Caps @ Flyers 11-23-2007 Post-Mortem

Almost... Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...

THE GOOD:

• Well, the five game losing streak is over and that is never a bad thing no matter how you go about doing it.
• The Penalty Killers put on an impressive display killing of a 1:45 5-on-3 and not giving the Flyers much to work with in the first period. Had the Flyers scored on that, it would have been a very different hockey game. The one goal they did give up today was a bit of a joke as why the referees didn't blow the whistle is beyond me.
• Getting A.O. off the point and placing Mike "BEAM ME UP" Green on the point paid instant dividends as the Power Play got an easy goal early on. The Flyers were more concerned about A.O. on the half-wall which left Green wide open for his shot. Why Green didn't regularly play on the Power Play before today is one of the mysteries of the Hanlon era.
• And speaking of A.O., we scored four goals today and he didn't score a single one of them himself. I'm interested to know the last time that happened...
• Our forechecking game made an appearance today and had the Flyers bottled up in their own zone for a good portion of the third period. I never understood why we got away from that when it was a large part of the 3 game winning streak that opened the season.

THE BAD:

• Captain Chris Clark taking 19 minutes in penalties late in the second period which spurred the Flyers comeback and all because of a clean hard hit. The Flyers once again were looking to goon things up and the Caps once again took the bait. At least we won the game this time around which is the ultimate revenge but we need to maintain our discipline in order to be successful.
• Milan Jurcina returns to the lineup and is a team low -2. Will we see Steve Eminger soon?

THE UGLY:

• Admit it, when the Flyers tied the game up at three, you thought "here we go again, the more things change, the more they stay the same." You could even see it on the players' faces and in their reaction when the Flyers tied it up. The Caps did well enough to get into the second intermission with a 3-2 lead but the game should have never gotten into overtime. The bad breakouts and turnovers returned as the game wore on.
• What was the deal with Bruce Boudreau's shirt??? Was that thing battery powered???

Well, a win is a win is a win and this came against a pretty good hockey team on the road too. It wasn't as if the Caps did this against the Phoenix Coyotes or the Edmonton Oilers. I think it is safe to say that for the first time this season the Caps found a way to win. While they have a long way to go to climb out of this hole, this is something to build upon.

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