They got two of a possible six points last week. That might be great if you were the last place team in the league, but when you’re riding high atop the NHL, two out of six doesn’t cut it. So what happened? Personally for me, I think the beginning of the end started with the emotional overtime win versus Pittsburgh.

After trailing 4-1, the Caps managed to battle back and win 6-5 and the celebration was akin to winning game seven. It was the second time the Caps had beaten Pittsburgh in their 14-game winning streak. After a bounce back like that, how could any team beat them?

I think the Caps began to believe their own press. Who needs defense when you can overcome a three goal deficit in the third period? When the Caps skated against Montreal, the Canadiens scored on their very first shot before the game was a minute old. The Caps didn’t get worried; they bounced back and scored one of their own. The Caps even took the lead to start the second period…but then they got sloppy. Montreal scored four goals in the second period and put Washington in a 5-2 hole. Sure, it didn’t help matters that the refs got together and waved off a goal without any form of video review, but when you give up four goals in a period, you have to recognize that you have a serious problem.

You wouldn’t pull your goalie for the whole game would you? Of course not! Why? Well sure, it gives you the extra attacker, and you have an offensive advantage, but it’s a lot easier for your opponent to score on you than it is for you to score on them. When you don’t play defense, and you’re not careful with the puck, you have left your goalie on an island.

The Caps went on their high scoring winning streak by being solid in their own end. It wasn’t just Theodore, it was defensemen being in the right position and sweeping rebounds into the corners. It’s not just the defensemen; forwards have to be back there to clean up the corners on the back-check. They can’t all be waiting at the blue-line for the outlet pass, they have to get back there and help clean up the boards.

In Montreal, the Caps made a last second score that forced overtime. Just like in Pittsburgh, they forced overtime through sheer will. They felt like the game was theirs for the taking…right up until Plekanec scored the game winner for Montreal with :08 seconds left in the overtime period.

So they lost, right? It had to happen sometime. The puck just didn’t bounce their way. They still bounced back from a three goal deficit, nothing to worry about, they’ll get ‘em next time, right?

Well, not exactly. Y’see, when the streak was hot, everyone wanted to be part of it. Now that the burden of the streak was over, they didn’t have all that pressure. So the next night when they went into Ottawa, they could make some changes. The Caps welcomed back Semyon Varlamov, and some guys with minor injuries decided to sit this one out. The Caps found themselves down 3-1 at the end of the first, but they rallied back to tie it 4-4 at the end of the second period.

It was time to turn on the offense. They had just scored three goals in Montreal in the third, and had scored two versus Pittsburgh in the third, and now they had their hot-shot goaltender back in net. Varlamov was 16-1-3 in the regular season, who needs defense when you’ve got him back there between the pipes?

Instead, the Caps gave up two goals early in the third, and even though Alex Semin became the third consecutive Capital to get a hat-trick in three consecutive games, Ottawa showed the Caps that the best defense is really to play defense.

The Caps had been handed their first regulation loss in 15 games; they lost 6-5.

The coach’s words were finally starting to sink in. You can’t expect to win if you let your opponents’ score five or more goals in a game. Sure it’s possible, the Caps had proven that versus Pittsburgh, but you can’t sustain it.

In the Caps’ final game (final game before the Olympic break) versus St. Louis, we saw more of a commitment to defense, but there were still some areas of concern; mostly in transition and puck protection. The Caps’ were turning the puck over way to many times in the neutral-zone creating odd man breaks going to other way. The defense was much more solid, but it’s hard to play defense when you give up a break-away or a two-on-one.

The Caps enter this Olympic break on a three game skid, so most of the team will have plenty to think about over these next two weeks.

Certainly, this isn’t the end of the world for Washington. They are still first place in the league, even if it is only by one-point. They still have a 13-point lead in their conference, and are in no danger of missing the play-offs. The Caps’ 27-point lead in their division is two points shy of being more than the combined margins of all the other divisions.

The Caps could lose more than half of their remaining games, and still win their division.

So, now we have the Olympics for the next couple of weeks. The media world is a-buzz about Team Canada. I’m so sick of hearing about Team Canada I’m ready to stick sharp objects in my ears to dull the pain. Personally, I’m wanting to hear more about Team Russia. With six current and former Caps on the team (Ovechkin, Semin, Varlamov, Gonchar, Kozlov and Federov) how could I not pull for them? Add to that Malkin, Datsuk, Kovalchuk, and Afinogenov, and San Jose Sharks’ (who happen to be second in the league) goaltender Evgeni Nabokov and it certainly looks like Russia is going to be hard to beat.

With the snubbing of Capitals defenseman Mike Green (the highest scoring defenseman in the league, mind you) and Vincent Lecavalier from Tampa in favor of “west coasters” I’m just this side of rooting against Team Canada. Who am I fooling; of course I’m rooting against Team Canada!

