In this PC crazed society, many grown-ups were either never taught that lessen, or have long since forgotten in favor of litigation and legislation.

The Supreme Court recently declined to review the case of Harjo vs. Pro-Football inc. At issue for the highest court in the land was not whether or not the term “Redskin” is offensive, but whether or not the plaintiffs waited too long to bring the case. (Supreme Court rejects ‘Skins Logo Case)

Now I have argued the merits of whether or not the team name is offensive or not in an article I wrote a little over a year ago. (Redskins: Racism or Easy Target?)

Here’s the summary; I’m a nerd.

For the sake of this argument, that’s what I’m calling myself. I wear it with pride. I wear t-shirts with video game logos, and love to talk sports and video games with anybody that comes along. I will bore you to death with my opinions on which is the best racing game to come out for the Xbox 360 this year (Dirt 2) or what I think the Washington Capitals should do when facing their next opponent.

Now keep in mind; ”Nerd” is what I am choosing to call myself. I am not encouraging you to refer to anybody else by that connotation, but you can refer to me as one all you like.

Now you may be like me. You may think that Dirt 2 really is the best Xbox 360 racer to come out this year (it is, trust me), and you may agree with many of the things I think about when it comes to sports. You might not. You may have similar emotions but feel that Forza 3 is the best racer, and may hate the Capitals.

You wouldn’t automatically assume that because I call myself a nerd, that you are also a nerd by proxy, would you?

You may not like it when people call you a nerd; maybe that’s what the bullies called you in high school as they dunked your head into a flushing toilet. You may have deep rooted emotional distress over being called such a thing, but your automatic response isn’t to be insulted by what I call myself, is it?

Of course not; you don’t care how I refer to myself. Why would you? For that matter, you may even agree that yes, I am a nerd.

Now some people might say, well, why wouldn’t they be offended?

These people who think this way have probably never had their heads dunked into a flushing toilet. They may not know what it is like to have people say and do hurtful things to you based on your being different than they are.

The reason they wouldn’t care (for all you “dry-heads” out there) is because there is not intent to malign. I don’t call myself a nerd to be hateful of others. I don’t dunk my own head in the toilet while I call myself such things. I wear it with pride.

Nerds are generally considered “smart.” These brainacs may be socially inept, but they can put together electronic devices (computers, entertainment center components, etc.) in their sleep. They live to pwn noobs in online computer games where they live supreme; taking vengeance on the jocks and bullies who would, in real life, torment them physically.

As far as nerds go, I’m not even the biggest nerd. There are people far “nerdier” than I am. They are smarter, better with computers, and routinely pwn me while playing video games.

It would be ridiculous to conjure up some sort of “implied” offense meant on my part, by what I choose to call myself, because I wouldn’t intend to be derogatory in my own “self labeling”.

If Susan Harjo walked up to me and called herself a “cracker,” I wouldn’t be offended; I’d laugh, if I’m being honest. Even if it was obvious that she was indirectly trying to refer to me. I would think that was the most ridiculous way to attempt an insult I have ever heard, and trust me, I’ve heard them all.

The fact is that the team name “Redskins” was NEVER meant to disparage anyone, and Harjo knows it. She wants the court to conjur up images of brutally mangled bodies with the tops of their heads removed and exchanged for profit.

At no time does the team, or it’s fans re-enact, or attempt to imply that the name means any of that stuff. As a matter of fact, the team has a very negative opinion about “scalping” and strongly discourage it’s practice.

The logo isn’t showing a freshly scalped “injun” but a stoic, brave warrior. The fans and supporters of this team think of exactly what the original team owner thought of when he named the team; a group of fiercly devoted warriors to be respected and often feared.

Even if Mrs. Harjo get’s her day in court with her new barely-pubescent “plaintiffs” she’s going to lose.

She may have an argument that when used in a certain way, the term “redskin” can be very offensive. Such as if a bully were calling her that as he was dunking her head in a flushing toilet.

Unfortunately for her case, it can be found to mean other things that aren’t derogatory, much like shovels can still be called spades without intending offense to anyone because they refer to the shape of the shovel head. Those that are offended by such a thing choose to take offense.

