Em Blog Frozen

Em uma competição que não estivesse tão perto quanto a contagem final, Canadá fêz exame do jogo 2 na série Super por uns 3 - 0 registros. Era uma competição mais física do que o jogo 1, e tinha um pouco de surreal também, com um covering claro da névoa na superfície jogando. O Notable aos ventiladores dos tampões é que Josh Godfrey (Canadá) e Simeon Varlamov (Rússia) não jogou.

• A defesa de Canadá é muito boa, mas a equipe Russian não tentou dirigir o entalhe na força uniforme em tudo. Os tiros de Rússia eram principalmente do perímetro, com um jogador canadense entre o shooter e o Jonathan Bernier. Posto simplesmente, de encontro ao nível do talent dos canadenses, que é uma maneira excelente perder um jogo do hockey. Não pôde ser divertimento, mas o Russian envía pode necessitar o homem-acima e entrar para a direita nos dentes da defesa às possibilidades marcando criadas.
• Brandon Sutter trouxe certamente seu jogo físico hoje, jogando diversas batidas grandes, including uma batida elevada em Alexei Cherepanov, que penalized.
• O discurso de Cherepanov, o winger hábil é certamente um jogador interessante. Projetou-se ir o alto 5 no esboço 2007, ele deslizou aos Rangers no 17o. Não é duro ver de porque seu habilidade-ajustar é pensado altamente, como puxou diversos movimentos muito lisos, including um agradável ondul-e-arrastam no jogo de poder para ajustar acima um teammate. Em um ponto, pareceu irritated por Canadá que termina suas verificações, e jogou um do seus próprios. Isso disse, jogou estritamente no perímetro, e muitos de seus tiros eram da parte externa.
• O primeiro objetivo de Canadá destacou a diferença entre as equipes: Turris e Perron (quem marcado em um esforço individual excelente mais tarde no jogo) trabalharam d-e-ir como o tem praticado junto por meses, tendo por resultado primeiro objetivo dos canadenses'. A equipe Russian, entretanto, olhou disjointed e uncoordinated, e quando tiveram que fazer mais de uma passagem para ajustar acima um jogo, pareceu cair distante para eles.
• Karl Alzner não era tão visível neste jogo como estava no jogo 1, e aquela é provavelmente uma coisa boa. Pode custar-lhe uma possibilidade no chapéu forrado a pele coveted, entretanto.

Não muito mais a dizer do que aquele. A equipe Canadá olhou como uma máquina e uma equipe bem-oleadas Rússia olhada como uma coleção do talent individual, com resultados predictable. A menos que o squad Russian puxar junto em equipa e começar reckless no entalhe, os prospetos deles que fazem exame de uma competição de seus rivais norte-americanos parecem slim.

O jogo Super do Summit dos primeiros Juniors era empurr-mim, pux-você caso: a equipe Russian começou adiante e pareceu estar no comando cedo, mas Canadá esperto, jogo físico quebrou eventualmente completamente ao tune de uma vitória 4 - 2 sobre os anfitriões.

• O jogo de Karl Alzner é descrito frequentemente como' não alisar', e era hoje nenhum diferente, menos uma penalidade tropeçando do para fora--caráter. A primeira picareta dos tampões' no esboço 2007 tem um stride effortless, um pânico-ponto baixo, e uma vara ativa. Pic-verificou um puck destined para ser um registro Russian da abr-rede fora do perigo, obstruiu um homem-para baixo do tiro, e recebeu a abundância do tempo do gelo. Nao flashy, mas eficaz.
• Josh que Godfrey (34o macacão esboçado em 2007) demonstrou seu ponto do poder disparou em três ou quatro vezes, embora o pôs somente em-gaiola uma vez. Não pareceu começar muitos minutos da uniforme-força, mas foi um dispositivo elétrico no jogo de poder, e seu slapshot extraiu comparações com Al MacInnis'. Mais tarde, mostrou a velocidade decent começando para trás tentar e foil uma possibilidade curto-entregue Russian.
• Ambos os goaltenders deram acima alguns objetivos macios, mas Mason canadense de Steve do netminder estabelecido para baixo mais tarde no jogo, onde Simeon Varlamov (23o macacão esboçado, 2006) de Rússia se esforçou para a consistência e se foi fraco no gelo, permitindo a diversos batidas de 5 furos e dando acima todos os objetivos de Canadá baixos.
• Os canadenses olharam mais rapidamente do que os Russians totais, e foram muito mais aggressive no forecheck.
• Canadá carregou o jogo físico para a maioria de parte, mas a mais melhor batida do dia pode ter sido o pheonom clobbering John Tavares de Vyatcheslav Voynov de Rússia no primeiro.
• Evgeni Dadonov era um do poucos envía o esse mostrado um pulso para a equipe do anfitrião, usando sua velocidade começar largamente na defesa de Canadá e criar diversas possibilidades marcando.
• Alexei que Cherepanov indicou alguma de seu excitar habilidade-ajustou-se, mas não se figurou na folha da contagem, e não se teve muitas possibilidades marcando.

Na extremidade, o jogo foi decidido por uma combinação do jogo confused-olhando excelente da matança da penalidade de Canadá e de poder de Rússia. Os referees chamados as coisas muito apertadas, e as equipes especiais de cada squad começaram completamente o work-out. Se Rússia quiser começar para trás na série, parece que a obrigação de Varlamov se estabeleciu para baixo, e Rússia deve converter-se em suas oportunidades do homem-acima.

