Recap: Isles 3, Caps 0

I blame the banners.

Columbus is the last team to not be shut out this season.

Hunter needs to do something quick. This looks like a losing team. Those lucky wins even looked bad. Losses looked worse.
(please insert ever curse in the English language twice over here)

one of the top under-25 players in the League, for my money

Nothing like continuity.

This team, right now, is not good enough

That’s the long and the short of it. They looked dangerous very, very few times tonight. It won’t do. I do not like the way Hunter has this team playing.

Anyone care to count the blown calls? Sure, the turnovers, defense, shot totals, and discipline are of (major) concern, but the officiating was downright f***ed up tonight.

A crapfest. That is all. I’m sure Mr. Pivonka will add something more substantive.

On a different note, out of 10 times I’ve actually gotten to watch a game at the phone booth, this is the third time I’ve watched the Caps get shutout. Good times..

They had no fight in them. If they told me it was going to be mailed in I would have stayed home. That effort should have been played in front of an empty arena. Thanks guys.

Not that this is the biggest problem, but I wish they’d scratch Kundratek or send him back to the A. He was not a positive (overall) on ice tonight, though he did have one timely takeaway, and is on his way to showing how out of his depth he is.

I realize Orlov’s pass was off but during a tv break (which was later confirmed) I rewound it and, Carlson was not even in the frame and was still just a few feet from the back corner. He has to share in blame on that as well, right? Maybe he hangs back like that and I have not noticed.

The performance today was awful. Even my optimism is tested when the team looks like they don’t want to be out there. I don’t mind getting beat by a better team and, sometimes, teams with worse records are better on a given night. I didn’t see an Islander team that dominated. I saw a Caps team that laid down. That is disappointing.

Here’s what I think we need to do:

• First, send Kundratek back to Hershey and give the ice time to 55 or 4. Me – I prefer 4, but I’m open to debate.
• Spend tomorrow afternoon with the team going over the video. Tortorella looked masterful on 24/7, and I want to believe Hunter can do that. No real time for substantive practice in the next few days.
• Work the team through the vocal leaders. No – that’s probably not 8. It’s probably 25, 22, 21, maybe 42 or 6 or 29. Try to figure out what’s wrong in their heads. Most sports are as much psychological as physical.
• Get moving on trade tweaks. See what’s available for your extra D or a young forward. I’m not crazy about a blockbuster that could involve someone like Orlov, Carlson or Chimera or Ward. Not ready to blow up.

Beyond that, I’m honestly at a loss. I have said multiple times that changing coaches mid-year is akin to giving up on the season. It is what it is. I will remain hopeful, but I’d like to see some evidence of an offense and a little more effort. Giving up on the future to get to the playoffs is not for me right now.

I think that out of all the players on the Caps’ roster, the one player that should be traded is Joel Ward. Yes, he was brought in for the playoffs, but even he has to contribute to the playoff run, and he’s been nonexistent for the past month or so.

May is talking tough. I love it. He’s right. When our guys spend so much time in their own zone they are going to get worn out. The goalie is going to get tired.

While the lack of a second offensively capable center is glaring, the Caps as a team do not know how or are not capable of playing a “half court” offense. I think I only saw a couple of shifts where the Caps were able to cycle and put some pressure on the Islanders.

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Maybe best to find the team a new chiropractor.

Hope they hustle to the plane and airborne. Word is the weather is really crappy between here and MTL.

I guess I’ll figure out how worried I am based on the effort tomorrow night. Do the Caps bounce back with a strong effort after this stinker? Or are they going to chase it with another lackluster performance?

Hunter has the system to win. These overpaid, over contracted frat boys are too busy sipping lattes on the bench to bother with forechecking, hitting, cycling, clearing the crease, all those hard-work basic hockey actions. I’ve seen them do it mayboe one game here or there, more likely 20-30 minutes, rarely a whole game.

I’m calling it – these bums are in no danger of winning the Cup this year, 37 and counting.

Interesting to listen to DH32’s post-game comments. Recommended.

Clearly the video session tomorrow is not going to be fun, nor should it. I believe he said “The video don’t lie.”

He calls it pretty honestly and seems to agree with the brightest minds here.

When is the time to go doom-and-gloom? I have tried to avoid it this season during the downs but even with the recent uptick in play it seems the team barely gets it done most nights. When the lose they look lifeless for most of the game, and even during wins it seems the Caps spend long periods costing.

When was the last time we saw a full 60 minute effort? Last game against Pittsburgh?

I don’t know enough about hockey to comment on the system Hunter has put into place, but it seems at some point it comes down to the players. I have to wonder if a big change in the lineup is coming at the trade deadline/offseason with Semin, Green, Knuble, Halpern, Wideman, Carlson, and Vokoun all having their contracts expiring this summer (only Green and Carlson are RFA).

If anything, I feel it is very possible to see a blockbuster trade involving Semin as a team looking to add just enough scoring to get them over the playoff hump might be willing to part with something good for him.

Thoughts?

Well, tonight may have been the worst I’ve seen the Caps play this year.

But, it’s one game. Sometimes teams just take the night off. If they take 2 of 3 on the road, everything is hunky dory.

BELIEVE IN DALE!

Good night all.
Get’em next game. Or if not, I’ll have another meltdown. Nothing new there I guess.

I think my problem is I watch too much other hockey besides the Capitals. Watching the good teams like St Louis, Detroit, Vancouver, SJ, etc is like night and day compared to the Caps effort level. I wont say talent level, because I believe the talent is there (to a degree, anyways).

DH seem to think that they can get by on defense alone. Two-time Rocket Richard trophy winner sitting spaces down on the bench. Is there a problem? Yes. Too late to fix it? Remains to be seen. Can it be fixed? Definitely.

So who bet Semin he could get through an entire season only taking curl and drag wrist shots?

I think he just might do it.

Did anyone think Ovechkin played the game the right way tonight? Did he set the right example as captain? Or did he revert back to old tendencies?

Cause he logged a game-high 17:09 for any forward on either team.

If you thought there’d be more accountability under Dale Hunter, you were wrong. Perhaps even more damning is Alex Semin getting nearly 4 minutes of PP time despite being disengaged the whole night. It’s sickening. Might as well bring back BB.

Anyone have any idea what we might see tomorrow?

Definitely, not a good effort for the Caps tonight. Getting less than 20 shots on goal and being shut out by the Islanders is very poor, especially considering the Isles are one of the worst defensive teams in the league. Seriously.

The Isles have good offense, that is true. And, admittedly, they have better offense than the Caps. But the Caps should have gotten something.

They dug themselves in a hole right away by taking a penalty and giving up a PP goal. Someone had reported today that the Isles have a good PP percentage, even though they don’t draw a lot of penalties. But today they did.

Of course, Auger officiating never augers well for the Caps. (Okay, Auger is pronounced differently than auger but…..)

Night. Hope that DC doesn’t have a riot if the Caps lose tomorrow.

We had three or four power plays and didn’t convert though I remember there were a couple good looks.

Maybe I’m picky because I got to see things in a bit more detail without constant commentary on the TV or the radio, but I saw a bit more puck mishandling when the player had an opportunity to get a shot on goal.

talk about a lack of effort!

I honestly don’t know what to think about the Caps anymore. Sometimes I think they could sneak into the playoffs and make some serious noise as underdogs. The rest of the time I just think they suck and don’t have the right players to compete for a Cup.