[15-OCT-2009] Caps 4, Sharks 1
And that was MUCH better!
Goals went to Semin (Backstrom, Green); Ovechkin (Knuble, BMo); Ovechkin (Knuble, BMo); and Bradley (Jurcina).
For the most part, we stayed out of the box, although ShaMo seemed to like it in there tonight, though - two minor penalties (of the three we took) went to him: one for holding, and the other for delaying the game (puck over glass). That sounds like a bad sort of gourmet dinner... which is what Dany Heatley (?) served up to Tom Poti: a puck to the face, leaving blood on the ice and causing yet another commercial break during the 1st frame (they had something like five of them) while they cleaned up the mess. Fortunately, Poti was back a few minutes later, and played the rest of the game.
Not so for Jose Theodore. :-( Theo was playing exceptionally well (as he has been all season); his 12 saves on 13 shots were good for a SV% of .920 - and back spasms took him out of the game at the end of the first frame. The netminder is now day-to-day, and we'll see in the next day or two whether we get to see Neuvirth before Theo comes back or not.
Not to be undone, Semyon Varlamov in relief stopped all 15 of the shots he faced (8 in the 2nd, 7 in the 3rd)... he all but could have taken a book onto the ice, for all the time the Caps spent at the other end of the ice, and I don't know who would have noticed!
I have to give a shout-out to the entire team, though, tonight. Almost everyone was at or near the to of his game.
Shots on Goal
Gee, I wonder which Cap had the most shots on goal tonight... hmmm... I'll bet it was Alex Ovechkin (13)! The Caps as a team put up 36 shots, and Semin accounted for another 6 of those. Green and Knuble had 3 shots on goal each, and Quintin Laing put up two. The rest were spread out, and it's a shorter list to list off who didn't take a shot: Brendan Morrison, Keith Aucoin (see notes later - his game was otherwise very good!), and Jeff Schultz. EVERYONE else on the team had a shot on goal tonight!
Attempts Blocked
Semin and Ovechkin tie in this category, with 3 each, and Matt Bradley had 2. Between the three of them, they accounted for half the Caps' 15 attempts blocked. Kudos to Rob Blake of the Sharks for blocking a full third of that, with 5 blocked shots to his credit.
Missed Shots
Mike Green tops this list, with 3; Brooks Laich and Brendan Morrison each missed twice, and the three of them accounted for nearly half the Caps' tally in this category (the team as a whole missed the net 15 times).
Hits
Ovechkin and ShaMo top the list here - each were credited with a pair (which does not, contrary to popular belief, make up for taking two of the Caps' three penalties, Mr. Morrisonn!) I'm amazed I didn't see a couple credited to Nicky Backstrom, though, because he was throwing his weight around out there quite a bit, and I know he notched at least one good solid hit. Maybe they credited it as a takeaway instead...
Giveaways
Not many of these tonight; that, I consider a good thing! We had a total of 8 giveaways for the team. Semin and Poti each accounted for 2 of those, and the other four went to Ovechkin, Clark, Backstrom, and our favorite chump-du-jour, ShaMo.
Shaone Morrisonn was not having a good night out there, I don't think.
Takeaways
Knuble gets the Puck Thief Award tonight, with 3 of the Caps' 9 takeaways; Semin stole the puck twice.
Blocked Shots
The Blocker King tonight has to be Tom Poti. He blocked three, including one with his face. Didn't they teach you not to do that, Poti??? Owwwies! :-(
Faceoff Percentage
Keith Aucoin wins in the dot tonight, with a FO% of 75% (3 of 4) - and so does David Steckel, only more so (75%, 12 of 16!) Wow, Stecks! Great job!
This quote just about sums it up for me.
"I like the combination. I like what the three of us bring," Knuble said after the game. "We bring different parts of the game and we can all complement each other. At the same time, it's only one game, one outing, and we have to keep doing it consistently. But, it makes you hungrier to do it the next game."
- Mike Knuble
I have to say that I thought Aucoin looked great out there. He had a couple of really good scoring chances, and if he gets another shot to play, he might be able to finish those. I was really impressed with the half-pint centerman from Chocolatetown! Unfortunately, with Theodore down for who-knows-how-long, there's a possibility that we might have to call up Michal Neuvirth, and while I think seeing him in a Caps sweater would be a good thing, I hate that Theo's hurting, and we'd have to send Aucoin back down.
I loved the reconfigured lines. Ovechkin-Morrison-Knuble and Laich-Backstrom-Semin accounted for a good number of our goals tonight (3 of the 4); the fourth was notched by Matt Bradley, who was skating with David Steckel and Quintin Laing, and they looked good as well. The Aucoin breakaway almost got us some wings tonight. :-)
On an emotional level, tonight's win was crucial for the Caps for several reasons:
1) It ended their losing streak (only the 2nd 4-game losing streak they've had under Boudreau).
2) It ended their 11-game losing streak against the Sharks, and their 8-game losing streak against Nabokov (who, BTW, kept the Sharks in the game until everything fell apart on them.)
3) It brought the fans back into the game. Once again, it was almost playoff-loud in the Phone Booth tonight. And that's a good and happy thing!
