Caps @ Islanders 3-10-2007 Post-Mortem

At least we didn't set a record... Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...

THE GOOD

• I was seriously beginning to wonder if we would score another goal this season, but at least A.O. and Mr. Donald Brashear finally got things going for us after chance after chance after chance. The Caps had 34 shots on goal and unlike last night, really made Rick DiPietro work.
• And speaking of A.O. and Mr. Brashear, they both had outstanding games tonight. A.O. was all over the place (and did a good job in his own zone) and I was glad to see Mr. Brashear drop Brendan Witt. Let's face it, Witt is a punk. He was a punk when he played for us and he's a punk for the Islanders. (He should have been called for diving after taking that left jab from Mr. Brashear.)
• Tomas Fleischmann was another Cap with a strong hockey game tonight.

THE BAD:

• As good as Brent Johnson was last night, he was awful tonight. When the offense is sputtering, giving up a goal two minutes in is not the way to start.
• The luck again ran against the Caps. The Caps outplayed New York tonight and lose by three goals. The Islanders loudly ring a goalpost and it goes in. The Caps loudly ring the same goalpost, it is stays out. The Caps cleared out rebounds in their own zone but gave up goals on the rush. The Caps couldn't get to rebounds in the Islanders zone until A.O. and Mr. Brashear cashed in.

THE UGLY:

• Mike "BEAM ME UP" Green's -3 rating for tonight. While most of that wasn't his fault, it still does not look good.
• Referees Bill McCreary and Tim Peel ushered in the return of clutch and grab hockey tonight. I stopped keeping track after the fourth blown call in the first ten minutes of the first period.

While the margin on the scoreboard certainly does not indicate it, there was a number of good things that came out of tonight's game. The Caps generated good offense tonight and didn't get run over in their own zone. The only nitpick is that the Caps need to get to more rebounds in the offensive zone. I don't think it was any accident that the two goals scored came off of rebounds. Tonight it was the goaltending that let the Caps down and with the imminent return of Olie Kolzig, the Caps have a good chance to end the season on a high note like they wish to.