Knee-Jerks: vs. New York Islanders, 3/3/07
By -
March 4, 2007
Well, we now know what happens when a good team that's fighting for a playoff spot plays a not-so-good team that has been hit hard by injuries. And to think the Caps owned the Isles not too long ago. The Islanders started strong and only let up late in the third, when the game was already decided.- Some of it is due to the presence of one Ryan Smith, to be sure, but the Islanders always had someone in front of the Caps' netminders, and that is always bad news. While the current rules limit some of the battles in front of the net (and that's an article for a different day), Caps' defenders were particularly poor at finding position on the New York forwards to leverage them out of the way. This on the heels of the Caps screening their own goaltender a few times in the previous couple of games, and maybe the coaching staff wants to address that.
- Several times last night Alexander Semin passed up a shooting opportunity to pass, which is puzzling, considering he's had a "shoot-first, there are no questions" mentality most of the season. It was quite surprising, and I wonder if that's a product of something the coaching staff has told him, or if having a winger who he know can do good things with the puck has him trusting his linemates more.
- Kris Beech gets added to the injured list with a bad knee, which further thins the guys up front. Beech may not be a key cog in the Caps' machine, but losing another forward doesn't help.
- Complaining about the officiating against your team is a loser's game, and always will be. That said, the Brashear Roughing and Unsportsmanlike double minor baffled me.
- I don't think the outcome of the game would have been significantly different, but it would have been nice to see Alexandre Giroux pot his early first-period chance.
- Bryan Muir had a tough game.
- Milan Jurcina continues to be a pleasant development in a tough season. Another solid game.
- Brian Sutherby's recent stretch of strong play continues. Getting regular power play minutes doesn't hurt, but he's making the most of his opportunities, and continuing his strong work in the faceoff circle.
- It's too bad that Freddy Cassivi's NHL minutes this year are coming in relief, with the game already out of hand. Brent Johnson has certainly been working hard, but it might be time to give Cassivi a shot at winning a game on his own.
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