The courts can’t control what people choose to be offended by. There is no way they can determine how, and to what level you were offended. What they can determine is the intent to offend by the perceived offender. You’ll notice there are no laws referring to “offensive smells” and that pornography laws define specifically what is pornographic without determining what is “offensive”.

The courts have danced around this issue because they know they cannot determine what is offensive. That’s why they referred to the statute of limitations on the recent case between Susan Harjo and Pro-Football Inc. Once you start regulating what is, or could be perceived as offensive, then you open up a whole new world where anybody can sue anybody for anything as long as they show that it was possible for them to be offended.

Some nerd could sue me for not conceding that Forza 3 is a much better Xbox game than Dirt 2 based on the fact that my loyalty to Dirt 2 offends his sensibilities. He could then sue me for referring to myself as a nerd, because he had a traumatic experience in high-school involving a restroom setting and has required years of therapy just to cope with hearing the word. Simultaneously, he could sue Willy Wonka, were he so inclined for their candies with the same name. He could certainly sue me for referring to him as a nerd; he could practically do that now.

He could then argue that Harjo vs. Pro-Football inc sets the precedence of allowing one to seek damages by showing how they could be so offended, even if no offense was intended.

The courts are already clogged up with enough senseless litigation; they will never open themselves up to the deluge of “perceived offense” cases.

Mrs. Harjo can continue her attempts, but in the end, it is only a matter of time before a court finally tells her she doesn’t have a case, and strikes out on appeal.

Would have been nice for all of us, if they had done so already…

Seven of those goals came in a game without Alex Ovechkin or Mike Green.

Now I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself and start talking about how dominant the Caps are playing right now. We should keep in mind that the Caps scored 11 goals against a struggling Panthers team, but the fact that they were able to do it without Ovechkin does speak volumes for the depth and heart that this organization has.

It is sometimes very easy for a team to throw their hands up when their best player is hurt and start to feel sorry for themselves. The Caps started to look like one of those teams Wednesday night in a losing effort to New Jersey, but Boudreau rallied the troops and they came out fighting Friday night in Sunrise Florida where they played a nearly flawless game against the Panthers.

Without further ado; let’s get to the recap!

Wednesday, November 4^th @ New Jersey – In typical fashion, the Caps jumped out to an early lead scoring the first goal of the game in the first period. Also in typical fashion, the Caps let the game slip away in the third period. After the Devils tied the game in the second period, the Caps gave them four power play opportunities in the third which resulted in two goals for the Devils. Coach Boudreau was not happy with his team’s performance. “When you go behind the net and you put your stick on a guy you’re going to get a penalty.” said Boudreau, “Brendan Morrison has been in the league for 10 years, Semin’s been in the league for five years. These guys know this. It’s just dumb penalties.”

Chris Clark; Devil Fighter - Caps Captain Chris Clark (say that three times fast) has two fighting majors this season. Both have come against New Jersey. He found himself in a scrape versus David Clarkson when the Devils came to Verizon back in October, and again here versus Rod Pelley.

Well that was disappointing – In the absence of Ovechkin, the team turned to their other Alex (Semin) to pick up the slack. Semin tallied only three shots on goal, but was flagged for two penalties, one of which gave the Devils the go-ahead goal.

Friday, November 6^th, @ Florida – In the first of a home-and-home series versus the Panthers, the Caps played a nearly flawless game. There were a couple of moments during the first period that would have been tough on those with heart conditions. Both net minders had some near misses where the puck hovered in the crease in front of an open net, only to be swept away by a defender. Tomas Vokoun had a shot squirt through his pads and slide perilously close to the goal-line before running out of steam and stopping just short. It looked like it was going to be the Caps first goal, but it was saved by a Florida defender from going in. The in typical Caps fashion, they again scored first, but this time was different. The Caps played mistake free hockey until the midway mark of the third period when they received their first penalty (50 minutes without a penalty!). Florida scored their only goal on that power-play, but then, a little over a minute later, the Caps were called for a 5-minute major. The Caps did not allow a single shot on goal for that five minutes and went on to win 4-1.

