Caps @ Thrashers 10-19-2006 Post-Mortem

Another road game and another gimmick loss leaves the Caps still looking for their first win on the road.

THE GOOD:

• If it wore an ugly light blue jersey, the Caps were hitting it tonight. It was the one thing that the Caps were consistently doing tonight.
• Brent Johnson had another great effort tonight with 40 saves. The three goals he gave up you really can't fault him on. Too bad he loses another game because of a gimmick.
• For once the Caps actually played well in the second period. It took them awhile to get going, but this time they made up for the slumbering.

THE BAD:

• TOO MANY PENALITES. Atlanta had two 5 on 3's. While they were both killed off, that is too many to be giving up.
• The Power Play again struggled. It took a 5 on 3 for them to get settled and if memory serves, the one Power Play goal the Caps did score came off a faceoff.
• The Caps once again did all their scoring in one period. I hope they realize that they are allowed to score goals in more than just one period of the game.

THE UGLY:

• Last night the Caps took a four goal lead into the third and won by three. Tonight they tried to sit on a one goal lead in the third and they paid for it.
• For long stretches of the night, the offense was so bad that Hanlon had to play A.O. on every line to get the offense going tonight and Donald Brashear logged 2:20 seconds of ice time on the Power Play for a similar reason.
• This game was decided by a gimmick.

Well the Caps got a point tonight but they should have had two in regulation. Part of the learning process for this team is winning one goal games on the road. For the most part, the effort was there even if the offense couldn't get anything going. What makes this loss disappointing is not just the gimmick, but the fact that the Caps gave up the tying goal with under one minute left. At this time last year, the Caps were getting blown out on the road, now they're losing in heartbreaking fashion. You can see that this team is getting better but still has a long way to go.