Shortly, the Caps will be taking the ice to play the Panthers in yet another critical game in the playoff chase. However, it's hard not to feel that the playoffs are slowly and painfully slipping away from the Caps. Boston shut out Ottawa 4-0 earlier today to pull four points ahead of the Caps with four games remaining. Boston starts a three game road trip tomorrow in Buffalo and follows with games in New Jersey and Ottawa before concluding the season at home against Buffalo. In an earlier post, I suggested that the Caps would need to reach the 92 point mark to reach the playoffs. It seems they will need to get to 94 points to have a chance. To get to 94 points the Caps need to win out. After tonight's game the Caps finish the season at home with games against Carolina, Tampa Bay and Florida.
Carolina is also four points ahead of the Caps and plays on the road tonight against Tampa Bay after crushing Atlanta 7-1 last night. After tonight's game, the Carolina faces the Caps on the road and then finishes the season at home against Tampa Bay and Florida. With the way Carolina is playing, especially Eric Staal and Cam Ward, I would be surprised if they lost more than one game of the four games remaining. I think it's fair to hand the Division banner to Carolina at this point.
The Caps best chance may be catching the Flyers as they are only three points ahead of the Caps. The Flyers also have four games remaining with the next two on the road against the Islanders and Pittsburgh before finishing the season at home against the Devils and Penguins. As much as it will bother me, I will have to root for the Penguins for a little help. The Islanders seem to have already packed it in, so I do not expect any help tonight.
I really hope that the game in which the Caps basically self imploded (they did have some help from some awful officiating) at the end of the third period against the Bruins a few weeks ago does not end up being the difference between the team playing hockey or golf in early April. Of course one game does not make the critical difference in a season long journey but that one result is simply hard to swallow.
For any fans of the Caps out there, let's root for Pittsburgh, New Jersey, Buffalo, Ottawa, the Islanders and whomever the Hurricanes are facing. The last couple of weeks have been a bit of a roller coaster ride but let's hope when the ride comes to a stop we will get to go on the next ride that is the playoffs.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Capitals/Sabres Matchup
After a very disappointing loss to the Maple Leafs, he Caps bounced back with a trouncing of the Boston Bruins on Monday night. The team was sloppy in the neutral zone and got sub par goaltending out of Olie Kolzig during the loss to Toronto. The only positive from the Toronto game was that Alexander Ovechkin broke out of his scoring slump.
The Caps scored early and often against the Bruins and simply dominated the game. It was a great response to the poor outing against Toronto. Cristobal Huet was back in the net but did not return for the third period due to back spasms. Huet made some nice saves but really did not have to do too much. It was just one of those nights were everything went in the favor of the Caps. Ovechkin scored three goals in the first period to top the 50 goal mark again. It was nice to see since the Bruins had beat the Caps in every prior meeting this season.
I almost hate the way the Caps won because it makes you wonder if the team will relax a bit and think that everything is back on track. There is simply no room for error at this point. Tonight, the Caps face another team in the Buffalo Sabres that has dominated them this season. Kolzig will start in net tonight as Huet is being held out as a precaution. This is yet another opportunity for Kolzig to shine and demonstrate that he still deserves the billing as a number one goalie in the NHL. Kolzig and the team did him no favors against Toronto.
Buffalo played a very physical game last night against Philadelphia and had to travel back to Buffalo after their game last night. The Caps need to try to take advantage of their fresh legs and jump on Buffalo early as well. With Carolina in action tonight against the fading Thrashers, it is important for the Caps to come away with two points tonight and exercise their demons against Buffalo.
The Caps scored early and often against the Bruins and simply dominated the game. It was a great response to the poor outing against Toronto. Cristobal Huet was back in the net but did not return for the third period due to back spasms. Huet made some nice saves but really did not have to do too much. It was just one of those nights were everything went in the favor of the Caps. Ovechkin scored three goals in the first period to top the 50 goal mark again. It was nice to see since the Bruins had beat the Caps in every prior meeting this season.
I almost hate the way the Caps won because it makes you wonder if the team will relax a bit and think that everything is back on track. There is simply no room for error at this point. Tonight, the Caps face another team in the Buffalo Sabres that has dominated them this season. Kolzig will start in net tonight as Huet is being held out as a precaution. This is yet another opportunity for Kolzig to shine and demonstrate that he still deserves the billing as a number one goalie in the NHL. Kolzig and the team did him no favors against Toronto.
