Learning to win... ugly

The game against the Rangers on Sunday afternoon marked a turning point for this young Capitals team. It's one of the first times I can remember that the Caps have been thoroughly outplayed, outshot, taken too many penalties and still escaped with a victory. For a young team learning to win ugly, to get two points despite playing a less than stellar game, is one of the hardest things to do.

The Caps got off to a good start, with Alex Ovechkin pouncing on a loose rebound to put the Caps up 1-0 after a delay of game call on career minor league goaltender Steve Valiquette. But after that, the Caps would show only short spurts of offense, and spent most of the game mucking it up in the neutral zone or chasing the puck in their own.

Agitator and all around douchebag Steve Avery was able to take a freak bounce off the sideboard, cut inside Shoanne Morrison (who was unable to control the bouncing puck) and fire a quick wrist shot past Olie Kolzig to tie the game at one. The score seemed to lift the Rangers to life, as they spent the next period dominating puck possesion and the flow of play. They were rewarded with a Chris Drury putback of a Martin Straka shot from the hash marks that put the Rangers ahead.

That is where the Caps newfound confidence seemed to keep them in the game. Instead of panicking and having the players break out of the system and attempt to win the game singlehandedly, they stuck with their gameplan, kept firing pucks at the net, and caught a break when Alex Ovechkin fired an off balance one legged shot on goal, which Valiquette was unable to fully control. Boyd Gordon pounced on the rebound and slid it underneath the diving goaltender, and the Caps were back in business.

The Rangers still held control of the game for the rest of the game, but strong goaltending by Olie Kolzig combined with an effective penalty killing lead by Dave Steckel and Brooks Laich kept the Rangers off the board. And then, less than a minute before the third period was to expire, Ryan Hollwig blatantly tripped a Capitals player, setting up almost a minute and thirty seconds of 4 on 3 in overtime. It wouldn't take nearly that long, as Mike Green blasted a shot from the top of the circles past Marc Staal and a screened Valiquette for the win.

Other notes on the night:

It was good, no, it was GREAT to finally see the Caps win a game in front of a big home crowd against a team whose fans tend to be real jerks when the visit DC. Don't believe me? After a burrito giveaway between faceoffs, the Caps mascot pretended to dump an empty box of burritos on the head of a Rangers fan. The "fan" punched the box, and stood up as if he was going to strike the mascot (and generally for liability reasons the mascots are girls). Really classy. It's one thing to come support your team when they come to town. It's entirely another to be a drunk jackass when you do so.

Great job by the fans of stifling any attempts at a "let's go Rangers" chant in our building. Nice job, folks. Give yourselves a pat on the back. Especially Horn Guy. Way to cut 'em off at the knees.

Jaromir Jagr is past his prime. Waaaay past it.

Good to see Olie looking like the Olie of old (instead of old Olie), stopping 31 of 33 shots and being named the games first star.

Alex Ovechkin's goal was made possible by Eric Fehr's presence in front of the net. Fehr's got the tools, but it's still too early to pencil him in as a top line NHL power forward.

Jaw all you want, Colton Orr. It's become clear you're scared as hell of the Donald. And with good reason.

The Caps get a much needed rest until Wednesday, when they look to avenge one of their poorest performances of the year, a pathetic home loss to the Atlanta Thrashers in which the Caps allowed only 12 shots but lost 2-0.

Tom Poti is my hero

There is no doubt who the Caps top acquisition was in free agency this past summer, and it's not who most people expected. Michael Nylander's signing may have made the biggest splash (thanks in no small part to his spurning of Edmonton and the coverage that followed), but Tom Poti has been the single most important signing of the season.

Take last night, for example. Poti played an absolute monster of a game, playing almost 22 minutes, blocking a sure goal by dropping into a semi-butterfly on the goal line behind a fallen Brent Johnson, scoring a goal by rushing the puck into the offensive zone and firing a shot high and tight into the net past the blocker of Norrena to knot the game at 3, and making a pretty cross ice pass to Ovechkin on overtime to produce the game winning goal. That's a lot of work for one guy (and a lot of words for one sentence).

Despite playing hurt for most of the year, Poti has been the anchor that has kept this defense in place. He plays extremely well positionally, but has been unafraid to play the body at every opportunity, even when it was clear that his shoulder was suffering as a result.

While his plus-minus rating is not stellar (even), he leads all Caps defensemen in minutes played and blocked shots, and his ability to make quick effective passes have kept the Caps from being pinned deep in their own zone, which they too often were last season. And while last night marked his first goal of the season, his offensive zone presence and passing ability have been invaluable. If the Caps are able to claw their way into a playoff spot, he'll be the first person not named Ovechkin whose play will be a deciding factor.