Sure, I’ll be happy if somehow Team USA surprises everyone and takes the gold, but my heart lies with the Caps, and Team Russia has the most of them. How could I root for anyone else?

C! A! P! S! Caps! Caps! Caps!

1)      The NHL needs to reconsider it’s stance on Ovechkin – Due to mounting pressure from the 29 other teams in the league looking for a way to “restrain him” the league has painted crosshairs on Alex Ovechkin. Any little thing he does is going to be subject to penalization and suspension. The knee-on-knee hit was not a “dirty play” as much as some would like to say it is. Alex went in for the hit up high, the defender swung inside on Alex who had planted himself to make the hit, and their knees collided; Ovechkin got the worst of it. The Game-Misconduct was unnecessary as there was no way he was coming back into the game anyway, and it triggered an automatic “two-game” suspension.

Ovechkin isn’t just a local favorite, he is a superstar. Even people who aren’t fans of the Capitals are sometimes fans of Ovechkin. They love to see him play. He scores goals, he makes hits and he celebrates after each goal as if it were his first. He plays with a passion seldom seen in the NHL.

Penalizing Ovechkin, and suspending him from games isn’t going to “level the playing field” for other teams. As a matter of fact, the Caps scored 14 goals in two games all without the services of one Alex Ovechkin.

Like it or not, the two-time reigning MVP is the current face of the NHL, and their overly harsh treatment of him is only the league trying to cut it’s nose off to spite their face. The league should not want to give their best player a bad reputation by making him seem like a “trouble-maker.” I’m not saying they should give him carte-blanche to do whatever he pleases, but they should think very carefully about how they have instructed the refs to look at him. Last night Ovechkin was penalized for “Unsportsmanlike Conduct-Diving” when it was clear to anybody who saw it that Ovechkin wasn’t “throwing himself to the ice” in an attempt to draw a penalty, he had his skate kicked out from under-him.

They penalized the other player for tripping, so how can they also penalize Ovechkin for “diving” if they saw that he was tripped?

This is a classic example of the league’s “show of force” so that the coaches from the other 29 teams around the league can’t accuse the league of giving him “special treatment.” Sure, it may quell some of the angry letters submitted by the “sour-grapes” coaches, but at the same time the league is painting their best player as a villain for the general public.

The league should find a way to reconcile this, and lay off Ovechkin. If he is getting the “superstar treatment” it would be hard to argue that he doesn’t deserve it.

2)      How about that Semyon Varlamov, huh? – There is something special about this kid, and I think the Caps are starting to see that they have their lockdown net-minder in their midst. Varlamov has posted two shutouts in his last four games and, dating back to the playoffs, has four shutouts in his last 28 games. He is 7-0-2 with a 1.53 goals-against average and a .945 save percentage in his last nine appearances and has been one of the three stars in four of his last six games. The 21-year old has won 10 of his 14 starts this season and is now 12-1-2 on the year with a 2.21 GAA and a .924 save percentage. Varlamov’s 12-1-2 record gives him the best points-percentage in the NHL and makes him 16-1-3 in his career. Not bad for a kid only in his second year!

3)      Living Out of a Suitcase – Did you realize that the Caps have played eight of their last twelve games on the road? They aren’t done yet; by the time they wrap up their game against Montreal on December 19^th, they will have played 12 out of their 17 games (dating back to November 14^th) on the road, and played 17 games in 36 days. That is basically a game every other day for over a month, with 70% of them being on the road.

4) A Quick Recap – Now you know I couldn’t resist this, and while it is not my traditional recap of each of the Capitals opponents for last week, I feel it necessary to see where we are in the standings. Even after last night’s blanking at the hands of the Buffalo Sabres.

The Caps are:

19-6-6 with 44 points

1^st in the Southeast Division – 11 points ahead of Atlanta (15-10-3)

1^st in the Eastern Conference – 1 point ahead of New Jersey (21-7-1)

1^st overall in the League – One game up and tied with San Jose (19-7-6)

1^st in Goals Per Game – Averaging 3.48 goals scored per game.

1^st in Power-Play Percentage – Scoring on 24.2% of time when they have the man-advantage.

1^st in Win Percentage when trailing After the 1^st Period – They bounce back and win 62.5% of the time.

Undefeated in the Southeast Division

The Caps have two more games this week; at home versus Carolina tomorrow, and then the turn around and head out to Toronto for a rematch versus the Maple Leafs on Saturday.

Washington was just in Carolina November 30^th and came away with a 3-2 win in a game that wasn’t as close as the score implies. Carolina scored their first goal in the first five minutes of the game, and scored their last goal with around 0:16 seconds left in regulation. Between those two times the game was all Washington.

