Capitals-Blue Jackets Winners & Losers

Winners:

Brooks Laich. With Ovechkin out, Laich's two goals in 128 seconds put the Caps in the lead (for a measly three minutes and 13 seconds). On the first goal, Laich was where he should have been, and he was rewarded. His second goal was a gift. Whatevs. Take em as they come.

Quintin Laing. How's that for secondary scoring? The Q-Man's second NHL goal was sandwiched between two Raffi Torres goals in the third period. Laing also had at least one dandy of a blocked shot.

Rick Nash. So good. So underrated.

Medium:

Alexander Semin. Four shots in the first five minutes are nice. Too bad he totaled two in the 55 minutes after that. Okay he did have two assists, but stop doing those stupid toe drag/curl-and-drag moves (hey, at least Brian Pothier is taking notes, right?).

Mike Knuble. That 30-second span of fore-checking sparked a somewhat exhausted Verizon Center crowd. We could do without the two slashing infractions (one of which, Columbus scored a Power Play goal on).

Losers:

Tom Poti. Quintin Laing threw up a little when you tried to block Rick Nash's eventually assist to the GWG in OT. Actually Laing was too busy not rotating down toward the crease to help out... your fault too Quintin!

Jason Chimera. Ever just watch someone play and decide you hate everything about his game? Me neither too. Nate the Great puts it best here.

Guy wearing a Jaromir Jagr jersey behind the Capitals' bench. For a three-month period in 2001, wearing this jersey might have been respectable. Now it's just pathetic. No word on whether the person next to him was wearing a Sergei Berezin jersey.

Other comments:

• I don't understand what constitutes goalie interference, and I don't think I ever will.
• If you've ever played goalie at any level, when you lose your goalie stick, you feel naked. So take it easy on Theo while watching the replay of that "soft" goal that squeaked through the 5-hole.
• Antoine Vermette and David Steckel took 26 and 25 face-offs, respectively. That just seems like a lot.
• Finally, there is no ***king way Bruce ***king Boudreau is fatter than this mother ****king fat ***k. (Note: Sean Avery's words have been changed/altered, this was not sic'd)

Pre-Game: Capitals vs Blue Jackets

Playing against the Blue Jackets, the Capitals biggest problem has been Rick Nash. The Columbus captain and leading-scorer notched two goals against Washington in their last meeting and has six goals in six games against the Caps.

So how can Washington slow down the 2002 1st overall pick? Well I think Brian Rafalski did the job. Nash got tangled up with Rafalski and slammed feet-first into the boards. Nash did not return after the first period.

So with Nash injured just in time for the Capitals game, rookie goalie Steve Mason is the Caps next biggest concern (but is he legit?)... seeing how injuries just keep piling up for the CBJ.

Let's get to it:

• Speaking of Mason, the kid got three straight shutouts to end December, and has won four of his last six. I'd call that legit. He's also 3-0 with three shutouts (two of the three are different than those mentioned before) against the Eastern Conference, including shutting out the Caps.
• Nash has never played a full season in his six year career.
  
• If you haven't seen Ovechkin's new interview, here it is...I knew she couldn't do the whole interview without asking a 'Vodka' question.
• With a win tonight, Washington will be on track for 118 points... 11 more than their previous season-high of 107 in 1986.
• Columbus' power play ranks dead last at a putrid 10.2%. That's 18 power play goals... By comparison, Mike Green and Nicklas Backstrom combine for 16.
• Caps have gone 14-3 since losing to Columbus to end the month of November.
• 18-1-1 speaks for itself, and with the Blue Jackets ailing this time, the pre-game story is pretty much switched.

NHL Image of the Night- December 4th

Evgeni Nabokov is introduced before the Sharks game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Nabokov put up 29 saves in San Jose's 3-2 win. Nabokov is now 15-2 on the year. Photo courtesy of Getty Images

Post-Game: Capitals @ Blue Jackets

The injured Capitals team could not keep up with Columbus' young fire power and the Blue Jackets shut Washington out for just the second time this season by the score of 3-0.

• Karl Alzner left in the second period with a wrist injury. Alz should be fine, but this left the Capitals with only five 'D' men.
• Rookie goalie Steve Mason picked up his second career shutout, and is now 5-2-1 (2.09/.919) on the season.
• Nicklas Backstrom had four shots (tied for season most) and had a TOI of 21:42, the most he has had this season for games that did not go into overtime. Alex Ovechkin saw his 10 game point streak come to an end, but is still fourth in the league in scoring. Ovechkin skated 9:19 in the first period and finished the with a game-high 25:18 TOI (avg 23:13).
  
• Brent Johnson played well in the loss, but has lost three straight, with his last win coming November 12th against Carolina.
• Columbus native and Ohio State graduate, David Steckel started the game and skated 12:37. Stecks has played two games against the CBJ but has yet to record a shot or a point.
  

Pre-Game: Capitals @ Blue Jackets

Sorry for the late post, I have been busy most of the day, but let's get to it.

• Columbus (9-10-3) has lost their last three home games and are just 5-5-1 at Nationwide Arena.
• They are dead last in the power play (10.2%) and are near the bottom of the league in penalty kill (79.2%). The Blue Jackets are 0-5 when trailing after one period, and 1-9-2 when trailing after two periods. Columbus is last in second-period scoring, but second in the league in goals in the third period.
  
• The Blue Jackets are led by Derick Brassard (8-11-19) and Rick Nash (10-9-19). The rookie Brassard was selected 6th overall in the 2006 Draft, two picks behind Nicklas Backstrom. Nash was chosen with the 1st overall pick in the 2002 draft.
• Alex Ovechkin scored his first career goal...and his second career goal against the CBJ in his first career game. OV has four goals in two games against Columbus.
• The Capitals will still be without Mike Green, Alexander Semin, Sergei Fedorov, and John Erskine. and Tom Poti.
  

Fight of the Week

NHL Image of the Night- November 14th

Andrew Peters of the Buffalo Sabres checks Michael Peca of the Columbus Blue Jackets during the Blue Jackets 6-1 victory over the Sabres. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.

NHL Image of the Night- November 3rd

Doug Weight takes a two minute interference infraction against R.J. Umberger of the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Blue Jackets rallied from three goals down, eventually losing to the Islanders 4-3 in overtime. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.