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Never should have let it get to that point anyway. Had they scored a second goal, Boston would have completely folded (especially given their last three games). They couldn’t get that second goal and, even though we may complain about the calls, they didn’t step on a fragile team’s throat when the had the chance. *sigh* Can’t believe I have to root for Buffalo tonight.

Yeah, the zebras gave it to our Caps hard, but the team never should have gave them the opportunity. I expected “learning experiences” with this team as it chases its first playoff spot; however, I never thought it would be the vets that choked like they did. Pin this one on the Brash, Erskine and Poti.

Blame this one on Flash for not putting away that backhander…

JUST KIDDING

SQUEAL LIKE A PIG, BOY

1. The Caps had an opportunity to better control the game with Boston on their heels and out of sorts in the first period. One goal shouldn’t be what the Caps ever sit back on.

2. While the call against Cooke appeared wrong to me, I’m not distressed about a 5min.

3. The Capitals penalty kill was actually doing a very good job overall.

4. The refs called what they thought they saw against the Caps. That happens every game to every team. Sometimes it looks like a trip even though the stick misses the falling skater. And I’m not going to argue that the Caps should not have been penalized.

The frustrating part is the lack of calls against the Bruins. I’m not saying phantom hooks or anything like that to balance out — I don’t buy that, but the blatant: a roughing or crosscheck which led to Brashear’s straight left (nice punch by the way) — the play was already whistled dead, players stopped skating; Chara playing with a broken stick — if it’s in his hand when he goes to make a play, even if he’s not using the stick to make said play, it’s still playing with a broken stick; interference several times through the game, most notably at the end.

But… see #1. The Caps had an opportunity to take control when Boston kept taking penalties at the beginning of the game. Crush ‘em then.

So now the Caps have a tired PK getting to play a rested Penguins team.

I agree the 4 min penalty was a lazy play by Brash and the 2 minute for the bunch was bad, but funny. But the Ref giving the Bruins two 5 on 3s is just out of control. Especially when they ignored similar actions from the Bruins. This was a gift to the bruins by the refs in my book. The NHL needs to get these refs under control this is the second time this week the zebras changed the outcome of a game. The zebras should be held accountable for bad calls. I will scream if I see this team of refs calling a playoff game. Send the to the minors for seasoning.

When you look at the breakdown of the calls, something obvious jumps out, and I brought this up on the boards during the game.

With the exception of Cooke’s bad call in the second, the game went 36 min and 29 seconds without a call. I have yet to see a game go that long without something being called, or badly missed.

But that being said, after the first 5 on 3 goal didn’t bring a man back on the ice, the guys should have realized that they had to play a more disciplined game. We lost because of stupid penalties, pure and simple.

As for dumping Brash, or stripping him of his “A” that has been one of the more irrational comments I’ve heard in a while. One bad incident does not make him a pariah. I’ve been impressed with Brash’s play this year, his fight numbers are a lot lower than you would expect from a man with his reputation. And it’s reputation that has him on this team and keeps him on this team. I’m quite sure that there have been many aggressors who have had second thoughts about dropping the gloves while Brash was on the ice. And Brash has provided veteran leadership for a team that lacks experience, and will continue to do so.

Hnidy deserved every pound of force that was delivered to his face. But Brash should have done it a lot sooner than he did. Perhaps when Erskine challenged him on the hit on OV. Brash knew he blew it. And you could see how bad and small he was feeling when they showed him leaving the bench at the end of the game. He WILL take this game chalk it up to a bad move on his part, learn from it, and move on. But do not make him a pariah for doing something that almost anyone would have done.

And we can’t look at this as the straw that broke and kept us out of the playoffs. For that we can only lay the blame on the poor performance at the start of the year. The fact that we’ve been able to come back this far is a testament to the players and coaching we have.

Let them have a bad day, they’ll get through it, so should we.

(just my opinion, nothing humble about it)

Donald Brashear = Chris Simon

That one act may have cost our team the playoffs. If he can’t control himself he doesn’t belong in the league anymore. Everyone is fortunate that his sucker punch didn’t result in injury. This had the potential to be as bad as Bertuzzi/Moore. Sure he didn’t ride on his back or anything like that, but let’s not even think what an unexpected blow to the head like that could have done.

Brashear was goaded into knocking out a Bruin with a nice left. His play for the balance of the season has been solid. Note to the critics, he keeps the opposition at bay when they think they can run Ovie or Semin, or anyone else for that matter. He is also a steady veteran on a team full of rookies….

The officiating hurts a major conspiracy theory that the NHL controls them for their own purpose. It would be a cinderella story for the Caps to make the playoffs, when they were mired at 14th at the mid season mark.

Ovie is why we are getting national tv coverage. I would think the NHL would like to play that story up with coach Boudreau and all…

Who wrote sucker punch? A fast left to the face of an opponent coming straight at you with a stick is not a sucker punch! It is smart self defense! “Sucker punch” is a word used by losers to justify poor reaction time! However, the call on Cooke was a sign that should have been heeded. In my humble opinion if a player is so ruffed up that his opponent gets a 5min major and a game misconduct, he should not get to skate in the PP….