Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Capitals prepare for Ottawa Senators
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| Caps 3-29-10 |
Brooks Laich, who was injured by a John Carlson puck gleaning off the crossbar in practice, skated alone. Wearing a cage, he hopes to be back on the ice by the weekend. He followed up his morning skate with media interviewers.
The Caps take on fifth ranked Ottawa Senators, who have won their previous four matches on Tuesday
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Caps strike Lightning 3-1
With around 18,000 fans in attendance at the St. Pete Times Forum, the Washington Capitals welcomed Captain Alexander Ovechkin back to the ice after serving a two game suspension for shoving Chicago Blackhawks’ Brian Campbell. Although the team has historically done well enough without him in the line-up, having their captain back surely settled the nerves of the Caps, who have had a rough few days after suffering an overtime loss to Carolina the previous game.
It was the nifty passing of Washington’s Eric Fehr and David Steckel which allowed Capital’s Tomas Fleischmann to get the first goal of the game. Newly acquired Capitals defensemen Joe Corvo sat for the night, after scoring 2 goals against his former team, the Carolina Hurricanes. Unfortunately, it was the Capitals’ defensive pairing of Jeff Shultz and Mike Green which allowed Tampa’s captain, Vincent Lecavalier, to tie the score. Not to be left out, Nicklas Backstrom’s indirect pass to speeding Alex Ovechkin, once again put the Caps in the lead, and gave Ovi his 45th goal of the season. Two Capitals’ power play opportunities would go unused, but the scare of the period occurred when Lightning goalie, Antero Niittymaki, almost scored a shorthanded goal after Jose Theodore left his crease during the delayed penalty. The helpless Caps watched helplessly as the puck sailed directly at their empty net, but thankfully went just wide of the opening.
In the second period, Theodore stole the show making beautiful save after beautiful save to prevent not only a shorthanded goal attempt by Tampa’s Martin St. Louis, but again stopped the ever flashy Lecavalier from stuffing the puck on a Lighting PP. Capitals trade deadline acquisition, Scott Walker, would leave the game after a fighting major, having suffered some sort of injury in his fight with Lightning’s Zenon Konopka, who also served a 5 minute major.
The third period had plenty of saves, hits, energy, and a goal by Alexander Semin to make it 3-1, assisted by Brooks Laich’s rebounded first attempt. Again, the stellar goaltending on the part of Theodore kept the team focused and motivated to reach for the win in their quest for the NHL President’s Trophy. As of tonight, the Capitals are still in 1st place with 106 points, with the next closest teams, San Jose Sharks and Chicago Blackhawks tied at 96 apeice.
Of note
Caps have been called far too many times for too many men on the ice lately. Once is too many, but twice in one week?
The early tentative play of Ovechkin didn’t take long to dissolve, as his goal and nice hits tonight on Tampa’s Thompson and Downie.
Mike Green took a Kurtis Foster slap shot to the boot, but was out on the ice for his next shift. Hopefully this won’t affect his game too much, as the team needs to be ready for the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday, March 24th at Verizon Center.
It was the nifty passing of Washington’s Eric Fehr and David Steckel which allowed Capital’s Tomas Fleischmann to get the first goal of the game. Newly acquired Capitals defensemen Joe Corvo sat for the night, after scoring 2 goals against his former team, the Carolina Hurricanes. Unfortunately, it was the Capitals’ defensive pairing of Jeff Shultz and Mike Green which allowed Tampa’s captain, Vincent Lecavalier, to tie the score. Not to be left out, Nicklas Backstrom’s indirect pass to speeding Alex Ovechkin, once again put the Caps in the lead, and gave Ovi his 45th goal of the season. Two Capitals’ power play opportunities would go unused, but the scare of the period occurred when Lightning goalie, Antero Niittymaki, almost scored a shorthanded goal after Jose Theodore left his crease during the delayed penalty. The helpless Caps watched helplessly as the puck sailed directly at their empty net, but thankfully went just wide of the opening.
In the second period, Theodore stole the show making beautiful save after beautiful save to prevent not only a shorthanded goal attempt by Tampa’s Martin St. Louis, but again stopped the ever flashy Lecavalier from stuffing the puck on a Lighting PP. Capitals trade deadline acquisition, Scott Walker, would leave the game after a fighting major, having suffered some sort of injury in his fight with Lightning’s Zenon Konopka, who also served a 5 minute major.
The third period had plenty of saves, hits, energy, and a goal by Alexander Semin to make it 3-1, assisted by Brooks Laich’s rebounded first attempt. Again, the stellar goaltending on the part of Theodore kept the team focused and motivated to reach for the win in their quest for the NHL President’s Trophy. As of tonight, the Capitals are still in 1st place with 106 points, with the next closest teams, San Jose Sharks and Chicago Blackhawks tied at 96 apeice.
Of note
Caps have been called far too many times for too many men on the ice lately. Once is too many, but twice in one week?
The early tentative play of Ovechkin didn’t take long to dissolve, as his goal and nice hits tonight on Tampa’s Thompson and Downie.