Na maior parte, entretanto, é agradável ver outra vez o hockey do competidor. O nível do talent e da paixão novos no gelo é uma entrada excelente à campanha de NHL 2007-2008.

MOSCOW - hoje nós continuamos uma tradição de OFB e fornecemos as reações knee-jerk ao jogo de Rússia-Sweden na arena de Khodynka.

Um jogo surprisingly chippy hoje à noite, com o Sweden que funciona o goalie Russian algumas vezes e Rússia que respondem irritadamente. Sweden dominado cedo, mas o momentum deslocou cedo no segundo período em que um tiro sueco bateu o borne, careened fora do ombro de Alex o Eremenko Russian do goalie, e skittered através do outro lado do vinco fora da maneira do dano. Rússia marcou alguns momentos mais tarde, e o que poderiam ter sido uma ligação do sueco 2-1 se transformaram uma ligação do Russian 2-1. Desse ponto Rússia controlada a maioria do jogo, o objetivo de Sweden no fim do segundo para fazer-lhe though 2-2 manteve coisas próximas.

• Momento Entertaining durante introduções da equipe: A “missão: O” tema impossível jogado como o anunciador do PA introduziu os jogadores suecos. Um divertimento pouco tweak da equipe visitando pela equipe de funcionários da arena do hometown.

• O prospeto Nicklas Backstrom dos capitais entalhou uma assistência preliminar bonita da rede de Rússia de trás. Alimentou uma passagem rápida a Alex Steen que banged a repouso ao cair ao gelo (ver a foto). Nós perguntamos-lhe sobre o jogo em uma entrevista do postgame, e no ele disse que era uma reação instintiva uma vez que viu Steen dirigir a rede: “Eu vi-o apenas lá. Era fácil para mim.” Foi sobre dizer era mais feliz com seu desempenho este jogo do que domingo de encontro a Finlandia e sente que jogou com mais confiança, mas espera ainda melhorar.

• Backstrom deixou o gelo atrasado no terceiro período na dor óbvia, escalando gingerly sobre as placas. Quando perguntado se o ferimento for sério, respondeu, “No., No., não é nada.” Respirar assim fáceis, ventiladores dos tampões.

• A penalidade de Alexey Morozov disparada no primeiro período era uma coisa da beleza.

• Kovalchuk patinou com paixão por sessenta minutos hoje à noite - algo um não vê frequentemente dele em um uniforme de Thrashers. Fêz alguns dekes incredible e foi explosivo e exame, começando mesmo um scrum em um ponto (que os linesmen defused rapidamente).

• Malkin electrifying. Com o Ovechkin que serve a sua suspensão do um-jogo, Malkin pareceu o favorito desobstruído da multidão. Os ushers cute da fêmea em nossa seção puseram de lado todo o pretense do objectivity; literalmente saltaram e shrieked sempre que fêz um jogo.

• Tão intenso como Malkin era, a multidão era mesmo mais selvagem. Seu assobiar irritado deafening quando o referee (corretamente) disallowed um objetivo Russian devido à interferência do goaltender. Cada vez que Sweden teve o puck ou o referee fêz uma chamada questionável, os assobios deafening da multidão chovidos para baixo no gelo. E os ventiladores Russian' sustentaram o rugido enquanto o pulso de disparo tiquetaqueou abaixo a esquerda uma impressão durável nestes observadores norte-americanos do hockey.

(continuado)

Uma noite grande do hockey do playoff, com os dois físicos, jogos intensos decididos (para todas as intenções e finalidades) por um objetivo.

• Todos os quatro goalies jogados bem. Brodeur era. Brodeur, com diversos destac-carretel conserva, e é consideravelmente seguro dizer que run-in” do Fisher do microfone o “com Brodeur pode ter tido algo fazer com objetivo de Ottawa. Nós podemos chamar-se que mesmo, karma-sábio, como Brodeur tinha tropeçado mais cedo o microfone Comrie, que estava toda sozinho na frente da rede com o puck.
• Os observadores com um olho para a agência livre impending de Scott Gomez tiveram que ter sido imprimidos com o que viram dele última noite. É uma força patinando, com agilidade astounding, de que distribui deftly possibilidades marcando para seus linemates.
• O jogo de poder tem sido por muito tempo o bane dos diabos de New-jersey. Era 0 for-5 última noite, mas showcased as limitações pessoal dos diabos' em um sistema que fosse projetado interromper o oponente na força uniforme e golpear no seu precioso poucas oportunidades ofensivas e confiar então para fora em Brodeur ao eek um W.
• Em um ponto em um jogo de poder, os tubarões tiveram três guys na frente da rede. Ser ainda meu coração batendo.
• Você poderia sentir primeiro objetivo dos tubarões' aproximar-se, e showcased o que é assim grande sobre os playoffs: Nicklas Lidstrom e Joe Thornton atrás da rede de Detroit, battling o para fora.
• Ryan Clowe extraiu o olho última noite. Envolvido no material áspero, e envolvido com as possibilidades ofensivas, um agradável, e extraiu uma penalidade (embora nós devemos provavelmente creditar o julgamento pobre de Bertuzzi). Jogo versátil de Nice.
• O objetivo de Lidstrom era um slapper longo, e o blueliner Mattheiu Schneider de Detroit do companheiro soou também dois bornes perto do blueline ofensivo - o resultado do fluxo normal do jogo, ou algo que as asas estão focalizando sobre? Algo manter para fora um olho para o jogo seguinte.
• Bônus Knee-jerk da cobertura de WCSN do copo 2007 do mundo de IIHF: Objetivo de Nicklas Backstrom do ontem, 29 segundos dentro - jogava a asa direita, e era primeiro guy emitido dentro no forecheck. Mais tarde no deslocamento, com o puck atrás da rede, acampa no lado esquerdo do objetivo, aproximadamente 8 pés para fora, e converteu uma alimentação centrando-se entre a almofada esquerda e luva do goalie, aparece. Não um maxila-dropper, mas começou o puck em uma área marcando e converteu-se, que fosse nunca má.