When Washington last visited Toronto, they lost 2-1 in a game that required a shootout. Similarly, the Caps played a game at home the night before their last game versus Toronto. In that two game series the Caps lost on both Friday (to Montreal 3-2 in regulation) and Saturday so Caps fans are hoping history doesn’t repeat itself here.

I’ll be back Monday with more, but in the meantime…

LET’S GO CAPS!!!

Yeah, you would expect a drop-off in production, but the Caps seem to play pretty good in the absence of Alex Ovechkin. They won four out of the six games he missed. He returned this week and they have lost two out of the three games he played in since his return.

Now this isn’t an indictment against Ovie; He scored a goal in two of those three games. His teammates however have not played as well since his return.

My thought process is that these guys knew they were going to have to “carry the load” without Ovechkin, but now that he’s back, “we can relax a little bit.”

I think there may be a mindset among players that when their superstar returns, things are going to be easy. They won’t have to try as hard because they got the league MVP back. This past week seems to illustrate my point. The Rangers game last Tuesday was the toughest game on the Caps schedule last week. They were in New York, and the Rangers always play tough versus the Caps. They went into MSG and beat the Rangers.

This weekend however, they were at home versus a struggling Canadiens team, and then on the road versus a Leafs team that had only won three other games this season. The Caps lost to both.

Now I know they have enough players injured that it accounts for roughly a third of their bench roster, but c’mon, our back-ups aren’t exactly chopped liver. They can play well; they just didn’t.

I’m hoping that losing to the Leafs is a wake-up call to those who thought they could come out and just “go through the motions” and leave it up to Ovechkin to win it for them.

And with that, let’s get to some recapping.

Tuesday, November 17^th, @ New York Rangers – With the Caps down 1-0 to New York, it was Matt Bradley who gave the team the spark it was looking for when he took on Aaron Voros of New York (see the fight here at Hockeyfights.com – http://www.hockeyfights.com/fights/88826). It was a rare fight for the Capitals since they jettisoned Donald Brashear in the offseason and it was certainly one of their bloodiest of the season. Many can argue whether Bradley “won” the fight, but it was Bradley’s goal late in the third period that was the game-winner as the Caps rolled past New York 4-2.

“Ouch” just doesn’t do it justice – Quintin Laing is known to give up his body for the shot-block, but when he dropped to block a shot from Michal Roszival, he managed to catch the puck with the left side of his face. The full force of Roszival’s slapshot broke Laing’s jaw and he will miss several weeks while he drinks his meals through a straw.

Hardhat Honors – After each game, the players give a red hardhat to the player who they felt worked the hardest in the game. This night the Caps had to choose between Laing who broke his jaw blocking a shot, and Bradley who though bloodied by a fight and stitched up scored the game-winning goal. The Caps elected Brads, and he deferred to Laing.

Friday, November 20^th, vs. Montreal Canadiens – I’m still scratching my head about why Coach Boudreau elected to rest goal-tender Semyon Varlamov for this game. I might understand if he was putting in Jose Theodore, but Theo was gone with a family emergency and the Caps had just called up Michal Neuvirth to replace him. Neuvirth got the start. Now I’m not pinning this loss solely on Neuvirth, because the Caps in general played like they really didn’t respect the Canandiens. There was no sense of urgency as they let the game slip away. By the time the Caps did start skating like the game was on the line, they were down 3-1 late in the third. They lost 3-2.

Introducing; John Carlson – With their first pick of the 2008 NHL entry draft, the Washington Capitals selected defenseman John Carlson. With his proud mom in attendance Carlson did not play like a baby-faced rookie but like an NHL vet, even ringing a shot off the post. Don’t worry, Mom, he’ll get his first NHL goal soon enough.

Saturday, November 21^st, @ Toronto Maple Leafs – Now ordinarily, I include stats and fun facts after a recap of each game. Not this time. The Caps played miserably MISERABLY against this Leafs team. They didn’t skate, and to make up for it, they didn’t pass well either. It seemed like nearly every pass was either too far ahead, or just behind the player they were aiming for. These either lead to turnovers in the neutral zone, or would throw the players offsides. Were it not for the inspired play of Semyon Varlamov, the Caps would have lost this game early in regulation. They carried a 1-1 tie into the shootout, and failed to register a single goal. It was the worst performance I’ve seen from the Caps in as long as I can remember. Caps lose 2-1 in the shootout.

Where are we? – The Caps gained three out of a possible six points last week. They are:

13-5-5 (31 points)

1st in Southeast Division – Caps 31 points, Tampa Bay is 2^nd with 25

1st in Eastern Conference – Caps 31 points, Pittsburgh is 2^nd with 30

3rd in the League Overall – San Jose is first with 36, followed by Chicago with 32, Caps with 31 and Pittsburgh with 30

Coming Up – The Caps continue their tour of the Northeast division starting tonight as they stay in Canada and face the Ottawa Senators (11-6-3, 15^th in the league). They come home Wednesday to face Buffalo (12-6-2, 11^th in the league), and return to Canada on Saturday for a rematch versus Montreal (11-11-1, 22^nd in the league).

