Caps Youngsters Beat Devils 5-1
By Rodger M. WoodCaps rookies and a couple grinders showed our slumping veterans how to play the game last night in the Caps 5-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils.Looking a lot like mentor, Niklaus Backstrom, rookie Marcus Johansson set up rookie line mate, Andrew Gordon for his first NHL goal near the end of the first period to give the Caps a 1-0 lead.Veteran Versus commentator and NHL defensemen, Brian Engblom described young Johansson as “the best player on the ice.”At the 10 minute mark of the second period, rookie Jay Beagle came through for the home team with his second NHL ever goal, grinders, Dave Steckel and Matt Bradley assisting.Two minutes later at the 12.39 mark, veteran 3rd liner Jason Chimera flew up the ice to turn on the goal light for a Caps 3-1 lead, this time young Gordon and rookie defenseman John Carlson assisting.Two minutes later, at the 12.39 mark, veteran 3rd liner Jason Chimera flew up the ice to turn on the light for a Caps 3-1 lead, this time young Gordon and rookie defenseman John Carlson assisting.Carlson scored his own goal on a drop pass from Alex O. at the 16.31 mark of thesecond period, and veteran Mike Knuble, assisted by Tom Poti and Brooks Laich, scored midway through the 3rd period for a 5-1 victory.Twelve different Caps were involved in the scoring last night. Engblom was also impressed with the Caps third and fourth lines, whom he said could make the Capitals champions once Ovechkin, Backstrom, Semin, and Green start putting the puck in the net again.Let’s hope those players start popping those goals in tomorrow night against Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins in their final tune up before the Winter Classic on New Year Day.
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Caps End Eight Game Losing Streak
by Rodger M. WoodPlaying with the passion of a champion against Ottawa away last night, the Caps scored three goals in the second period to come back from a first period 2-0 deficit to beat the Senators, end their 8-game losing streak and reclaim first place in the Southeast Division. Mathieu Perreault tallied twice, Eric Fehr once, while Alex O, still unbelievingly snake bit, had an apparent goal waved off in the second period for kicking the puck into the net.In their previous two games, the Caps came close at home losing 2-1 against the Anaheim Ducks in overtime, and 3-2 against the Boston Bruins away. In the Ducks game, Brooks Laich and Alex O. were robbed of goals, when a stubborn puck stopped still on the goal line before being batted away by a Ducks defender, and another went in the nets an instant after the second period had ended. The Bruins withstood a ferocious Capitals 26 shot third period barrage to win.The Caps have been playing without their leading goal scorer Alexander Semin, and top plus/minus defenseman, Jeff Schultz. The Caps play New Jersey at home Tuesday night, hopefully ready to resume their championship play for win #2 in a row, and with D.J. King suited up to beat the daylights out of the Devils’ bully, who pummeled our young rookie Swede, Marcus Johansson to the ice from behind in October.
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And You Thought Our Winter Classic Jersey Was Bad...
There has been a bit of talk about the appeal or lack of appeal regarding the Capitals Winter Classic jersey. Take it or leave it, we can all feel better about ours now that the Penguins have unveiled their Winter Classic jersey. They say it was designed by Reebok with input from the league, but somehow I wonder if it was more likely the Ringling Brothers Circus had a hand in this.
More on this from OnFrozenBlog.com
Sums It Up...
"Actually, the Wild deserves more credit than that. Thanks to a tremendous group effort, Ovechkin was more visible in the November issue of GQ than at Xcel Energy Center on Thursday night." -- StarTribune.com Minneapolis St. Paul, Minnesota
This could be said for much of the team this season. There are notable exceptions like Michal Neuvirth, Mike Green and John Erskine, to name a few, but there appears to be a lack of early season fitness andor motivation on a large part of this team.
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Ovechkin and McNabb Capital One Commercial
Not a funny one like the viking commercial, but hey, its "Ovi."
Touching the Hockey Soul
I was a bit slow on getting to this, but be sure to checkout the Hockey Diaries: The Almost Season on audio. A wonderfully produced audio drama about last season with the highs and poignant lows from some of the Capitals fan favorites. Easily worth the listen at just under an hour. It certainly struck a cord during replay of Joe Beninati announcing a Game 7 goal by Alex Ovechkin only to hear it washed out.Checkout the review from OnFrozenBlog.
Caps Rookies Square Off at 3PM EST: Live On The Web
Rookie camp is in full swing! The Washington Capitals rookies will take on the Broadstreet bullies today at 3PM. If you can't be at the Kettler Capitals Iceplex, see it live on the web.
Updated: Ovechkin Meets The Viking... Viking Not Happy
Updated and in HD.
Varly Blogs...Google Will Translate
Russian Machine Never Breaks posted a interesting link to a blog today. That of none other than Caps goalie, Semyon Varlamov. Here's the catch, it's in Russian.No problem, as Caps fans we all speak Russian through our Google interpreter. How to do it? Copy the Varly blog URL (the address), then go to Google Translate. Paste it in and your translator is ready to go.
Caps Left In Waiting: Mitchell To Kings
byThomThe Peerless Prognosticator provides some good salary cap numbers as to the missed opportunity for this good stay-at-home defenseman. At least it appears that this fan wish list item is on the Caps management radar. I am going to keep my fingers crossed that there is a another deal in waiting. Any requests? I think a Belanger acquisition as trade bait paired with Fleischmann would be a fair deal for a solid veteran defenseman.
