Caps @ Wild 10-12-2006 Post-Mortem

Overall I felt it was an uneven effort as the Caps fall 3-2 as the result of a gimmick.

THE GOOD:

• Brent Johnson got the start tonight, acquitted himself well, and looked very solid in net. Olie Kolzig is still the starter on this team and there won't be any goaltending controversy anytime soon.
• The Caps came out in the first period and took advantage of a Wild team that looked flat for the first 20 minutes and had a 2-1 lead going into the locker room.
• The penalty killers improved as the game went on and killed 8 of 10 Minnesota Power Plays.

THE BAD:

• What is it with the second period? So far this season, the Caps have come unglued in the second period.
• If passes counted for scoring on the Power Play, then the Caps would have done well tonight. But passes have to be converted into goal and the Caps just didn't do it tonight going just 1-6. The shots that were taken as a result of the passing didn't make Fernandez stand on his head.
• The Penalty Killing early in the game was running around in our zone way too much. That always spells disaster.

THE UGLY:

• TOO MANY PENALTIES! Both Wild goals came on the Power Play. Had the Caps stayed out of the box, they could have won this game.
• The Wild seemed willing to take the game to overtime once the third period started, the Caps obliged.
• This game was decided by a gimmick. That will always qualify as ugly in my book. Get rid of the freakin' shootout.

Getting a point on the road is always a good thing. The gimmick "gives the fans a result" but in a game like this tonight, does anybody really feel any better about "winning" or "losing"? I know I don't. Neither team put forward a performance worthy of a win and mostly skated through the third period until penalties were called. Overtime was much the same way with a few odd exceptions (mostly when A.O. was on the ice). This is a perfect example of a game that the gimmick only extends things instead of "providing a proper conclusion."