Caps @ Sharks 12-30-2009 Post-Mortem

Disappointing to say the least... Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...

THE GOOD:

• Last year A.O. did most of his goal scoring in the third period, this year it has been the first period.  Tonight he scored a semi-meaningless goal in the third to take over the goal scoring race in the NHL.  However for the first time since returning from his absurd suspension, he was mixing it up physically all over the ice.  Douglas Murray started to stray over the line towards the end of the game, but he woke A.O. up and while the Sharks got away with it tonight, the rest of the league may not be so lucky.

THE BAD:

• For a team with so much skill, why are the Caps so bad skating 4-on-4?  No shots on goal tonight and two allowed with the extra ice.
• While the Power Play got the offense going in the second period, they went 0 for 4 and the squandered opportunities allowed the Sharks to pull away.
• For the second game in a row, the Caps get only a few shots on goal in the first period.  Tonight is was only 3 shots.  For a team that has been living off of fast starts all season long, you're not going to get out to a good start with that.

THE UGLY:

• Any thoughts of a goaltender controversy ended tonight with Michal "Bebe" Neuvirth looking like the rookie that he is, especially so on the two penalty shots where he didn't even come close to making a save.  The frustrating part was the nice saves he made in the first period to keep the game close.  Such is the life of rookies goaltenders in the NHL.
  
• We're wondering folks, Mike "BEAM ME UP" Green make the Canadian Olympic squad???  Joe Beninati and Craig Laughlin barely talked about today's announcement of the Canadian roster so we're not sure if he made the team or not...
  

Well folks, you could kind of see this coming.  After the lackluster performance on Monday night, cross-country trip, and a fired up opponent playing in a building that the Caps haven't won in since 1993, this game could have been much worse.  Hades, last year it was 7-2 and could have been that ugly again tonight.  This was looking like the Edmonton game from a couple of weeks ago only the Sharks aren't as bad as the Oilers.  Chalk this one up to the Caps getting outclassed by a good team because that is exactly what happened.