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Game Preview: Buffalo Sabres @ Washington Capitals

Rafal Ladysz — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 18:49:31 -0000

1 day ago: Buffalo Sabres centre Derek Roy, second right, celebrates his game-winning overtime goal with teammates Jochen Hecht, (55) of Germany, Andrej Sekera, (44) of Sloavakia, and Steve Montador, right, during an NHL hockey game in Toronto on Monday, Dec. 21, 2009. (AP Photo, The Canadian Press, Frank Gunn)

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If at first you don't succeed, try again. Buffalo was shutout 2-0 in Washington on Nov.25 and responded with a 3-0 victory two weeks later to even the season series. Beating the Capitals is one thing, holding them off the board totally is another as it was the first time in 11 months and the one instance this year that Washington has been shutout. Ryan Miller made a few unreal saves and Alex Ovechkin wasn't given much time or space.

What sort of feeling does that create for Washington heading into this match-up? With the home crowd on their side, the Capitals will be shooting furiously looking to get a quick goal and then add to it. But the Sabres have been resilient all season making believers out of hockey's elite squads.

Ten thoughts on the contest below.

I know this is becoming common but Ryan Miller deserves a bullet on his own. A 21-7-2 record, .938 save percentage, 1.89 goals against average and four shutouts have the Michigan native hearing talks about a Vezina Trophy and Hart Memorial Award. Can you think of a player who has been more valuable to his club at this point? I didn't think so.
It's hard to be considered a stud among a group like Washington's but Tomas Fleischmann is in his own right. With 14 goals in 25 games, he's registered only 51 shots for a 27.5 shooting percentage; tops in the league. In other words, Alex Ovechkin is the sole Capital he's trailing in goals and he's played less games than guys like Alexander Semin and Nicklas Backstrom. Stud.
Nathan Paetsch scored his first goal in nearly a year at Toronto becoming the 20th Sabre to light the lamp this season. A fourth line forward because of Buffalo`s defensive commodities, he did the simple thing by getting the puck on net and it paid off. It may be the role he has to play but I haven`t heard any complaints.
Both powerplays are struggling with Washington converting three times in their last 23 opportunities and Buffalo falling to 27th in the league altogether. Thankfully, the penalty kill continues to prevail ranked sixth and the Sabres must pressure the Capitals' man-advantage.
Assuming that Jose Theodore starts, his 9-13-1 career record against Buffalo isn't the best of signs for Washington. Their scoring resourcefulness has bailed out poor goaltending on numerous nights however, Theodore must hold his end of the bargain if the team is to get by Miller and the rest of the Sabres.
Derek Roy accumulated his third game-winner of the year against the Maple Leafs tying Clarke MacArthur for the team lead. With 28 points in 35 games, it's become clear who will lead Buffalo offensively as the pint-sized center has gotten increasingly dependable as the season progresses. Roy is moving along noticeably with 12 points in 13 contests.
Alexander Ovechkin has 23 goals in 28 games making you wonder how many more he would have were it not for an eight-game absence. Elsewhere, Mike Green and Semin have both been rather cold recently in their production.
Steve Montador registered two assists Monday which is fitting for a defenseman who works hard providing results in many specific assignments. He scored the first goal the last time these two clubs went toe-to-toe and it turned out to be the deciding tally.
Top scorer Thomas Vanek will sit out his third game because of soreness in the abdomen region. Joining him are Patrick Kaleta, Chris Butler and Nathan Gerbe. Washington will be without Semyon Varlamov, Boyd Gordon and Brian Pothier.
Buffalo is 4-3 through seven games with Southeast Division competition and Washington is 4-3-2 in its Northeast battles. Neither is exactly convincing but one will be two games above .500 once the day is through.

Separated by three points with the Sabres owning a game in hand, this match-up has its value for the playoff positions as both clubs tussle for an upper hand on one another. Points in December are just as crucial as the ones in April.

