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Tim Thomas sure has been beaten by Alex Semin for GWGs before this season. But this time, according to the All-Star netminder, he was just lucky:
“That doesn’t happen very often — that kind of shot. That was one of the luckiest shots that I’ve ever seen,” Thomas said. “It was about 3 inches off the ice until about halfway to me, and I missed it. Or, I got a good piece of it. It originally started out as a pad save turned into a glove save and I missed it.”
Thomas said he was ready for the shot, but not for it to take off sailing. He also felt bad that the game ended in such a disappointing fashion.
The Bruins netminder said that if that situation were to occur again, he would instead try to get his chest in front of the shot to be sure that it doesn’t cross the goal line.
“He who laughs last, laughs hardest and we’ll see what happens,” Thomas said.
Got it. See you in the playoffs.
“Playing down to the opponent,” in losing twice to CBJ and LAK? Flopping against Colorado? Not today.
In a matinée in Boston, this Washington Capitals team showed character, skill, and a few enormously important keys to making a deep playoff run.
Alex Semin taking those cheating, reaching penalties? Fughedaboutit. Three penalties drawn, and only one taken. And a questionable trip on Chara at that — nowhere touching the legs of the hurculean Z-Man as far as these HDTV-viewing eyes could tell. An outstanding game from #28!
Aside from this affair, Gabby calls his work ethic “much improved.” So there, Semin skeptics. He laid off the stick reach when tempted to do so, and spun his wheels to draw the calls against.
Otherwise, the team displayed a necessary discipline which I have no doubt will continue into the playoffs: only four penalties against, including both that questionable call on Semin and an interference whistle on Laich.
Re: the latter — who had the lane first? Laich turned his head for a brief moment, but otherwise, fair call?
Backstrom slashing in the 3rd is a rare occurrence not to be oft-repeated.
Hey, at least no over the glass calls, eh?
And not to mention Semin’s game-winner — a rising, unblemished shot from beyond the blue line that recalled the memory of Yzerman’s long-range blast past Jon Casey in game seven of the 1996 playoffs long, long ago.
Harbinger.
José Théodore, by strong contrast, gave me another indication of how a closely-fought playoff series, as these games vs. the Bruins have exemplified, might play out. Sure, he way over-committed on one two-on-one play in tight, but shone brilliantly in several fantastic game-savers. And got the win.
On to Florida, where a seventeen point lead over the division might soon be achieved.
Anthony Fiore, insidehockey.com
Big news today that G Simeon Varlamov is actually back skating again, after his latest of injuries. From Tim Leone:
Goalie Simeon Varlamov, sidelined by a knee injury since Jan. 14, practiced with the Hershey Bears Tuesday at Hersheypark Arena and could possibly play this week.
“We’re hoping, if things keep progressing, maybe by the weekend,” Bears head coach Bob Woods said. “He’s got to get his conditioning back.”
With barely a week to go before the March 4 trading deadline, having Varly exhibit some semblance of rehab progress should influence quite a bit whether or not GM George McPhee sees fit bring another ‘tender into the organization. Beyond Michal Neuvirth, they’ve got Daren Machesney, and recent pickup Kris Mayotte, who earned his first AHL win on Saturday.
In other words, dangerously thin at the position without “The Iron Curtain.”
And nobody asked me (yet), but I have to think that Thursday night @ home vs. Atlanta is a great time to start Neuvirth again.
Ok, brothers and sisters, I never thought that I’d see these days.
When a Washington Capital is deemed, on a national broadcast, unequivocally, the game’s greatest player “by far.”
When the Caps are near the top of the heap in the Eastern Conference, and amazingly within striking distance of first place, just seven points out. Even within range, though barely, of the Presidents’ Trophy. Just one of the awards yet to be earned by this franchise. (Keeping our eyes and heart on the real prize, of course.)
When the team with a young corps of mesmerizing talent steamrolls to the best record in franchise history after 60 games.
And when one of the great hockey scribes south of the border, Kevin Paul Dupont, declares that “Ovechkin’s gap over Crosby will only grow.”
nhl.com
This excerpt from the TSN lead story today summarizes the stunning reversal of fortune, that you’ve all seen but love to read in print over and over:
The Capitals are 3-0 against the Penguins this season and 4-1-1 since Bruce Boudreau became coach 15 months ago. Before Boudreau, Washington was 1-7-1 in its previous nine games in the series, and Crosby had all the bragging rights.
Now the Capitals are thinking Stanley Cup, while the Penguins – last year’s losing Cup finalist – would not make the playoffs if the post-season started now. They fell to 2-1-1 under interim coach Dan Bylsma, who was promoted after Michel Therrien was fired a week earlier.