Other notes from last night:

Bill McCreary won't be getting any flowers from Caps defensemen for Valentine's Day. First he runs a pick on Shoanne Morrison, then he misses a clear goal by Tom Poti that had to be sent for review to be corrected. Everyone makes mistakes, but if the Caps D didn't feel persecuted after last night's "performance", they never will.

The Russian Machine - he must score. And he does, at a ridiculous pace. I don't think there was a person watching OT that didn't know the game was over as soon as they saw Poti pass the puck into space for Ovechkin. And the Machine didn't disappoint.

Rick Nash is fast. REAL fast. And unlike most speedsters, he has no problem controlling the puck at full speed. When he feels like playing hard, he's among the game's best.

Eric Fehr looked like a guy who hadn't played in the NHL in months, but he did show glimpses of what he's capable of as a player. He was a load to move in front of the opposing net, and created some dangerous scoring opportunities. And in the third, skating agains the boards and about to be ridden into the boards by the Columbus defensemen, he used what can only be referred to as a swim move, flipping the puck by the defenseman before angling his upper body past the D and using his arm to literally shove himself past. Now THAT's a power move, and it's something that's been sorely missed since the absence of Captain Clark.

Overall, an exciting game with a solid 2 point result. Hopefully the Caps will be able to take the momentum from this victory and break out to a quick lead against Philly tonight before the adrenaline wears off.

I don't get it (or "why I'll never be an NHL coach")

With Eric Fehr recalled to Washington's lineup and apparently recovered from injury, the Caps have a chance to inject some size and toughness into their linuep. Which is a good thing. Except they're injecting it into a line that doesn't need it.

Tarik reports that Fehr is going to skate on the first line, opposite Alex Ovechkin. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it the SECOND line that needs size and toughness? Let's take a look at the lines as they are reported:

Ovechkin-Backstrom-Fehr
Fleischmann-Kozlov-Semin
Laing-Steckel-Bradley
Brashear-Laich-Gordon

Doesn't it make much more sense to move Fehr to the second line? Yes, Alex Semin plays right wing as well, but he played almost his entire career at left wing, so moving him isn't an issue. I understand the need to have a better playmaker at center, so lets assume we leave Kozlov as is. That leaves Semin-Kozlov-Fehr as a solid and balanced second line.

If Fleischmann can't play the right side, move one of the Caps defensive centers to the right wing on the first line. Seems to make sense. But chemistry is an odd thing, and clearly Boudreau thinks an all skill second line has a shot at putting up some numbers. Lets just hope they don't give up a lot more than they score.

Trouble here

Wow, that was an interesting couple of games there, wasn't it? First, Alex Ovechkin singlehandedly defeats the Habs with the best individual performance of the last 10 years, then the Caps lay an absolute stinkbomb a couple days later, shut out by an Atlanta team devoid their only real scoring threat and playing the second end of back to back days. Both games did serve to highlight an important issue: nobody on the Caps not named or playing on a line with Alex Ovechkin is creating any offense.

The Caps second line has looked lost on offense after losing Michael Nylander for the year. Alexander Semin still doesn't look like he's 100 percent after his set of injuries. Tomas Fleishmann's overall game has improved immensely this season, but he still can't buy a goal. And Boyd Gordon is, well, Boyd Gordon. Defensively responsible, hard working, but completely average in the offensive zone.

And it doesn't get any better after that second line. Poor Matt Pettinger can't even receive a pass out there anymore. This from a guy who scored 20 goals two seasons ago and 16 in 64 games last season. Either he's playing with an undisclosed injury or his confidence is totally shot. Either way, he looks completely lost on the ice right now.

Hopefully, today's recall of Eric Fehr from Hershey will inject some much needed physical play up front. A load at 6'4" and 212 pounds, Fehr will hopefully produce what the current crop of Caps lack: grit. The Caps need a guy who is both willing to work in high traffic areas (much like Brooks Laich does) and can bury the puck in tight when given the opportunity (the opposite of what Brooks Laich does).

If Fehr is truly healthy and can help the Caps salvage a playoff spot, he may well redeem GM George McPhee, who reached for Fehr at number 18 over the consensus best player available (some schlub named Ryan Getzlaf).

Quick notes on today's press conference

A couple quick items to report from today's press conference at Kettler:

1. The Caps are really, really high on Nick Backstrom. When McPhee was asked about how they evaluate a player's hockey sense, he specifically mentioned Backstrom as being at the top of the list in that regard.

2. There's no update on Eric Fehr's hip.

3. The Caps have a really nice training facility. I'm not sure it's enough to sway a free agent one way or another, but it's very well put together.