Definitivamente uma razão permanecer acima da última noite, e agora todas as quatro séries estão apertadas em 2 jogos a 1. Nós podemos toda a esperança para uma continuação da última noite altamente - em nível do jogo, e talvez de alguém falará a Brian Engblom sobre talvez ir com um elevado & firmemente.

Algum apertado-verificar, hockey defensivo sobre o fim de semana, including a ascensão de um jogador eu nunca fui um ventilador particular de.

• Dizer o que você quer sobre seu diving e seus antics do escritório, mas Sean Avery tem jogado o hockey excelente para os Rangers de New York, em muitos casos que são seu mais melhor jogador em uma noite dada. Eu nunca serei um ventilador, mas suportes a seu desempenho notável do playoff assim distante.



• As asas vermelhas surpreenderam-me em sábado. Eu pensei para certo de que o San Jose se tinha afirmado, mas o jogo de Dan que muito-viajado Cleary os tem amarrados em um pensamento da série I estava indo definitivamente maneira dos tubarões'.
• Era próximo, mas eu penso dos juizes video feitos um erro no objetivo disputado em MSG ontem. As chamadas, no general, foram muito impares naquela série, e favor nos Sabres'. Eu não sou um indulger no conspiracies, e eu não penso que há toda a polarização no officiating, apenas algumas chamadas más estão sendo feitas, e estão sendo convidadas os Rangers. Os Sabres são uma equipe hábil, rápida, e aquele cría oportunidades para que os refs chamem uma penalidade com somente uma rach-segunda para fazer uma decisão. O ônibus Lindy Ruff do búfalo que queixa-se sobre officiating era out-of-line, se predictable.
• Zubrus tem jogado realmente o corpo esta série, embora sua batida em Jagr olhou um pouco baixo a mim.
• Eu gostei do esforço de Jonathan Cheechoo na série de Detroit.
• Anaheim é grande, físico, e hábil. Vancôver fêz um trabalho fantástico que rouba um jogo deles, mas eu não posso vê-los fazer exame d dos patos. O Canucks começado jogos bons de Luongo, do Sedins e de Naslund e perdido ainda. Isso não bode bem.
• Martin Broduer olhou como seu self velho em sábado, que é notícia má para Ottawa. A série é demasiado próxima para que eu favoreça fortemente uma ou outra equipe, mas goaltending faz e quebra a série do playoff.

Um fim de semana do hockey do divertimento, e é sempre agradável quando lá são um jogo adiantado e um jogo da noite, assim que você pode travar ambos sem permanecer até 1 am. Para trás ao grind late-night hoje à noite.

E as primeiras quedas da equipe. Em um jogo que possa custar o gerente geral de Atlanta Don Waddell seu trabalho, os carreg-para--playoffs Thrashers mostraram alguns sinais da vida de encontro aos Rangers, mas era demasiado pequeno, demasiado tarde, e estão jogando os azuis em Blueland.

• Aparentemente, objetivo do período de Keith Tkachuk o primeiro era ligação de Atlanta primeiramente da série. Yikes. Apesar dos protestos do Sam Rosen e do Joe Micheletti, non-chamar na batida de Kovalchuk em Sean que Avery estava correto. Eu não sou certo que penalidade você pode chamar se o jogador A bater o jogador B em gotas do jogador C e do jogador B como estão deslizando em uma casca da banana.
• E isso é como rapidamente o búfalo pode marcar em você. Os Isles tiveram coisas ir, e olhavam bom bonito, então *wham*, eles estão para baixo por um.
• Zubrus encontrou seu ponto nos Sabres, ele parece, que já não está sendo mis-cast como um centro first-line. A gerência dos tampões' fêz a coisa direita em negociá-lo, mas é agradável ver que Dainius jorra.
• Martin Brodeur não olha completamente como os playoffs usuais Brodeur, mas veio acima com alguns batentes grandes quando teve que. Eu não gostei da primeira penalidade chamada no jogo, que era uma ticky-aderência convida a divisão de Jason do winger.
• Nice disparou por Gomer para terminar o jogo. E Drury não fizeram nada mas dirigem seus paydays off-season acima.
  Homem, eu prefiro prestar atenção a jogos na televisão nacional.
• Tim Connolly pode vara-segura um pouco.
• Por que não me surpreende ver o aumento de Zack Parise seu jogo nos playoffs?
• Vokun tem que parar o objetivo de Pavelski e de Michalek segundo.
• Eu estou apreciando realmente a intensidade da série do San Jose/Nashville. Lotes da ação.

Deve ser mais ação hoje à noite, com as três equipes que enfrentam o elimination, assim lá estará muito na linha.

