Game 6 Caps @ Rangers 4-26-2009 Post-Mortem

Care to revise and extend your comments again Maven??? Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...

THE GOOD:

• We have a Tom Poti sighting Ladies and Gentlemen! A nice 3 on 1 goal after coming out of the penalty box and three assists in the game for a four point day in the Garden where he's a returning hero. But he also turned in a fine defensive performance as well.
• He didn't get a goal but Shaone Morrrissonnn was stout defensively as well, posting a +3 on the day.
• After avoiding his shot for seemingly all series, Mike "BEAM ME UP" Green finally took his shot and scored his first goal of the playoffs and a goal on the Caps first Power Play of the game. A whipping boy for certain bald New York commentators over his defensive play, he also posted a +2 today.
• He doesn't like the matinee games but A.O. scored the other Power Play goal (the unit went 2 for 2) with a deflection in the slot past Henrik Lundqvist. A.O. also played well defensively, backchecking as well as we've ever seen him.

THE BAD:

• With the game well in hand in the second period, the Caps got too cute thinking the game was too easy. The Caps took only 2 shots on goal in the third period.
• The Penalty Killers yielded a goal on the first kill of the game which tied up the game just 1:06 after the Caps had taken the lead. If there ever was a time to tighten things up, that was it. The Caps were lucky to get away with something like that.
• We also got very concerned about the Rangers starting to run into the crease of Simeon "the Saviour" Varlamov in an obvious attempt to bump and rattle "the Saviour" because not much else was working for them. We don't want to see a replay of last year's first round series, especially with Game 7 coming up.

THE UGLY:

• Yeah, we won, but it was in spite of referees Bill McCreary and Brad Meier who called the Caps for 22 minutes on 11 penalties. The Rangers had 20 minutes on just six penalties but the Power Plays were 6 for the Rangers and 2 for the Caps. We noticed cross checks, hooks, trips, and even a slew foot that should have been called on the Rangers but weren't in addition to a couple of interference penalties that were missed. But the penalties on John "Coach's Pet" Erskine Bowles and Nicklas Backstrom to create New York's first 5 on 3 were all around bad calls as the referees seemed intent on letting the Rangers have their way with the Caps.
• Sergei (#3) Fedorov had a horrible game again today. He had a bad turnover in the second period that lead to a flurry around the Caps net while the game was still close.

Well here we are a little more than one year later and we're looking at Game 7 back in D.C. after being down 3-1 in the series. This one today was easy folks, almost too easy and we have to say that we don't like how the Caps finished out today's game. The Caps were up 5-1 and allowed the Rangers to get back into the game, yeah one of the goals came with just 6 seconds left but the game is sixty minutes long and how many times this season have we seen the lack of a full sixty minute effort cost the Caps? We cannont allow bad habits to creep into our game at this point because nobody is going to say good job if we don't win on Tuesday night. Can we expect a third poor performance in a row by Henrik Lundqvist? The Rangers didn't exactly roll over and play dead after the second period tonight and we cannot imagine John Tortorella allowing them to do that should they fall behind on Tuesday night. Besides, if we learned anything last year, it is that a victory in a Game 7 is anything but assured and the "x factor" can play a large role in the deciding game.

Caps @ Flyers 2-6-2008 Post-Mortem

Party Poopers... Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...

THE GOOD:

• It's never been easy for the Caps to pull off a sweep in Philly and that's exactly what they ended up doing tonight. It wasn't very pretty, but they got the job done.
• Olie Kolzig had another solid game in net. He's still lacking on making the big save but there weren't any soft goals tonight and he got a big time assist from referee Dave Jackson whose quick whistle prevented a goal from being scored. Kolzig could have used that a month ago when these two teams met in D.C.
• We've been looking for secondary scoring and we had it tonight with Brooks "and Dunn" Laich, Matt "Omar" Bradley, and Viktor Kozlov scoring goals along with A.O. This is exactly what we've been needing and should we keep it up, things will fall into place.

THE BAD:

• Only two penalties on the Flyers??? Something tells me we were done no favors with Bill McCreary being replaced by Dave Jackson. Though Jackson's quick whistle bailed us out, it is the first time I can ever remember getting a break from Jackson. The goaltender interference call on The Human Bruise, Quintin Laing was as bogus as they come.
• It was slim pickings but the John "Coach's Pet" Erskine Bowles Boneheaded Move of the Game goes to Bruce Boudreau for putting said player on the ice at the end of the game with the Caps holding a two goal lead. The only redeeming factor is that it was a two goal lead, but with Philly's Power Play, putting a penalty machine on the ice is a bad idea. The only worse option when you're looking to hold a lead and avoid penalties late in the game than Erskine Bowles is Alexander Semin.
• The Penalty Killers were just 3 for 5 tonight.

THE UGLY:

• While at certain points we were dominating on the shots on goal, we didn't have much in the way of a territorial advantage in the game. This became apparent as the Flyers began to ring up shots and turn their territorial edge into an advantage in shots on goal (34-27).
• Good job building a 4-1 lead in the third period after entering the final frame tied at 1. But there's no reason why the game ends up 4-3 other than defensive breakdowns. We really need to tighten things up.