Mike Green took a Kurtis Foster slap shot to the boot, but was out on the ice for his next shift. Hopefully this won’t affect his game too much, as the team needs to be ready for the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday, March 24th at Verizon Center.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Capitals Rally to Defeat Blackhawks in OT 3-14-10
In a game many Chicago Blackhawks fans thought was over early, it was the Washington Capitals fans who were pleasantly surprised with the final outcome when the Caps rallied back from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Hawks in OT 4-3. The win, however, came at a loss for Ovechkin, who was ejected from the game after a hit on Blackhawks’ Brian Campbell, which resulted in a 5-minute Boarding, a-10 minute Game Misconduct, and Ovechkin’s eventual ejection.
Blackhawks Captain, Jonathan Toews, scored twice in the first period of play, putting the Hawks ahead of the Caps 2-0. Returning from the first period intermission, Hawks John Madden scored on even play to put the Caps solidly behind 3-0. Although the Caps fought for the entire period, they were still unable to catch-up to one of the NHL’s best teams.
Whatever Bruce Boudreau said to inspire the team during that second intermission, the players surely responded by coming out stronger and more focused. Things began to unravel for the Hawks in the third, when Defensemen Jordan Hendry earned a double minor for high sticking, sending the Caps to a 4-minute Power Play. Capitals Brooks Laich took advantage of the situation, scoring the first goal of the game with assists by Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green. Backstrom’s assist was his 55th of the season. Nicklas Backstrom and Eric Fehr would go onto to score two more times to tie the game at 3-3, sending it to OT.
Once again, it would be Backstrom who showed the team what it takes to persevere in the face of adversity when his wrister sent the puck into the net at 3:10, giving the Caps 2 points and the win. The team now sits at first in the league with 101 points overall.
If you follow NHL hockey, you know that the General Managers spring meetings concluded just days ago, and the issue of head shots were discussed. A new rule penalizing blind-side hits to the head was sent to the league's competition committee, where it will then head to the NHL Board of Governors for final approval. If ratified, the rule would take effect next season. The rule states: "A lateral, back pressure or blindside hit to an opponent where the head is targeted and or is the principal point of contact is not permitted. A violation of the above will result in a minor or major penalty and shall be reviewed for possible supplemental discipline."
In this Caps fans humble opinion, if you watch the pushing motion as it begins, Ovechkin is leaning to the left, as is Campbell. Campbell looks to his left where Ovechkin is skating towards him, and as he follows, they both lean simultaneously to the right. It is as if they are synchronized, and the momentum of the shoving motion is enhanced as inertia takes Campbell toward the boards. He does tuck his right shoulder as he approaches the boards, which to me, provides further evidence that he knew he was going to hit, and took evasive action.
Will Ovechkin's "hit" constitute further punishment from the NHL beyond the scope of what was handed down into today? Stay tuned…
Blackhawks Captain, Jonathan Toews, scored twice in the first period of play, putting the Hawks ahead of the Caps 2-0. Returning from the first period intermission, Hawks John Madden scored on even play to put the Caps solidly behind 3-0. Although the Caps fought for the entire period, they were still unable to catch-up to one of the NHL’s best teams.
Whatever Bruce Boudreau said to inspire the team during that second intermission, the players surely responded by coming out stronger and more focused. Things began to unravel for the Hawks in the third, when Defensemen Jordan Hendry earned a double minor for high sticking, sending the Caps to a 4-minute Power Play. Capitals Brooks Laich took advantage of the situation, scoring the first goal of the game with assists by Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green. Backstrom’s assist was his 55th of the season. Nicklas Backstrom and Eric Fehr would go onto to score two more times to tie the game at 3-3, sending it to OT.
Once again, it would be Backstrom who showed the team what it takes to persevere in the face of adversity when his wrister sent the puck into the net at 3:10, giving the Caps 2 points and the win. The team now sits at first in the league with 101 points overall.
If you follow NHL hockey, you know that the General Managers spring meetings concluded just days ago, and the issue of head shots were discussed. A new rule penalizing blind-side hits to the head was sent to the league's competition committee, where it will then head to the NHL Board of Governors for final approval. If ratified, the rule would take effect next season. The rule states: "A lateral, back pressure or blindside hit to an opponent where the head is targeted and or is the principal point of contact is not permitted. A violation of the above will result in a minor or major penalty and shall be reviewed for possible supplemental discipline."
In this Caps fans humble opinion, if you watch the pushing motion as it begins, Ovechkin is leaning to the left, as is Campbell. Campbell looks to his left where Ovechkin is skating towards him, and as he follows, they both lean simultaneously to the right. It is as if they are synchronized, and the momentum of the shoving motion is enhanced as inertia takes Campbell toward the boards. He does tuck his right shoulder as he approaches the boards, which to me, provides further evidence that he knew he was going to hit, and took evasive action.
Will Ovechkin's "hit" constitute further punishment from the NHL beyond the scope of what was handed down into today? Stay tuned…
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