Caps vs. Ning 10-24-2007 Post-Mortem

Always listen to the gamblers... Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...

THE GOOD:

• I wonder how many Caps fans are cursing the instigator penalty tonight considering that it benched Vincent Lecavalier for the balance of the game with the Caps leading by two goals. It certainly would have been harder for the Caps to hold on had he been taking a regular shift. For the life of me I can't figure out what Shaone Morrrissonnn did to make him snap like that.
• Captain Chris Clark return to the top line was a triumph tonight with two goals including the game winner. Though I have to say that it was rather unfair to expect him to put up 30 goals skating with Boyd Gordon and Matt "Princess" Pettinger who will never be mistaken for Viktor Kozlov and A.O.
• Speaking of A.O., three points tonight including the empty netter. A.O. is now 2 points behind Dino Ciccarelli for 29th on the Caps All-Time scoring list. A.O. also had a great pass to give David Steckel a layup for his first NHL goal.

THE BAD:

• Was it me or did the Caps seem to think that they could sit on a 1-0 lead for 54 minutes?
• In addition to trying to sit on a 1-0 lead for 54 minutes, the Caps let the Ning quickly get back even after going up 2-1 with an ugly shorthanded goal allowed.
• Alexander Semin taking the body tonight was about all he did as he played like a guy who hadn't played in three weeks.
• BTW, what did Kozlov do to get benched in the third period? He finished 8-3 on faceoffs tonight which is beyond superb for him.

THE UGLY:

• Once again the Power Play underperformed but they did generate 8 shots in 8 minutes of Power Play time. Semin on the point cost them the shorthanded goal that took the wind out of their sails. It is because of that shorthanded goal that the unit once again resides in the ugly department despite showing some real improvement tonight if not any goals.
• Though what is as ugly as the Power Play tonight is the Caps forechecking. It's been pretty much MIA since the opening weekend.

This was the kind of win that the Caps needed. Two more players got into the goal scoring column tonight and the defense did a great job of containing and frustrating Lecavalier and St. Louis (8 shots and one goal between them, 6 of those shots and the goal go to St. Louis) as Olie Kolzig did not have to stand on his head tonight to keep the Caps in the game. However there were some very close calls on the Penalty Kill tonight and the Caps should have completely closed out the Ning after Lecavalier ended his night. At some point the excuse of inexperience on the blueline is going to run out. However, the win is a nice reward for their efforts tonight.

It has been... A TWO POINT NIGHT!!!