The best thing about tonight's game is that it was a win that did not require some form of overtime which means only two points were awarded for tonight's game. With the race being as tight as it is, the Caps can ill afford to give up extra points in the standings. So while the team will wake up tomorrow morning in a position they never thought they'd be in, first place in the Southeast Division, there's still plenty to work on and little breathing room to be had.

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

Caps @ Thrashers 4-4-2007 Post-Mortem

Once again, you're welcome Ning fans. Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...

THE GOOD:

• Excellent job holding on after a dismal first period to get the win in regulation while missing one of their top scorers.
• Not only did A.O. have his usual game tonight, Dave Steckel was a pleasant surprise tonight. Steckel would have had his first NHL goal if he had gotten the puck up but that's about the only thing you can complain about with him tonight.
• Brent Johnson was solid enough to close his season out with a win largely thanks to Eric Boulton's high sticking penalty.
• Penalty Killers were a much needed 4 for 4 tonight against a dangerous team on the Power Play.

THE BAD:

• Milan "Jerky" Jurcina had to have had his worst game as Cap. A bad turnover early in the game lead to an early deficit and a bad penalty at the end made things a lot more interesting than they should have been.
• Jerky wasn't alone in the first period, getting outshot 10-3 to start the game isn't going to lead to many wins.

THE UGLY:

• Nice to see that Atlanta is still a fan of dirty pool as way too many elbows, especially from Bobby Holik, went uncalled tonight. Fortunately, there's no need to response in kind when you're leading.
• The Power Play got a gift wrapped goal in the second when Atlanta for some reason thought that Kris Beech was a bigger threat on the Power Play than A.O. They later gave up a huge shorthanded goal which gave the Thrashers life at the end of the game.
• The Caps have usually been good in the faceoff circle this year but tonight went 26-31 in draws.

So the long road losing streak is over and the Caps have a chance to end the season on a winning streak Saturday afternoon. Despite the awful first period, the Caps played a great road game and beat a team that is better than they are. Not to take anything away from the Caps, but tonight is a prime example as to why the Thrashers are not going to get anywhere in the playoffs as their lack of heart and desire once again cost them big time. Good to see that with everything that has gone wrong this year, the Caps haven't lost their heart and desire as they have now matched last season's point total.

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

Caps vs. Panthers 4-3-2007 Post-Mortem

An abbreviated post tonight as my good buddy Eric was at the game with me tonight. Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...

• Finally a good all around effort by the team against the Florida Panthers. I do not believe that the Panthers are a better hockey team than us. Tonight we finally played well against them and you can see it in the result.
• I noticed Alexander Semin not only taking the body down low, he was doing it down low in his own end. Looks like the message sent Saturday night got through for at least a little bit.
• And speaking of the message getting through, Olie Kolzig gets his first shutout in over three years. This of course was the first shutout for the Caps this season and just a little over a year since the last one. Olie only needed 27 saves to complete the task which is a respectable number.
• The Caps however only mustered 17 shots. 1-0 is about the only way you're going to win regularly if you don't get more shots on goal than that.
• While they didn't score on four Power Plays, the Caps stayed out of the penalty box by taking only two penalties all game tonight. The other message was delivered.

It is good to see the team rally around Olie the way they did tonight. They certainly played with some fire in the third period but were able to clamp down enough to get Olie the shutout he has long deserved. Some might think this is all "too little too late" but with the number of false rallies this team has come up with recently, that kind of hope is a little out of line. Either way, it is good to get another win and even better to come up with a shutout. The Caps are now two points short of last season's total and have something here at the end of the season to hang their hat on.

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

Caps @ Panthers 3-30-2007 Post-Mortem

My desire to do this post is directly proportionate to the effort displayed by both teams in regulation. Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...

• I'm curious as to how the War Room in Toronto could come up with "inconclusive" on the review of the Caps third goal. As it turns out, that cost us the game because that puck was in. Barely, but it should have counted.
• I think we can now safely say that the latest obstruction crackdown is history.
• For a team needing every single point they can get to make the playoffs, the Panthers certainly didn't play like one.
• Brent Johnson inspires zero confidence in goal.
• If you ever needed a clearer example of how the OT loss has moved the boring hockey from the OT period to the third period, tonight was a prime example.

Even clearly "playing out the string" like they did tonight you can see that the Caps have more talent that they are currently being given credit for. I know I sound like a broken record here but what this team needs more than anything else is maturity and that doesn't come with high-priced splashy free agent signings.

Caps vs. Penguin Scum 3-27-2007 Post-Mortem

Gee.... didn't see THAT coming... Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...

THE GOOD:

• Great start to the game by the Caps jumping out to a 2-0 lead off of great finishes and chances. Too bad we couldn't finish more but the chances were there tonight.
• Normally I rip the Power Play unit and it may not make much sense praising them when they went 0 for 3. However the Power Play unit tonight on all three chances got the shot they were looking for. They just couldn't get the finish. For a Power Play that often has Herculean issues just getting the puck into the offensive zone under control, the fact that they got something set up deserves honest praise.

