Keith Aucoin - Washington's 'Little' Spark Plug

Check out my latest post over at The Hockey Writers where I look at the path that Keith Aucoin took to the Caps. Also, be sure to check in tomorrow for for some pre-game. Cheers.

Pre-Game: Capitals vs Islanders

Thanks to New Jersey's recent plummet, the Capitals now control their own destiny for second place in the Division. Just six games remain for Washington, none against playoff teams, not the perfect buildup for their second go-around in as many years in the post-season.

Here's what the playoff scenario has got for the Caps as of April 1st:


While most Caps fans can agree that a series against Montreal would be more favorable, I wouldn't mind a Washington-New York match-up. The Rangers have won six of their last seven at home, but both home games against Washington have needed extra time, with the Caps winning in OT and the Rangers winning in the shootout.

See what I'm doing here?

I'm looking ahead. I'm skipping over six games against teams that the Caps should blow out of the water.

Overlooking games against the lowly Islanders has gotten out-of-hand this year. Back on December 16th, Washington allowed two goals in the last nine minutes to send the game to overtime. Alex Ovechkin helped avoid the shootout by netting a his second goal of the game with 11 seconds left.

The Caps needed Ovechkin to bail them out again when Kyle Okposo scored with less than eight minutes left to even-steven the score at 1. Ovechkin scored both Caps goals, taking just 1:46 to end the game.

So we get the Islanders and the Devils get the Penguins... Winning against the last place team in April is easy enough, right? Yeah... You would think so.

The Importance of Brooks Laich

Check out my post over at the Hockey Writers about how Brooks Laich affects the Capitals.

Pre-Game: Capitals @ Maple Leafs

Pre-Game: Capitals @ Hurricanes

I'll be traveling for the first time with the Caps Road Crew down to the RBC Center to watch the Caps take on the Canes. I'll be taking pictures, but it will be a few days before their uploaded (cheap camera). The only thing I forgot on my trip back home for the weekend was my laptop charger, so that being said, I'll be back on Monday morning with some postgame notes.

Pre-Game: Capitals @ Predators

And what's a Nashville preview without a Taylor Swift shout out?



Just give it a chance! It's not that bad.

Pre-Game: Capitals vs Penguins

Finally we can agree with a Rangers fan.

NOTE: I will be in the Montreal area until Wednesday.

Pre-Game: Capitals vs Maple Leafs

With the trade deadline come and gone, the Capitals still have the team intact and were one of the few teams deciding not to swap players. The same can not be said about the Maple Leafs. First, Toronto traded Nik Antropov to the Rangers for a 2nd round and conditional pick (2010). Then the Leafs traded center Dominic Moore to division foe Buffalo Sabres for another 2nd round pick. Finally, in a trade that took place at 4:18 (so much for the 3 pm deadline), Toronto received a 4th round pick, Andy Rogers, and former Capitals Jamie Heward and Olaf Kolzig (!!). They traded nothing Richard Petiot to the Tampa Lightning.

Even though Toronto is in 11th place, they sure aren't acting of it as of late. They haven't lost in regulation since February 17 the against the Sabres. Toronto's streak of three straight road victories come as the Caps have been stalling out at the Phone Booth.

Toronto's power play is basically dead last...this means no shorthanded breakaway goals with the extra man should be conceded tonight on home ice. The Antropov trade is good in the sense that we don't have to face him tonight, but now that he's on the Rangers, he poses more of a threat to the Caps in the playoffs.

That's all I've got from my end, my final midterm is tomorrow, then I'm off to Montreal for spring break...

Pre-Game: Capitals @ Bruins

I am in the Bronx for the weekend visiting a friend of mine and I'll get back to the blog most likely on Monday.

Post-Game: Capitals vs Thrashers

Once again the Capitals jumped out to a two goal lead, this time they held on to it just long enough to get past the Thrashers.

• Alex Semin (increased his trade value?) had a hell of a game getting a goal and two assists, all on the power play. The Caps are 6-1 when Semin has three or more points with the only loss coming against the Thrashers the first game of the year.
• Michal Neuvirth had another solid performance against another struggling team in the Southeast Division. An ideal scenario for me would to see Neuvirth/Varlamov play in 3-4 games. while Jose Theodore gets the other 16-17.
• If this was last year, Eric Fehr's goal would have been stopped. The kid's getting the confidence and lucky bounces he needs. He also got 10 goals in one season in less games (41 GP) than Brooks Laich last year and Tomas Fleischmann this year.
• We need Viktor Kozlov on this team.
• How about some secondary shooting? Laich with 7 shots, Sergei Fedorov adding in four more.
• Kari Lehtonen kinda sucked this game. He really didn't show up for this one.
• Toby Enstrom had six blocked shots...Nice. Probably the second best Swede who played tonight.
• Ilya Kovalchuck is going to score 35 goals for the next eight (or more) years. He was one shy of 30 in his rookie season (65 GP), but there is nothing except for the horrendous team he plays for holding this guy back.
• Finally, there was no Brashear-Bogosian bout, but Brash-Boulton made up for it:
  