Coach Gabby on Crosby’s reactions on the ice to his, and the Penguins’, sudden inability to dominate the play on the ice (if not also the passion in the seats) in the Nation’s Capital:
“I think he got frustrated because he wasn’t getting the freedom he’s had in this building before.”
Color me stunned. Absolutely stunned.
What’s more, Coach knows to keep the foot on the gas pedal, and his comments post-game suggest a healthy appreciation of the franchise’s, and the fan base’s, need for vindication:
“We’ve won three [in a row against them],” Boudreau said. “I don’t think it’s changing unless we won seven or eight in a row against them. With those two guys [Crosby and Evgeni Malkin], it’s going to be tough to do.”
Agreed. It will take many more convincing victories, and their humiliating defeats, to ”even the score.” Continuing on March 8.
Still, is a playoff victory necessary? The disparity which is most glaring, and which demands vengeance, is the one regarding playoff series wins: six of them for the Penguins, in seven playoff meetings between the two clubs.
Or can Caps Nation be content with a regular-season sweep that will help to bury the Rust City team and eliminate them from the playoffs?
In addition to stunned, I’m still scarred as well from those years of playoff torment. I can’t deny it. I crave to witness further suffering for the Penguins fan base, enough to cause them to distance themselves from the team and the game. Let the seeds of apathy and resignation begin to take root.
The overwhelming, front-and-center storyline of last night’s game was, of course, Alex Ovechkin’s pinball wizard, superhuman-display-of-skating-ability goal in the first period. But an under-the-radar moment of interest to me, in terms of the evolution of the game, occurred in the second frame.
Midway through, Brooks Laich chugged into the O-zone over the line, going one-on-one with Roman Hamrlik (who had quite an infamous presence already in the game, being spun around by both Ovechkin and Nicky Backstrom in the first period).
Paul Chiasson, AP (12/13/08)
Laich, unable to deke the veteran defender, played dump and chase, flipping the puck down towards the goal line. As Brooks then dug in to skate an arc around Hamrlik, the D-man shifted to his right and put his big body in Laich’s new skating lane. Not getting his stick high, or putting the big hook around Brooksy, nor wrapping his mitts around the forward — just moving into the same lane of traffic.
The arm went up, arms criss-crossed in front of the chest. “Interference.” And it was two minutes of time for Hamrlik to contemplate how much the game has changed since he first broke into league.
The broadcast team remarked at the time, to paraphrase: “A defenseman from the 70′s or 80′s watching this would say ‘That’s a penalty? They used to teach us to do that.’” Or the 90′s for that matter.
And watching the replay of the penalty, I was surprised too that the call was made. And pleased. Not just because it was a call against the Habs, but because it represented a fundamental change in the way the game is officiated. Before the lockout, I daresay that such a lane shift by Hamrlik, without blatant use of the stick or gloves to hold Laich back, would have transpired without a whistle, if not gone unnoticed.
Not so any more.
The name Hamrlik brings me back to my early days of hockey fandom. I remember when he broke in with the expansion TB Lightning in 1992-93, thrown into the fire just after being drafted, still an 18-year old, a native of Czechoslovakia suddenly playing in the foreign land of Florida. And as I recall, well before the internet and smart phones, he was hyped in much the same way as is Steven Stamkos, by that same franchise, today.
But I digress. I wonder if Hamrlik was as surprised to hear the interference call against him last night as much as some observers were. In any event, its a great example of how the once clutch-and-grab game has finally changed in a measurable way for good, and for the better.
Thought I’d pass this along for folks who are similarly situated. (And while I should be, I’m not getting any $$ benefit for posting this one.)
Taking the Acela between New York and Washington (a quick, comfortable 2 hour and 45 minute ride) is now $99 each way, through June 26, so long as you book at least 14 days in advance of your trip. Book here.
And want to go to Boston on February 28 to watch the Caps? The roughly 6 and 1/2 hour train ride from D.C. to Beantown is $124 each way. Sure beats driving, or even flying. From New York to Boston, it’s only $79 each way.
Rock the red on the road!
Sorry guys, bad math on the Boston trip. But for you NYC fans, let’s get ‘er going!
There’s also the March 12 game @ Philly. (Still time to book an Acela round tripper 14 days in advance there: $73 each way.)
In case you hadn’t seen it, feast your eyes upon these beauties worn by the Hershey Bears on Love Day.
Anthony Fiore, insidehockey.com
Of course, a charity auction for these sweaters followed the game. I would have preferred to make a strict cash donation. Good Lord.
Stick tap to Stack the Pads for the photo.
All is seemingly coming up roses for the Washington Capitals. Heroic efforts, storybook endings, record-setting performances, have become almost predictable for our favorite team. So like any seasoned Capitals fan, it can be an unsettling state of contentment to occupy.