Nenhumas varreduras hoje à noite, de que eu gosto selfishly, porque significa mais hockey prestar atenção.

• New York estava toda sobre o Thrashers, que olha girado ao redor. As mudanças de Goalie não estão ajudando, e a equipe parece estar nas cordas. Você tem que querer saber se Don movimentos late-season muito-publicized de Waddell voltar para o assombrar no off-season. Sua garantia da última estação não terminou seu tenure em Atlanta, mas este era um impulso aggressive e público a começar profundamente no post-season.
• Gary Roberts foi uma adição enorme para Pittsburgh. É um dispositivo elétrico no gelo tarde para os pinguins.
• Ilya Kovalchuk que vai após Sean Avery, aquele é frustração. Kovalchuk começou realmente um tiro ou dois dentro.
• O primeiro objetivo de Ottawa é exatamente o tipo do objetivo da solha que parece acontecer ao miliampère Fleury.
• O microfone Comrie está jogando fora de sua direita da mente agora.
• Dan Dion cronometrado Cleary Phaneuf, criado então um objetivo de Detroit. Eu nunca esperei datilografar aquelas palavras nessa ordem, mas todo o crédito a Cleary.
• O funcionamento de Roberto Luongo para fora aprova nos playoffs, não é?
• A importância de semear mostra na série de Ottawa/Pittsburgh - o olhar dos pinguins como poderiam bater alguma da direita dos Islanders, dos diabos, do relâmpago, e do Thrashers agora. Devido a seu semear, entretanto, estão fazendo exame em um talented, a equipe do veteran que está jogando com muitos da confiança. Ottawa que faz exame de alguns sopros pesados de Pittsburgh e que permanece com uma calma, aproximação medida.

Assim todos é ainda série viva, embora algumas estão pendurando sobre por uma linha, e alguma muito interessante que vai sobre. Será interessante ver como Martin Brodeur joga esta noite, as well as o capítulo seguinte no drama do San Jose/Nashville. O physicality dos playoffs foi uma mudança bem-vinda da estação regular, e fêz para alguns jogos quente-contestados.

• Colorir-nos impressos cada vez mais com o ambos contra e NBC. Contra tem um hábito delicioso de expandir sua cobertura com transições “em andamento” aos jogos late-night. Mais puck para seu buck. E é vindo assim, assim que longe de seus jogos primitivos do estúdio e outono sterile 2005 do circa da análise lá. Nós pensamos ainda da conta Clement mais melhor no trabalho da cor do que hospedar do estúdio. Microfone Emerick? Simplesmente um dos mais melhores guys do jogo-por-jogo em todos os esportes hoje. E Peter McNab! Sua análise do gelo-nível era assim que calço completamente do poise e da introspecção polonesa e penetrante que NBC mais ou convertido mais menos lhe a um segundo guy da cor na cabine. Seu trabalho shamed certamente aquele dos bunnies do puck do gelo-nível de anos recentes. Erin Andrews (onde a tem ida??) exempted. para razões aesthetic. naturalmente.
• Sean Avery com o mais afortunado/mais estranho de todos os objetivos. fora de um salto louco de um dump em sábado. Felizmente não era vencedor do jogo do Rags'. Essa aquisição de comércio do fim do prazo é giro rápido para fora a ser uma das melhores.
• Finalmente. finalmente! . algum uso decent de “Mic' d acima” e “sons do jogo.” Nós esperamos aproximadamente duas estações por ele. Quando um scrum era quebrado acima pelos refs sábado em Atlanta, o Brad Larsen de Thrasher dito ao Pock de Thomas de New York “não se engana yourself. será o fim do período para você. você não quer aquele!” E Sidney Crosby articulou realmente algumas reflexões insightful para NBC sábado.
• O Hull de Brett laments booing “respectful” dos ventiladores de Ottawa' de Crosby. Por que? É sua memória isso curta? Mario começou-lhe bom bonito na estrada na divisão de Patrick postseason em seu dia.
• O minuto final na tarde atrasada de sábado da zona do Mullet era pressão incredible do octano elevado por Ottawa, puck do playoff em seu tempo regulamentar mais dramático. Aquele era um jogo fabulous para 80 por cento dos ESTADOS UNIDOS a receber.
• Noite de sábado: É HNIC e nenhuma equipe canadense está jogando, contudo arejou cantar completo do Anthem nacional de ESTADOS UNIDOS. Havia uma época em que os radiodifusores de ESTADOS UNIDOS fizessem o mesmo. Nós faltamos aqueles dias.
• Não os anunciadores adiantados do jogo HNIC do normal em sábado - devem ter os guys principais para jogo dos Senators mais adiantados'. Qual significa também o canto de nenhum ônibus do `.' É isto porque nós não vimos uvas no NBC ainda?
• O discurso do NBC, Sens de sábado/penas' e domingo voa/inflama' jogos pareceu ser um bocado escuro e amarelado. A transmissão de sábado do Rags/Thrash, entretanto, era brilhante. É o lighting em Philips a arena que muito mais melhor, ou é ele algo mais?
• Scott que Gomez pode dramàtica obliterate os números meager de his ferimento-flagelou a estação regular com um postseason próspero. Vamos esperar que, e isso que considera seriamente negociar naquele vermelho, branco e preto para vermelho, branco, e o azul.
• É somente um jogo, mas na noite de sábado do búfalo realizava-se a mostra de Rick DiPietro, squashing a conversa de um SlugSweep, e como o veteran o tampa' ventiladores, nós vimos heroics postseason de bastante Isles' na rede para quatro vidas.
• Louis do St de Marty com um um-temporizador do assassino de um ângulo afiado - o guy pequeno vem sempre acima com objetivos grandes.
• Daniel que Alfredsson pode olhar uninvolved e marginalizou para parcelas grandes de um jogo e então, como em domingo em Pittsburgh, em uma liberação flash um laser disparou do círculo do faceoff que sours os espíritos da Cidade-swilling do ferro fiel.
• As estrelas está outra vez em um furo postseason adiantado, mas qualquer um quer ao scapegoat Marty Turco? A margem entre a vitória e a derrota nesta série, em todos os três jogos, foi agonia sheer para ventiladores das estrelas' - poderia muito fàcilmente ser uma ligação 3-0 nos jogos para Dallas esta manhã.