Who’s left? – The Caps came into the game with six defensemen. By the time Florida had scored their first goal, and were gearing up for five minutes of power-play time, the Caps were down to three. Mike Green and Jeff Shultz were both injured early in the game, and Shaone Morrison was not only assessed a five minute major, but was given a game misconduct penalty and kicked out of the game. Tyler Sloan, who had been converted from defenseman to forward before the game started, was re-converted back to defender after Green and Shultz were injured, and the bulk of the Caps defensive ice-time was divided up between Poti (28:42), Pothier (25:20), and Jurcina (23:12).

Blue-Collar Heroes – For the second consecutive game, the Caps first goal was scored by Tyler Sloan. Sloan (who was later converted to defenseman), and defender Tom Poti teamed up to account for two of the Caps four goals. The other two were scored by Brendan Morrison.

Morrison scored the Caps second goal, which became the game-winner when Florida scored their only goal on the power-play. The penalty that Florida scored on was Brendan Morrison, two minutes for interference. Morrison also scored the empty netter to make up for Florida’s PPG.

Saturday, November 7^th vs. Florida – This was going to be a tough game for both teams. Florida and Washington were both playing their third game in four nights. The Caps scored the only goal of the first period, but then it appeared that fatigue, combined with their mountain of injuries, had finally caught up with them as Florida scored three goals in the second period. The Caps looked like a beaten team in the second period as Florida was all over them, but the Caps were just “playin’ ‘possum” as they came out fresh in the third period and scored a season high five goals in that period alone. This time Florida was the team looking gassed scoring only one goal in the third, but ultimately unable to stop the onslaught as the Caps rolled to a 7-4 victory.

It’s a Trap! – The Caps have built a reputation for being a team that starts early but withers late. They have outscored teams in the first period by an amazing 20-6 in 17 games this season. It’s no surprise that the Panthers were lulled into believing they had this game in the bag after outshooting the Caps 23-16 in the first two periods and leading 3-2 to start the third.

The Caps had as many shots in the third period as they did in the first two combined, and scored on 31% of them. The Caps outskated, outshot, outscored and outhit a surprised Florida team in one of the best efforts I’ve seen from this team in a long time.

Coming up – The Caps enjoy a few days off, and don’t play again until Wednesday when they host the Islanders. They play again Friday when they bring Minnesota to Washington, and then it’s off to New Jersey again Saturday night.

Even though the Caps played two great games without their star winger and star defenseman, they are hoping for speedy recoveries for both as their opponents get tougher this week.

Hopefully the fun continues, as the Caps are playing well in their absence so far!

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

The players have the day off today, and boy do they need it. They played three games in four nights, and I’m sure they are exhausted.

The Caps played four total games last week and went 2-0-2, netting six of a possible eight points. Atlanta was their only divisional opponent, and they won that game in regulation.

Washington is 8-2-4 for the season and currently holds a commanding lead in the Southeast division with 20 points, followed by Tampa Bay in second place with 12, and Atlanta with 11.

We got a lot of games to cover, so let’s get to the recap!

Tuesday, October 27th vs. the Flyers – The Caps have been a “strike first” team this season, but after being held scoreless in the first period they found themselves down 2-0 after allowing Philly to score twice in the second period. Washington bounced back by scoring four unanswered goals and carried their win streak to five games.

It wasn’t for lack of effort – Philly peppered the net with 43 shots on goal, but it was “No Way” Jose Theodore that slammed the door shut stopping 41 of those shots including 20 in the third period alone. Even though Theo’s career record for shots faced in a game is 47, the 43 he faced Tuesday night were the most he had ever faced as a Washington Capital.

Can’t keep a good team down – The Caps have only had to come from behind on multifocal deficits twice this season, and in both occasions they have come back to win it. The previous time was the game immediately preceding this one where they found themselves down to the Islanders. Brooks Laich scored the game winner in OT.

Thursday, October 29th @ the Thrashers…again – It had to feel like déjà vu for the Caps who had just faced this Thrasher team the previous Thursday…also in Atlanta. It had to feel like déjà vu for the Thrashers as well as they fell to the Caps again on home ice. The Caps, who knew they had to play another game in less than 24 hours tried to put this game away early so they could start resting up their players for Friday night’s game. In a classic example of why you never “look past” you current opponent the Caps watched a three-goal lead evaporate in the third period. Atlanta, being down 3-2 pulled their goalie in favor of the extra attacker. Mike Knuble had no idea his empty net goal would be the game winner (it made the score 4-2) as the Thrashers got what would have been the tying goal in the last 1/2 second of regulation, but by then it wasn’t enough and the Caps held on for the 4-3 win.