The Caps need to wake up and play a better game tonight or it’s going to be a long flight home with a very unhappy Coach Boudreau…

C-A-P-S Caps! Caps! Caps!

The Caps even missed the services of Mike Green for a couple of those games, and didn’t miss a beat.

The injury bug finally caught up with them when Mike Knuble was injured Friday night and absent from Saturday’s game in New Jersey.

Knuble hasn’t been the prolific scorer that Ovechkin is, but he’s a hard worker. He wears down opponents.  He finds the open slots, controls and moves the puck well, and if he sees a few inches of daylight, he’ll score on you.

The Caps still got good pressure on New Jersey. I don’t want to take anything away from the team. They fought hard against a rested New Jersey team, and a future hall-of-fame netminder in Marty Brodeur, but they missed Knuble who plays well from in front of the crease gobbling up rebounds for either redistribution, or second chance attempts.

Hopefully he feels better soon; and with that, let’s get to some recapping.

Wednesday, November 11^th, vs. NY Islanders – :08 seconds in and the Caps were up 1-0 thanks to Alex Semin. Six minutes later the Caps were down 3-1 and Jose Theodore was replaced by Semyon Varlamov. A period and a half later, the Caps were up 4-3, and with less than three minutes left in regulation, the Islanders tied the game on the power-play and forced overtime. After a scoreless overtime period, the game came down to a shootout. The Caps elected to shoot first. After the obligatory three rounds, both teams had scored a goal. With each stop of a Caps’ shot, it put all the pressure on Varlamov, as the Islanders could end the game with their next goal. Verizon Center was on it’s feet, and in the 11^th round it was Chris Clark that finally put the pressure on New York when he scored. Semyon held his team’s fate in his glove literally as he caught New York’s final shot and ended the game with a big win and a big grin! Washington would win 5-4.

The goal that tied the record – Alex Semin’s goal in the first :08 seconds tied a Caps record for the fastest first goal of a game that dates back to March 14^th, 1987.

Note to the fans – Shootout goals do not count for season stats or hat-tricks. Alex Semin’s goal during the shoot-out was in fact the third time he had put a puck in the net, but it doesn’t count as a “hat-trick.” This can actually have the unintended consequence of icing your own goalie, as he waits nervously while all the hats are cleaned up off the ice. Thankfully; it didn’t take long for the hats to be cleared, and I think Varlamov has ice in his veins.

The Goalie of record – After giving up three goals in the game’s first six minutes, Jose Theodore was given the night off. When Alex Semin tied the game at 3 early in the 2^nd period, it became Varlamov’s game to lose. He played 57 minutes (including OT) and stopped 25 of 26 shots surrendering his only goal while NY was on the power-play. Words cannot accurately convey how spectacular he was in the shoot-out.

Friday, November 13^th, vs. Minnesota – Coming into Verizon off a tough shootout loss in Tampa, the Minnesota Wild should have been exhausted. They started off strong outshooting the Caps 7-1 in the first half of the first period, but after that it was all Washington who outshot Minnesota 32-9 over the next period and a half. Cal Clutterbuck, who torched Washington last season for two goals, got his third against the home team as he put Minnesota on the board first just 1:31 into the second period. It was the first time in eight games that Washington hadn’t notched the game’s first goal. Defenders Mike Green and Brian Pothier scored two for the Caps to put them back on top and it was Brooks Laich with the empty netter that put the game out of reach. Minnesota would fall 3-1.

Varly is Gnarly – Varlamov stopped 55 of 57 shots in the 117 minutes he played this week. He is now 11-1-1 in regular season games, and 7-1-0 this season. He has a .912 save percentage and a 2.67 goals against average in his games this year.

On the bright side – The loss of Mike Knuble comes just as the Caps are about to welcome back Alex Ovechkin. This should leave room on the roster for the Caps latest call-up, Mathieu Perreault. In Perreault’s six games he has 2 goals and 3 assists and a 22% shooting percentage.

Saturday, November 14^th, @ New Jersey – Washington entered New Jersey tied for first place in the Eastern conference. Washington was riding a four game winning streak; New Jersey had won their last eight straight. Just as the game was five minutes old, the Caps had a 2-0 lead; unfortunately it would be all New Jersey from there. Bruce Boudreau was looking for his 100^th career victory but would have to wait a little longer as he watched New Jersey score five unanswered goals over the next 38 minutes. Washington, who had played pretty disciplined hockey over their last four victories, began to come apart as they pressed for answer goals. The Caps gave up several odd-man breaks, breakaway goals, and started committing penalties that greatly hindered their come-back effort. In the end, the Caps fell 5-2 and slipped to second in the Eastern Conference.

