Sunday, December 21, 2008

Post-Game: Capitals @ Flyers

Well that sucked.

The Capitals won in shots, face-offs, but lost in the only category that matters--score.

Injuries, lack of energy, and weak goal-tending ultimately led to the Capitals demise.

  • Mike Green was -4 on the night, something he hasn't done in his 197 game career. Green's turnover at the blueline directly led to Jeff Carter's shorthanded goal in the second period.
  • Brent Johnson was pulled for performance reasons for the first time this year. Johnny stopped 10 of 13 shots through two periods, but did not look anywhere near prepared to play this game. Jose Theodore played the third and gave up four goals on 15 shots, but could hardly be faulted on some of the defensive breakdowns.
  • On the other end, Antero Niittymaki stood on his head the whole game, stonewalling the Capitals on 47 of 48 shots. The Finnish Wall is now 4-2 lifetime against Washington.
  • Tom Poti skated only 4:02 before leaving the first period with a groin injury. He is day-to-day.
  • Alexandre Giroux got schooled on Philly's first goal by Joffrey Lupul...and let's just leave it at that.
  • On to some positives: Brooks Laich picked up his eighth goal on the year and third in the past five games. Laich tallied his eighth goal last year 24 days into 2008.
  • Donald Brashear racked up 26 PIMs...Highest since March 2006. Brash pummeled Riley Cote, and you can watch it again, and again, and again, here.

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