Caps vs. Penguin Scum 3-8-2009 Post-Mortem

Baby steps... Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...

THE GOOD:

• With his 47th goal of the season, A.O. is now at 394 points in his NHL career and is now 1 point behind Bobby Carpenter for 14th on the Caps All-Time Scoring list.
• Alexander "Slappy" Semin with another goal, extending his goal scoring streak to 6 games, but he was clearly the best skater on the ice for either team today. His penalty killing in the third period is a large reason why the Caps got the point that they did today.
• Nicklas Backstrom surpassed his point total from last year today and another Cap who set a new career high (it feels stupid saying that about a second year player), Brooks "and Dunn" Laich who had a beautiful finish on a breakaway in the third period to tie the game up.

THE BAD:

• Want to know why the Caps gave up two goals in the second period? They got away from their dump and chase game and weren't forechecking. They played much better when they were dumping and chasing the puck and putting pressure on the Penguin Scum defense.
• We couldn't help but notice the glaring difference in the Penguin Scum today from two weeks ago. The entire team was following their team Captain, Canadian Diving Team Captain, Secondary Assist Low Blow Cindy Crosby with the extra curricular stick work and constant whining and complaining at the officiating crew. Two weeks ago, on Low Blow Cindy was crying at the refs and the rest of her team mates looked to be embarrassed by her. Today they all joined in the whinefest at referees Dan Marouelli and Eric Furlatt who, save for a pretty obvious goaltender interference call they decided to ignore in the third period, called a pretty decent game.
• We thought the whole idea behind the Bettman point was to give teams an incentive to play overtime like it really mattered? Four shots between the two teams and no real interest in getting the win before the gimmick. It seems very odd too for a Penguin Scum team in desperate need of every point it can get its hands on.

THE UGLY:

• The game was decided by a gimmick
• 2 goals allowed in the second period on five shots.
• The Caps needed to get off to a strong start today and Tom Poti makes a John "Coach's Pet" Erskine Bowles like step up in the neutral zone leaving Jeff "Sergeant" Schultz to defend a two-on-one which lead to the Penguin Scum's first goal. That our friends is the John "Coach's Pet" Erskine Bowles Bonehead Play of the Game.

So maybe as once comfortable leads get a little tighter, the Caps finally get the message that they need to step up their play. 15 games are left in the season and the Caps need every single one of them to get ready for the post season. The big thing that we take away from today's game is the comeback at the start of the third period. During the losing streak up until today, the Caps would fall behind by two or more goals and fall apart. The Caps didn't do that today. They came out storming in the third period and tied up the game and for the most part, kept the Penguin Scum on their heels. A little more composure in the first period and staying with the game plan in the second period, we could have an entirely different outcome. But crawl before you can walk and walk before you can run.