If there be a focus for the angst that still cannot be contained in Capdom, it often has settled upon our goaltending. And fair enough, as Brent Johnson is out for likely the duration of even a deep playoff run. (Or so says Olie Kolzig, who underwent the same type of surgery as Johnny.) And as fans eye José Théodore nervously, waiting for another stretch of poor play to unfold.
capitals.nhl.com
Even Théodore’s numbers since that “turn-around” game @ NYR on December 23 — 12-4-2, 2.53 GAA, and .919 SV%, the latter of which would be good for 10th best in the league (including back-ups) so far this season — has done little to quell that angst deeply rooted in some fans among us. Neither has a reminder that JT has won four playoff rounds in his career, and that Vezina Trophy.
So let’s then compare the Caps’ netmending situation to those other clubs that have established themselves as “elite” teams this season. Some teams through which the Caps must progress in order to win the ultimate prize. Are their goaltenders more established, solid, free of championship doubt?
To avoid controversy as to which are considered “elite,” we’ll look at the other top three, besides Washington, in the East standings, and at the top four in the West.
What we find, I humbly suggest, is that the Caps are no “worse” off right now than most of the other Cup contenders in 2008-09. While a capable backup may be nice to acquire by the trade deadline, it may come at the expense of filling perhaps a greater need for this team going into April.
Your post-game analysis that barely scrapes the surface:
Not only does Alex Ovechkin predict his goal-scoring feat, complete a hat trick, but he scores the game-winner through the legs of Florida’s best defenseman in Jay Bouwmeester.
Great move by Coach Boudreau to effectively use his abundance of active roster riches in back-to-back games in the Sunshine State, less than 24 hours apart. The fresh legs of Karl Alzner and Milan Jurcina on the back line, and sparkplug Jay Beagle up front, provided much needed energy on the team’s short rest. I thought Juice started off a little ragged, but his play around his net improved dramatically as the game wore on.
Your post-game analysis that barely scrapes the surface:
What a wonderful, historic night, on a romantic, passion-filled holiday. Amongst Mike Green’s historic marker, his eighth-straight game in which he has scored, Michal Neuvirth’s victory in his debut, a convincing 5-1 victory on the road, players’ dads in attendance, and shaving cream everywhere post-game, the game was storybook quality.
The only thing I might have changed was the scheduling: I’d rather that the Capitals faced the scratching and clawing ‘Cats from Sunrise last night, and the Lightning on the second of the back-to-backs. From the goaltending on out, last night’s hosts seemed completely overmatched for much of the game and didn’t come out with a lot of jump. So tonight in the Fort Lauderdale suburbs, less than 24 hours later, the Caps could be in for a rude awakening.
I wanted to say that the Caps, in each of the now three games that a rookie netminder has manned the pipes, particularly collapse defensively to take care of their green goalie. Though the SA stats don’t quite bear that out — they average 29.3 A/G, and Simeon Varlamov faced 31 and 33 shots in his two starts, while Neuvy faced 32 last night — but it seemed as if the defense did shield Neuvirth from a worse onslaught last night than might be typical. Or maybe it was more the result of a mediocre opponent.
That all said, Neuvirth made some brilliant snags with the mitt and side-to-side stops, including that breakaway grab from Vinny Lecavalier. As Tarik reported last night:
“I made the save, it was like, ‘I can play at this level,’” said Neuvirth, the eighth player to make his big league debut this season for the Capitals, and the second goalie to win his first career start, joining Simeon Varlamov. “It was a big save.”
Noted. And then robbing the other ‘Ning sniper, Martin St. Louis, on the PP.
Can you believe all of this success with rookie ‘tenders?
Last night saw another penalty assessed to Alex Ovechkin, for interference, which now makes three consecutive games in which he’s been given a minor penalty. Is it becoming reputational, or just a bit of poor judgment on the big guy’s part?
Strange how seemingly all of the typically relevant stats: hits, SOG, scoring chances, penalties, face-offs, all trended in favor of the home team last night after one period. Except for the 3-0 score.
The triple F line shone bright again, with a goal from Eric Fehr. Fehr’s minutes are creeping up there: 13:00 last night, and 12:51 @ NYR on Wednesday. Vogs has a nice recent piece comparing the careers of Tomas Fleischmann and Brooks Laich to Fehr’s. My gut reaction is that Fehr’s enjoying a bit higher skill level in his linemates than was Flash and Brooksy at comparable stages of their development. But in any event, it’s these numbers that matter most: 5 goals and 3 assists in Fehr’s last 7 GP. Brilliant.
For all of the great play of that second line last night, Viktor Kozlov is still sorely missed, and will be missed much more so tonight, where I suspect a much harder-fought affair.
