Caps vs. Devils 12-10-2007 Post-Mortem

Man was that painful to watch... Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...

THE GOOD:

• Jeff "Sergeant" Schultz scoring in consecutive games. Quick, take a picture because it will last longer
• A.O. moves into a tie with Joe Juneau for 25th on the Caps All-Time scoring list with 236 points. Up next at 24 is Alan Haworth who posted 268 points in 346 games with the Caps.
• The second period tonight was as dominating of a performance as I've seen from the Caps against the Devils in a long time. The Caps got 10 shots on goal and only allowed 2 while scoring two goals themselves. Joisey was totally hemmed into their own zone.

THE BAD:

• The experiment of placing Mr. Donald Brashear should be over after tonight. Brashear foolishly tried to carry the puck out of his own zone by trying to beat three Devils players by himself. Needless to say that it didn't work and as a matter of fact, the turnover he coughed up at the blueline lead to the Devils first goal of the game.
• And speaking of the line combinations, I didn't see a single line that clicked all night. While some of this has to do with injuries, the sooner the walking wounded return to the lineup the better.
• John Erskine Bowles picks up a pair of assists tonight but ends the night even. Why? Because he was on the ice for both of Joisey's goals. I think Brian Pothier has learned his lesson.

THE UGLY:

• If there ever was a game that deserved to be decided by a gimmick but wasn't, it was tonight's game. Neither team can be happy with their performance as nobody had any jump for most of the night and sloppy play was the standard operating procedure tonight.
• At the start of the third period it was clear that the Devils had picked up their game and the Caps for whatever reason were unable to match them. I wasn't surprised that the Devils cut to one as quickly as they did, even after the first goal of the period was waved off.
• What was Bill McCreary doing tonight? I knew that goal at the end of the first period wasn't going to be counted because McCreary wasn't pointing at the net. Quick whistles happen but why did he have to be bailed out by Toronto on the kicked in goal?

One positive of tonight's game is that the Caps were able to get away with a win despite not playing very well. I had a feeling that the game was going to be tied by the way the Devils came somewhat to life and the Caps fought to hang on throughout the third period. Olie Kolzig giving up a very soft goal and seemingly fighting the puck in the third didn't help matters either but luckily the Devils didn't tie up the game. But the good news tonight is that we won while not playing our best and of the 11 wins on the season, I cannot think of a game before tonight where that was the case.

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