Starting off in a less-than-glorious fashion, it looked to be a quick loss for the Caps last night: an early goal given up, young defensemen taking penalties, and an Atlanta team with something to play for. All that added up to what figured to be a tough loss.

So, of course, the Caps pull it together, their superstar pots a couple and is the best player on the ice, and the Boyd Gordon Experience continues it’s world tour.

It’s kinda hard not to wonder where this was in December.

• Bryan Muir had another tough game.
• The Caps’ season-long trend of having trouble locating the puck again reared it’s head last night. It’s frustrating to watch, though it should also be noted that it’s easy to say when there aren’t five guys on the ice trying to take your head off.
• The Caps were very, very lucky to get out of the first only down one. Pipes, Brent Johnson’s heroics, and some lucky Caps bounces kept things from really getting out of hand.
• The Thrashers tried to put a physical stamp on the game — they hit early and often.
• We’ve alluded to it at certain times, but Boyd Gordon deserves his own point — rock-solid defensively, good speed, good hockey sense, coachable, and now developing a bit of scoring touch. Gordon’s emergence this season has been a true bright spot, and it’s safe to say the checking line center spot is in good hands.
• Always fun to see Ovechkin flying around like that. He seemed to have a lot of jump in his stride, and the accuracy of his shot has been evident.
• Power play woes continue, from not utiliizing some good offensive zone possession, to giving up a shortie. That pretty much runs the gamut of what can go wrong, there.
• Brooks Laich again takes a tough penalty at a bad time.
• The last two words I have written in my game notes: improbable win.

A young team mans-up and secures a win most wouldn’t predict. While there’s much talk of how this affects the Caps’ drafting position, with no clear number one in the draft, the win works for me. May as well see if the Caps can leave a bad taste in the Sabres’ mouth.

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.

Well, things are really getting to be a grind, now. Waived-off goals, bad penalties and strange special-teams play, smashed sticks and iPods, the past two games haven’t been a lot of fun to watch. The games had their similarities (the results) and some big differences, as well.

The Caps played well enough in Florida to win, and were game for a bit in Tampa Bay. Florida is a comparable team to Washington in terms of talent currently on the roster; Tampa Bay is well ahead of both, and thus the results aren’t too surprising. Tampa’s talent asserted itself to provide a relatively easy win for the Lightning, while the Panthers had to fight to get the extra point.

Just some quick observations, as it’s all kind of a painful blur.

• Jiri Novotny’s play has picked up, which is nice, and you have to wonder how related it is to his RFA status.
• Quietly, Matt Pettinger has put up similar numbers to his break-out season last year.
• Four of the six Caps’ defensemen took a penalty against Florida.
• Alex Ovechkin was really throwing the body in the Tampa game, which may have led to the Brashear/Roy fight. On the other hand, it’s entirely possible those fellas didn’t need any outside influences to go.
• Jeff Schultz continues his non-descript play, which is a big positive for a 20 year-old rookie defenseman.
• It’s an exercise in futility, but you have to wonder if things would go down a little differently if the waived-off goal in Florida is counted.

Three games left and the team’s in about the same boat as it was last year: low in the Eastern conference and under-manned via injury and trade. Philadelphia is a lock for last place in the league, but the Caps could finish at 29th, facing Florida, visiting Atlanta, and hosting Buffalo to finish out the season. It’s tough to shake off the losing, but these are, allegedly, the last three games of the rebuild.

Just quick knee-jerks this evening, as I have to spend the rest of the night figuring out who to blame for the fact that I can watch the Notre Dame/Michigan State game on three different channels, but can’t watch the North Dakota/Michigan game at all.

• Bryan Muir had a rough game.
• The Caps’ power-play was ghastly. The Caps simply can’t gain the zone in a proper and efficient manner, and that throws everything else off. They have trouble receiving passes, and that cuts the margin of error very fine. Too fine for the Caps.
• Shaone Morrisonn again took a strange and ill-advised penalty that cost the Caps.
• Boyd Gordon hit someone behind the net. No lie.
• You’d like to see Kolzig stop that second goal.

Okay, enough of the pain. Back to making a voodoo doll of a television executive.

Update — ESPNU will apparently be showing the North Dakota/Michigan contest . . . tape-delayed. Thanks, fellas.

And back to reality for the Caps, with a visit to the high-flying Buffalo Sabres bringing the Caps back down to Earth. The Caps were very game in the first, but Buffalo’s talent rose to the top in the second, putting the game away.

