Caps @ Red Wings 10-10-2009 Post-Mortem

We've got nothing for this one... Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...

THE GOOD:

• We're sure there will be people out there blaming this loss on Jose "Alvin, Simon," Theodore but the truth of the matter is, he stopped every shot he saw and some he didn't see. .919% save percentage tonight, you can't ask for much more.
• With Bruce Boudreau looking for contributions from the third and fourth lines tonight, Matt "Omar" Bradley comes up with a goal and his line were the only plus players on the team tonight.
• Anybody who wants to claim that A.O. doesn't work hard or care about defense should be forced to watch this game.

THE BAD:

• Good thing Theodore was on his game tonight because the Caps allowed 37 shots on goal. Another sign they didn't have the puck much tonight, the Caps blocked 20 shots from the Red Wings and Detroit missed everything 11 times. Those are numbers we usually put up.
• And speaking of our shot totals, only 24 shots on goal, 7 misses, and 9 blocked. Sometimes we get too cute with the puck, however tonight, we simply didn't have the puck enough to get too cute with it.
• The Penalty Killers allowed two goals tonight. In game as close as this one was on the scoreboard, it was one too many.

THE UGLY:

• The Caps were only able to get four shots on goal in the third period. Even if the Caps had stayed out of the penalty box in the third, at the rate they were generating offense in that period, the only chance the Caps had at getting two points tonight was from a gimmick.
• And speaking of penalties, as long as the penalty killing is going to the suffer the way it has and the Caps are facing a good power play unit, the Caps cannot take 5 penalties during the game.
• While the overall defensive effort was much better tonight than it has been over the last few games, the Caps have to turn that defensive effort into getting and keeping the puck. There's a reason why they say "the best defense is a good offense."

Compared to the other two games this week, tonight's game was a notch down on the intensity level but still a rather high intensity one none the less. The prescription going forward is pretty simply, stay out of the penalty box as much as possible. The bad news for the Caps is that the competition isn't going to get any easier in the next week. We told you there would be slumps.