Big ratings and a programming surprise

Per the Capitals, yesterday's critical win against the Lightning drew the largest rating for a hockey game in Comcast Sportsnet history (a 2.7 rating). While this is great news, scoreboard watchers will be just as interested in this note buried in the last couple of lines of the release:

"The network will also carry the Philadelphia Flyers regular season finale against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday at 3 p.m., as the game most likely will have an effect on Washington’s playoff hopes."

Kudos to CSN for giving Caps fans a way to follow their team's fortunes by airing this out-of-market matchup.

And for those of you that get NHL Center Ice you might want to tune into tonight's game between the Bruins and Senators, which also has major implications for the Caps. How big, you ask? If the game ends in regulation (meaning no points for the loser), the Caps are guaranteed a playoff spot if they beat Florida Saturday. That, as they say, is frikkin HUGE.

Something's missing here

So far, I've checked both Washington papers in order to get some perspective on yesterday's game, and they both fail to address a major issue: the horrendous officiating. It's one thing if the refs missed a call or two, but to miss a blatant trip that immediately resulted in a goal and call a non-existant dive in order to even things up late in a tight game? Just terrible.

For visual evidence of the first blown call, see below:



Now, at the top of the frame you'll see the referee responsible for handling calls in the defensive and neutral zone skating away from the play to pick up the pieces of a broken stick, which meant he was out of position and unable to view the play. Fortunately, the NHL has a two referee system in which the far side official (whose primary zone is the offensive zone) has the right to make a call if his partner misses it. The offensive zone official swallowed his whistle for no apparent reason, and because Brooks Laich was taken down on the play he was unable to cover the third man into the zone (Kobesaw), who was wide open for the only goal the Bruins would score in the game.

The Ovechkin diving call was as ridiculous a call as the trip on Laich was a non-call. Ovechkin had charged into the offensive zone at full speed and was attempting to split the defense when not one but BOTH defensemen lodged their sticks between the Russian Machine's legs. Ovechkin went down (not surprising, since you can't really skate on wood or fiberglass or whatever sticks are made of nowadays) and the referee made a call that was more out of the dead puck era than today's NHL. Instead of simply making the right call, the official "evened up" the penalty by calling Ovechkin for the (non-existant) dive. The result? Instead of a 5 on 4 power play, the teams would skate 4 on 4 and the Caps would be without one of their best players for the entirety of the penalties. It was a chickensh-t call by a chickensh-t ref.

It's not neccesarily an indicator officials are having an off night when there are as many "ref you suck" chants as "Lets go Caps" ones. What IS indicative of a terrible showing is veteran defenseman Tom Poti making comments to a locker room reporter about the slanted officiating while the game was still in progress, which will undoubtedly lead to a large fine. Players in the league know that the calls aren't always going to go their way, and are accepting of that. When they're willing to voice their displeasure in a public forum and take the financial hit that come with it (and they're not crybabies like Jagr or Lemeuix), you know they've got a legitimate beef.

The officiating debacle very nearly overshadowed the game, which the Caps were able to pull out in the shootout with a great delay shot by Alex Semin and a typically nonchalant (read: slooooooooooooooow) move to spread Alex Auld's legs and put the puck between them by Viktor Kozlov. If the NHL expects to have paying customers in the stands, they best be sure that they improve the level of officiating in their games, ESPECIALLY games involving one team in a "traditional" hokey market (like Boston or Toronto) and one that is not. Otherwise the impression will continue to exist among fans that the league has a vested interest in who makes the playoffs (the "traditional markets" and who doesn't (everyone else). And that is as damaging an impression as any other to the league's integrity and a threat to the expansion of the game into non-traditional markets.

Credit where credit is due

With the offensive explosion last night, most of the credit is (justifiably) being heaped upon Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom. That's all well and good, but Ovechkin's magical first period performance was made possible by a much less glamorous player: Donald Brashear. Though his first period efforts only produced PIMs on the scoresheet, Brashear's tussle with Zdeno Chara set the stage for the Caps offensive eruption.

Why, you ask? It's simple. For years now Zdeno Chara has been one of the few players in the NHL capable of shutting down Alex Ovechkin. And when Chara dropped the gloves with the Donald, it guaranteed that he would be off the ice for five full minutes (as would Brashear). That's a tradeoff Coach Boudreau would take every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

When Chara heard the penalty box doors slam shut, the score was 2-0. By the time it opened again, the score was 4-0 and the Caps were off and running. Indeed, Big Zeke was so frustrated that he promptly took a minor penalty trying to goad Matt Bradley into fistacuffs moments later. Way to pick on someone your own size, big man. Bradley did the smart thing (in more ways than one) by keeping his gloves on and his nose clean, and the Caps promptly scored again on the ensuing power play. None of this would have occurred without Brashear's fearlessness and, just as importantly, the intelligence to see that Chara was agitated and would drop the gloves if goaded.