Capital Ups and Downs: Week 12

J.P. — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 16:00:20 -0000

by David Zalubowski - AP

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Our weekly look at individual Washington Capitals' ups and downs:

Goalies	Trend	Notes
Michal Neuvirth		Quietly solid in a huge bounce-back win in Edmonton.
Jose Theodore		A good game and a not-as-good game, but just two even strength goals against and 1-1-0/2.02/.917 week are solid numbers.
Semyon Varlamov		Sounded close to returning before a hopefully minor setback.

Defensemen
Karl Alzner		Plus-two for the week and victimized by a bad bounce in Edmonton, Alzner's development should continue to benefit from being paired with the likes of John Erskine and Tyler Sloan. Ahem.
John Erskine		A monster night in Colorado (assist, plus-three rating and 17 penalty minutes earned for sticking up for Mike Green), tougher time in Vancouver and a scratch in Edmonton.
Mike Green		Just one assist and six shots on goal for the week. Of course, he did miss half of the Colorado game because he forced David Koci to skate halfway across the ice and board him. Bad Greenie.
Milan Jurcina		Scratched twice, looked hungrier against Edmonton, leading the team in hits.
Shaone Morrisonn		Missed most of the Colorado game, returned to lead the team in hits against Vancouver, back out of the lineup Saturday night. Hmm...
Brian Pothier		Despite seven points from blueliners this week, the Caps miss his puck-moving ability on the back-end.
Tom Poti		Three games, plus-three rating, but a whopping four third period penalties (at least one in each game), including an inexcusable unsportsmanlike in Vancouver.
Jeff Schultz		Want a microcosm of Schultz's career? Look no further than this week - a couple of memorable bloopers but a great job shutting down the Sedins and a positive plus-minus (though it should be noted that he was on the ice for four of the six goals the Caps allowed in the three games).

Swingman
Tyler Sloan		Scratched twice, returned and notched an assist on the insurance tally Saturday night, but let's be honest - his NHL time is running out.

Forwards
Nicklas Backstrom		A couple of goals, an assist, a plus-one rating and nine shots on goal and 57% in the dot are all nice, but he's got to take some of the blame for a power play that was just 1-for-9 on the week.
Matt Bradley		A goal, an assist and a plus-two rating in Colorado highlight the week for a guy who's two-thirds of the way to tying his single-season best in goals.
Chris Clark		A Gordie Howe Hat Trick (ok, it took him three games to get it), an extra assist and a plus-three rating. Good stuff, Cap.
Eric Fehr		A couple of helpers and a plus-three rating for the week are nice, but Fehr has gone six games without a goal and only had five shots on goal for the week. Go to the net, young man.
Tomas Fleischmann		Three goals on the week (including Saturday night's game-winner), but a bad penalty in Edmonton and being on the ice for half of the goals the team allowed in the three games take a bit of the shine off.
Boyd Gordon		On a conditioning assignment in Hershey, Gordo's return looks imminent.
Mike Knuble		With a goal and an assist, Knuble seems to be getting his timing back.
Brooks Laich		Another week passes without Laich finding the net, something he's only done once in his last 15 games (and his assist in Vancouver is his only point in his last seven games).
Quintin Laing		Q ate a steak this week and played an NHL game - he gets an up arrow.
Brendan Morrison		Just one assist on the week, his only point in the last seven games (oddly coinciding with Alex Ovechkin's return to the lineup).
Alex Ovechkin		Every now and then (weekly, usually), you're reminded why AO is the best player in the game. Saturday night's third period was one such reminder.
Alexander Semin		Beat Roberto Luongo on a knuckler from near Whistler on Friday night, but was stuffed on a penalty shot later in the game and didn't find his way onto the score sheet for the rest of the week (despite being on the ice for all three goals the top line scored on Saturday night).
David Steckel		A goal, plus-three rating and 7:59 of short-handed ice time without being on for a goal against. Can't ask for much more from the guy, can you?
Kyle Wilson		Made his NHL debut on his 25th birthday with two assists and a strong all-around game. Wasn't as good in Vancouver, was scratched in Edmonton, then reassigned to Hershey, but he looks like yet another fine fill-in. He'll be back.