Random Scoring Stats – For the fourth time this season, the Caps scored on their first shot of the game. For the first time the season, the Caps found themselves down by as many as three goals.

Reaching a milestone – Caps’ Captain Chris Clark played his 500^th game Saturday night.

Coming Up – The Caps are hanging around in Jersey waiting for their matchup Tuesday versus the Rangers. Then they come back for a Friday night game versus the Canandiens, and immediately head to Toronto to face former Caps Coach Ron Wilson and his struggling Maple Leafs.

New York is always a tough opponent for Washington, especially in New York, but it is looking like the Caps are going to get some high powered help with the return of Ovechkin. Having a few days off before facing Montreal should help the Caps, but the overnight flight to Toronto could make that game a little more even than it would be ordinarily.

If I’m Coach Boudreau, I start Varlamov versus New York and Montreal, and give him a break Saturday by starting Theodore versus the Leafs.

All in all, it’s been a good week for the Caps, but now I’m off to write a ‘Skins blog as they finally put together a game to be proud of this week!

C-A-P-S Caps! Caps! Caps!

It’s another Monday, so it must be time for another Caps Recap!

After suffering through four straight losses, the Capitals have bounced back and added two more games to the win column last week and have now won four straight. This is certainly worth celebrating, but the fact is, the Caps are still not playing really good hockey. To say their power play is not performing would be an understatement; their power play has proven to be a liability as their opponents scored two shorthanded goals while the Caps went 0-11 on the power play last week alone.

I suppose you could say the Caps went -2 for 11 on the PP.

Something else that is interesting is that Caps superstar Alex Ovechkin was rendered without a goal in both of this past week’s contests. You might say that a large part of the teams woes have to do with the slump that Ovechkin finds himself in, which could have something to do with the absence of Alex Semin on the second line.

Superstars not withstanding; the Caps have seen their B-liner’s step it up and that’s what you need from a good hockey team. Their wins may not have been pretty, but you get no extra points for style.

Let’s get to the recap

Thursday, October 22^nd – Caps @ Atlanta – In keeping with their trend, the Caps jumped out to an early lead when Eric Fehr scored on an early breakaway just 2:02 into the game. Atlanta matched them step for step in the first period and both teams went into the locker-room tied at 2 goals apiece. In the second period, the Caps victimized Thrashers’ goalie Ondrej Pavalec by scoring three goals in :88 seconds and ending his night early. The Caps’ special teamers gave up a shorthanded and a power-play goal in the third period, but the team managed to hang on and eek out a 5-4 victory.

Dialing Long Distance – Midway through the second period, Jeff Schultz got the gift of a lifetime scoring a goal from 190 feet away. As he rounded his own net, he received a pass from Caps’ netminder Semyon Varlamov, and tried to pass the puck up the ice to Mike Knuble. As far as passes go, it wasn’t a very good one and never connected with Knuble, but it skipped it’s way up the ice taking an extremely lucky (or unlucky, depending on whom you were rooting for) bounce a mere seven feet from Thrasher’s goalie Ondrej Pavalec shooting right up over his glove and into the net.

Noticeably Absent – The Capital’s “Young Guns” (Ovechkin, Backstrom, Semin and Green) were each held without a point in Thursday’s game versus Atlanta (to be fair, Semin wasn’t playing due to injury). The Caps were 0-1 this year when their young stars were held scoreless, and went 1-9-1 in the few times that it happened last year.

Maybe it’s the name Alex… – With Alexander Semin out with an injury, and Alexander Ovechkin having trouble finding the back of the net, it fell to Alexandre Giroux to get an Alex on the score sheet. Giroux’s goal in the first period was his fourth ever NHL goal and it comes against the organization that let him slip away in the minors. Giroux played for the Thrasher’s AHL affiliate in Chicago for the first part of the ‘07-‘08 season where he was coached by the Thrashers’ current head coach, John Anderson.

Saturday, October 24^th – Caps @ NY Islanders – Caps’ fans who tuned in late may have been surprised to see their team behind after the first period. It’s the first time the Caps have trailed to start a game this season. The Caps struggled to find an answer all game and rotated several different forward through the Ovechkin-Backstrom line. The Caps still struggled on the power-play, and gave up their second short-handed goal in as many games. The Caps dug deep and finally found their goal scorer mentality and it was Mike Green that led the charge. Keith Aucoin tied the game up, and it was Brooks Laich that won the game in overtime.

That was ugly – This game should not have been as close as it was. The Caps came in with a 5-2-2 record to face an Islander team with only one win for the season. Senior Writer for WashingtonCaps.com had it right when he said “wins are like goals; you don’t ask ‘how,’ you ask ‘how many.’” If the Caps don’t figure out the ‘how’ and soon it’s going to be a long week.