Define: “Four Point” game – When you beat a division opponent in regulation, it is referred to as a “four point” game. You gain two points in the standings for the win, and at the same time cost your opponents two points by preventing them from winning. To really see it, you need to look at the season standings. Washington held a 7-point lead in the Southeast division going into Thursday’s game. Two teams were tied for second; Atlanta and Tampa. At the end of the night, the Caps still had a seven point lead in the division (Tampa won their game), but now had a nine point lead over Atlanta.

Back on Track – After a short slump where he was held without a goal for two games Alex Ovechkin came back and scored four goals in two games including two here versus Atlanta to give him 13 goals in 12 games.

Friday, October 30th vs. the Islanders – While the Caps were in Atlanta tangling with the Thrashers, the Islanders were in Washington helping themselves to whatever the Caps had in the fridge and kicking their feet up onto the coffee table. The Caps may have had the home ice advantage, but considering that they had just finished playing a game the night before, it was New York that had the advantage. The Caps kept it close and even held the lead a few times throughout the game, but just couldn’t seem to shake the Islanders and ultimately fell to them in OT by the final score of 4-3.

THN on Ice – Our own Jake Russell was at the game Friday night posting a live blog from the press box. Click here to check out his blog and video interviews after the game.

Sunday, November 1^st vs. the Blue Jackets – Even though the Caps lost Alex Ovechkin early in the second period, they weren’t going to go down without a fight. After scoring the game’s first goal, they found themselves trailing 2-1 at the beginning of the third period. Brooks Laich stepped up and scored the game tying and go-ahead goals putting the Caps up 3-2. A short while later Raffi Torres tied it up, but the Caps regained their lead when Quintin Lang scored with a little more than three minutes left to play in regulation. With less than half a minute to go in regulation, it was Torres who brought the score even at four and forced overtime where the Caps would fall 5-4.

Sometimes, it’s just not going to be your day – Jose Theodore played a great game, but was victimized by two unfortunate incidents that lead to goals. The first of which was in the second period when Theo went behind the net to play the puck, only to have the puck take an unusual bounce away from him, back towards the front of the net and straight to R. J. Umberger who stashed it home. The second came midway through the third where Theo had his stick knocked out of his hand as he slid left to protect against the wrap-around he had nothing to defend his right side where Raffi Torres was waiting to tap the puck in on the now stickless stick-side.

Coming Up – The Caps have three games this week starting Wednesday night in New Jersey. They then go to Florida to face the Panthers on Friday, and bring them back to DC for another meeting on Saturday.

In the meantime, we’ll all be crossing our fingers on Ovechkin!

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

The New York Islanders come into the Verizon Center looking to avenge a 3-2 overtime loss to the Capitals just six nights ago in Nassau Coliseum. Making his first trip to the Verizon Center is 19-year old John Tavares. The 2009 No. 1 overall draft choice is second on the team with points and goals scored. The Capitals will also welcome a familiar face back to the rink when Brendan Witt hits the ice. Witt spent 10 seasons in Washington from 1995-2006. He was traded to the Nashville Predators in the second half of the 2006 season for Kris Beech and the Predators’ first round selection, which the Capitals used to select goaltender Semyon Varlomov.

1st Period Overview:

Not surprisingly the Capitals struck first with a goal from none other than Alexander Ovechkin, who is on pace for a third straight MVP season. The Capitals did a great job getting themselves out of jams by clearing the puck from behind their own net to across the rink on several occassions. That was until the Islanders were able to capitalize off of that pressure they forced and retaliated with a goal by Kyle Okposo (his third on the season) with an assist coming from Witt.

Goals: NY – 1 WAS – 1
Shots: NY – 11 WAS – 9
Power Play Goals: NY – 0 WAS – 1
Hits: NY – 9 WAS – 4

2nd Period Overview:

The second period was a tale of two scorers. There was not much defense to be had, especially in the final minutes. The Islanders struck first with a goal from Frans Nielson to go up 2-1, Tomas Fleischmann, who made his season debut last night against the Thrashers after missing the start of the season with deep vein thrombosis (a blood clot) in his leg, delivered his first two goals of the season to give the Caps their second lead of the night at 3-2. His second came with a little over three minutes to go. Just over one minute later, Nielson closed out the period with his second goal of the season as well with 2:10 remaining to tie it up at 3.