Buffalo played a very physical game last night against Philadelphia and had to travel back to Buffalo after their game last night. The Caps need to try to take advantage of their fresh legs and jump on Buffalo early as well. With Carolina in action tonight against the fading Thrashers, it is important for the Caps to come away with two points tonight and exercise their demons against Buffalo.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Oh, What a Night
Two of the three "NHL" trades pulled off by George McPhee at the deadline paid immediate dividends for the Caps last night in their 4-0 win against New Jersey. Cristobal Huet stopped 18 shots and basically cruised to an easy shutout in his first game as a member of the Washington Capitals. Sergei Fedorov had the secondary assist on a power play goal that proved to be the game winner. It was a beautiful passing play all around that led to Mike Green's 17th goal of the season. Federov also dominated in the faceoff circle all night and gave the power play a huge boost last night.
The Caps played an all around solid game last night. Despite being the road team and not being able to techincally get the matchups they wanted, the Caps outplayed the Devils in all facets of the game. The defense for the most part kept everything to the perimeter and did not allow very many quality scoring chances. Huet made a few good saves but most importantly made all the routine saves and controlled the rebounds all night. This was a team win. It is certainly the first time in a long time that one can say that the Caps goaltending was better than the oppositions. However, most of the credit has to go to the team as a whole.
Matt Cooke will make his debut tonight for the Caps. Evidently he will play on the second line with Federov and Alexander Semin. It should be fun to watch his energy and forechecking prowess mix with the skill of Federov and Semin. Bruce Boudreau has also decided to start Olie Kolzig in net tonight. I like this decision and hope that Kolzig answers the bell. This represents another opportunity for Kolzig to emphatically state that he deserves to remain in the mix as a number one goalie.
I must admit that I found the comments from Kolzig's agent, Art Breeze, to be humorous. If you did not see them, an excerpt from Capitals Insider follows. "I have no idea why the Capitals chose to do what they did," Breeze said by phone. "You will have to ask that of Capitals ownership and management. The temptation to comment further is overwhelming. I am constrained, however, from additional comments by my client's professionalism. I sincerely wish I weren't. Olie clearly has been, and certainly continues to be, the heart and soul of the Washington Capitals," he added. "Almost single-handedly he has carried that franchise on his broad shoulders for many years. And he has many more years playing at the highest possible level ahead of him."
I realize it is his job to stand up and fight for his client but he really needs to look at the situation objectively. Kolzig has played below average this year and the team simply needed something more from the goaltending position. Maybe his agent has not watched him play very much this year.
Anyways, the Caps victory last night put them within three points of Carolina for the Southeast Division lead with two games in hand. They simply need to play better than Carolina down the stretch to get into the playoffs. Last night was a great way to start off the final push for a postseason berth. Let's hope the excitement and leadership from the trades continue to translate to improved play where it really matters on the ice against Toronto tonight.
The Caps played an all around solid game last night. Despite being the road team and not being able to techincally get the matchups they wanted, the Caps outplayed the Devils in all facets of the game. The defense for the most part kept everything to the perimeter and did not allow very many quality scoring chances. Huet made a few good saves but most importantly made all the routine saves and controlled the rebounds all night. This was a team win. It is certainly the first time in a long time that one can say that the Caps goaltending was better than the oppositions. However, most of the credit has to go to the team as a whole.
Matt Cooke will make his debut tonight for the Caps. Evidently he will play on the second line with Federov and Alexander Semin. It should be fun to watch his energy and forechecking prowess mix with the skill of Federov and Semin. Bruce Boudreau has also decided to start Olie Kolzig in net tonight. I like this decision and hope that Kolzig answers the bell. This represents another opportunity for Kolzig to emphatically state that he deserves to remain in the mix as a number one goalie.
I must admit that I found the comments from Kolzig's agent, Art Breeze, to be humorous. If you did not see them, an excerpt from Capitals Insider follows. "I have no idea why the Capitals chose to do what they did," Breeze said by phone. "You will have to ask that of Capitals ownership and management. The temptation to comment further is overwhelming. I am constrained, however, from additional comments by my client's professionalism. I sincerely wish I weren't. Olie clearly has been, and certainly continues to be, the heart and soul of the Washington Capitals," he added. "Almost single-handedly he has carried that franchise on his broad shoulders for many years. And he has many more years playing at the highest possible level ahead of him."
I realize it is his job to stand up and fight for his client but he really needs to look at the situation objectively. Kolzig has played below average this year and the team simply needed something more from the goaltending position. Maybe his agent has not watched him play very much this year.
Anyways, the Caps victory last night put them within three points of Carolina for the Southeast Division lead with two games in hand. They simply need to play better than Carolina down the stretch to get into the playoffs. Last night was a great way to start off the final push for a postseason berth. Let's hope the excitement and leadership from the trades continue to translate to improved play where it really matters on the ice against Toronto tonight.
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