Naturally, Brash's smart play was rewarded with more ice time (the fact that the Caps were up by a handful of goals probably didn't hurt, either) and a goal late in the second. A job well done by a man whose hockey intelligence is often underrated.

Game highlights (sans fistacuffs) can be found below for your viewing pleasure:

Maddening inconsistency

First off, we'd like to take a moment to thank everyone who dropped by Clydes of Gallery Place and supported Wilson High School's hockey team. The event raised over $2000 for the team, which is a testament to the generosity of the hockey loving public here in DC. And thanks to the folks over at OFB for putting on the event. We now return you to your regularly scheduled grousing.

Ok, as of this moment we're no longer using the term must win in accordance with any Capitals game because at this point every game is a must win game. More of this win one, lose one crap just won't cut it. So lets take a moment to examine this weekend's games, then we'll move on to tonight's tilt against the red, er, yellow-hot Bruins.

This weekend had the potential to catapult the Caps back into contention for the Southeast Division title. And after the game against New Jersey on Friday night, it looked like that might just happen. The Caps played a very solid all around game against New Jersey, limiting the Devils to only 18 shots and thoroughly dominating the action. New aqcuisitions Sergei Fedorov and Cristobel Huet both made an impact, with Fedorov notching a pretty second assist on the power play and Huet stoning Zach Parise one on one to keep the Caps lead intact. The Caps also finally showed a killer instinct, piling on a couple late goals to preserve a well earned win.

Unfortunately, all that good was undone by a less than stellar effort against Toronto the next day. Olie Kolzig was solid in goal, but was beaten high to the short side by Leafs captain Mats Sundin, who snuck the shot in from near the upper part of the faceoff circle. It was a good goal, to be sure, but one can't help but wonder if Huet wouldn't have snagged it. The rest of the Capitals also looked lethargic and generally disorganized after dominating the first period. Alex Ovechkin broke out of his scoring slump, rifling a shot low to the left side past the helpless Leafs goaltender. Unfortunately, that was about all the offense the Caps produced, despite several power play opportunites.

In regards to the power play, I think it's time the Caps abandoned the whole Ovechkin at the point idea. It was cute when the Caps didn't have enough puck moving defensemen, but that's no longer the place with Green and Poti (and even new arrival Fedorov) more than capable of handling power play time at the point. And Ovechkin's one timer from the high slot is as unstoppable a shot as there is in the game, so it makes no sense to remove that weapon from the Caps arsenal. The Caps have suffered from overthinking and overpassing lately, and if there's one thing we know about the Russian Machine, it's that he's more than willing to take it upon himself to shoot the puck. Which is exactly what the power play needs right now.

The Caps badly need to win tonight's game (and the next one, and the one after that, and the one after that) if they are going to make the playoffs. In order to do that, they're going to have to do a couple things they aren't very good at. First, they're going to have to get past Zdeno Chara, who has been one of the few defensemen in the NHL capable of shutting down the Russian Machine. Second, they're going to have to get pucks past Tim Thomas, who has been a wall (albeit an unorthodox mess of a wall) against the Caps, posting a 8-0-1 record all time while recording a .940 save percentage. Luckily, the Caps have Chris Huet to throw at the Bs. His stats are equally impressive, with a 8-2-0 record and a .940 save percentage against Boston.

With all that said, I don't see a 1-0 game happening tonight. If the Caps have taught us anything this year, it's to expect the unexpected. I see the Caps pulling tonight's game out 4-2 (with an empty netter) if only to actually kill Original 6 by causing a heart attack at the game.

We, like Stephen Colbert, hate bears

The Caps roared out of the gate last night, pouncing on the Bruins and outshooting them to the tune of 10 to 2. Unfortunately, they couldn't slip and of their early shots past Tim Thomas, and ended the frame tied at zero. Not a good sign. The one thing this young team needed was to be rewarded for its hard work.

Instead the Bruins, who were still sitting on a tie game despite being thoroughly outplayed in the first, came out firing in the second and took the lead. Some schlub named Bochenski corralled a Bruins faceoff win in the offensive zone and rifled the puck past Kolzig to put the B's ahead.

After the Bochenski goal, the momentum of the game continued to ebb and flow between teams until Semin caught Phil "It's still to soon to make jokes about you-know-what" Kessel high with his stick, cutting Kessel in the lip and sending Semin to the box for 4 minutes. During the ensuing penalty kill, the Caps bent but didn't break, with Kolzig making a couple strong saves and the post making one for him on Kessel's shot in tight. Alex Ovechkin made a strong sliding block on a shot from Zdeno Chara, giving every fan in the greater Washington area a heart attack as he laid prone on the ice for ten seconds or so before popping up and skating to the bench. He was not injured because, as everyone knows, the Russian Machine doesn't break. While the Bruins seemed to be taking control of the action, the Capitals stood strong, weathered the storm, and continued applying forechecking pressure in the Bruins end.

