One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

In one of my recent posts, I mentioned two concerns for the Caps. The first was goaltending and the second was the penalty killing unit. Last night's game against the Canadiens, a 5-2 loss for the Caps, highlighted these two problem areas in a big way. First and foremost, the loss is a major setback for the team and their quest to somehow get back into the playoff race. The two teams directly in front of the Caps in the Eastern Conference standings, Atlanta and Tampa Bay, won last night to widen the gap between them. Every team in their division won last night with the exception of Carolina who lost on the road to Florida. Another set back is the loss of Brian Pothier to a broken thumb. Now on to the recap of last night's game.

I don't think that many people would argue with the assessment that the Caps essentially outplayed the Canadiens last night. They outshot the Canadiens 37-21. The following quote from Bruce Boudreau sums it up pretty well. "We had [outshot] them 22-8, and it was 3-1," Boudreau said. "I'm not saying they were bad goals. But sometimes you've got to have that save at the right time. I thought we struggled with that tonight."

The only part I take issue with is the second part of his quote. It was not just last night that Olaf Kolzig has struggled to make a key save at the right time. For the most part, Kolzig has struggled with that all season. In the second period last night, the Caps dominated the play. However, Montreal scored on their first two shots of the period to open up a 3-1 lead. How deflating is that to a team? It's becoming abundantly clear that this team will need Olie to make some big saves or steal a game if they have any chance to get back into the playoff race let alone out of the cellar of the Eastern Conference.

I do agree with Boudreau's assessment about the goals not generally being bad goals last night. The first goal came off a beautiful saucer pass from Saku Koivu from behind the net to Guillaume Latendresse on the power play. Latendresse was standing right in front of the net and was mostly uncontested. The pass came right through the middle seam of the penalty killing box. Sound familiar? I'm sorry but there is no way an opposing player should be able to sit down in the middle of the box without someone putting a body or stick on him. It's worth noting that the penalty killers had collasped down when Koivu started dancing with the puck behind the net. I would also argue that the pass needs to be blocked by a stick or body as well. The Canadiens went two for five on the power play last night.

If there is one thing this team has been since Boudreau has taken over behind the bench, it is resilient. Let's see if they can bounce right back against the Islanders on Saturday night. No matter what, the Caps will need better goaltending and improved penalty killing to keep moving in the right direction.