Caps vs. Blackhawks 10-11-2008 Post-Mortem

The more things change... Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...

THE GOOD:

• A.O. finally got himself on track with two goals in vintage A.O. style, snapping a snap shot past a befuddled goaltender.
• Jose "Alvin, Simon" Theodore got off to yet another shaky start tonight but found his groove and backstopped his first win as a Capital. Some of the problems remain communication but Theodore's confidence level was clearly very low early on but looks to be improving.
• With some shaky goaltending, the Caps went 5 for 5 on the Penalty Kill tonight, no small feat.

THE BAD:

• The Caps can't keep getting off to a slow start. Hopefully whatever it was has gotten out of their system and they'll get out to a lead on Vancouver on Monday night.
• The Power Play is already in mid-season form, 0 for 4 tonight.
• The Caps had another block party, having 15 shots blocked and 10 that missed everything. Add them together and they're more than the shots that actually made it on goal.

THE UGLY:

• David "Bolt Cutter" Steckel wins tonight's John "Coach's Pet" Erskine Bowles Bonehead Play of the Game Award for his flagrant slew footing of some Blackhawk after coming out of the Penalty Box. First of all, what was Steckel thinking; secondly, he was very lucky he didn't get a five minute penalty for doing something that flagrant.
• Did we call it on the uniforms or did we call it? BTW, we didn't notice any sponsor logos on the shirts and/or pants nor was any sponsor mentioned. Did getting thrown under the bus scare them off or was there never any sponsor in the first place?

Certainly a better effort overall tonight, but we noticed that the Caps were rushing their shots in the offensive zone. It seemed as if there would be two hand offs in the corner on the cycle and then the puck would go to the net. There were also way too many cross-ice passes through the box at even strength for our taste. We know that Bruce Boudreau likes to put the pedal down and go full throttle, but there needs to be better patience and not so much frantic activity. Of course, not having to play from behind would also be an immense help. But either way, the Caps won't get to an 0-3 start and that is a good thing.

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