Caps 4 Lightning 2

Today was Mission Accomplished Part 2 as the Caps locked up the #2 seed in the Stanley Cup playoffs via a 4-2 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Caps will draw either the Montreal Canadiens or the New York Rangers in the first round. New York would have the tiebreaker based on wins.

As for tonight's game, well, there was maybe about 15 minutes of it that could be considered a hockey game. Tampa Bay came storming out of the gate early on, getting a goal 30 seconds in by Steven Stamkos and keeping the heat on the Caps for the next 5 minutes. But the Caps slowly asserted control and the Bolts helped them out by giving the Caps power play a 2-man advantage, leading to Brooks Laich's tying goal. From there on, the Lightning would get a few chances but the Caps controlled the action. After two quick second period goals by Laich and David Steckel, the Bolts spent the rest of the 2nd and most of the third looking like they were ready to make golf reservations, chase tail at a Tampa bar, get a suntan at the beach,anything but keep playing hockey. I suppose I don't blame them, it's been a long, tough year. Their 2nd goal, by former Cap Matt Pettinger, was almost by accident but the Bolts did collectively seem to say, "Fuck it, we can play for another 8 minutes." But the Caps once again reasserted command of the game, Mike Green got an open netter after skating through some Swiss cheese defense and the Caps locked up that #2 seed.

Hangar Observations:

- While most of this game had the feel of a glorified scrimmage, one thing I did like was that after the Lightning got back to within one in the third, the Caps didn't panic and methodically kept playing their game. Tampa is a mess, actually, let's just come out and say they suck, but you do like to see short memories like that in the playoffs.

- I didn't like Bruce Boudreau double-shifting Alex Ovechkin in the 3rd period. I know he was trying to help Ovie get that scoring title, but you don't want to get your star hurt in a game like that. Besides, since there was a rash of penalties early in the game, why not get Keith Aucoin, Steckel and Professor Matt Bradley some extra ice time?

- Professor Matt looked like Cam Neely or Brendan Shanahan on that setup to Steckel's goal.

- Laich's second goal was what my teammate Jeff Hudson would call a "snipe."

- While the Lightning have sucked this year, Stamkos has a very bright future.

- Still don't like that Jeff Schultz-Milan Jurcina defence pairing. I know that will change when Tom Poti comes back, but still, they scare the crap out of me back there.

Here now are the highlights from NHL.com


So that's it for this game. All the Eastern Conference playoff spots have been locked up, so Saturday's game with Florida will be meaningless. Let's hope the Caps can get out of there without any injuries and be ready to go for the playoffs. Until the next time, let's call this one more...for the good guys.

Caps 6 Thrashers 4

Someone needs to make a tape of the 3rd period of today's game and play it before every Caps game from here on in. Whoever shows that tape needs to tell the team, "THAT is what you guys can do if you consistently bring it."

The Thrashers had no answer for the Caps in the 3rd period, as the boys in red seemed to come in waves, one right after another. They made Atlanta's defense look foolish, forcing a myriad of bad turnovers. Of course, the next question is, "Why can't they do that for 60 minutes?"

Third period aside, it was yet another listless effort through two. If my old coach Marc Felizzi was coaching this team he would be freaking out behind the bench telling the players "NO BLIND PASSES UP THE MIDDLE!!!!" Sergei Fedorov did it against Buffalo on Friday and it cost the Caps an extra point. Alex Ovechkin did it today and it cost them a goal. Just inexcusable stuff. These guys have been taught since Mites not to throw blind passes up the middle and they've done it two games in a row. As much heat as Jose Theodore takes in the clueless mainstream media, without Theo in the first period, the Caps might have been on their way to another stinkbomb against Atlanta.

But, oh that 3rd period. It truly is a pleasure to watch this team when they play like that. When they work and forecheck the crap out of the opposition, they are impossible to stop. The team that skated the 3rd period could win the Stanley Cup. The team that skated the first 40 minutes could get swept in the first round. That's the freakin' tightrope this Caps team walks and until they figure out a way to bring that 3rd period for 60 minutes, it's going to be a turbulent ride through the playoffs.

