On Frozen Blog

And with a win this evening, the iPod community at large gives a collective sigh of relief.

Winning may not cure everything, but it never hurts. Olie Kolzig works hard and gets his long-overdue shutout, Ovechkin lights the lamp, some hits are thrown, and the Caps come away with two points in what can probably be considered a sloppy affair overall. “It looks like both teams are playing hot potato out there” is how OrderedChaos put it, and I have to agree.

• Ovechkin had an interesting game, whiffing several times on the puck, yet having one of his best puck-control games of the season. His backwards shot on net was a fun moment, and he threw the body — unfortunately, that included accidentally clocking Alexander Semin, who had no ice-time in the third period according to the NHL shift chart. Update: Mike Vogel reports that Semin suffered a foot injury late in the second.
• Olie Kolzig was strong.
• Brooks Laich had an up-and-down game, with an iffy penalty that negated a power play and a tough turnover with a minute left. Of course, he also fed Ovechkin for the goal.
• I’m not sure about Florida netminder Craig Anderson being around long enough to have a “book” out on him, but the Caps seemed to shoot predominantly high tonight, with lots of missed shots off the glass.
• The Caps continue to have trouble getting out of their own zone. Be it weak chips, players getting in the way of clearing attempts, or being beaten to pucks, it’s become an adventure working any breakout.
• Jeff Schultz and Milan Jurcina continue to be bright spots for the team. Jurcina’s physical game was on display tonight, wall-papering several Panthers on the backboards. Schultz displayed some promising physicality as well, including a shift in the third where he pushed Chris Gratton around behind the net. The Sarge’s continued knack for not being noticeable on the ice is maybe the best thing you can say about a young defenseman.
• The Caps threw three hip-checks in the game, something I haven’t seen in awhile.
• Boyd Gordon is a smart hockey player. He seems to make the proper play in most situations.
• The Caps seem to have the knack of getting the cycling game going without having someone go to the middle for a centering opportunity. It’s nice that they can keep possession, and it’s going to grind the other team down, but the next step is creating a solid scoring opportunity out of that.
• Despite getting train-wrecked by Alex Ovechkin, Jay Bouwmeester displayed his considerable talents: a defenseman that big with good speed leading the rush is not something you often see.
• Shaone Morrisonn appeared to be injured in the final minute of the game, which is very bad ju-ju for the defensive corps.

Something of a costly win, but a win nonetheless. The Caps held on to a lead late, which has been something of a bugaboo for them this season, and got off the schneid. Team OFB also got to spend some time with “The Godfather”, Eric McErlain of Off Wing Opinion, and his fellow Offwingers, Joe and Kate, as well as the ever-productive DCSportsChick, who set a new land-speed record for fastest and most accurate comment in OFB history (see the OFB team picture for more).

The next two games are against tough competition, and with the newest injuries to the club, a difficult task became more difficult. A good showing in both games would be a nice way to end the season.