For more Caps Coverage – check out this blog by Bosshog “Caps Steal One in Overtime”

Coming up, the Caps are bringing home the Philadelphia Flyers tomorrow night, and then it’s going to feel like Déjà vu as the Caps square off against the Thrashers (in Atlanta on Thursday) and Islanders (at Verizon Center on Friday) again.

With both of Washington’s teams facing a Philadelphia opponent (Redskins tonight, Capitals tomorrow, both televised nationally) it’s going to smell an awful lot like cheese-steak around here for the next coupla days.

Something tells me it’s going to be up to the Caps to split the difference.

C-A-P-S Caps! Caps! Caps!

The week before last, the Washington Capitals went 0-2-1. It looked like they trend would continue when they kicked their week off last week with an overtime loss to New Jersey. Instead they bounced back against a team they hadn’t beaten since 1999, the San Jose Sharks. The Caps rounded out their week Saturday night by edging Nashville in the shootout and finished 2-1-0 for the week.

Alex Ovechkin added four goals to his already impressive five for the season and has scored a total of nine goals in eight games. Ovechkin, who lead the league with 56 goals last year, didn’t score his ninth goal until his 19th game last season. At his current rate Ovechkin is on pace to score 82 goals in 82 games.

Let’s get to some recapping!

Monday, October 12th vs. New Jersey - The Caps jumped out to a two goal lead midway through the first period. Devil’s goalie Marty Brodeur locked up his crease after that by refusing to allow the Caps to add to their lead. Meanwhile, his teammates kept working and snuck back into the game getting the tying goal midway through the third period. Try as they might the Caps could not avoid overtime and ultimately fell in the shootout following a scoreless overtime period.

Looked Laich it hurt - With the Devils already a man short, Marty Brodeur gave the Caps a two-man advantage 5:12 into the third period when he slapped Brooks Laich square in the face with his goalie paddle. The hit was unintentional as Brodeur was trying to bat the puck from mid-air, but I’m sure that didn’t make it hurt any less!

They say it’s your Birthday - Mike Green turned 24 on Monday and celebrated by ending his scoring drought early in the first period; his first goal of the season. Mike Green, known as “Game-Over” Green, lead all defensemen in goals last season with 31, but has been in a slump that started shortly before the playoffs.

Thursday, October 15th vs. San Jose - Having lost four straight the Caps were now facing an opponent they hadn’t beat in over a decade. The Sharks brutalized Washington last year in San Jose by a score of 6-2; this time it was Washington’s turn to be inhospitable. The Caps scored first, but San Jose came right back to tie it up and the first period ended with the teams tied at one. When the Caps returned to start the second period they did so without their starting netminder as Jose Theodore had fallen to an injury. Semyon Varlamov, who had been victimized earlier in the season, would need to come in and finish the game for the fallen Theodore. Semyon’s teammates made sure he wouldn’t be alone. Playing their best game since their first versus the Bruins, the Caps finally played the kind of two-way hockey we had been looking for from them all season. With two goals from Ovechkin in the second period, and a final goal in the third by Matt Bradley, the Caps
sent the Sharks packing; winning 4-1.

Was that fast? It looked fast. Was it fast? - Alex Ovechkin scored at the 2:55 mark of the second period to give the Caps a one goal lead over San Jose. He only needed :28 seconds to make it a two goal lead, scoring at the 3:23 mark.

One list ends; a new list begins - While we are on the topic of Ovechkin, he has now scratched San Jose off his list of teams he has scored a goal against. He has now scored at least one goal against every team in the NHL. His second goal allowed him to scratch San Jose off his next list. The only teams he has not scored TWO goals against are Colorado, Dallas, Edmonton, Los Angeles, and Minnesota.

For more Caps coverage of their amazing win versus San Jose, check out these articles exclusively on TheHogs.net

http://www.thehogs.net/blogs/2009/10/16/caps-dominate-sharks-end-slide/

http://www.thehogs.net/blogs/2009/10/16/by-the-numbers-caps-4-sharks-1/

Saturday, October 17 vs Nashville – Last season the Capitals faced Nashville twice taking both games into OT. The Caps won both of those games; one in OT and the other in a shootout. They kept that streak alive by downing the Predators once again in the shootout. Again, the star of the game was one Alex Ovechkin who notched not only both the team’s regulation goals, but also scored the only goal of the shootout to win. Semyon Varlamov got the nod again for the still injured Jose Theodore and things were looking pretty good from the start for the Caps; then they got sloppy. No one was immune from the sloppiness for the Caps including Varlamov who stonewalled two breakaway attempts in the first, but let in a flukey game tying goal. In the end though, it was the glove hand of Varlamov that closed the door on Nashville and held them scoreless in his first career shootout.

