Caps vs. Devils 11-14-2008 Post-Mortem

Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...

THE GOOD:

• Can't get much better than 1 for 1 on the Power Play with 2 shots on goal, though more Power Play chances would have been nice...
• Typically, the Caps make backup goaltenders look like All-Stars, and while they seemed to try, they didn't accomplish that task tonight.
• Jose "Alvin, Simon," Theodore played his best game as a Cap tonight. He had 32 saves and allowed only one goal. He didn't exactly stand on his head but for the first time season, did not give up a soft goal and made most of the big saves he needed to make.

THE BAD:

• Tomas Fleischmann continues to show why he's all flash and no finish and a waste of $725K. Yes he was named the first star of the game which is a mystery because those of us who were coming to games at this point last season (which would include the Washington media and TV and Radio crew) saw the exact same thing out of Fleischmann who would create chance after chance and fail to finish them. Was the fact that he finally converted a chance created for him the reason why he was the #1 star?
• While Tarik El-Bashir is reporting a mild shoulder sprain for Alexander Semin, the fact that Semin got hurt tonight is not good. While A.O. has officially broken out of his slump, the Caps are going to need Semin to be successful.
• BTW, that A.O. "Russian Machine" Cartoon thing was lame.

THE UGLY:

• We admit that we are not 100% certain but we are reasonably sure that John "Coach's Pet" Erskine Bowles was the defenseman who took his sweet time making a line change in the third period that led to Patrik Elias being wide open for a breakaway goal earning his $2.5 million, two year extension and tonight's John "Coach's Pet" Erskine Bowles Bonehead Play of the Game Award. Is it any wonder that Tyler Sloan gets more ice time than him?
• 13 shots on goal for the Devils in both the first and second periods tonight. Again, while Theodore didn't have to stand on his head, the volume of shots is too many, especially against a team like New Jersey.
• So Mr. "I don’t think it is a good idea to mix politics and sports" why did Senator-Elect (his proper title, BTW) Mark Warner become the first politician visiting the owners box at a Caps game to be introduced to the crowd? We know he's a friend but that doesn't cut it.

While the Devils are clearly not the same without Martin Brodeur, you got a chance to see tonight what happens when a team actually tries to defend as opposed to what we saw Wednesday night when they just stand around and let you "dance and prance" all over the place. We were worried that Wednesday night's game would lead to bad habits but fortunately they didn't, at least for tonight. However the Caps still need to drive the net harder and get to some of the rebounds that they missed tonight. Hitting wide open nets, like the one Tom Poti missed, would be nice too.

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