We unleashed our undergraduate reporters, Andrew Tomlinson and Alexander Perlmutter, on the Caps-Sens’ tilt last night, and they managed to chat up Flash and a few other Caps in the post-game, and listen in on Bruce Boudreau’s postgame thoughts. This morning they offer their take on a strong Caps’ performance Thursday night.
- One of the most overlooked performances of last night’s game was Tomas Fleischmann’s production from the center position. Flash was moved from wing to center before the game against the Montreal Canadians, and he has been nothing short of impressive in his new position. Against Montreal he posted a three-point night with one goal and two assists, and last night versus Ottawa, while he didn’t get on the scoresheet, he went 12 for 15 in the faceoff circle! He is not a center by trade, or training, but he certainly isn’t a stranger to the position.
“In junior hockey [in the Czech Republic] I played a little center,” Fleischman said after the game. “It is just something that feels natural.”
- Asked if he had some secret to his success on draws he just said it was a good old hockey battle between two guys. His coach had a very different outlook on the situation. When asked if he was surprised by Flash’s success in the circle, Gabby admitted, “I had no idea [he'd be that good], but he has such quick hands it would make sense.” Both Flash and Boudreau acknowledged the help offered on faceoffs from the coaching staff and from players like David Steckel and Nicklas Backstrom. While it may seem like a relatively minor part of the game, faceoffs are what set up set plays as well as sustain pressure in the zone or help clear pucks out of harm’s way in the defensive zone. As a result success in the faceoff circle is often a key component to winning the game. With the addition of Flash in the cirlce, the team has three players who are consistently above 50 percent in faceoff percentage with Backstrom and Steckel.
- The Washington Capitals are now 2-0 under the new leadership of Alexander Ovechkin. Not only did the team see its second win in a row, but Thursday night also saw Ovi return more to his normal play style. He looked somewhat tentative in his first game with the ‘C’ on his chest. Against the Ottawa Senators Ovechkin skated a +4, with one goal, two assists, three hits, two takeaways and one blocked shot. It was clear that he looked more comfortable and felt as if he had less weight on his shoulders. Being a captain is a big responsibility, and as long as Alex continues to lead by example he will be just fine.
- If you are curious about/mildly concerned by Jason Chimera’s lack of production you aren’t alone, but a few points to consider. Chimera is coming from Ken Hitchcock’s stifling system in Columbus, which is totally different than the one that Bruce Boudreau runs in Washington. Not only that, but Chimera is also playing in a completely different conference. There are differences in styles between the Eastern and Western conferences, and to top it all off, not only does Chimera have to adjust to a new conference but he also has to adjust to playing with 20 new teammates. And players in such situations have had their off-ice lives uprooted — it’s likely, for instance, that Chimera is still living out of a suitcase and in a still-stranger new teammate’s home. Quite simply, there’s an adjustment period. Note how carefully Bruce Boudreau is managing his minutes in this adjustment period. Let’s give him a solid three-plus weeks to get integrated in his new system and with his new teammates before we form any firm critiques.
- Incidentally, Chimera isn’t the only one going through a notable adjustment. Not only have Milan Jurcina and Chris Clark failed to show up on the stat sheet in Columbus, but they also have failed to post a positive rating in any of their Blue Jacket outings. Meanwhile in Washington, Boudreau is looking to implement Chimera in a PK that was rock solid against Ottawa. He skated well last night and he has definente upside, the Caps faithful must be patient.
- Speaking of the penalty kill, Boudreau credited the improvement in that specialty unit to the fact that the team is taking fewer penalties, particularly relative to the season’s first quarter of the schedule. In the team’s last 15 games they have only had more than three penalties in four of them. That ratio was much different in first quarter of the season, when they were easily averaging between four and six penalties a night. While it has been a whole team effort, Alexander Semin has been one player that has significantly reduced the number of foolish penalties he is taking. He still takes the odd foolish one every few games, but he has not been in the box as constantly as he has in the past.
- Jose Theodore shook off the cobwebs of his last start, December 28 against Carolina (a Caps’ -3 setback), and made notable improvements with his rebound control on Thursday night. Bruce Boudreau let Theodore know what was at stake in this game, with Semyon Varlamov and Michal Neuvrith knocking on his door, and the Quebec native raised his game significantly. Boudreau even went on to say that “with any luck today he should have had a shutout.”
- In the postgame Boudreau made a point of commending his team’s defensive efforts this season, especially in the last 10 games, claiming that his rearguards in particular were vastly underrated. The Capitals have allowed more than two goals in a game on only two occasions in the past eight games. The last time they allowed more than two — aside from their California road swing — was December 19th at Vancouver. This whole season the Caps have limited their opponents to two goals or less in 21 of their games, approximately half of this campaign so far. In this regard, the team has improved each month, allowing two goals or less five times in October, six times in November, seven times in December, and all three games this month.
- The fourth line tonight was incredibly energetic, start to finish. Matt Bradley is a stalwart energy guy, a likely third-liner on any non-elite team. David Steckel is a top-five faceoff machine. Boyd Gordon can crash and bang as well, and Thursday he reminded that occasionally he can score, too, in just his second game back from injury. The trio combined for one goal and three assists and was a +2 on the evening; all three played about ten minutes each. Gordon claimed the game’s opening goal and the third star of the game. In a locker room interview he said he had his legs going tonight and that when he moves his feet everything else starts churning too.
- Bruce Boudreau was asked if he’d seen any of the fantastic action from the World Junior Championships completed earlier in the week. He did, but he emphasized the player evaluations of Capitals’ prospects participating in the tournament that George McPhee provided upon his return from the tourney. Four guys really stood out to Caps’ brass and, Boudreau claimed, will be helping Washington out in the not-too-distant future: the tournament hero, John Carlson; Dimiti Orlov; Marcus Johansson; and Stefan Della Rovere.
- Consider OFB the official lobbying arm for a John Carlson Night at Verizon Center, during a Capitals’ game, sooner rather than later. The loudest cheer of Thursday night arrived with Ovi’s tally late in the third period, but the second loudest ovation was for the video screen replay of Carlson’s gold medal-winner against the Canucks from Tuesday night. Wednesday morning pucksandbooks alluded to the potential of a honor parade for Carlson in Natick, Mass., but it turns out that Carlson’s actual home town, since he was 5 years old, is Colonia, NJ. The NHL records a player’s home town as the site of his birth — the location of the hospital where he was born. The young gun, we’ve been informed, has cousins who grew up with Carlson in New Jersey who take a serious slight when anyone says he’s from Natick. So a parade must be organized in Colonia. (Natick can throw one, too, if it wants.) Cousins, get on it!
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