Capitals @ Oilers, 12/19/09 - This one could be ugly.

Derek Zona — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 22:30:13 -0000

via www.sportslogos.net

SBNation's Capitals vs Oilers coverage

Japers' Rink

On to Caps news:

Just in case you haven't seen it, David Koci with yet another dirty hit

Bruce Boudreau doesn't see a place in the NHL for David Koci. I'm not the only one that's tired of all of these dirty hits.

Jonathan Willis spins the wheel of justice on Koci and says 5 games. So of course, no suspension.

Michael Nylander was assigned to Grand Rapids and his cap hit is off of the books for now. Would you trade for Nylander?

An interesting statistical breakdown of the Capitals defensemen.

Washington Capitals Injuries

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Boyd Gordon	back	11/15/2009
Semyon Varlamov	groin	12/08/2009

Tuesday Caps Clips: Caps @ Avalanche Game Day

J.P. — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 11:42:42 -0000

More photos » by Nam Y. Huh - AP

"The birthday candles... bring them to me so I may blow them out!"

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Your savory breakfast links:

Go west, young men! (And you too, Knuble.) Previews of Jose Theodore's return to Colorado from Vogs, Peerless and NHL.com, and be sure to check out our SB Nation partner (and another personal fave) Mile High Hockey for coverage from the other side of tonight's match up.
The Avs are likely to be without Milan Hejduk and Marek Svatos tonight. [@adater]
Avs frosh Matt Duchene is looking forward to playing against the two-time reigning MVP. [Denver Post]
The Caps will spend this week trying to represent the Eastern Conference, which is getting its brains beaten in in inter-Conference play. [From The Rink]
When the Caps get to Vancouver, they'd better be ready to try to shutdown the League's hottest line. [Orland Kurtenblog]
Further coverage of the Michael Nylander transfer from the WTimes, the WaPo, the WashEx and OFB.
"You notice when you watch games on TV, certain guys show up game in and game out and that’s the kind of guy I want to be." - Karl Alzner. [CSN Washington, with more on Alzner at Washington Examiner]
Being in first place is pretty sweet... and pretty rare in these parts. [D.C. Sports Bog]
Fresh power rankings, with the Caps holding at second at Sporting News, down one to second at The Hockey News, up two (huh?) to second at ESPN, down one to seventh at CBS Sports, and down seven (look out below!) to eighth at TSN.
Some interesting Caps nuggets in Elliotte Friedman's weekly must-read. [CBC]
Bob McKenzie has Stefan Della Rovere and Cody Eakin making Team Canada for the WJCs. [TSN]
Eakin likes the role of checker, and has a heck of a good attitude. [Regina Leader-Post]
SI's All-Decade page-view generator is in full swing, and there's plenty of Alex Ovechkin all over it, including in the All-Decade Team, the decade's signature moments, the decade's signature play and most colorful player. (Surprisingly, he got edged out at SI for "biggest villain.")
Jeff Schultz may not hit opponents often, but when he does, they tend to be shorter than him (duh). [Behind the Net]
BREAKING: Ted Leonsis supports Ovechkin. [The Hockey News]
Speaking of The Boss, he's "more than satisfied" with Kettler Capitals Iceplex. No kidding. [Sun Gazette]
Caps fans know how to use the Internet. [D.C. Sports Bog]
Boyd Gordon actually practiced yesterday. Nice. [Washington Examiner]
From the "It's an honor just to be nominated" file, Mike Green is not your Rogers Sportsnet Canadian Athlete of the Year. [Edmonton Sun]
More Nylander-related rejoicing. [Fight For Old DC]
Bear Tracks! [LDN]
Vote or die. [NHL Arena]
Finally, happy 25th birthday to Kyle Wilson, who is likely to make his NHL debut tonight.