• Shaone Morrisonn had a good pinch later in the game, and played some solid defense, but the high-sticking double-minor he took in the first put the Caps in a spot.
• The Caps’ power play looked, well, confused. The passing wasn’t really up to snuff, and Alex Ovechkin continued his season-long trouble of holding onto the puck, causing trouble in trying to gain the offensive zone.
• Speaking of things we’d like to see on the power play, Brian Pothier’s bomb from near the blueline was impressive. I’m not sure why he’s hesitant to use it on the man-up (or Milan Jurcina, for that matter), but it couldn’t hurt, at this point.
• The only real highlight for Caps fans is Brashear’s clear win over Andrew Peters.
• Brooks Laich continues to be offensively assertive, though it’s not paying off. He’s taking the puck to the cage and showing some good stick-handling. At some point he needs to pot a few, but hes going in the right direction.
• Milan Jurcina against pasted a few opponents, but his hooking penalty couldn’t have come at a worse time — the Caps get on the board, they may have a bit of momentum, then *boom*, time to go a man-down.
• Boyd Gordon has to find a way to keep his stick throughout his penalty-killing shifts. Seems like he’s broken or lost his twig a lot recently.
• The team has settled down, overall, in front of Kolzig, but you’d really like to see him make the stop on the second Buffalo goal.
• Drew Stafford looked pretty darn good. His move on Eminger was a thing of beauty.

Buffalo continues it’s march to the post-season, and the Caps get Carolina tonight, and get a chance to wipe the bad taste out of their mouth by trying to play the role of spoiler. While I don’t expect the ice to be as tilted as it was for the Sabres contest, it’s still an up-hill task.

With an alternate work schedule today, I was able to attend my first Caps practice since training camp and first visit to Kettler Capitals Iceplex since the ribbon cutting press conference. I took a few notes and will present them in typical OFB Knee-Jerk style.

• I’d estimate the attendance at about 50-75 fans. A practice at high-noon can’t hurt and it makes me wish I worked closer to Ballston. It’s probably just as well because an “extended lunch” would probably become a bad habit.

• Attendance from the MSM included Lindsay Czarniak. Here’s hoping her non-game day visit means improved quantity and quality of Caps’ coverage on News4.

• Team mood seemed to be quite good. Amazing what winning — and winning big — can do.

• Through most of the practice, the top two stars of Sunday’s game were skating on the same line. Semin on the right wing and Fleishmann on the left. Beech centered them.

• Ovechkin was sporting a fish tank off his helmet, courtesy of Dan Boyle.

• With the hand injury, Pettinger was still practicing, albeit he was the lone man wearing red.

• At some point during drills, both Ovechkin and Semin each tried to complete a “Wheeler goal.”

• The last 5 minutes of the “official” practice icluded a shootout competition. Chris Clark’s team, clad in black, pitted against the Russians & Co., donning white. The cheers grew louder with each goal scored by the Men in Black. I soon found out the reason for the commotion. The losing team in white, upon their loss, took to the ice, laid down on their backs, and began a series of crunches. I didn’t notice if Brent Johnson had to endure the punishment of loss.

• An impromptu unofficial drill took place after practice with Brent Johnson in net surrounded by Brashear, Clark, Laich, Eminger and others as a shot was taken from the top of the circle. BJ would leave a rebound for one of the masses to pick up the sluff and try to score. I did not keep track.

• I was able to thank Lindsay for dramatic reduction of News4 sports replays that include slowed down action and cheesy sound effects. The SportsMachine style of replay, mercifully, seems to be headed to pasture with its trainer.

• When asked if WRC had named a replacement for the top sports anchor, Lindsay told me that she and Dan Hellie will split those duties. Congrats to both. With split responsibilities, all sports not owned by Dan Snyder should get increased coverage.

Okay, raise your hand if you saw this one coming. No fibbing.

The Caps pasted a Tampa team that is the midst of a dogfight for playoff positioning, Tomas Fleischmann served notice that he’d really, really like to stay with the big club, and Alexander Semin scored a natural hat-trick in a game that was a pleasant as it was surprising.

• Though his driving the net got him a goal late in the game, Giroux digging early to get back on defense will make as bing an impression in the coaching staff’s eye, I’ll bet.
• Speaking of Giroux’ goal, while it went unassisted in the books, Pothier made a fantastic head-man pass to spring the forward. Great read, and Pothier was also sporting an ‘A’ for the contest. At one point Pothier had a chance to step up and try and intercept a Lightning pass into the Caps’ zone, a high-risk, high-reward play, but instead chose to give up the line, ensuring better positioning against Lecavalier. It stuck out to me due to its conservative nature, as that opportunity has been too good to pass up in the past. It’s a small thing, but it’s the kind of thing the ‘bad’ Caps get burned by.
• Tortorella didn’t seem particularly happy with his goalie play yesterday, going from Holmqvist to Denis to Holmqvist again, though it didn’t seem to make much difference.
• The man in the Caps’ net certainly seems to make a difference for his team, however. Washington seems to play with much more confidence in front of Olie, and the work-rate has been very high the past few games.
• I give O’Brien the decision in his fight with Bradley. He’s a guy that will certainly stir trouble up in the division for a while, and he and Bradley were woofing at each other as they were escorted to the locker rooms.
• Tomas Fleischmann was impressive, and while his goals were noteworthy, his centering feed to Boyd Gordon for the last goal of the game was probably my favorite play of his. Interesting to note that most of the game he was playing his natural left wing spot, with Semin on the right side.
• Alexander Semin. Lovely stick-handling on the second goal, and the third goal of the hat-trick was surreal — shooting one-footed, off the wrong foot, all of the heat on that shot was generated from wrist-strength. Not a lot of guys can make that shot.
• Alex Ovechkin had a strange game. Several times on cycling shifts I saw him pass up centering opportunities to hold onto the puck himself. Not sure what to make of it.
• Mike Green looked to respond to his benching, with a nice poke check early, and some decent physical play.
• Schultz was up-and-down, at one point completely eliminating St. Louis, and throwing a good hit behind the net, but after a run-in with Craig Ryan it looked like he got a bit wound up and followed Ryan out to the perimeter by the far boards. Pothier had to yell at Schultz and point out who he should be covering, and luckily no damage was done.
• Milan Jurcina had another physical game, including a mashing of Prospal against the glass. The hit of the night, however, was Ovechkin clocking one Tampa player into another, knocking both down.