Pre-Game: Capitals vs Thrashers

Last spring, I was fortunate enough to spend my spring break fully engulfed in hockey. The week started on Sunday went I went up to Hershey to watch the Bears play the Manitoba Moose. The Bears defeated the Moose after being on an extended road trip.

After visiting schools in that area, my father and I headed back to Arlington for a quick pit stop in the middle of the week. I one night that we stayed home, my friends and I caught a show at Black Cat. The Cribs were featured and have since become one of my favorite bands.

Thursday we took a plane down to Atlanta to meet up with some of my father's friends. This was right after that tornado tore through downtown Atlanta, but the Philips Arena was intact. After some sightseeing the first few days, we witnessed Alex Ovechkin's 60th goal in an impressive 5-3 victory. I took a few pictures while I was down there and here they are (like all hockey photo albums, my camera died in the 2nd period but its whatever):



And then there's this picture (somewhat NSFW/stalkerish)


Also, if you look really close, you can see my father and I in the crowd. As Ovechkin scores, look below the "ATL" on the top line for two fans who jump up and hold up white signs.

Post-Game: Capitals vs Flyers

Three third period goals and eight penalties later, the Caps lose to the Flyers, dropping to 1-2 against them on the season:

• From the pregame, Philly is now 5-2-1 at the Verizon Center since the start of last season.
• When Jeff Carter scores, the Flyers are 4-0-1.
• Philadelphia is now 5-1 when scoring at least four goals.

On to the game:

• Jeff Schutlz forced Jim Johnson (Flyers announcer) to compare Aaron Asham to Alex Ovechkin by having Asham dance around him for the insurance goal. Schultz has never been my favorite 'D' Man, and that will stay that way until he figures out how to use his body.
• There's no room in hockey for what John Erskine did. The stick to the family jewels is what Flyers do classless.
• Ovechkin had more than 10 minutes on the Power Play and only got an assist in seven chances with the extra man.
• Jose Theodore likes starring at rebounds three feet away from him....Containing the rebound? Not so much.
• Nicklas Backstrom continued his seven game point streak. Over that span, he has three goals and seven assists. (The Caps are 1-2 when he scores in that span).
• The Flyers are now 3-15-3 when trailing going into the third period.

The loss drops the Caps to nine points back of Boston after their win over Buffalo. Next up is Atlanta, whom we've only played twice (weird)...

Our $145 Millon Dollar Men

Please. Never again.

Pre-Game: Capitals vs Flyers

With all this rivalry talk going on after the Caps destroyed defeated the Pens on national television, let's not forget our rivals up I-95, the Philadelphia Flyers. Don't get me wrong, the Pens and Caps are fierce rivals, but Philly will be a threat come April. (Besides, we all know who (make that 'what') the Penguins' will be playing in spring).

For the Caps, their two meetings with the Flyers have been a tale of two cities. After a stellar first period by Antero Niittymaki, the Caps lost their will the rest of the game and left with a 7-1 embarrassing loss (which is why I voted "focus" on DMG's post regarding roadblocks for the Caps).

But I quickly rethought that answer after checking the schedule and seeing that the Caps won seven straight after that ugly loss...including a 2-1 redemption victory at home against the Flyers.

So what's been going on over the past two years (stats since the start of last season, including the playoffs) between the clubs when they meet?

• Washington is 6-5-2 against Philadelphia.
• In one goal games, the Caps are 5-1-2.
• The Flyers are 4-2-1 at the Verizon Center.
  
• Both teams are 4-1 when scoring at least four goals.
  
• The Caps are 4-0-2 when Nicklas Backstrom scores.
• When Sergei Fedorov plays less than 21 minutes, the Caps are 3-0. When he's on the ice for more than 21 minutes, the Caps are 0-2-2.
• Shots have been pretty even, with the Flyers holding a 425 to 420 lead.
• Philadelphia also leads in goals 44 to 35, which would put them ahead in shooting percentage: 10.4% to 8.3%.
• When Jeff Carter scores, Philly is 3-0-1.
• Caps are 3-0-1 when Eric Fehr has between 8 and 13 minutes.