Capital Ups and Downs: Week 11

J.P. — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:00:16 -0000

by Chris O'Meara - AP

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Our weekly look at individual Washington Capitals' ups and downs:

Goalies	Trend	Notes
Michal Neuvirth		Didn't get much help Saturday night... and needed an awful lot the way he played. Now an ugly 0-2-0/4.56/.845 on the (NHL) season.
Jose Theodore		He'll need to be better than 1-1-0/2.97/.872 in Varly's absences, whenever they are.
Semyon Varlamov		Followed up a 26-save shutout - his second whitewashing in four starts - with a trip to the IR. On the plus side, the Caps have the luxury of being extra cautious with him... for now.

Defensemen
John Erskine		The wear and tear is wearing and tearing Erskine down to the point where he seems nearly worn and torn out.
Mike Green		The return of "Game Over" Green Friday night couldn't save a week full of turnovers and blown assignments... with Team Canada no doubt watching.
Milan Jurcina		After a minus-eight stretch in his previous six games, an even week (with a scratch thrown in) may qualify as a "good week," but the Caps need more out of Juice.
Shaone Morrisonn		Returned from injury with a zero-point, one shot on goal, minus-one week in which he averaged under 18 minutes of ice time. Sounds about right.
Brian Pothier		On injured reserve with a rib injury. It's a shame, as he was coming off a three-goal, four-assist, plus-11 November.
Tom Poti		Minus-three for the week (and that includes a plus-one in Tampa), and on the ice for six of the 12 goals the team allowed for the week.
Jeff Schultz		A plus-two week has him fourth in the League in plus/minus, and three four-block games speak further to the blueliner he's becoming.

Swingman
Tyler Sloan		Scratched twice, Sloan's NHL time is running out with Laing's pending return and perhaps a recall of Karl Alzner for the blueline.

Forwards
Keith Aucoin		His most recent recall was short and relatively unproductive, which, fittingly, makes it the Keith Aucoin of recalls.
Nicklas Backstrom		Two goals, two assists, plus-four and an epic OT shift against Carolina, the "wow" moments are coming with greater frequency with each passing week.
Matt Bradley		A happy and healthy new baby gets an up arrow, especially when supplemented with a great interview.
Chris Clark		If the captain isn't contributing on the scoreboard, he's gotta be doing other things... like not letting his team put up three poor efforts in a row (including a pair against the League's two worst teams).
Eric Fehr		A goal in Tampa followed by three point-less games, Fehr will look to go from scorching hot to cold to just plain consistent.
Tomas Fleischmann		Another Cap forward looking for consistency, Flash posted a goal and three helpers this week and now has seven points in his last six games (after picking up just one in his previous six).
Alexandre Giroux		If it wasn't for Nylander's departure, Giroux being returned to Chocolatetown would qualify as great news. As it is, it's merely very good news.
Boyd Gordon		In the past two months, Gordo has played 5:55 of hockey. Sigh.
Mike Knuble		Off to a slow start since returning from the IR with a minus-three rating in two games. No doubt it takes some time to get back to game speed, but a finger injury shouldn't inhibit one's ability to crash the net.
Brooks Laich		Like his new-found mentor Knuble, Laich had no points and was minus-three for the week... but he played all four games.
Quintin Laing		Q's getting closer to returning, but when he comes back, who sits?
Brendan Morrison		No points, three shots on goal and a celebration on a puck he shot wide... ouch.
Michael Nylander		Hasta la vista, baby.
Alex Ovechkin		Returned from suspension with three multi-point games (seven points overall) and 23 shots on goal in four games.
Mathieu Perreault		Food poisoning sidelined him in Buffalo and one point in his last ten games might sideline him a little more frequently going forward. Update: Perreault has been returned to Hershey.
Alexander Semin		Two goals, three assists, plus-four and 20 shots on goal in three games, a "passenger" in the fourth. That's our Sasha!
David Steckel		Followed up his first goal of the season with no points, a minus-two rating, two shots on goal and diminishing ice time (less than ten minutes per game for the week) in four games. The face offs are still there, though (67.4% for the week).