DJ King Joins the Capitals
Straight from Ted's Take, DJ King joins the Capitals from the St. Louis Blues in exchange for Stefan Della Rovere.Watch the Youtube video of King and then Checkout the analysis over at the Peerless Prognosticator to see if you think he is the right fit for the Caps. He is described as and enforcer? Ok, I'd say so! Check one off the list... now maybe get a solid stay at home defender to add to the mix?
Caps Fans Are Still Rocking The Red
By Rodger M. Wood
Canadiens Outlast Caps 2-1 to Win Quarterfinal Series
By Rodger M. Wood
Hot Canadien Goalie Stops Caps 4-1 in Game 6
By Rodger M. WoodI thought I was dreaming tonight. I saw Montreal greats, Patrick Roy, Ken Dryden, and Jacque Plante, all in goal tonight for the Canadiens stopping the 52 shots the Caps put on net.The Caps went down 2-0 early in the first period at the Bell Center. The Canadiens then weathered three periods of Caps’ horrific offensive pressure, at one point in second period, killing a 1 minute 15 second 5 on 3 penalty.The Canadiens scored midway through the third period to go ahead 3-0, just moments before Eric Fehr scored the lone Caps goal making the score 3-1.Montreal scored an empty net goal in the last seconds of the game to make the final score 4-1 and bring the do or die seventh game back to the Verizon Center Wednesday.On a positive note, the Caps played their hearts out, they were snake bit by a hot goaltender, but scored late, maybe giving them some momentum and a better feeling about their chances in game 7 at home.Only time will tell. I’ve seen all of the great NHL goaltenders play, and tonight, Montreal goalie, Jaroslav Halak looked just as good, but then maybe Alex O. can find out how the Montreal goaltender settled his nerves after Game 3 and change the formula.
Canadiens Hold On To An Early Lead for 2-1 Win Over Caps
By Rodger M. WoodLosing the killer streak they had in Montreal in games 3 and 4, and forgetting to skate in the first ten minutes, the young Caps fell to a 2-0 deficit in Game 5 tonight before 18,000 friendly home team fans at the Verizon Center in the quarterfinals of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.Montreal goaltender, Jaroslav Halak, winner of the Game 1 overtime 3-2 win and loser in games 2 and 3 regained his composure to stop forty Caps shots, many of which were good scoring opportunities. Only Alex O. beat the 24-year old Czech goalie in the second period to make the game 2-1.Caps goalie Semyon Varlamov also played spectacularly, and deserved better.The Series is now 3-2 and returns to Montreal for Game 6.If the Caps should win that game, it won’t get any easier. The next series will be against the Broad Street Bullies Philadelphia Flyers, who just beat #2 seeded New Jersey Devils 4 games to 1.To stay alive in that series, I’m afraid the Caps will have to put John Erskine back on the ice, let Matt Bradley play with brass knuckles and bring former Caps Donald Brashear out of the stands.
Varly Stands on Head To Give Caps A 6-3 Win
By Rodger M. Wood
The pressure put on 21 year old Caps goalie Semyon Varlamov the first two periods of Game 4 tonight at Montreal was ferocious, but the young net minder, performing magic in the nets, was up to the test.Alex Ovechkin opened up the scoring with a power play goal midway through the first period, but only a minute later the Canadiens tied the score up 1-1 to end the first period.Montreal opened up the second period scoring and held a 2-1 lead until the last 30 seconds of the period when Boyd Gordon and Mike Knuble teamed up for a short handed goal to tie the score 2-2 at intermission, and seemingly take the starch out of the Canadiens and their 22,000 fans at the Bell Center.Helped by the stellar play of defensemen Tom Poti, Jeff Schulz, John Carlson, Varlamov stopped 31 shots the first two periods to keep the Capitals in the game.
Midway through a nail biting third period, Alex O. put the Caps ahead 3-2 with his second goal of the night and Jason Chimera followed up shortly afterwards to give the Caps a two goal advantage.In the last two and a half minutes of the game, Knuble and Backstrom scored empty netters, while Montreal scored its third goal to make the final score 6-3.It wasn’t a pretty win. The Canadiens were desperate for a win, outplayed our Caps much of the game and deserved better results, but I’ll take the ugly win and hope for a prettier one Friday at home.The series now stands at 3 games to 1 for the Capitals, who can end the best 4 of 7 series Friday with a win.
Boudreau’s Instincts Were Right – Caps Win Game 3, 5-1
By Rodger M. WoodUpdated: Coach Boudreau’s last minute decision to start goalie Semyon Varlamov in the nets, Boyd Gordon on the fourth line and penalty kill, and change the second line to Erich Belanger, Eric Fehr and Tomas Fleishmann at hostile Montreal Bell Center for Game 3 of the playoffs paid huge dividends tonight.
Varlamov stood on his head in the first period stopping several point blank shots, keeping the Caps in and taking 22,000+ rabid Montreal fans out of the game. He had a 26-shot shutout until the Canadiens power play tally late in the third period.Boudreau decision to put 2nd game healthy scratch Boyd Gordon on the penalty kill and fourth line also paid dividends when Gordon opened up the scoring early in the second period with a short handed goal to put the Caps ahead 1-0.
In rapid succession after Gordon’s goal, Brooks Laich, Eric Fehr and Alex O scored, making the score 4-0 at the end of the second period.Matt Bradley finished off the Caps scoring in the third period to give the a Caps a 5-1 win and a 2-1 game advantage going into Game 4 at the Bell Center Wednesday night.First star Game 3, Coach Boudreau, second star, Semyon Varlamov, and third star Boyd Gordon with honorable mention to Eric Fehr and Brooks Laich.