THE BAD:

• The Penalty Killers were officially 2 for 5 tonight. That is beyond ghastly and what makes it worse is that our best Penalty Killers were on the ice for 2 of the three power play goals. The fourth goal came 11 seconds after a penalty expired.
• Brooks Orpik got the drop on Mr. Donald Brashear and Mr. Brashear took exception. Sorry, that was a clean hit. That is a prime example of why I think "The Code" is now "The Crock." There's no excuse for clean play leading to fights which that did.
• Shaone Morrrissonnn gets the Sergei Gonchar "Score on Your Own Team" Award for tonight.
• The Penguin Scum was using Sergei Gonchar on A.O. all night and A.O. couldn't beat him.

THE UGLY:

• Downright horrible officiating tonight by two referees, Tim Peel and Kerry Fraser, who should know better. I could understand if Blaine Angus and Dave Jackson were working tonight but for about 58 minutes tonight; the referees only called the one penalty on the Penguin Scum they absolutely positively had to call and that was Jarkko Ruutu's cheap high stick on Alexander Semin (Semin was on his knees and I don't think stuff like that should be a penalty, but it is). While the Caps got away with a lot, the Penguin Scum got away with every hook, every hold, every trip, and every interference except for one and that was called at 17:23 of the third period. Oh, then there's Rule 53.2 "A minor penalty shall be imposed on any player or goalkeeper on the ice who throws his stick or any part thereof or any object in the direction of the puck or an opponent in any zone, except when such act has been penalized by the assessment of a penalty shot or the awarding of a goal." Now who did that in the final seconds of the game and got away with it????????

Once again the Caps outplay the Penguin Scum and once again the Caps lose. Sorry, but the only time the Penguin Scum looked even remotely dangerous was when they had a Power Play. Considering how bad the officiating was and you have to begin to wonder if this game was on the level. This game tonight was won on the Power Play because at even strength, the Caps either dominated the Penguin Scum or were dead even. But what can you say? At least the Penguin Scum bandwagon made its first appearance in D.C. in five years.

Caps @ Buffaslugs 3-21-2007 Post-Mortem

I don't have a lot to say tonight. Not because our performance was all that bad but mostly because I'm that tired right now.

• Decent start to the game got ruined by a senseless penalty.
• It's nice to see that our luck on offense returned tonight.
• And speaking of bad bounces, two of them ended up in our net again.
• Steve Eminger had a bad night.

Well, they're back in action tomorrow night in Carolina, we'll have to see if there is any carryover effect from tonight.

Caps vs. Ning 3-18-2007 Post-Mortem

Where were these guys for the last two months? Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...


THE GOOD:

• Tomas Fleischmann seems to be settling in on the second line rather nicely. He had a Chuck Woolery today (2 and 2) along with the game winning goal to go with his goal on Friday night which now gives him 5 points in his last 4 games. Now if we can get Eric Fehr to work on the first line, we might be onto something once we get real centers.
• Alexander Semin's natural hat trick (his second hat trick of the season) gets the hat that I wore at home games from 1999 until they switched to the black jerseys at home thrown to the ice.
• The final line Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis is no goals, no assists, six shots combined (none for either in the second period), a combined -3, and no real threats today. Great job by the checking line of Captain Chris Clark, Boyd Gordon, and Brooks "and Dunn" Laich and the defensive pairing of Milan "Jerky" Jurcina and Shaone Morrrissonnn today. They were a combined +10.
• The Penalty Killers kept the 6th ranked Power Play off the board going 3 for 3 today.
• Always fun to chase both goaltenders. Marc Denis did not make a single save on three shots in the second period.

THE BAD:

• What's deal with welcoming the Baltimorons in the crowd and showing the Ratbird's Defensive Coordinator? I thought this was Washington D.C. and not Bhawlmuher?
• Bringing the Disowned UVA Pep Band (you have to scroll down on both articles to get to the story) to the game. The Yahoos still don't know when to shut up as they played over the action throughout the third period and while the rendition of Taps was nice with about a minute to go; you can certainly bet that it did not sit very well with the Ning. We play these guys again in 13 days. Please Ted, don't bring these clowns in anymore.
• After all he's been through this season, Olie Kolzig deserves a shutout and missed out on one again today.

THE UGLY:

• Dan Boyle:

About a month ago now, I said that this team was going to break out of their offensive slump and it would be a sight to behold. Well, today was that day and it was a sight to behold. Sure we'll be reading tomorrow about how the Ning played an awful game and there's no doubt in my mind that they did. However, just last week we had a team shut us out 3-0 and complain that they didn't play their best game either. The nattering naboos of negativism will say that this is too little too late, but concerns that I had that the team had given up on this season are gone and I for one am very glad.

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

Caps vs. Maple Leafs 3-16-2007 Post-Mortem

Oh, so THAT'S what it feels like to win a hockey game... Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...