Immediately in the third, that pressure payed dividends as a strong Caps forecheck forced a turnover inside the blueline, with the puck landing on the stick of Brooks Laich. Usually, this is where folks would start muttering "why couldn't it fall to Ovechkin or Semin right there? Why did it have to fall onto the stick of Brooks frickin Laich!" Well, Laich pulled out his best Semin impression, absolutely ripping a shot high to the glove side past Thomas, knotting the game at one.

After the Laich goal, the teams continued their back and forth play until the Bruins' Andrew Alberts threw a vicious knee to the groin/elbow to the head combo on Zednik, and was punished for his actions by a two minute sitdown. Although the Capitals ONCE AGAIN failed to connect on the power play, Eric "I told you I just scored big goals" Fehr put home the rebound of a Zednik slapper immediately after the penalty expired to put the Caps up 2-1.

The prospect of a two point night was, however, short-lived. With Ovechkin in the box for errantly flipping the puck out of the rink in his own end, the Bruins took advantage. Marc Savard fed Patrice Bergeron, who slammed a one timer past Kolzig to tie the game at two.

Neither team was able to generate much offense for the rest of the third or overtime frames, which led to a shootout tiebreaker. Sasha Semin scored on a move that was for all intensive purposes the exact same one he pulled against the Isles a couple days before. Unfortunately, neither Ovechkin or Fehr were able to follow up, and the Caps fell in the shootout 2-1, with Phil "It's STILL too early" Kessel burying his attempt to seal the loss for the Caps.

Observations from the game:

It's official. Chara is inside Ovie's head. Ovechkin couldn't get anything going offensively, and seemed frustrated throughout the game. Switching up the line combinations did little to help him.

The Laich-Zednik-Fehr line looked dangerous all night, and scored both Caps goals. Didn't see that coming AT ALL.

Tim Thomas looked shaky at best, even though the score doesn't indicate it. He was often out of position and moved too much, never looking settled in the crease. Not exactly a goaltender that inspires confidence.

Unfortunatlely, the Caps are in such a deep hole that one point games like these are worth about the same as regulation losses. Yet another team leapfrogs the Caps in the standings, where they now sit 13th in the conference. Not good.

All in all, not a great game, and not a great result. Next game is Thursday night against the LA Queens. Game time is 7:00 at the V. The snow will all be plowed by then, so getting to the arena for the game should be a cinch.

Two for Tuesday is NOT just a rock radio format

Tonight, the Capitals take on the Bruins at the V, and once again, big daddy Ted is offering up 2 for 1 tickets for interested fans. Wait, you're a fan, and you look interested. Go get yourself some cheap tickets! And watch the left side of the ice when the Caps have the puck. I get the feeling we're in for something special tonight.

Why, you ask? Because the Russian Machine has no points in his last two games, and I don't think he's real pleased about it.

The only thing preventing an eruption tonight? Zdeno Chara. And while Chara definitely can't shop for suits off the rack at 6'9", there's no way he can stop Ovie now that he's 80 feet tall.

Also, we find out what flaws the B's saw in Juju Jurcina's game that made him trade bait. Should be interesting. If anyone knows how to best attack his side of the ice, it's going to be the Bruins. This will give us a better chance to evaluate his strengths and weaknesses more clearly.

Game time is 7 o'clock at the V. And please, no excuses about it being too cold outside to travel to the rink. It's hockey, for god's sake. The game is played ON ICE.


The subject of today's Black History Month spotlight is the late, great Ralph Wiley. Wiley was a sports journalist for Sports Illustrated, the Oakland Tribune, ESPN.com, as well as having works published in National Geographic, GQ and other magazines. If you have never read Wiley's work, I highly recommend both Serenity: a Boxing Memoir and Classic Wiley: A Lifetime of Punchers, Players, Punks & Prophets. His was a voice both prescient and learned, and he was one of the few authors whose writing evoked an emotional, visceral response.

Wiley died tragically of a heart attack in June of 2004. He is, and always will be, greatly missed.

From the "Just what we didn't need" department

The Caps have acquired yet another young defenseman. I recognize that we're thin on bodies on the blueline, but more inexperience cannot be the answer. And if Jurcina can't crack the lowly Bruins lineup, he's not going to be much help to us this year. So I guess we're still building towards the future here, even though the trade sounds designed to plug a hole in the present. I'm not sold on this AT ALL, but hey, a 4th rounder isn't exactly a big price to pay for the guy.