The Hangar's observations:

- Keith Aucoin was the best player on the ice today. He had a goal and an assist and you could see coach Bruce Boudreau get more confidence in him as this game rolled along. If Aucoin isn't taking a regular shift in the playoffs, well, somebody's got to lay off the peyote. Along with Brooks Laich and Dave Steckel, Aucoin is just the sort of guy who the Caps are going to need.

- Finally, Tomas Fleischmann scored a goal, temporarily ending his own personal nightmare of a 2009.

- The goal Colby Armstrong scored, Atlanta's first, is all on Tom Poti. He's got to step up and meet Armstrong a lot higher than the top of the slot. By that point, you're at the mercy of the shooter at the NHL level.

- I don't like that Milan Jurcina-Jeff Schultz defense pairing. They would get murdered in a 7-game series, especially against a speedy team like Montreal or Carolina. I know Brian Pothier was scratched to make room for Juice, but I'd rather see Pothier, Mike Green and Poti as at least half the defense in the playoffs. then have some combination of Schultz, John Erskine, Jurcina and Shaone Morrisonn.

- How did the Caps not score on that first period power play when TWO Thrashers broke their sticks?

- Speaking of the PP, it wasn't the best of days for the NHL's 2nd ranked unit. They gave up a shorthanded goal in the 2nd after Ovie's turnover (Repeat: NO BLIND PASSES OVER THE MIDDLE!) Too much Danglefest 2009 for the first few chances. But things did turn around when Aucoin was put out there. He slammed home a great feed from Ovie for his PP marker and in the 3rd, the Caps put on a puck possession clinic, even though they didn't score.

- Since the Caps are playing the Thrash again on Tuesday night, here's a tip: Do NOT let Ilya Kovalchuk have room. If he gets any space, he's deadly.

- I liked the combination of Eric Fehr, Michael Nylander and Brooks Laich. Nylander played a strong game, and got that 3rd period barrage rolling with his knucklepuck that eluded ATL goaltender Johan Hedberg. Fehr put the Caps ahead for good by going relentless towards the net. Fehr needs to take a page from my old teammate Derek Russ and don't venture more than 5 feet from the goal. Good things happen for him there.

- The Thrashers defense was brutal on Fehr's goal but they were worse on the next goal, a brilliant piece of tic-tac-toe passing between Aucoin, Fleischmann and Alex Semin. That goal was gorgeousness and gorgeousity made real (bet you won't find a "Clockwork Orange" reference like that on any other blog.) The passing and puck handling was great but the Thrash just looked clueless out there defensively. To the Caps credit, they FORCED Atlanta into that with hard work, quick puck movement and heavy forechecking. If they do that all the time they're going places (are you sensing a theme with this wrapup?)

- The Caps scored 6 goals today, none of them by guys named Ovechkin, Green or Backstrom. They're going to need that secondary scoring in the playoffs. Let's hope this game was just the beginning of more balance in the Caps lineup.

- Ovie did get two points today, drawing him closer to Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin for the league scoring title but this wasn't one of his better games. He had that bad giveaway on Jim Slater's shorthanded goal and seemed to give up a lot of good looks instead of trying to score goals. That's more like Nylander than Ovechkin.

- I praised Jose Theodore earlier this post, now I come to bury him. Jose- What the fuck were you thinking? He looked like he was trying to score a goal in Atlanta's empty net but whiffed and gave it right to Slava Kozlov. It was the best pass Kozlov's probably had all year.

Anyway, enough of my rambling, here's the highlights from NHL.com.


With this win, the Caps go back up two points on idle New Jersey for the 2nd seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. As mentioned before, the team will make one more stop in Atlanta before closing out in Florida against Tampa Bay and the Panthers. So until then, let's call this one more...for the good guys.

Good Guys Links - Capitals

'Cause who doesn't love UGA or English bulldogs. I've wanted to get a bulldog for sometime now and whenever I get one, I want it to look like UGA. Only instead of a University of Georgia jersey, I want to get it a Caps, Orioles and Ravens jersey for the different seasons. The spiked dog collar is choice as well.