THE GOOD:

• I see that the crack staff at the Phone Booth "fixed" the boards in the end the Caps shoot at twice again as Alexandre Giroux get his first career NHL goal off a funny bounce that eluded Andrew Raycroft.
• Mike "BEAM ME UP" Green laid out Darcy Tucker at the Caps blueline. That my friends was a thing of beauty.
• We didn't blow a lead at all tonight and only looked really out of sorts after giving up the goal to Nik Antropov.
• Penalty Killers were 1 for 8 but killed off two 5-on-3's.

THE BAD:

• Yeah, he was +3, scored the game winning goal, had two assists, and was named the first star of the game but could somebody please tell me just what Alexander Semin is doing? He cherry picks on defense and when he gets the puck, he often heads back towards his own goal now. What is he thinking?
• And speaking of enigmas how good could Kris Beech be if he tried?

THE UGLY:

• A 1-for-9 showing on the Power Play. While there were some decent flurries, all too often our Power Play just runs two minutes off the clock. This is still something that needs a lot of work in the off season.
• Your typical Dave Jackson officiated game. I personally liked the high sticking call on Mr. Donald Brashear when Donald's stick never came in contact with Darcy Tucker.
• Pavel Kubina:

So we finally snapped the losing streak and helped out a Divisional foe in the process. It was far from perfect and we've played better games. But the important thing is that we won for the first time in ten games and now have some small reason to feel better about ourselves. Lets hope we now settle into the role of spoilers and can get heading back in the direction we need to.

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

Caps @ Bruins 3-15-2007 Post-Mortem

Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...

THE GOOD:

• Captain Chris Clark with the Hat Trick (a natural is done all in one period) one even, one on the Power Play, and one Shorthanded.
• Boyd Gordon going 15-5 on faceoffs and leading the Caps who won 60% of the faceoffs tonight.

THE BAD:

• I think the fact that Alexander Semin was having another one of his lackadaisical games is the reason why he rang the post in overtime with backhand.
• The Power Play was 1 for 6 but had the wonderful habit of taking penalties on the Power Play to negate the advantage.
• Matt Bradley's stupid fight and needless fight with Andrew Alberts. Not only did he allow Alberts to wake his team up, he killed a developing 2-on-1 for the Caps. That's the kind of intelligence normally seen out of John Erskine Bowles.

THE UGLY:

• Not only do the Caps blow a 3-0 lead, they give up all three goals on the Power Play. The Caps inability to stay out of the penalty box did them in tonight more than anything else.
• The game was decided by a gimmick.

So looking on the bright side, the Caps come away with a point and now only need ten more in their last 11 games to surpass last year's total of 70. But that's just about it aside from the play of the usual suspects on the team. It is almost getting to the point where the Caps are going to need an act of Congress to get any kind of win. At least Dook lost...

Caps @ Islanders 3-10-2007 Post-Mortem

At least we didn't set a record... Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...

THE GOOD

• I was seriously beginning to wonder if we would score another goal this season, but at least A.O. and Mr. Donald Brashear finally got things going for us after chance after chance after chance. The Caps had 34 shots on goal and unlike last night, really made Rick DiPietro work.
• And speaking of A.O. and Mr. Brashear, they both had outstanding games tonight. A.O. was all over the place (and did a good job in his own zone) and I was glad to see Mr. Brashear drop Brendan Witt. Let's face it, Witt is a punk. He was a punk when he played for us and he's a punk for the Islanders. (He should have been called for diving after taking that left jab from Mr. Brashear.)
• Tomas Fleischmann was another Cap with a strong hockey game tonight.

THE BAD:

• As good as Brent Johnson was last night, he was awful tonight. When the offense is sputtering, giving up a goal two minutes in is not the way to start.
• The luck again ran against the Caps. The Caps outplayed New York tonight and lose by three goals. The Islanders loudly ring a goalpost and it goes in. The Caps loudly ring the same goalpost, it is stays out. The Caps cleared out rebounds in their own zone but gave up goals on the rush. The Caps couldn't get to rebounds in the Islanders zone until A.O. and Mr. Brashear cashed in.

THE UGLY:

• Mike "BEAM ME UP" Green's -3 rating for tonight. While most of that wasn't his fault, it still does not look good.
• Referees Bill McCreary and Tim Peel ushered in the return of clutch and grab hockey tonight. I stopped keeping track after the fourth blown call in the first ten minutes of the first period.

While the margin on the scoreboard certainly does not indicate it, there was a number of good things that came out of tonight's game. The Caps generated good offense tonight and didn't get run over in their own zone. The only nitpick is that the Caps need to get to more rebounds in the offensive zone. I don't think it was any accident that the two goals scored came off of rebounds. Tonight it was the goaltending that let the Caps down and with the imminent return of Olie Kolzig, the Caps have a good chance to end the season on a high note like they wish to.

Caps vs. Canes 3-9-2007 Post-Mortem

Oh how I long for the days when teams would take us lightly... Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...

THE GOOD

• Great game tonight by Brent Johnson and Mike "BEAM ME UP" Green. For Johnny, nothing more he could have done as he's done in by a rebound and a bad turnover. Green asserted himself well tonight and looks like he got the confidence in the AHL that the coaching staff wanted him to get.
• Penalty Killers went 7 for 7 tonight and kept the Canes in their Power Play slump.