A win and a Boston loss puts us five points back with Saturday's matinee match up just five days away.

Pre-Game: Capitals vs Penguins

Is Alex Ovechkin in GTA IV?

Strolling the streets of Liberty City late at night, I recognized a face that looked familiar, so I checked it out, and sure enough:


This looks like they just slapped Ovi's picture up on the poster! (Okay not really, but the caricature looks A LOT like him).

What do you think?

Does the picture look like Alex Ovechkin?
	Wow, it does look like him.
	Uhhh, not really dude.
	LOL. Not a chance!
pollcode.com free polls

Post-Game: Capitals vs Avalanche

"When was the last time we played down to our competition?" Boudreau said. "We've lost two games [in regulation] in our last 14 and [the Kings] won [four] games in a row on that road trip against good teams. We weren't playing down to them -- they were playing really well.

In defense of Colorado, they have beaten the Red Wings three times this year, but still find themselves in the cellar in the Western Conference. So I'm not sure if this counts as playing down to the competition, but a 4-1 loss on home ice against Andrew Raycroft should and can not happen:

• After watching Nicklas Backstrom's hit at the end of the game a few times, he left his feet and it was late (maybe some elbow action too). You want to see aggression from all players, but within the rules and code of the game.
• Nicklas Kronwall lead all players with six hits. How much you want to bet that he'd want one against Ryan Smyth back?
• The net must have looked small tonight for Kronwall, Eric Fehr, and Alex Semin who all missed chances that would have gone in on other nights.
• The 4th line was NOT good tonight. Matt Bradley was on the ice for three Colorado goals and Donald Brashear's (6:28 TOI) turnover in the defensive zone led to Tyler Arnason's third period marker.
• Jose Theodore proved why he is the 27th best goalie in the league tonight.
• David Steckel went 90% (9/10) in the face-off circle. And Backstrom must have read JP's article on him and face-offs. Nicky went 9/14 (67%) overall and 5/7 (71%) in the defensive zone.
• Its hard to believe that Brian Willsie played in all 82 games and scored 19 goals in Alex Ovechkin's rookie season. Willsie has 16 goals in the past three years.
  
• Caps had 16 giveaways compared to nine by the Avs. Turnovers lead to goals boys...
• Next Western Conference opponent would be the Nashville Predators, who will host the Caps on March 10th. Maybe Taylor Swift will be there? (Taylor Swift will be in Melbourne on March 10th and not at the Preds/Caps game...Not like I'm scouring her tour dates to see when she's coming to the DC/MD/VA area or anything).
  

Finally some pics to finish this disappointing night:

Pre-Game: Capitals vs Avalanche

Post-Game: Capitals vs Canadiens

What else can you say about Alex Ovechkin?

"You have to try something new," Ovechkin added about the play at the center ice. "Sometimes I try in practice and people say what are you doing? Sometimes I need to changed it and it's working. It was an important game for us, an important goal especially when they score right on power play."

What?! Ovi practices these things?? Then no wonder he can do this or this. It took less than one minute for the "MVP" chants to take over Verizon Center. He's got points in 10 straight, including TWO hat tricks in that span.

Other than the Great 8, there was a game to be played that the Caps at times seem like they would dominate, but at other times, ehh, not so much:

• Nicklas Backstrom has only four shootout attempts? He's batting .500 and should be in Boudreau's top three for the shootout.
• David Steckel was more excited about his goal than Ovi was for his. Stecks' goal tied things up with a little less than three minutes left. Stecks won the draw (64% on face-offs) and went right to the net as he should, and was rewarded.
• Mike Green looked tired. His facial expression after taking an early delay-of-game penalty looked as though he was sleepy. If in fact, he wasn't sleepy, he is now after playing almost 30 minutes (!).
• Jose Theodore had a rough game. He could have stopped the Habs' first two goals, but he was off tonight. He should be happy with the overall outcome...30 saves and a victory against his former team.
• Donald Brashear showed tremendous restraint on not beating the crap out of fighting George Laraque. Besides, we all know how that one turns out.
  
• All three goals scored on the power play? That's happened three too many times this year, and it needs to stop...now.

The Caps are now nine points back of Boston and two ahead of New Jersey. Next up is Colorado, who Greener should love to play against:


Also check out a breakdown of Ovechkin's unbelievable goal.

Ovechkin's Submission for "Goal of the Year"

Let's see what we got here:

• Undress one defender via the self pass? Check.
• Out-skate the second defender? Check.
• Score as he's getting hooked? Check.
• Celebrate before the puck goes in? Check.
• Act as if nothing happened while celebrating on his keister? Check.