Here are some Caps links for ya in preparation for tonight's game with the Tampa Bay Lightning. I'll have a postgame recap as soon as the game ends. I know you will be panting like a dog in anticipation.

- Speaking of bulldogs, Billionaire Ted Leonsis is also singing the praises of Brooks Laich. The Owner also raises the good point that Brooksie was acquired for Peter Bondra during the great fire sale of 2004.

- According to Tank, Simeon Varlamov will get the start against the Bolts while Brian Pothier and Quintin Laing should also play. Laing will make his 2008-09 debut, probably in place of Boyd Gordon, who is nursing an injury. Pothier will replace John Erskine, who is a healthy scratch.

-Peerless and Japer's preview tonight's game.

- OFB on Alex Ovechkin's MVP chances.

- Another one from OFB, this time on the bracket all of us over the age of 21 would like to enter.


- A preview of tonight's game from the Tampa Bay side.

Good Guys Links - Capitals

While we're doing links posts, here are some from the largesse (is that a word?) that is the Caps blog-o-sphere.

- On Frozen Blog has this laughable advertisement on Fox Sports Carolinas for Saturday's Caps-Hurricanes game. The laughable part is not the "They took what was ours" line. No, it's the "Our Team. Our Tradition" tagline. Your tradition? You are the former Hartford Whalers. People would probably like you more if you were still the Hartford Whalers. After all, who couldn't love the mighty Whale. They were mentioned in "Mallrats." They were the worst team in the history of video game hockey but they had character, damn it. The Carolina Hurricanes are shite. You know what? Cue up the fucking "Brass Bonanza." Long live the Whale! Down with Carolina!


- Speaking of OFB and teams moving, could we have seen the beginning of the end of the Florida Panthers? Love the title, by the by, mostly because it's the same as my favorite Local H album.

- Tank with a nice piece on Caps forward Brooks Laich. You gotta love Laich, who I thought was the Caps best player on a consistent basis in last year's playoffs and is the sort of blood and guts guy that will NOT be intimidated by the Philadelphia's and Pittsburgh's in the playoffs this year.

- More from Tank on holding the Panthers shotless in the 3rd period last night.

- Peerless on the Caps special teams. Or lack thereof.


- Billionaire Ted on last night's game.

Caps 3 Panthers 0

Now that was more like it. After getting murdered in Atlanta last night, the Caps bounced back with a very strong defensive effort to take two important points from the Florida Panthers in the hockey mecca known as Sunrise, Fl.

Sometimes in athletics, the best thing that can happen is getting right back out there the next day. When you lose as bad as the Caps did last night, you just want to get back out there on the ice and kick the shit out of whoever is next on the schedule. While the Caps didn't put on their shit kickers and kick some shit for the entire 60 minutes, they sure did for the last 20. The same Caps who were shredded by Atlanta last night morphed into the 1995 New Jersey Devils, holding the Kitty Cats to 0, I repeat ZERO, shots on goal in the third period. This is a Panthers team fighting for their playoff lives, the kind of desperate team that has given the Caps troubles this year. Hell, the last time the Caps saw the Panthers, Florida put a real thumping on Washington with a 6-2 victory at the Phone Booth.

Tonight? Different story. The Caps won the kind of ugly, defensive game they need to win to go places in April and May. This Caps team plays much better anyway when they focus on defence and not all trying to be Harry High School heroes out there.

A couple quick notes:

-I thought Sergei Fedorov looked very strong tonight. Maybe the game off last night gave him a little spring in his step. He is almost 40 and despite being in great shape, a little rest can help keep Feds fresh for the postseason when his two-way skills and experience will be very important.

- The big criticism lately has been about the Caps lack of secondary scoring. Well tonight, one of those secondary guys, Viktor Kozlov, scored tonight on a Sakic-like wrist shot.

- When Brooks Laich scored the first (and game-winning) goal shorthanded, it got me to thinking - when was the last time the Caps scored shorthanded? It seems like forever ago.