THE BAD:

• 25 shots is a somewhat low number but not a whole lot of good chances and just 15 over the final two periods. 9 blocks from the Canes and 12 missed shots from the Caps for only 46 pulls of the trigger tonight.
• You can forgive the 0 for 5 Power Play by realizing that Carolina is ranked 11th. However, the 1:30 5-on-3 that was blown was almost unforgivable. Three times the Caps generated good rebounds and all three times they flubbed. Scoring a goal 5-on-3 would have changed the entire complexion of the game.
• Giving up 45 shots on goal is way too many, especially when you can't get anything going in the other end.

THE UGLY:

• Could somebody please explain to me what Alexander Semin was doing out there tonight? Only one shot on goal, two missed shots, and a number of just simply bad plays. This is not a team that can afford right now for its star players to be missing in action like Semin was tonight.
• Mr. Donald Brashear's turnover that lead to the Canes second goal. You knew right then that the Caps were done.

I've got to hand it to Carolina. They were scary efficient in playing this game tonight. For a team that was desperate for points, they didn't throw caution to the wind and they played a rather responsible game that the Caps just simply couldn't solve. Except for the 5-on-3, there were not many opportunities for the Caps and you just get the feeling that the season cannot end soon enough.

Caps @ Leafs 3-6-2007 Post-Mortem

It's the busy time of year at my office job so this Battle Damage Assessment will be abbreviated.

• You have to wonder sometimes about what kind of luck this team is cursed with right now. A bad bounce on a rebound and the Caps fall behind 1-0 despite playing some very solid hockey.
• As the game wore on, the Caps were unable to get the puck out of their own zone once again. I don't think I've seen a Capitals team worse at passing the puck than this one.
• A.O. and Alexander Semin were buzzing around all over the place tonight and had just about everything going except for the finish and of course support. Showing exactly why we need than just these guys.
• While it is great that Joe Beninati is able to get work doing National TV broadcasts even if it is on Versus, that leaves the awful Al Koken calling the game for the fans in D.C. Can we please find somebody better than him to fill in?

Tonight was once again a clear case of the Caps playing well but just not getting the bounces/results they were looking for. While Koken spent a good amount of time praising the Caps for their effort and telling us over and over that the team's attitude and psyche are where they should be, you have to wonder if it is really true. Either way it isn't good because if the team is "ok" with losing then there's a problem and if Koken is lying, then why? However the silver lining in this that more losses like this will give us another much needed Top 5 draft pick.

Caps vs. Panthers 2-27-2007 Post-Mortem

Well, that was a real defensive struggle. Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...

THE GOOD:

• After falling behind 3-0 less than 8 minutes into the game, the Caps were able to regroup and eventually tie the game up. This team has a reputation of not ever giving up and tonight they showed it.
• The Power Play was 3-5 and actually looked dangerous tonight. Of course, some people couldn't understand how the other two Power Plays were blown...
• A.O. was back to his old self tonight all over the ice and racking up 2 goals and 2 assists in the process. Whodda thunk that Zubrus was holding him down???? (That's a joke people, walk away from it)
• Not only was A.O. back in form tonight, the offense was rolling about as well as I've seen it in a long time. The criss-crosses and overlaps were sharp and the Caps were able to generate great pressure on the Panthers with 33 shots on goal for the game.

THE BAD:

• Did our defenders at least have the courtesy to give Brent Johnson a couple of clothespins??? Criminey that was a brutal start. No, Johnny didn't make any great saves and there were a couple of goals that he outright flubbed but the guys in front of him offered him little protection in that first period.
• Could somebody please explain to me why Eric Fehr was a healthy scratch and Bryan Muir was inserted into the lineup? I think it was pretty clear that we've run up the white flag on this season so why is a hack like Muir getting icetime over a rookie who needs it? And can we get Mike Green back into the lineup too so that we don't have to watch John Erskine-Bowles anymore?
• It is no wonder Florida likes playing in Washington. Absolutely dead crowd tonight. Nope, the Caps start wasn't anything to cheer about, but the way the team came back deserved a better reaction from the fans.

THE UGLY:

• Once again the game was decided by a gimmick.
• I didn't even get inside the arena before I heard my first "McPhee sucks!" and some clown kept yelling "TRADE McPHEE!" after every Panthers goal. This is driving me to drink. Folks, if you're that freakin' upset about the direction of the team, please do yourself and me a favor and please don't bother showing up at the games anymore. While I myself don't understand the trade, I am tired of every single move this franchise makes being hyper-criticized by the fan base. I promise that there will be more on this tomorrow.

Deadline day games are always weird. The Caps were certainly skating around in a funk in the first eight minutes of the game and Glen Hanlon made good use of his timeout early on in the game to reverse the flow/ wake the team up. Sad to say once again that had we come out stronger at the start; we wouldn't have needed overtime and a gimmick to decide this game.

Caps @ Devils 2-24-2007 Post-Mortem

Crow is always good this time of year. Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...