Another fun and surprising game, with the puck bouncing the Caps’ way all game. It’s nice to see the team play with some pride, and win a game that most would have predicted they wouldn’t. In a season that has had more lows than highs, it a nice change.

As pointed out by fellow OFBer pucksandbooks, there was all kinds of good college hockey on yesterday, so I started my hockey Friday with the University of North Dakota playing St. Cloud State in the WCHA semi-finals. The game was of interest to Caps fans, as the red-hot, 6th-ranked Fighting Sioux boast Caps’ first-round pick Joe Finley on their blueline, while the #4 in the nation Huskies have 2004 seventh-round pick Andrew Gordon. Some quick thoughts on that game, then on to Toronto’s visit to the Phone Booth.

• Gordon’s line (Nodl-Dey-Gordon) provided the Huskies’ only offense on the day. For SCS’s first goal, Gordon picked up the puck behind the ND net and made a nice centering pass through two opposing players to Andreas Nodl, who was all alone in front for a forehand-backhand goal.
• Gordon’s goal was the result of nice power-play passing, with Nodl passing cross-ice to Dey, who then centered to Gordon in front of the goal for an easy tap-in.
• In the one draw I saw him take, Gordon beat Toews cleanly.
• Other impressions of the SCS Alternate Captain: he’s game in the corners but not overwhelmingly strong, likes to carry the puck up, and threw a decent forecheck hit on a Sioux defenseman behind the net. The speedy winger has soft hands — passes go where he wants them to, and he seems to have that ability to find the open spot on the ice and exploit it. It will be interesting to see if he leaves school early to sign with the Caps. (Continued)

A tale of two games? On the one hand, a surprisingly competent Caps’ team, clearly buoyed by the return of their starting netminder, managed to not look ridiculous, and put some points up on the board. The gritty, hard-working captain scores a natural hat-trick and all is right in the world.

Ah, then the bad Caps show up. Silly turnovers, bad penalties, and wind it up with the Caps’ bete noire, the shootout. Not so great.

• I like the game Brooks Laich played, for the most part, but his bad cross-ice pass that led to a Boston shorthanded chance spoiled that. Laich looked more confident with the puck, and we can see how that sometimes can lead to a risky pass that shouldn’t be made.
• Laich was hardly alone in the turnover game, however. Morrisonn and Eminger both committed several bad giveaways, and both committed bad high-stick penalties, and their inconsistent play continues. Shaone Morrisonn continues to put himself in the penalty box, with 7 minors in his last 3 games. Those are Brendan Witt numbers.
• After Morrisonn got dumped into the Caps’ bench, the Caps did respond physically, with Morrisonn and Jurcina both putting the body on a Bruin. Jurcina continues to be a bright spot for the club, and according to Tarik El-Bashir, will be with the club next year.
• Brian Pothier looked like he had one of his better games in recent memory, with no egregious plays and some smooth-skating ventures up ice.
• Jeff Schultz could stand to speed his release up a bit.
• I’d call the Alberts vs. Bradley fight a draw, ending with a takedown by Bradley. The fight was caused by a nice hit by Bradley on Alberts near the boards.
• It was good to see Alex Ovechkin score in the shootout. Hopefully that will break the hex on his shootout performances.
• Alexander Semin has got to stop hitting so many posts. What a fantastic move to beat the goaltender in overtime, and what a loud ‘ping’ the goalpost made. Those have to start going in for the Caps to get back in the win column.
• Props again to the captain for his natural hat-trick - and note that he had an even strength goal, a power play goal, and a shortie. I’m not sure I’d bet against him getting 30 goals for the season.
• Think the Caps could use a playmaking center like Savard?

Well, the Caps got a point out of it, but there certainly is no sense of accomplishment after a shootout loss like that. Kolzig’s presence obviously juiced the team up, but they made a youthful mistake and took their foot off the gas. The Caps really aren’t playing for anything but improvement now, so here’s hoping this lesson is learned well.

No such thing as a bad goal, as they say, and Alex Ovechkin isn’t going to argue with that. Conversely, any goalie injury is a bad one, and the Caps probably wouldn’t argue with that. With Johnson leaving the game, Freddy Cassivi again was given spot duty. Tarik El-Bashir reports that Olie Kolzig will try and go on Thursday, which will be an obvious relief, but how sharp will the big netminder be after such a layoff?