- Alex Ovechkin didn't get #50 tonight but Mike Green did get #25 in an open net to move him that much closer to the 30-goal plateau.

- I wonder how Jose Theodore kept himself busy since he didn't have any work in third period. Did he look in the stands for some groupie love? Was he contemplating writing a novel? Thinking of asking the usher to get him a green beer? I'm curious to know what goalies, who are strange birds to begin with, think about when they don't see any shots.

So that's it for tonight. The four game road trip through the Southeast Division continues Thursday night in Tampa Bay. Until then, let's chalk up one more...for the good guys!

Caps 2 Flyers 1

Excuse me while I channel my inner meathead...

"Yeah baby! Wooo!!! Feel my fuckin' bicep!"

What a game tonight. For the second straight game the Caps came out and earned two points. They came into The Building Formerly Known As The F.U. Center and outplayed the Philadelphia Flyers. I hope these last two games have shown the Caps what they are capable of when they work hard and do the little things. Yes, the highlight reel goals sell tickets and (occasionally) get you on SportsCenter, but its the mucking and grinding goals that win playoff series. Here now are some passes and fails.

- Epic Pass - The criticism of Jose Theodore all year has been that he can't steal games for the Caps. Well he stole the 2nd period. It was the only time Philly really turned it into their kind of game and Theo was more than up for the challenge. But for an excellent look by Mike Richards, Theo might have had a shutout.

- Epic Pass - Brooks Laich. Dude was born to play games like this.

- Epic Pass - To Flyers management for getting rid of Scottie Upshall. This game reminded me a lot of the Caps-Bruins games. It had a lot of flow back and forth and both teams played a clean, hard-hitting game. In my opinion, getting rid of Upshall and the nonsense he brought to the rink - diving, flopping, borderline cheapshotting - had a lot to do with that.

- Epic Fail - Not many tonight but if I must give one, I'll give it to the officials for making that chinsy interference call on Nicklas Backstrom with less than 5 minutes to go in the game. In a game that was so well-played by both teams why did they feel the need to call this borderline penalty? I agreed with Craig Laughlin's assessment. You call that in the first period but not with less than five minutes to go. Also, I give the refs another slight fail for disallowing Tomas Fleischmann's goal in the 3rd period. They waived it off (the second time Flash has had that happen to him in two games) because of goalie interference on Michael Nylander but it was clear that Nyls was shoved into Flyers goalie Martin Biron by Jeff Carter and was not incidental contact.

-Epic Fail - To the Philly fans. Mostly 'cause its a Caps post, its my blog and I'll do what I want. But also because they booed for 4 straight minutes after a Flyers goal was disallowed because Mike Knuble cross-checked Jeff Schultz in the back. It was an obvious penalty call but the Flyer fans acted like an Eagles game broke out.But the funny part was that just 5 minutes later, Backstrom gets that weak interference call and all the sudden the refs are OK again. Only in Philadelphia.


- Epic Pass - After a heavy collision with Flyers defenceman Ryan Parent, Alex Ovechkin cranked his game up big time. Fueled by a relentless booing from the Philly faithful, Ovie had the normally aggressive Flyers D on their heels and finished with a goal, an assist and almost 10 shots on net. It just seems that whenever he gets hit or is booed like that Ovie raises his game up a notch.

- Epic Pass - Philly fans may say Ovie's goal was a lucky turnover but there was no luck involved. Ovechkin and Alex Semin forced the Flyers to make a bad clearing attempt and much like LeBron James, Ovie isn't going to miss many layups.

- Epic Pass - To the Flyer coaches for starting Biron over Antero Nittymaki. In the three previous games against the Caps, Nittymaki looked like Patrick Roy. Biron played very well tonight but I'm sure there is not a Caps fan out there who was upset to see him in goal tonight.

So thats it for a very successful road trip, two wins, four very important points. Now its back to the Phone Booth for a Saturday game against Carolina before heading off for a five-game road trip. If the Caps bring this kind of effort, like we've seen against Nashville and Philly, there is no reason they should not be successful. Until the next time, let's chalk up one more...for the good guys.