THE GOOD:

• Of all the teams that the Caps could break out against, the Devils are the least likely suspects. Building a 3-0 lead on them with an ok, not great, effort once again shows just what this team is capable of once it matures.
• On December 3rd, 2004, Martin Brodeur shutout the Caps who only took 9 (that's right, 9) shots on goal. Today the Caps had 30 shots on goal with 18 of them in the second period alone.
• Boyd Gordon had himself an excellent game today with not one but two passes that sprung teammates Matt "Princess" Pettinger and Tomas Fleischmann for breakaway goals. El Gordo deserved one of the stars of today's game.
• I know it is enemy ice, but when I can hear the Caps Fan Club and the Road Crew cheering in the background on Caps goals, there's something wrong with your fan base.
• The Penalty Killers were a perfect 4 for 4 today and the overall team defensive effort was strong. Brent Johnson did not need to stand on his head to get his first win since taking over from Olie Kolzig and when he put himself out of position, the Caps backchecked well enough to bail him out.

THE BAD:

• The Devils have to be the only team in the NHL who draws energy from killing penalties and with our Power Play, that's exactly what happened. The Power Play was 0 for 4 but not for a lack of effort. Bordeur had his act together killing penalties today. But what put this into the bad category is the TWO instances where the Devils got an odd-man rush right out of the penalty box. One is understandable, two is unacceptable.
• If it hadn't been for his nice breakaway goal and assist today, Alexander Semin would be a prime candidate for a benching after taking two more lazy and stupid hooking penalties. Jakub "and Sons" Klepis got himself demoted to Hershey for the exact same reason only Klepis wasn't scoring. Much was made about A.O.'s need to improve his defensive game, well, Semin is even further behind A.O. on that score.

THE UGLY:

• John Erskine Bowles was about to add to my plate of crow today but couldn't help himself. I was going to compliment him on not running around like a madman today and taking himself out of position. I was going to give him kudos for the great job he did on the 2-on-1 he defended. I wasn't going to jump on him for a couple of pathetic clearing attempts and I wasn't going to mention deflecting a shot into his own net. But when he decided to fight Cam Janssen in the third period, all of that was out the window. First of all, he fights about as well as GOD (Stephenpeat) did. Erskine Bowles could have just pumped left jabs all afternoon into Janssen's chin and didn't bother (but at least he locked the smaller guy out). Secondly, the timing of the fight was about as bad as he could have chosen. The Caps were up 4-1 and actually had a rush going when Erskine Bowles accepted Janssen's challenge. Finally accepting a trade of a defensman playing a good game for a fourth liner who sees limited icetime with seven and half minutes to go is just brain dead. Janssen was looking to "get his team going" with that fight and Erskine Bowles would have been much better advised to skate away. But when you suck like Erskine Bowles does, you just can't help yourself.

So the Caps break their skid. Any plans the Devils may have had to play Scott Clemmensen in tomorrow's return bout have likely been scrapped. Because the Caps face the Devils again tomorrow, I don't think this was the breakout that we've been waiting for. Much confidence the Caps gain from this will be effected by the return bout tomorrow afternoon. But for 24 hours we can enjoy beating the Devils because we haven't done it too often recently.

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

Caps @ Canadiens 2-20-2007 Post-Mortem

Looks as if we took the stupid pills tonight. Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...

THE GOOD:

• Another night with good effort and good energy. You almost begin to wonder just what this team needs to do in order to get a win on the road. Where's Pedro Cerrano and Joe-Bu when you need them?
• Finally somebody not named Alex steps up to provide some offense. Jamie "Home Run" Heward's two long distance drives got things going for the Caps.

THE BAD:

• What in the world was going on with the officiating tonight? In the first period they called just about everything but after that, they seemed to have left their whistles in the locker room. I especially loved how the two Caps who got bloodied up went completely missed by referees Bill McCreary and Rob Martell.
• And speaking of penalties, the penalties the Caps took in the first period were of the stupid variety. Once again the Caps failed to adjust on the fly to how the officials were calling the game.
• 18 shots on goal for the Caps tonight. That's way too few for a team that is facing a goaltender playing his second ever NHL game. And considering that we got 3 goals anyway, imagine what would have happened had we gotten around 30 shots? And speaking of which, where was out patented third period desperation flurry? We had only four shots on goal in the third.
• I don't know if it was bad goaltending on Brent Johnson's part or just continued bad luck, but how does Chris Higgins beat Johnny along the ice for the first goal of the game when he has his pad up against the post?

THE UGLY:

• The Special Teams for the Caps were certainly "special" for us tonight. 1 for 5 on the Power Play giving up a shorthanded goal, 3 for 7 killing penalties, and we gave up an empty net goal to boot. Twice in the past three games we've given up a shorthanded goal due to the defensive deficiencies of Alexander Semin. Please get him off the point.
• The stats lie completely about John Erskine Bowles' night. He's listed as being a +1 with two hits but that is due entirely to being paired with Heward who scored two goals and not taking a - for being on the ice when giving up a Power Play goal. However, three times he made very, very bad step ups in the neutral zone (one lead to a 2-on-1 that Heward broke up) and twice he went running out for a hit and completely missed. All of those took him way out of position and he is too slow to recover from those mistakes. I can't tell you how much I like watching Heward run around by himself in his own zone trying to cover twice the amount of ice that he is supposed to. What Steve Eminger and Mike Green did to lose icetime to Erskine Bowles is beyond me. But seeing as how the playoffs are just about done for this team, there's no reason to continue to play that hack.