Hats off…even so – Alex Ovechkin scored the team’s only two goals in regulation, and the team’s only goal in the shoot-out. Shoot-out goals do not count towards a player’s stats, but that didn’t stop fans from sending their hat’s out on the ice to celebrate Ovie’s “unofficial” hat-trick.

That’s gratitude for you – The Washington Capitals selected Semyon Varlamov with a draft pick they had received from Nashville.

A little Ovie makes everything better – Mike Knuble may see a career high in assists this year. His 5 assists put him on pace for 51 for the year; which would be 20 more than he’s ever had in his 12-year career.

Washington has a slow week this week with only two opponents.

Thursday @ Atlanta, 7:00pm

Saturday @ New York Islanders, 7:00pm

1999 – Was the last time that the Caps beat the Sharks – Feb. 20th, 1999 to be exact.

169 – Career points in 171 games, for Nicklas Backstrom, after he set up Alexander Semin in the 1st. It was Backstrom’s 9th assist, and 11th point of this 7-game season.

28 – Minutes of ice-time for blue chip blue-liner Mike Green (27:59)

15 – Shots, 15 saves for Semyon Varlamov.

13 – Of the Caps 37 shots, including 8 in the first period, came from Alexander the Great – incredible. San Jose had 28 shots.

13 – Shots for Jose Theodore in the first before he left with what were apparently back spasms – Theodore stopped 12 of the 13 shots.

12 – Of 16 at the face-off dot for David Steckle, for an amazing 75%; unfortunately, Backstrom was just 5 of 17 (29%).

11 – Games in a row that the Sharks had won against the Caps – until Thursday night.

7 – Goals in 7 games for Ovechkin

6 – Goals in 7 games for Semin

5 – Power plays in the first for Washington, with two-man advantages twice due to overlapping calls. Washington only scored one PP goal, but killing the penalties, wore the Sharks out.

4 – Game losing streak for the Capitals comes to an end.

3 – Games Ovechkin had gone without a goal.

2 – Assists for both Brendan Morrison and for Mike Knuble, on two Ovechkin goals; it was their first game playing on a line together.

1 – Big win for the Caps. They needed to get the monkey off their back, and get back to winning hockey games.

Game Summary:

The Washington Capitals defeated the San Jose Sharks 4-1, to end a couple of ’skids’ on Thursday night. Most importantly, the Caps ended their 4-game losing streak with the win; it was also the first time the Capitals have beat the Sharks in their last twelve meetings – a phenomenal run that dates back to February 2oth, 1999. Two Ovechkin goals less than half a minute apart at the beginning of the second period, proved to be the difference.

There was a tremendous tempo from the Caps to start the game, and they forced some early penalties from the Sharks. Washington found themselves with a two-man advantage, and Alexander Semin opened the scoring at 7:21 of the first period. Mike Green and Nicklas Backstrom deftly played the puck back and forth, until Backstrom beautifully picked out Semin sneaking down the back-side, who slapped the puck into a yawning net. Mike Green also assisted. 1-0 Caps. Video.

San Jose spent a large part of the opening frame in the penalty box, with five minors in the first eighteen minutes. Their penalty kill units did a great job of keeping them in the game and they were rewarded when Benn Ferriero scored his second of the season at 14:07 to even the score at 1-1. Kent Huskins and Scott Nichol assisted on the goal.

When the Capitals came out for the second period, Semyon Varlamov had taken over in net, due to (later disclosed) back spasms for Jose Theodore.

The young Russian goaltender didn’t have to wait long for his team to get him support and a lead; Alexander Ovechkin crashed the net and tipped in a gorgeous backhand pass that Mike Knuble saucered on to his stick – Brendan Morrison picked up the second assist. Ovie ended a three-game scoring drought with his sixth goal of the season, and Washington had a 2-1 lead. Video.

Just twenty-eight seconds later, Ovechkin made it seven on the season. Knuble took a Morrison pass at the top of the right circle, and fired a quick shot on Evgeni Nabokov; Nabokov let an awful rebound get away, and Ovechkin was there to slap it into the net. 3-1 Caps just 3:23 into the second period. Video.

The outburst from the Russian sensation seemed to suck the wind out of the sails of the San Jose Sharks. Washington really controlled the game from there on out, and stretched their lead to 4-1 at 5:11 of the third. Matt Bradley was parked at the side of the net, and snapped in the rebound from a Milan Jurcina point shot, to give the Caps an insurmountable three goal lead. Video.

Varlamov was a perfect 15-for-15 in relief of Theodore, and earned a big, confidence building win.

Game Notes:
Ovechkin’s goal(s) were his first ever against the Sharks, the only team he had never scored against… Washington only drew three penalties – a much more disciplined effort… there were actually chants of, “Varly, Varly, Varly…” late in the third period – he didn’t really have that much to do, but it was novel nevertheless… Bruce Boudreau juggled the line-up and considering that they got scoring from three lines and played exponentially better defensively, you’d have to call the first game with the new lines a success.

