Caps @ Thrashers 10-29-2009 Post-Mortem

Ever get that deja vu feeling??? Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...

THE GOOD:

• A.O. with another three point night, reclaiming the league lead in points with 21. Would have had more points if his New SOB Line hadn't gotten so pass happy as the game wore on.
• Only two penalties committed by the Caps tonight, none in the third period. Much better discipline especially as the game began to slip away.
• 2 for 5 on the Power Play tonight. Are they awakening from their slumber?
• Semyon "The Saviour" Varlamov came up large for the most part in the third period. He hung on as the team in front of him dropped off badly.

THE BAD:

• Jeff "Sergeant" Schultz with two very bad blind passes behind the net tonight for ugly giveaways. Very disappointing to see as we thought he had been playing well recently.
• Nicklas Backstrom was getting abused in the faceoff circle tonight going 4-10 on draws.

THE UGLY:

• It's not often that an empty net goal ends up being the game winning goal. But that was happened tonight and it isn't a good thing folks, especially when you enter the third period with a 3-0 lead.
• Once again the Caps allow 20 shots on goal in the third period, 41 for the entire game. To make matters worse, the Thrashers had not taken more than 28 shots in a single game so far this season.

Well folks, instead of coming out flat for the start of tonight's game, the Caps came out flat at the start of the third period, again. We admit, it is tough to dominate a team for an entire 60 minutes even if that is what you strive for. There are going to be stretches of bad play within games but the key to them is to keep them as short as possible and come away with a lead or remain within striking difference once they're over. We do have to give the Caps credit, they are mastering that ability early on this season.

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