More later...

Ok, it's later.

McPhee's quote on Backstrom, when asked about evaluating player "hockey sense" in general - "He's as high as you get in that category."

On the possibility of trying to sign restricted free agents - "It's mostly a waste of time" as the offers are almost always matched.

On the scouting combine - "We check out the NHL body... is this a body that will hold up in the NHL." Other than that, the main purpose is to interview the players. Outside of that, there are "only a couple tests we like."

On evaluating smaller players on their ability to play in the NHL. "There's a saying around [the NHL]. If you're good enough, you're big enough."

That's pretty much it. There weren't a whole lot of amazing revelations, and I missed my chance to inquire (on behalf of the deuce) on the Caps stance on making the nets larger. Guess I'll have to put that one in the back pocket until after the draft and free agency kick off.

Just what the doctor ordered

Ahhh... now that's more like it. After Friday, the Capitals destiny seemed written in stone. The Southeast Division was too strong. Carolina and Atlanta had too much talent, Tampa matched up too well with us with their offensive skills, and the team kept on giving points away to Florida. The Capitals just didn't quite have enough talent to compete.

And then Saturday happened. Like the first beam of dawn after a terrible storm, the Capitals game reappeared. They stormed Carolina from the outset, pressuring in all three zones, forcing turnovers, and absolutely BURYING their scoring opportunities. They scored on the power play, they scored shorthanded, they scored at even strength. They scored and scored and scored some more. And at the end of the day they stood strong, still in the thick of the playoff hunt.

Congrats to Eric "I only score big goals" Fehr for scoring his first NHL goal which, to no surprise, ended up the game winner. If he keeps playing a strong offensive game like he did Saturday, I don't think the folks in Hershey, PA will see him again for a long, long while. Fehr is ready for the big time, and he needs to cut his teeth at the NHL level for him to be ready to assume some serious offensive responsibility, either in the playoffs this year or next season.

The Russian Scoring Spree continued, with Semin netting 2 goals and Ovechkin one. I'm really liking the way these two continue to perform, especially since it seems to have raised the competitiveness in Semin. It seems like he wants to be a part of the Battle for Russian Supremacy, and the Caps can only benefit from a little friendly competition between their two best offensive players.

Lost in all the offensive output was another stellar game from Olie Kolzig, who was a wall when the team needed him most in the second and third periods. It's been said over and over again, but it bears repeating (and repeating again): This team would be absolutely lost without Kolzig. I only hope the team improves enough to get him another deep playoff run before his time playing in the NHL is over. It would be a shame otherwise.

On another note entirely, someone needs to call Dale Hunter and have him come in and work with Sutherby on his faceoff technique. He got positively owned in the circle against Brind'Amour (which isn't surprising) but he also struggles against lesser opposition. And NOBODY in Caps history won more big faceoffs than The Big Game Hunter. Now if someone upstairs can just find his number...

So what did last night show us? That the Capitals are ready to compete. That they CAN take on the best their division (and the league) has to offer. And that it's far too early to know just about anything else.

A great spot on Eric Fehr on washingtoncaps.com

if you haven't read it yet, check it here. My brother has always been high on Fehr, and it seems like he's realizing his scoring potential in the minors and developing into a better all around player (from a -12 last year to a + 16 this year). Hopefully we'll see him get some more time with the big club later this year. Although the Caps do have depth at wing, it's mostly on the left side, which should enable Fehr to crack the lineup in the near future.

As is normal for younger guys, he's also added a lot of bulk as his body matures into its adult form. At 6'4" and 216 lbs, he needs a bit more bulk but should be able to contend at the NHL level, unlike the 189 lbs he carried last year that would have gotten him bruised, battered, and busted up in a hurry in the big leagues.

I'm not sure I'm as high on prospect Chris Bourque. He's a shifty skater, but not particularly fast, and certainly not that big at 5'8". Very few players of Theo Fleury's stature get consistent time in the NHL, and I don't see Bourque's skills maturing to the point where he'd be able to overcome his lack of size. But I'd love to see him prove me wrong.

Bourque also has another factor working against his cracking the Caps lineup: he plays on the left side. Just like Ovechkin and Semin. That leaves him a 3rd or 4th line spot, and I doubt he's a prime candidate for a checking line.

On another note, the Caps are sponsoring a Blood Drive at the V tomorrow. The Caps are offering 2 tickets to an upcoming game to all who donate. Having given to the Red Cross many times before, I can tell you that the process is fairly painless, and probably the safest way to save 3 lives that exists. So if you are able, please call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE to schedule an appointment.