Goals: NY – 2 WAS – 2
Shots: NY – 9 WAS – 13
Power Play Goals: NY – 0 WAS – 1
Hits: NY – 2 WAS – 9

3rd Period Overview:

The Capitals spent most of their time as they did in the first period, trying to clear traffic out from goaltender Jose Theodore’s way. This period was a battle of defenses. The contest ended in regulation as it did on Satruday night with a tied score headed into overtime.

Goals: NY – 0 WAS – 0
Shots: NY – 8 WAS – 17
Power Play Goals: NY – 0 WAS – 0
Hits: NY – 8 WAS – 6

Overtime Overview:

The Islanders earned their first victory over the Capitals since February 2008 in the same fashion the Capitals earned their win last win against the Isles Saturday night; in the first minute of overtime. This time, Mark Streit is the hero of the night for New York, who shocked the crowd by taking advantage of a puck-handling error by Capitals defenseman Mike Green just 0:53 into overtime.

Goals: NY – 1 WAS – 0
Shots: NY – 2 WAS – 0
Power Play Goals: NY – 0 WAS – 0
Hits: NY – 0 WAS – 0

Tom Poti – Postgame Interview

Tomas Fleischmann – Postgame Interview

Bruce Boudreau – Postgame Presser

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!

THN Turning Point:
Green’s goal in the third period – it gave the Capitals life, and seemed to subsequently put the Islanders back on their heels.

Game Summary:

For two periods of the Capitals – Islanders game, it was a dull, low scoring affair. The Islanders couldn’t put them away early though, and the Caps came back with two goals in the third period and forced overtime, where Brooks Laich scored to give Washington a 3-2 victory.

Laich’s goal came just a minute into the extra period, when he crashed the net and tipped in a Mike Green pass. It was Laich’s fourth goal of the young season, and his first game winning goal; but make no mistake about it, the goal was created by Green. The young blue-liner looked like a man possessed on the rush, and carried the puck out of his own zone, through the neutral ice, and into the Isles zone; he then threw the puck at a streaking Laich, who tapped it into the net.

The win was Washington’s third overtime victory in a row in New York – in fact, it was actually the fourth consecutive overtime decision between the two squads at Nassau Coliseum. Alex Ovechkin scored two overtime winners last year, and Rickard Park gave the Isles an overtime win over the Caps back on December 22, 2007.

Early on, the Islanders took the lead on a first period short-handed goal from Radek Martinek. The Capitals got caught up ice on the power play, and Martinek made them pay on a nifty 3-on-2 pass from Frans Nielsen. New York had a 1-0 lead, and the Caps had given up the game’s first goal for just the second time in their first ten games.

It stayed that way until New York made it 2-0 at the beginning of the third. Jeff Tambellini redirected a Blake Comeau shot that was going wide, and tipped it past Jose Theodore for a two goal spread. Believe it or not, it was the first time in this 10-game old season that the Caps have trailed by two goals. Comeau’s shot came after Josh Bailey beat Nicklas Backstrom clean on a draw to the right of Theodore; the Caps were dismal at the face-off dot on Saturday, going just 20 of 66 (30%).

Less than three minutes later, Mike Green got Washington back to within one. The Capitals broke out of their own end beautifully, and hit Mike Knuble as he entered the Isles zone; Knuble sensed Green jumping into the play and laid a beautiful blind back pass on to his stick. Green made no mistake and fired a Howlitzer off the far post and in, to half the deficit to 2-1 Islanders.

The Caps completed the comeback at just past the 13-minute mark of the third. Keith Aucoin took advantage of an out-of-the-net Dwayne Roloson, and tucked the puck in on a wrap around. Alex Ovechkin was going hard to the net and an Islander defenseman pushed him into the crease – putting Roloson out of position. Aucoin picked up the loose puck behind the net and banked it in off of New York center Josh Bailey to even the game at 2-2.