Also of note is Alex Ovechkin again commenting on how the team needs help in the offseason. Some have read this as dissatisfaction with the organization, others a genuine assessment of the situation from a top-flight athlete with a competitive streak a mile wide. I tend towards the latter, but Ovechkin has been very plain in expressing his views, which some find a bit disconcerting from the team’s offensive star. Both Ted Leonsis and George McPhee have also spoken plainly on their plans to upgrade the team in the off-season, so it seems everyone’s pulling in the same direction.

• I like the way the second power-play unit is working — there’s puck movement, very little standing around, and they even ran a backdoor play for Jurcina. Of course, they didn’t score, but it didn’t look like two players running everything, with everyone else standing around . . .
• . . . which is what most of the Caps’ offensive forays looked like last night. The grind lines had a few good cycling shifts, and Tomas Fleischmann made a few nice plays, but mostly it was “All Alexes, all the time.” That doesn’t bode well for the rest of the season.
• Atlanta did a good job of blocking the Caps’ shots, and for a stretch in the third period, it seemed like nothing got through at all.
• Tough night for rookie defensemen. Mike Green’s turnover led directly to Holik’s impressive tally, and others have blamed the Tkachuk goal on Eminger. I’m going to vary a bit and split the blame up on that. It looks to me like Jeff Schultz thought Eminger was going to head up the ice, when in actuallity Eminger was skating backwards towards the boards and had to jump up to adjust. Schultz’ pass was too far ahead of Eminger, who didn’t have a chance to do much with it. The Thrashers pick it up and get their break. Nit-picking aside, Green, Eminger and Schultz were shakier than usual last night, and that is a recipe for trouble.

Atlanta looks like a team that could do some damage in the playoffs, and Lehtonen looks like he’s really settled down in the crease. Atlanta could be a team to watch. The Caps? I’ll be watching them, as well, but it will be for the little things — continued effort, refining positioning in the defensive zone, little signs that the youngsters are improving. Hopefully the cavalry will arrive in the Summer, as right now, Hanlon’s looking a little like General Custer.

Well, things are getting interesting when the team scores two goals late and it’s nearly a moral victory. The Caps were game, turning in a much better effort than in the previous night, but they couldn’t get through Rick DiPietro until late.

While still a loss, this was easier to take than the game against Carolina.

• Rick DiPietro had an excellent game, and Brent Johnson looked like he was fighting the puck for much of the night. At one point I thought that Johnson had been injured, getting up slowly after going down to the ice to make a save. He finished the game, so I may have been mistaken, but it wasn’t the most solid performance the big netminder has turned in this season.
• I loved how physically the Caps played last night. Milan Jurcina, in particular, was clobbering Islander forwards on the boards behind the Caps’ net — and yet was not credited with a hit all night. It’s a column for another day, but the way hits are counted from rink to rink and night to night is baffling. The Caps were only given 7 hits all night (the Isles were given 14).
• Mike Green also brought the wood, and was credited with 4 hits. Jeff Schultz got into the act as well, which will make fans happy — of course, he wasn’t credited with a hit.
• Shaone Morrisonn may have had his worst game as a Capital, and that doesn’t include the four minor penalties he took. Looking lost on the power play and making several awful giveaways, he created several Islander scoring chances. I’m not sure if the minutes are getting to Morrisonn, and bad games happen even to the best players, but the Caps depend on Morrisonn, maybe more than any other defenseman, to provide a lot of boring, prosaic, solid defensive minutes, and when that doesn’t happen, the Caps are left scrambling.
• Brian Pothier continued his struggles, as well.
• So, Brashear scores, he and Witt face off a bit, Brashear jostles Witt, Witt makes a quick move like he’s going to come after Brashear, which Brashear responds to with a gloved punch, to which Witt responds like he’s been shot and stays on the ice for 15 seconds, and the only penalty out of it is 2 mins to Brashear? Uh . . . right.
• Great statistic courtesy of Comcast last night — the six blueliners the Caps iced last night had an average age of 23.5 years old. That is incredible, and says a lot about the inconsistencies the Caps still face on the backline.
• “Tomas Fleischmann has picked up his play as late”, an observer e-mailed me a while ago, and I agree. Fleischmann was creating offense and was noticable in the offensive zone last night. He looks like he’s got more confidence, or is more used to the NHL game now. Fleischmann has a chance to make an impression in these remaining games, and he’s beginning to.

Not great, but anything is better than Friday night’s debacle. We’d like to see the Caps put together a game with consistency from the entire team, but with the youth and inexperience the Caps are icing these days, that may be impossible.

Tap. Tap, tap.

Hmm.

I think I’m so deadened from witnessing last night’s game that my knee isn’t reacting.

Other than a stellar night by Brent Johnson — who turned in a Kolzig-esque peformance and will likely spend all morning sitting in an ice bath to heal the bruises from facing 44 shots — the team performed abysmally.

To top things off, the Capitals lost another defenseman to injury last night: John Erskine will miss the rest of the season after dislocating his thumb during a scrum with Scott Walker.

The only enjoyable part of the game was the fact that one of the linesmen was named Thor. Honest.

Not much else to say… feel free to add your observations as comments, as I don’t have the energy to dwell on the anemic PP, two defensemen lofting the puck into the crowd for penalties, sloppy passing… oops, better stop now before I sit in a funk all day.