Pick 'Em: Best Capitals Draft Pick of the Decade

David M. Getz — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 18:00:27 -0000

by Nick Wass - AP

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Readers who venture outside the friendly internet confines of the the Rink may have noticed that, in anticipation of ~~the end of the decade~~ 2010, Puck Daddy has been compiling the best and worst of the last decade, including the ten biggest goon moments, the best and worst contracts, and NHL's best and worst decisions. Yesterday saw Ryan Lambert of The Two Line Pass take a look at the five best and five worst draft picks of the last ten years.

Being a Capitals blog we figured it would make for some interesting discussion to ~~pilfer the idea~~ alter their framework every so slightly to suit our favorite team and take a look at some of studs and duds of recent Washington draft classes. To make things a little more interesting, we decided to eliminate lottery picks, which in essence means no Alex Ovechkin, no Nicklas Backstrom, and no Karl Alzner.

To start things off, let's take a look at the five worst:

5. Jakub Cutta (Defense, 2nd round, 61st overall, 2000)

Cutta was billed as a guy with an ideal frame, but a project nonetheless. At the time of his draft people knew there were questions about his skating, his ability to move the puck out of the zone at the next level, and whether he would ever use his 6'3'', 214 frame as effectively as possible. The problem was, nothing ever really panned out. The skating never became NHL caliber, there wasn't any offense to speak of as a pro, and while Cutta laid out a big hit every once in a while, he was far from an intimidating physical force. All told Cutta saw action in eight games over the course of three seasons with the Caps, earning himself a minus-5 rating. By 2006 Cutta would be back in his native Czech Republic, and he's been splitting time between his homeland and Russia for the past few years. It's not always fair to look back and evaluate a pick using 20/20 hindsight, but the fact that Paul Martin was taken with the 62nd pick certainly doesn't make this one any easier to swallow.

4. Josh Godfrey (Defense, 2nd round, 34th overall, 2007)

Yeah, it's still early, but thing don't look very good for Godfrey, who's now in his second season with the ECHL's South Carolina Stingrays. Part of us wants to say that the blue line is stacked at Hershey, that Godfrey's still young, and that he was drafted as an offensive defenseman who would have to spend a lot of time working out the kinks in his own end before he had a chance at the NHL. Another part of us says that guys who spend more than one season in the ECHL don't usually do much at the NHL level - and that's not enough for someone picked 34th overall. The fact that, other than Kings prospects Wayne Simmonds and Oscar Moller, no one picked after Godfrey has seen much NHL playing time helps keep him from rising on this list - for now.

3. Keith Seabrook (Defense, 2nd round, 52nd overall, 2006)

Also an offensive defenseman, the Capitals were hoping Seabrook would one day be a powerplay quarterback, or at least an offensive threat from the blue line. However, Seabrook underwhelmed offensively, first by scoring 13 points (two goals) in 37 games at the University of Denver and then by scoring 17 (four goals) in 59 games with the WHL's Calgary Hitmen - all while failing to make marked progress in his own end. In 2008-09 Seabrook finally became the offensive force people thought he was capable of being by registering 55 points (fifteen goals) for the Hitmen, but questions persisted about whether it was because he was growing in to his talent or because he was an overage player. Currently in the Calgary Flames organization, Seabrook still has a chance to become an NHL player, but never came close to getting a contract, let alone a game, with the Caps.

