Caps blown away in first two periods against Light Breeze

The Caps came out flat against a hungry Tampa team and dug themselves a hole they were unable to get out of last night. The Light Breeze capitalized on the Capitals overall slugishness, drawing several power plays and capitalizing on three of them. Much had been written on Tampa's inability to score on the power play, but with the talent of Lecavalier, Richards and St. Louis their slumping PP numbers couldn't last forever.

Tampa also looked to have discovered a weakness in the Capitals defensive alignment, frequently pushing all three forwards in a lateral line at the blue line, feeding the center, then passing off to whichever wing was left open by the defenseman when he shifted over to cover the center. Vinny "don't call me Testaverde" Lecavalier had no trouble finding the open man, which created several easy scoring chances in the first period.

Also, it's worth noting that Olie looked to be fighting the puck in the first couple of periods. He just didn't look very sharp. He should have swallowed up the rebound on the odd angle shot on the first goal (or at minimum directed it away from the front of the net). At the same time, Tampa is not like a lot of teams in the NHL in their shot selection. You simply do not see them take many shots on the ice hunting for rebounds. Their players shoot for the corners EVERY shot. And a couple shots whizzing by the ears can take any goaltender off his game.

Negativity aside (I know, it's rare here) it's important to note the progress that this young team is making. Last year, down by three this team would have been broken, and certainly would not have rallied with the passion and intensity they did in the third period. You can see that this team is maturing, and that they not only believe they can beat anyone in the league, but also that they are never truly out of a game, no matter the score. That's an incredible leap from last year, and it shows that win, lose or draw, er... overtime loss, the team is headed in the right direction.

Also, Alexander Ovechkin created another goal by knocking an opponent off the puck, muscling past another player and passing the puck off to Muir for the shot from the point. He has generated a number of scoring chances by being so physical on the forecheck. After all, it's hard to defend well when you're sitting on your butt checking to make sure you still have all your teeth (or at least the same number you started your shift with).

On a personal note, I'd like to say Happy Birthday to my father, who, in my brother's terms, "is officially older than dirt." Here's are two items that should put his age in perspective.

1. When my father was first a hockey fan, he wasn't a Caps fan, but it wasn't his fault. There were only 6 teams in the NHL at the time. The Original 6.
2. When my father was first a fan, Goalies didn't wear masks. And I don't mean they wore Kelly Hrudey style helmets. I mean they wore no head protection at all.

Happy birthday, Dad.

Thoughts on Caps domination of Flyers

It looked like the Caps would have their hands full, right up until Alex destroyed Peter Forsberg with a legal but devastating shoulder check. The loss of Forsberg in his first game back from nagging foot injuries completely deflated the entire Flyers team, and the Caps went on to win easily.

Observations on the game:

1) Alexander Semin may not be that fast (we tend to think of all Russian skaters as jet propelled, a la Pavel Bure) but he switches gears as well as anyone. Don't think so? Tell that to Antero Nittymaki and Randy Jones.

2) The Flyers are a very, very slow team.

3) Alex Ovechkin flying up the left side alone on a defenseman just isn't fair.

We'll see you all on Tuesday night.

Fight night in Atlanta

If you were under a rock somewhere and missed round 1 at Verizon Center, check the video here.

Post has a good story on why we probably won't see such a ruckus again tonight. Surprisingly, they don't mention the threat of league fines and suspensions, which I would expect to be a fairly potent deterrent. That said, I hope to see Donnie Brashear doing what he does best (and no, I don't mean playing the piano).

I have a suspicion that Atlanta, coming off three straight losses, is going to come out guns blazing trying to build an early lead. If they put more than 2 up in the first period, it's going to be a long night. If they don't, I think the Caps can get in their heads by being the more physical team. As long as they can play with a hard, physical edge and have the discipline to stay out of the box (obvious I know, but important just the same). If they can't manage that, they won't snap their 0-fer against Atlanta for the season.

The checking line should get a boost from the return of Matt Bradley, who had been sidelined with a hand injury. I happen to think Bradley is one of the most underrated forwards on the team. Although not particularly big or fast, he plays great positional hockey and his all around game is strong. Not having him for the game against the flightless devil fowl hurt the team badly.

My prediction: Caps 5, Atlanta Flames 3. (Brashear goes 1-0 in the only fight of the game).

Crosby has G, 2A

So Bing Crosby had a goal and 5 assists, only three of which were secondary.

I think it's time the league reviewed the whole secondary assist thing. It's getting to be like Gretzky's farewell tour, when the guy would get an assist any time he was on the ice and a goal was scored. I know the player's union would never go for it, but this is getting ridiculous.

499 down, one to go

Caps fan favorite Peter Bondra scored on a 5 on 3 in his season debut with the Blackhawks, putting him at 499 for his career. One more and he can consider his ticket to the hall of fame punched. After all, they already have his profile ready.

We have always been great fans of Bondra here at 3GC, and hope that his good fortune this season continues. Peter, you'll always be a Cap to us.

Thoughts on Caps - Pens collapse

Lets see.. everyone has already covered the "Caps let lead slip away against Penguins... again" angle and the "Caps need to start burying Pittsburgh or else they're going to develop a complex" angle, so I'm going to take a different route (admittedly stolen from my older brother, Grumpy Caps Fan #2, who will be posting from time to time).

Glen Hanlon lost this game for the Caps. I say this not to call for his head (I happen to think he's just the coach the Caps need in this early phase of their development), but simply to point out the obvious fact everyone seems to be missing. The Capitals top checking line simply could not keep up with the Pens' top line, but Hanlon refused to fight fire with fire by playing Ovechkin and Co. against them, forcing the Pens into a more defensive posture. So when the flightless devilbirds top line was being double shifted, it had the effect of 1) keeping our best players on the bench and 2) forcing our "shutdown" line to bear the responsibility of handling 2 of the fastest and most talented young players in the league to secure the victory.

I like the chemistry of our defensive line, but, as my brother put it best, "There are no Selke winners on this roster." Every shift Secondary Sid and Watch-for-the-Elbow Malkin took looked the same. Evil flightless birds control puck, make effective passes, get solid scoring chance. Wash, rinse, repeat. It was just too much to ask of the checking line that lacked the speed to put any real pressure on elite level forwards.

Also, it seemed that Ovechkin was played sparingly until the last few minutes of the game and overtime. I don't have TOI stats from the game handy, but it sure seemed like it to me.

Giving away this game made for a -3 point swing for the Caps against a team we're likely to be fighting for a playoff spot in a couple months. Here's to hoping we don't make the same mistake again.

Ah, well. Time to get the knuckles taped up for Fight Night in Atlanta Friday.