Goals went to Semin (Backstrom, Green); Ovechkin (Knuble, BMo); Ovechkin (Knuble, BMo); and Bradley (Jurcina).
For the most part, we stayed out of the box, although ShaMo seemed to like it in there tonight, though - two minor penalties (of the three we took) went to him: one for holding, and the other for delaying the game (puck over glass). That sounds like a bad sort of gourmet dinner... which is what Dany Heatley (?) served up to Tom Poti: a puck to the face, leaving blood on the ice and causing yet another commercial break during the 1st frame (they had something like five of them) while they cleaned up the mess. Fortunately, Poti was back a few minutes later, and played the rest of the game.
Not so for Jose Theodore. :-( Theo was playing exceptionally well (as he has been all season); his 12 saves on 13 shots were good for a SV% of .920 - and back spasms took him out of the game at the end of the first frame. The netminder is now day-to-day, and we'll see in the next day or two whether we get to see Neuvirth before Theo comes back or not.
Not to be undone, Semyon Varlamov in relief stopped all 15 of the shots he faced (8 in the 2nd, 7 in the 3rd)... he all but could have taken a book onto the ice, for all the time the Caps spent at the other end of the ice, and I don't know who would have noticed!
I have to give a shout-out to the entire team, though, tonight. Almost everyone was at or near the to of his game.
Shots on Goal
Gee, I wonder which Cap had the most shots on goal tonight... hmmm... I'll bet it was Alex Ovechkin (13)! The Caps as a team put up 36 shots, and Semin accounted for another 6 of those. Green and Knuble had 3 shots on goal each, and Quintin Laing put up two. The rest were spread out, and it's a shorter list to list off who didn't take a shot: Brendan Morrison, Keith Aucoin (see notes later - his game was otherwise very good!), and Jeff Schultz. EVERYONE else on the team had a shot on goal tonight!
Attempts Blocked
Semin and Ovechkin tie in this category, with 3 each, and Matt Bradley had 2. Between the three of them, they accounted for half the Caps' 15 attempts blocked. Kudos to Rob Blake of the Sharks for blocking a full third of that, with 5 blocked shots to his credit.
Missed Shots
Mike Green tops this list, with 3; Brooks Laich and Brendan Morrison each missed twice, and the three of them accounted for nearly half the Caps' tally in this category (the team as a whole missed the net 15 times).
Hits
Ovechkin and ShaMo top the list here - each were credited with a pair (which does not, contrary to popular belief, make up for taking two of the Caps' three penalties, Mr. Morrisonn!) I'm amazed I didn't see a couple credited to Nicky Backstrom, though, because he was throwing his weight around out there quite a bit, and I know he notched at least one good solid hit. Maybe they credited it as a takeaway instead...
Giveaways
Not many of these tonight; that, I consider a good thing! We had a total of 8 giveaways for the team. Semin and Poti each accounted for 2 of those, and the other four went to Ovechkin, Clark, Backstrom, and our favorite chump-du-jour, ShaMo.
Shaone Morrisonn was not having a good night out there, I don't think.
Takeaways
Knuble gets the Puck Thief Award tonight, with 3 of the Caps' 9 takeaways; Semin stole the puck twice.
Blocked Shots
The Blocker King tonight has to be Tom Poti. He blocked three, including one with his face. Didn't they teach you not to do that, Poti??? Owwwies! :-(
Faceoff Percentage
Keith Aucoin wins in the dot tonight, with a FO% of 75% (3 of 4) - and so does David Steckel, only more so (75%, 12 of 16!) Wow, Stecks! Great job!
This quote just about sums it up for me.
"I like the combination. I like what the three of us bring," Knuble said after the game. "We bring different parts of the game and we can all complement each other. At the same time, it's only one game, one outing, and we have to keep doing it consistently. But, it makes you hungrier to do it the next game."
- Mike Knuble
I have to say that I thought Aucoin looked great out there. He had a couple of really good scoring chances, and if he gets another shot to play, he might be able to finish those. I was really impressed with the half-pint centerman from Chocolatetown! Unfortunately, with Theodore down for who-knows-how-long, there's a possibility that we might have to call up Michal Neuvirth, and while I think seeing him in a Caps sweater would be a good thing, I hate that Theo's hurting, and we'd have to send Aucoin back down.
I loved the reconfigured lines. Ovechkin-Morrison-Knuble and Laich-Backstrom-Semin accounted for a good number of our goals tonight (3 of the 4); the fourth was notched by Matt Bradley, who was skating with David Steckel and Quintin Laing, and they looked good as well. The Aucoin breakaway almost got us some wings tonight. :-)
On an emotional level, tonight's win was crucial for the Caps for several reasons:
1) It ended their losing streak (only the 2nd 4-game losing streak they've had under Boudreau).
2) It ended their 11-game losing streak against the Sharks, and their 8-game losing streak against Nabokov (who, BTW, kept the Sharks in the game until everything fell apart on them.)
3) It brought the fans back into the game. Once again, it was almost playoff-loud in the Phone Booth tonight. And that's a good and happy thing!