Now the Caps head home and have five of their next six games on home ice. Hopefully the Caps can get some confidence going again playing on home ice, but the list of opponents does not bode well for us. Nevertheless, the Caps have to not only play with good energy, but play smart hockey as well. Once again one bad period costs the Caps the game and that bad result was a result of stupid hockey.

Caps @ Penguin Scum 2-18-2007 Post-Mortem

If it weren't for bad luck, there'd be no luck at all right now. Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...

THE GOOD:

• Certainly not one of the best Caps efforts this season, but light years away from their worst. It was a solid performance and considering how well we haven't played under the spotlight of national TV, we played well.
• After giving up the first goal of the game again, the Caps for once instead of sulking or running around like chickens with their heads cut off actually came out and played hard and got the game tied back up. All too often this season the Caps have fallen into disarray when faced with adversity, they didn't do that today.

THE BAD:

• John Erskine Bowles was his typical brutal self today. Yeah, he threw a couple of highlight reel hits but was looking for those way too often today and found himself out of position on many occasions. He and Jamie "Home Run" Heward were on the ice for both Penguin Scum even strength goals and Erskine Bowles' lack of footspeed was exploited all afternoon. What makes this worse is that this was his second game back and he should still be full of adrenaline. This is why I said leave him on the IR.
• While the Power Play for the most part did a better job of establishing themselves in the zone, the new umbrella configuration still can't get any consistent pressure. One point of emphasis this off season has to be better passing.
• Once again one simple mistake by the goaltender, this time Brent Johnson, costs the Caps the game. Johnny can't give up a goal from that severe of an angle. But again, it just goes to show how bad our luck is right now.

THE UGLY:

• After going off to a thumb injury, Alexander Semin storms back and draws a penalty shot. In yet another example of bad luck, he badly beats Jocelyn Thibault and hits the freakin' crossbar. What more can you do folks?
• While it was nice to finally be on NBC, the announcing today was utterly predictable except for the fact that they were pretty fair to the Caps for half a period before beginning their fluffing of Secondary Assist Cindy Crosby and the city of Pittsburgh. But in the interest of time and levity, here's the two "lowlights" for the NBC crew today. First, if you listened to Pierre McGuire, you would have thought that the Caps held around a 60-40 edge in faceoffs today. However, you would be wrong. It was 51-49 (29-28). Secondly, I loved listening to Ed Olczk talking about the Penguin Scum's second Power Play opportunity. As we watched a replay of Secondary Assist Cindy Crosby, all we heard was how Cindy was totally dominating. Cindy was dominating even when the puck was no where near him and nobody on the Caps was even in the frame with Cindy. But Cindy was just totally dominating and it was only by Devine Intervention that the Penguin Scum didn't score on their second Power Play because Cindy was simply dominating. I meanwhile was nauseated.

After scoring their third goal, you could see that the Penguin Scum were flying high again with confidence, but a team like the Caps were not only able to stem the tide, they were able to get themselves back into the game. Unfortunately, for the Caps (and opponents of the Penguin Scum recently) it was too little late. While it would be great fun to speculate just what would have happened had Semin buried his Penalty Shot instead of hitting the crossbar, fact is, once again we come up short.

Caps @ Ning 2-15-2007 Post-Mortem

Well, the Caps are back to playing more than 60 minutes. At least they're keeping things interesting before losing... Onto the Battle Damage Assessment.

THE GOOD:

• Great effort all around tonight. They caught the Ning napping in the first period but were only able to get a 1-0 lead out of it. So the bad luck continues to haunt this team.
• The Power Play was up to its usual trick of score quickly on the first advantage and it wasn't until their last advantage that they got some serious pressure on Marc Denis. I was more encouraged by that last chance than I was about the set play off the faceoff.
• 38 shots on goal and many buzzing chances. If the Caps can keep this up, they'll break out of the offensive slump sooner rather than later.
• While it is only the sixth game, I'm really starting to like the Milan Jurcina - Shaone Morrrissonnn pairing. Assigned to Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis, they held them rather well in check, keeping both off the scoresheet at even strength.

THE BAD:

• Once again the Caps took a punch in the mouth giving up two goals in just under five minutes in the second period. While that in itself is bad enough, all season the Caps seem to lose their composure for a bit after some adversity sets in and tonight was no different.
• I know the guy has a lot of skill and a wicked shot, but I think the Alexander Semin on the Power Play point experiment has to come to an end. The guy barely understands lettalone plays defense at even strength. Asking him to play nominal defense on the Power Play has been a disaster.

THE UGLY:

• Once again the game was decided by a gimmick.

