Knee-jerk Reactions: vs. Pittsburgh, 10/20/07
By -
October 20, 2007
Sigh. Guess that's the only lead I can come up with after tonight's game. The Caps played the body, played hard, but still look unorganized on the ice, and a hockey-savvy team from Pittsburgh worked Caps' goaltender Brent Johnson out. No blaming anyone on this: the better team won.- Boyd Gordon was a shot in the arm to the team, defensively, and Brent Johnson's goaltending heroics kept the game from being a more lop-sided victory. Goaltending can't be faulted.
- Nicklas Backstrom needs to be moved to a center position, ASAP. Outside of Ovechkin and Johnson, he was the Caps' best player tonight: solid defensive play and heady offensive awareness. If you are looking for a real positive from this game, go with the young Swede. If you are looking for another positive...
- Brent Johnson and Alex Ovechkin played their butts off: effort, concentration, bravery, you call it. Johnson made at least three save he shouldn't have, and Ovechkin threw hits - including one that I'm sure people will be talking about, though it was more of a glancing shot - and was a menace in the opposing zone. That said, they both are on the business end of a L tonight.
- The fights? LaRaque and Brashear was a decidedly one-sided affair until Brashear landed a definitive left. Hard to call a fight like that, but that was a serious left. Pettinger threw the only two punches in the fight with Staal that I saw, though it looked like he took his helmet off, so the Caps at least, acquitted themselves. Doesn't change the score, though.
- Do we want to bring up the special teams play? Probably not, and there has been talk recently of how a power-play drought like this wouldn't be looked at sideways if it was in January. That may be true, but we're gone over the fact that points when your team is trying to gel count exactly as much as points when your team is gelled. Working the puck around the point and hitting the backdoor defenseman for a shot doesn't seem that hard in theory.
- I have been, and probably will be in the future, a Marc-Andre Fleury critic, but tonight he made big saves and played like the talented goaltender he can be. No slights, here.
- I'm not on the Dave Steckel bandwagon yet. And while Joe Motzko may be a talented player, he emphasizes the Caps' need for Eric Fehr to heal up. Brooks Laich may not have made an impression, either. (Ed - thanks for the reality check)
Programming note: Every blogger's nemesis, Real Life, has finally caught up with me, and I am taking a leave of absence from OFB, likely permanent. OFB isn't going anywhere, and my friends OrderedChaos, pucksandbooks, and Gustafsson will continue to represent, OFB-style.
I'd like to thank everyone in the Caps' organization, who have been amazing to work with, and the Caps blogosphere, who are as intelligent as they are inclusive (an on-and-off again commodity amongst regional bloggers, I've found). Mostly, I'd like to thank you for reading. It's a simple equation: no you = no us. I hope I see you around the rink, and maybe we can grab a beer and talk hockey.
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