Very tough loss last night to the Panthers. The game itself was not wildly entertaining, but did provide a microcosm of the Caps struggles this year. Both Good Brad Johnson (who made an amazing right-to-left toe kick save to force overtime) and Evil Brad Johnson (who allowed a fluttering pee wee level wrister over the shoulder to let the Panthers back into the game) made an appearance. Captain Clarke scored his 30th goal of the season, the last 3 of which came by way of pinball style bank shots of Sasha Semin shots on goal. But, as they say, they all count the same on the scoreboard, so congrats to the Capitals captain.
The game last night was as disjointed as one would expect of two of the lesser teams in the East, but the Caps opened up with a very pretty tic-tac-bounce-off-the-toe goal by Jakub Klepis. As Craig Laughlin put it, "That was a European style goal." Not surprising considering all 3 forwards on the ice (Novotny, Klepis and Flash Fleischmann) WERE European.
Matt Bradley appeared to score late in the 2st to solidify the Caps lead, but his goal was waved off by the referee and not overturned (which it appeared it should have been) on replay. And that is the difference between Matt Bradley and a player like Semin, Ovechkin, or even Clark. You can bet that if any of those three had scored the goal, the deliberation would have been much more thorough. But since Bradley is not a superstar but a hard-nosed, hard working grinder, the off-ice officials looked at exactly ONE angle (which was the inconclusive overhead shot) and declared that there was no definitive evidence that he had scored, even though the puck was shown to be clearly over the line in a camera shot taken from the right offensive board. Just another tough break in a season full of them for the Caps.
Tonight, the Caps take on a Tampa squad that sits 6th in the East, 3 points out of first in the division but also 3 points away from missing the playoffs entirely. Here's hoping the Caps play spoiler and put the Light Breeze closer to the outside than the top. Game time is 7:30.
Also, in case you missed it, big poppa Ted is offering up 2 for 1 tickets to Tuesday's game. Just don't take my seats in 411... waiting until payday is a pain!
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Frustrated incorporated
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2 comments:
Didn't Kris Frickin Beech in fact blow another slam dunk last night by finding yet another way to misplay a beautiful Semin goalmouth feed (this time losing it in his skates).
Hilarious then, when 2 minutes later, Locker chides Semin for not passing it to Beech -- "He shoulda saucered one to BEEECH, he'd a been all alone with the bizcuit."
I think Semin's rule is -- once Beech blows a slam dunk I set for him, I don't have to pass to him anymore. Who can blame him?
Yup, Kris Frikkin' Beech blew another one. I've become so accustomed to it now, it's like I'm numb. I EXPECT him to miss the wide open net. And I'm sure Semin does too. I had the exact same thought about when he didn't pass to Beech on the breakaway ... even if he had, like Beech was going to score. He would've just pulled his patented deke so far right that he's by the net before he can shoot. Anyway, we won't be hearing his name any more after this season...and that's a good thing.
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