Caps vs. Canes 12-11-2009 Post-Mortem

Do you think A.O. is on Tim Gleason's Christmas Card list this year???  Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...

THE GOOD:

• Alexander "Slappy" Semin busts up the shutout streak by posting two goals in the second period.  Great patience too on the second goal by not overskating the net and waiting for Cam Ward to give him the puck back.
• Mike "BEAM ME UP" Green up to his old tricks again.  The giveaway in the third period leading to Gleason's goal was more a good read and play by Gleason than a bad pass by Green.  But atoning for that mistake and not getting back on the first goal by securing the extra point tonight with the overtime game winning goal.  Furthermore, him getting clipped early in the first woke him up and had him throwing some huge hits tonight.
  
• Whoever runs the videos on the scoreboard, it was a pretty lifeless crowd and lifeless night when "Unleash the Fury" was shown just halfway through the second period tonight instead of the final TV timeout of the third period.  It worked, it woke the crowd up which got the Caps going.

THE BAD:

• The top ranked Power Play went 0 for 3 tonight getting only three shots on goal.  Worse yet, the Caps gave up their third shorthanded goal this season.  It looks as if the Power Play is in another rut.
• Something about the defensive coverage wasn't working tonight as it seemed as if every Carolina rush up ice was an odd-man rush.  Their first goal came off a 2-on-1.
• Once again the Caps come out firing, 14 shots on goal in the first period and an even 40 for the game, but no goals scored in the first period.  But what troubled us the most was that hardly any of those saves made by Cam Ward in the first period were tough saves.  The Caps eventually made him work but didn't do enough at the start to get on the scoreboard.

THE UGLY:

• John "Coach's Pet" Erskine Bowles with a pathetic effort on the 2-on-1 he was stuck defending.  And it wasn't as if Brandon Sutter beat him with a saucer pass.  Nope, the slow footed-dim-witted defenseman just didn't get his stick on the ice to block he crossing pass.   You guessed it, that was the John "Coach's Pet" Erskine Bowles Bonehead Play of the Game.
• Even though the first goal really wasn't his fault and you can't say that Jose "Alvin, Simon," Theodore had a good game tonight when he gives up 3 goals on just 19 shots.  But what was the most troubling to us was not the second soft goal in as many games but that Theodore did not come up with any big saves for the team tonight.
• Once again Tim Gleason gets injured at the hands of A.O...  We wonder how many games A.O. will be suspended for this time around...  After all A.O. is now a "repeat offender"...
  

Watching the warmups tonight we were a little surprised at the lifelessness of the Carolina Hurricanes.  We figured we were in for a snooze-fest when we saw little jump in the Caps skates as well warming up.  Luckily, the Caps snapped out of their funk for the most part and got the win which is the most important thing.  For those who care about these things at this point in the season (and we don't, we're only providing the following information as public service to illustrate the amount of work the Caps have left to do) the Caps are now back on top of the NHL Overall Standings alone (pending the outcome of the Dallas-San Jose game, but the Caps will retain their game in hand) and thanks to Florida's 4-2 win over Joisey, the Caps for now control their own destiny for the President's Trophy (Magic Number, 101 points earned by the Caps and/or lost by the Devils).  But the Caps continue to show that they can win games against the teams that the should be beating, even if they don't put forth the best of efforts.  A different kind of "playing to the level of the competition" if you will because most teams that do that often end up losing more than they win.

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