And as Michael Nylander continues to snuff the momentum of almost any two wing mates, that third line of Bradley, Laich, and Nyls was underwhelming at best.
In reviewing his historic goal for the folks on the Sun Sports broadcast last night, Green remarked on how “that Tampa guy” blocked his first shot, before he banged in the rebound from the slot area. “That Tampa guy” was former, recent teammate Matt Pettinger.
The PP looked pretty lazy, despite Green’s tally, full of outside shots without traffic. Not that it was necessary after building a 4-0 lead without much push-back from the home team. But what’s that about developing bad habits?
Coach was wearing quite a sharp tie last night.
All together, though, a magical night. To those skeptics still out there: is this still not a special team, capable of the highest prize come June?
A few screen shots taken from Sun Sports’ broadcast of the game tonight, focusing on Mike Green’s old man celebrating Greenie’s historic goal amongst the other Capitals’ dads on the road trip. What a wonderful sight and memory to cherish.
He sat next to Michal Neuvirth’s father and, with young Michal working through his NHL debut, there was, of course, “plenty of adrenaline” in the seats @ TB between those two gents.
Don’t forget, Caps fans, that this weekend is USA Hockey’s “Hockey Weekend Across America.”
And today, in particular, is “Bring a Friend to the Rink Day.” Locally, you have two featured options:
- The DC Firefighters face off against the USA Wounded Warriors at the Gardens Ice House in Laurel, MD at 2:40 pm today. More details here.
- Check out Junior Women’s Hockey League Challenge Cup action this afternoon, from Kettler. Schedule here.
Hi guys and gals: hope your day is filled with scoring. Or at least “good scoring opportunities.” Or red lights.
Ah, too easy.
Did you know that the Washington Capitals have played on this February 14th, Valentine’s Day, only ten games in their illustrious, 34-season history, and that they’ve gone 6-4 in those games? And no games played on V-Day at all in the post-lockout, Ovechkin era.
This day leads me to reflect on the fact that, this Caps team and I, we’ve been “together” for nearly two decades. And there have been many frustrating, sad, angering, and tragic moments, as well as times of pure joy.
But forget about that honeymoon period, long, long ago – this season is proving to be our most exhilarating season ever.
So today, Caps fans, enjoy tonight’s game from your seat on the road or from your sofa, and ”let your [Capitals] red heart show”:
Chris Nelson / NPR
If you haven’t yet drilled down into Leonard Shapiro’s great article in WaPo this morning, on NPR’s coverage of the Caps this season from Gemma Hooley and Chris Nelson, listen here to the moving clip from Karl Alzner’s audio diary he had compiled for Hooley and Nelson, especially the segment recorded just hours before leaving for September’s training camp at Kettler.
It’s a poignant reminder of just how young some of these guys are, and how much we expect from them already.
It’s fairly uncontroversial to state, as J.P. and others already observed, that the two tussles early in the first period of Wednesday’s match between the Caps and Rangers at the Garden served to benefit only the home squad, desperate to enliven that sad, wet blanket of a team that had lost 5 straight, including one to the Dallas Stars by a 10-2 count.
Nevertheless, these two bouts, one a heavyweight tête-à-tête between Donald Brashear and Colton Orr, and the second a “middleweight” bout between Matt Bradley and Aaron Voros, together serve as a nice illustrative example for the raging debate in hockey circles about the difference between ”staged fights” and those that “arise out of the spontaneity of the game,” as NHLPA boss Paul Kelly has described.
An immediate, poignant contrast in how and why fights begin, what Bill Daly and Commissioner Bettman call the ”rules of engagement.”
Here’s video of the Brashear throwing his big lefts against Orr, shot by Russ Waxman on Wednesday:
Clearly an event unprovoked, not arising our of the spontaneity of the game, or a response to a questionable hit or otherwise. Did the fans enjoy it? Maybe. But this “marquee” bout was clearly pre-determined, if not before the game, then at some point when the two first skated together onto the same ice surface.
Now, the Brads and Voros fight:
A more impassioned affair, perhaps? This one really got my heart rate up. Arguably, that fight was a response to something that happened within the game just seconds before, arising out of its emotion. A response to the calculated effort to embolden the home team and set the Caps on their heels.
Consequently, it proved (to these eyes anyway) the more “entertaining” fight, if, as proponents of fighting have long stated, that be an important reason for keeping fisticuffs in the game, penalized only as they are today.
Japers’ Rink recently featured the top-ten rated Caps’ fights, according to hockeyfights.com, and the list is replete with references to Donald, and only one to Bradley.
Was the first fight above, in your view, more entertaining, necessary, inevitable?
If that type of fight was greatly curtailed if not eliminated, having the on-ice officials step in immediately to end it — would it detract from the game or your enjoyment of it?