Ovechkin Summary:
2 Goals; 13 shots; 20:53 minutes of ice time

Mike Richards opened the scoring for Philadelphia on the power play; he parked himself off to the left of the net, deep in the zone, and defenseman Matt Carle picked him out with a diagonal pass through the Caps zone. Richards fired the puck into the net from an obtuse angle, and the Flyers had a 1-0 lead.

It didn’t stay that way for long, as the Capitals evened the score at 1-1 with a goal from who else? Alex Ovechkin. Ovie kicked a Matt Bradley pass up to his stick and quickly snapped the puck past goaltender Ray Emery, to notch his fourth goal in three games. Nicklas Backstrom and Bradley were credited with assists, but give one to Coach Bruce Boudreau as well – who made a great change on the fly to get Ovechkin on the ice against the Flyers fourth line.

Less than two minutes later, the Flyers were back on top when Kimmo Timonen beat Semyon Varlamov on a shot from the point. The Flyers were a man up as the Caps were going to be called for a delayed penalty, and Timonen took advantage of a heavily screened Varlamov.

Three minutes after that, the Caps evened the score at 2-2 with another goal from Ovechkin – his fifth of the season. The Russian superstar pressured Chris Pronger into a giveaway in his own zone, and Backstrom picked up the loose puck and hit Ovechkin who was driving for the net and beat Emery with a backhand.

The game settled down for a few minutes before Alexander Semin put Washington up 3-2 on a fabulous individual effort. Entering the Flyer zone, Semin dangled the puck in front of the Flyer defenseman Braydon Coburn, before undressing him with a beautiful curl drag move, and then beating Emery.

Then Flyers captain Richards took over; he took advantage of yet another Caps penalty and notched his second power play goal of the game. Just 18 seconds later, Richards scored again to give the Flyers a 4-3 lead, and notching just his second career NHL hat trick. In fact, Richards was the first Flyer to score a hat trick BEFORE the start of the third period since John Leclair. Richards’ third goal also changed Caps goalie Varlamov from the game, and Jose Theodore took over.

Seven goals in less than 15 minutes of second period action – four by Philly and three by Washington – the pace was frenetic. Flyers defenseman Matt Carle assisted on all four goals and in the process, set a club record and tied an NHL mark for defensemen with four assists in the second period (Rob Blake also did it on Jan. 29, 1998).

In the third, it was Washington’s turn to capitalize on a man advantage; Semin snapped home his second of the game with Backstrom picking up his third assist, and Ovechkin getting the other.

Brendan Morrisson scored just 1:14 later when he tipped in a Matt Bradley shot to put the Caps back on top 5-4 half-way through the period.

It stayed that way until Scott Hartnell pushed a Coburn rebound past Theodore, on yet another Flyers power play with 4:15 to go, forcing overtime.

Birthday boy Briere scored the game winner at 3:45 of overtime, and give the Flyers  the victory at the Wachovia Center.

After the game, it was obvious what Caps Coach Bruce Boudreau attributed the loss to:

“I think you take eight minors in a game, and you’re not going to win a game. Six in one period. That’s how four goals get scored against you, when you get six penalties in a period. That’s just not acceptable.”

The Caps actually took nine minor penalties – ten if you count the delayed penalty that Philadelphia scored on.

When asked about his decision to pull his goaltender, Boudreau offered:

“Varlamov gets scored on in bunches. He gets down on himself, and we’ve gotta get him out of that.”

The game pitted two of the NHL’s best teams against each other, and it didn’t disappoint despite the hype; it was a high-flying affair from start to finish – well at least from the second period on.

Many consider the Flyers to be a front runner for Stanley’s Cup, and with better goaltending, the Caps are right there; so while a loss is a loss, Boudreau and the organization should be happy with the level of play that the Capitals are displaying early in the season.

Next up for Washington is the New York Rangers on Thursday at the Verizon Center.

Game Notes:

It was the third time in three games that Ovechkin has scored three points – only two other NHL players have ever opened the season with three or more points in the first three games – Peter Stastny and Guy Lafleur.

Backstrom has eight assists in the Caps first three games.

Matt Bradley had a fight in the first period with tough guy Ian LaPerriere, after Laperriere unceremoniously dumped Caps defender Mike Green into the boards. It’s always great to see a guy that doesn’t usually fight, drop the gloves to defend one of the team’s superstars. Kudos to Bradley – that’s leadership.

Check out video from the game and post game interviews here.

They also talked about Jeff Schultz getting his first start of the season, and how the Capitals are going to try and work with the eight defensemen they currently have on the roster.

Check out that and more on the whole broadcast at live365.com.