With the lineup and roster moves made today (Mike Green to Hershey, Lawrence Nycholat to the IR, Steve Eminger to the Press Box) the Caps for some reason still think the playoffs are a possibility. Therefore the Caps needed 2 points tonight but instead only got one and narrowed their already slim margin of error even more. Tonight was again an example of the Caps playing well but just not getting the win. As a matter of fact, they had to work especially hard just to get a tie to force overtime. The Caps though just don't have it, no matter how much veteran moxie they put into the lineup. At this rate, they'll be out of the playoff chase sooner rather than later and they can get the kids the experience that will help this franchise later on down the road.

Caps vs. Rangers 2-10-2007 Post-Mortem

When you come out flat, you usually get flattened and that's exactly what happened tonight. Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...

THE GOOD:

• No overtime tonight.

THE BAD:

• Letting Jaromir Jagr get his 1500th point tonight. It is somewhat amazing what he can do when he wants to do it. But at least he isn't our problem anymore.
• While the Power Play was officially 2 for 4 tonight, it was due entirely to a spot in the boards that produced a favorable bounce for us tonight. I'll take it, but it would be nice to see us get some real offense generated on the Power Play without having to rely on dead spots on the boards.
• 6-6-7 was our shot line tonight for the first, second, and third period. Simply put, that isn't going to get the job done period. Most of that though was due to the fact that we had no jump in the skates tonight. I kept waiting for the Caps to turn it on and it just never happened.

THE UGLY:

• Horrible officiating once again tonight going against the Caps. Early on it looked like Justin St. Pierre (who also stunk up the join on Thursday night) and Dean Warren were going to call things close to the vest tonight. But that was clearly out the window when Aaron Ward punched Alexander Semin in the face when they were in the corner and no call was made. Once again a visiting team got away with a too many men on the ice call and the Caps drew penalties for things the Rangers weren't being called for. Whether or not the game is called closely, the game must be called evenly and tonight's wasn't.
• The Penalty Killers batted .500 tonight. Simply unacceptable.

The Ultimate Fighting on Ice fans love to tell you how fighting brings passion, emotion, and intensity to the game. They'll tell you that when things are going bad, a good fight can wake a team up and get them playing the way they should be. Well, Brian Sutherby and Mr. Donald Brashear both fought and won tonight and yet there was still NO passion, NO emotion, and NO intensity in this game from the Caps. You could have replaced the Caps water bottles with six-shot double espressos and there STILL wouldn't have been any life from the Caps tonight. Yes folks, it was that bad, you couldn't tell that the Rangers were the team who played a game last night and traveled three hours to get here for tonight's game. In a game between two teams who are on the edge of the playoffs and who need every win they can get going forward, the Rangers simply wanted it more tonight than the Caps did.

Caps vs. Kings 2-8-2007 Post-Mortem

Hey at least it didn't need a gimmick tonight. Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...

THE GOOD:

• Domination in the faceoff circle tonight as the Caps won 62% of the faceoffs, including a whopping 65% in their own zone and Brooks "& Dunn" Laich won 78%. himself (11 of 14).
• After a bland first period where a 1:33 5-on-3 put them on their heels, the Caps came out roaring in the second period scoring three goals on their first three shots on goal. Of course, they had to give up two in the process but at least they went into the third period tied.
• After falling short in the first period with a 1:33 5-on-3 to kill, the Caps killed a 1:10 5-on-3 in the second period. What makes it all the more notable was that because Milan Jurcina and Steve Emminger were in the box, Glen Hanlon left Shaone Morrrisssonnn and Jeff "Sergeant" Schultz out there the whole time despite having a chance during a stoppage in play to give them a rest. It just goes to show what he thinks of Jamie "Home Run" Heward and Mike Green on the Penalty Kill.

THE BAD:

• As mentioned above, the Caps got off to another slow start in the first period. A little jump in their skates but they were only able to muster 5 shots in the first to L.A.'s 12.
• Some weird officiating tonight, usually you have an even number of blown calls on both sides, but there isn't much I think Justin St. Pierre and Don Van Massenhoven let the Caps get away with tonight, but L.A. certainly got away with more.
• The Caps gave up a tying goal just 1:05 after they took a 2-1 lead. You need to play better with the lead.

THE UGLY:

• Power Play once again did a great job of killing the penalty for the other team. I know the guys are trying, but it just looks awful. Hanlon even tried putting Mr. Donald Brashear on the second unit. However, the problem isn't that the Caps aren't getting traffic in front of the net or not generating any shots, the problem is that the Caps can't gain the offensive zone under control and get their Power Play set up. And on the odd occasion that they do, they either fail to recover the puck after a shot or make a bad pass that clears the zone.
• The Caps were lucky to get out of the first 5 minutes of the third period still tied. It looked as if the third period was going to be the Caps traditional bad period tonight. Luckily, they turned it around and got into overtime.

The difference between the L.A. Kings who are the worst team in the Western Conference and the Philadelphia Flyers, who are the worst team in the Eastern Conference and the NHL, is that the Kings don't quit. This is why tonight's win was such a good win for the Caps. They've played better in recent outings but this is far from their worst effort too. By facing a team that wouldn't roll over and play dead for the rest of the night, the Caps were forced to fight for the two points that they got tonight. Hopefully this ends some of the frustration they've been feeling recently.

It has been... A TWO POINT NIGHT!