After the game, coach Bruce Boudreau said that he sensed the outcome coming, “I just thought the play of the team… you could feel it on the bench that they were going to come back tonight.”

Jose Theodore had a lot to do with the victory as he fought hard and kept the Caps in the game. While he only had to face 24 shots, crucial saves early on were a big part of what allowed the Caps to storm back.

Doing so brought the Caps record to 6-2-2 atop the Southeast Division, and second overall in the Conference behind only the Pittsburgh Penguins. It was Washington’s fourth win in a row.

Notes:
The Caps had five first period shots on goal, their fewest in any first period this season… the Islanders blocked an impressive 25 shots – 10 in each of the first two periods, and 5 in the third… the Caps took just two penalties on the evening – a marked improvement in discipline… Both Ovechkin and Green logged more than 26 minutes of ice time… Keith Aucoin had the least amount of ice time for any Cap with less than 9 minutes, but made it count with the game-tying goal in the third.

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

The Caps, who came out swinging in their first two games, went down flailing in their last three going from 2-0-0 to 2-2-1.

Ordinarily, I’d break down the games with a quick blurb about the game, and some noteable notes, but I feel your pain Caps fans. We don’t really want to re-live last week do we?

I didn’t think so.

How is it that the Caps are playing this poorly?

1) You gotta play D – Defense isn’t just in your own zone; it’s at center ice and in the attack zone as well. You are going to turn the puck over sometimes and you need to be ready to stop them before they cross center ice.

2) Watch those penalties – Watch your stick; keep it low. If you keep your stick low to the ice at all times you lessen the chances of hooking and high sticking penalties. Watch your opponents’ feet. Keep your stick outta there and you avoid the trip penalty. I’m not saying that’s an easy task, but it’s a lot easier than playing PK all night.

3) A goal is a goal – Goals don’t always have to be pretty. Stuff-ins, tuck-ins, rebounds; if it crosses the goal line it counts. Get some bodies in front of the net then start taking your shots. If you can see the net…shoot; then let your guys in front of the net play whack-a-mole with the puck.

Now last week wasn’t all bad news. The Caps lost each of their games by one goal, so nothing was ever out of reach; they weren’t blow outs, just a few bad nights. The Caps played some good hockey, but in the end they just came up a little short.

Here are some things to put a smile on a Caps-fan’s face

- Center Brendan Morrison has four points in his last four games (3g-1a) and stands fifth on the team in scoring (tied for third in goals). Last season, with Anaheim , Morrison didn’t record his fourth point until Nov. 16. He has at least one shot on goal in all five games this season and has scored on half of the shots he has taken. His ice time has been above 16:00 in each of the last three games; in the first two games he skated under 15:00 per game.

- Alex Ovechkin had nine shots on goal in Saturday’s game at Detroit and 10 hits. That matched his hit total from the first four games of the season and moved him into a tie for second in the league in hits (20). His 35 shots on goal are 11 more than any other player in the league (nearly double any other Cap). Ovechkin assisted on Brendan Morrison’s power-play goal, moving him into a share of the NHL scoring lead with teammate Nicklas Backstrom and two others.

– Goaltender Jose Theodore has a .930 save percentage in his three starts this season (80 saves, 6 GA), including a .924 save percentage in the Caps’ last two losses. He stopped 34 of 37 shots against the Red Wings Saturday night.

– Washington already has six power-play goals this season (6-for-24, 25%), including at least one in every game. The Capitals are still without a PPG from their top two power-play goal scorers last season (Alex Ovechkin and Mike Green). All five of Ovechkin’s goals have come at even strength.

- Washington has three of the top 5 point-leaders in the league (Ovechkin-10, Backstrom-10, and Semin-9), and two of the top 5 goal scorers (Ovechkin-5 and Semin-5)

The Week Ahead

This week starts tonight with the Caps back home against the Devils, and they stay home all week facing the Sharks on Thursday and Predators on Saturday. For those of you keeping score, that’s two more playoff teams from last year they will be facing this week. The Caps went 2-0-2 last year versus the Devils, lost the only game they played versus the Sharks, and won both their games versus the Predators in OT.

So it doesn’t really get any easier Caps fans, but with a sold out Verizon Center should help the them feel right at home this week!

Rock the Red and as always…

LET’S GO CAPS!!!