to blame one mistake by one guy when the 18 other players on the ice spent the 30 minutes leading up to that point playing like absolute dog shit. That’s called scapegoating.
Basically, even if Neuvirth makes that save, we weren’t winning that game. The rest of the team was barely there and seemed content to let San Jose trap us in our own zone for the entirety of the second and third periods. Blame that, not the goalie. It might have been that softie that actually went in, but it just as easily could have been any of the other 34 stops he made. If one of those stellar saves he made beats him instead of that softie are we even having this conversation?
by Murshawursha on Feb 14, 2011 12:58 PM EST up reply actions
He coulda let in the other 4-5 that SHOULD’VE went in, instead of bailing them out each time. Maybe Bruce should suit up in net, instead of yelling at his team for the 900 millionth time. I don’t think the team is listening anymore.
The good thing for Neuvi is, he’ll probably be in the NHL a lot longer than Bruce will.
I think the difference (and I’m not agreeing with it, just pointing it out) is that a year or two years ago the team was scoring a lot more so on any given night you could excuse one or two softies, knowing that the team would probably score more than enough to cover it. Unfortunately with the team’s offense drying up the mentality has switched from "eh, we’ll get that one back" to "shit, there’s no way we can recover from that". It’s unfair and it’s not right to expect perfection every night, particularly from two young goalies, but that’s the way it is.
I’ve been thinking that this team is resembling the Bruins of 08-09 and 09-10 more and more every day. Going from a high-powered offense and a team that dominated the East to a team that can’t score to save their lives – they also had to rely more on defense and goaltending, which put tons of pressure on Rask/Thomas last year.
If anyone needs me, I'll be at Kettler.
So we can expect to go up 3-0 in the first round on our opponent only to lose the next four and watch them go to the Stanley Cup this April? Great.
Rice is great if you're really hungry and want to eat two thousand of something.
by Rather Bengt on Feb 14, 2011 2:09 PM EST up reply actions
If the Caps went up 3-0 in a series I think that might be the less surprising outcome.
Release the Mackan!
by Killer_Carlson on Feb 14, 2011 7:29 PM EST up reply actions
I don’t think Boudreau was saying the forwards were blameless. He wasn’t happy with them either.
“That was our game plan but they decided to get cute because they had a little bit of success, and when you don’t stick with the game plan, bad things usually happen,” Boudreau said. “There was not a lot of jump for whatever reason today. We wanted to shoot, we wanted to go after the rebounds and when we did we got rebounds, we got chances. But we didn’t seem to want to shoot until we got behind 2-0.”
by vtcapsfan99 on Feb 14, 2011 12:01 PM EST up reply actions
Obviously nobody is blameless, but I felt Neuvirth is called out. While both goals were saveable, our overall GAA is 2ish, and it’s not like we gave up 4 or 5 goals so I don’t see why Neuvirth should have gotten called out in the public like that.
If we were leading 1-0 with five minutes left and he let in those two softies, then maybe it’s deserved, but nothing was happening on the other end so I’m not inclined to blame the goaltender for giving up only two goals when we scored none.
by HobbesLionheart on Feb 14, 2011 12:07 PM EST up reply actions
Boudreau doesn’t shy away from calling out goalies, he’s done it plenty before. I didn’t think anything he said was untrue or that awful. Maybe being called out motivates Neuvy. If he can’t handle what Boudreau said, he’s not cut out to be a NHL goalie. They need to be mentally tough. I think Neuvy will be fine and come back better his next game.
I don’t think Boudreau was blaming only Neuvy, he’s just including him in the blame. It might have been more fair if he specifically called out certain forwards too.
by vtcapsfan99 on Feb 14, 2011 12:12 PM EST up reply actions
You’re right that nothing that was said was untrue, but awful? Depending on your point of view. If I were Bruce, I would have chided Neuvirth for letting in the goals, but I would have compounded it with, “well, he kept us in the game for 50 minutes.” Of course, hindsight is 20/20 and Bruce is Bruce.
Could Neuvirth do better? Sure, anything less than a shutout is room for improvement, but I was mostly happy with Neuvirth’s general play. I was more disappointed with our inability to score and that’s where I felt that Bruce’s anger should be more directed towards, but maybe it’s how I’m reading into it that he singled out Neuvirth as opposed to calling out forwards by name. It’s how I perceived the comments he made. Whatever we think, it’s how the player responds that really matters anyway so hopefully Neuvirth does better than last time the next time he starts.
by HobbesLionheart on Feb 14, 2011 12:34 PM EST up reply actions
Boudreau did say Neuvy kept them in the game. I think you either need to listen to his post-game press conferences or read the WP articles for the full quotes. I think you would of been less bothered if you saw everything BB said.
“In the end he played good for 51 minutes, but if you want to be a great goalie in this league, when the game is on the line you’ve got to be the one to make sure you stop those,” Coach Bruce Boudreau said. “I thought both of those goals were not of the variety that should have beat him, but at the same time I thought he kept us in it the first two periods.”
by vtcapsfan99 on Feb 14, 2011 12:53 PM EST up reply actions
For reasons that I can’t figure out, there seems to be this notion among some that goalies can’t be singled out when they make a bonehead play. Neuvirth let in a bad goal at a bad time. What’s Boudreau supposed to say? It was a tough shot? It was a beachball that Neuvirth flubbed and everyone knew it. . He got taken to task and both have moved on. End of story. If Neuvirth can’t handle the criticism, then he’s in the wrong profession, but I’m sure he can.
I think what I found most irritating was Neuvirth’s comments that “it was a tough loss for us” in his post-game interview. If Neuvy took it to heart as a tough loss, I think he’s the only player who played in that game who did. (Certainly I didn’t get the impression in the game against the Kings that anyone else did….)
Obviously, it’s the coach’s job to motivate his players, but when I looked at the stats for the play-by-play the Caps recorded 25 shots on goals in the game, (and a grand total of 4 in the second period), Backstrom records 2 shots on net (none in the third period), Ovi records 3 shots on net (none in the second period, and the first of his two in the third is at 17:08), the first team shot on goal recorded in the third period is at 3:26 (Boyd Gordon), and there are NO Caps shots on goal recorded in the third between 5:20 and 10:03. (Incidentally, the Sharks recorded 35 shots on goal for the game, including the two goals)
I don’t believe there’s any universe where that kind of piss-poor effort can accurately be described as a “tough loss”. So I don’t know what Bruce said to Neuvy, but the message Neuvy apparently got isn’t one I think has any basis in the way that game was played.
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Link to the play-by-play report, and no, the Caps were NOT killing a penalty in the big donut hole in the third period. (Thank you Peerless, for that image)
Don’t make fun of my obsession over ketchup dispensers ever again! ;) Ted Leonsis
Belanger
by GVT he’s outplaying both MP and MJ, though that’s damning with faint praise, as overall he’s been quite bad. Curious to get a look at him tonight.
____
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by Gould Old Days on Feb 14, 2011 4:36 PM EST reply actions 2 recs
Hah! Feels so true. My half-glass full attitude has been slowly evaporating away.
Hockey won’t hold still for a portrait. To gain a glimpse inside you join it in progress—just as the players do.
by capsyoungguns on Feb 14, 2011 7:13 PM EST up reply actions
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