2. Joe Finley (Defense, 1st round, 27th overall, 2005)

The Caps would eventually sign Finley in the summer of 2009, but his future seems to be up in the air. After playing as a forward in camp, Finley's back on the blue line with South Carolina this season. If Finley ever makes it to the NHL, it's almost certainly going to be in a limited role as an enforcer...and you don't aim to draft a part-time enforcer in the first round. 36 of the first 45 players taken in the 2005 draft have played in the NHL, and has four of the five and seven of the ten taken after Finley. The issue at this point wasn't the talent pool. It was the selection.

1. Sasha Pokulok (Defense, 1st round, 14th overall, 2005)

How could it be anyone else? There's no way the Caps should have been picking 14th in 2005, but they sure didn't do themselves any favors in picking Pokulok. Billed as a physical specimen with skating ability and offensive upside, Pokulok was beset by concussion problems each of his three years in the Capitals organization. In the end, Pokulok wasn't able to stick in Hershey, let alone Washington, earning himself the dubious (and unfortunate) title of "Worst Capitals Pick of the Decade".

Honorable Mentions: Steve Eminger, Ted Ruth, Maxime Daigneault, Boyd Gordon

Now that that's over, let's take a look at the five best:

5. John Carlson (Defense, 1st round, 27th overall, 2008)

He's played just three games at the NHL level thus far, but is there any reason to think Carlson won't be a very, very good NHL defender? With size, skill, and smarts he's bested every challenge thrown his way since the draft, finishing second in the OHL in scoring among defensemen and second among rookies last year, and registering 18 points in 24 games for the Bears this year. Carlson may very well be a top pairing guy in the very near future, and in a league that prizes two way defensemen as highly as the NHL does that's a heck of a return on the 27th pick.

4. Johnny Oduya (Defense, 7th round, 221st overall, 2001)

Hey, we said these guys were going to be Capitals draftees, we never said anything about whether the team signed him. With only one point and an minus-1 rating, Oduya's slumping this year but he's nonetheless a legitimate top-four guy defenseman in the NHL, something that can only be said for a handful of the 200 players taken before him.

3. Alexander Semin (Left Wing/Right Wing, 13th overall, 2002)

At September's Capitals Convention members of the team's scouting staff were insistent they'd been lucky with Semin, who has grown three inches and added thirty-five pounds since the time he was drafted. Even if there was some luck involved, Semin is a elite offensive player who may just be the most naturally talented guy in the NHL. Picking thirteenth overall you expect to get an NHL caliber player - but getting a guy with Semin's ability in that spot is a steal. He might not have the career top 2002 pick Rich Nash will, be there's no doubt Semin was the most talented player available at the this spot - and your GM picking that guy is all you can ask for.

2. Semyon Varlamov (Goalie, 23rd overall, 2006)

We'd be lying if we said there wasn't a part of us that was still scared Semyon Varlamov was going to burn out (insert obligatory Jim Carey reference here), but what he's doing at his age, well, that just doesn't happen very often. The Capitals get credit here for being willing to use their first round pick to take a netminder in what was regarded as a weak draft between the pipes. The next time you want to criticize George McPhee for going off the board, remember that sometimes the risk pays off.

1. Mike Green (Defense, 29th overall, 2004)

Twenty-ninth overall isn't exactly scraping the bottom of the barrel, but no one expected this. Fifty-one goals and 159 points in his last 180 games, a historically great season, a Norris Trophy nomination at age 23, and comparisons to Paul Coffey would make Green a great pick just about anywhere, but at the end of the first round it's practically criminal. Thank the Lord the Stars saw something they liked in Mark Fistric.

Honorable Mentions: Mathieu Perreault, Oskar Osala, Braden Holtby

While the issue of the worst draft pick seems pretty cut-and-dry (seriously, if anyone thinks it's someone other than Pokulok, we'd love to hear why), the best pick is up for debate - and we want to know what you think. Vote in the poll, and let us know who you picked in the comments section.

Poll

So, who's the best Capitals draft pick of the decade?

Capital Ups and Downs: Week 10

J.P. — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:00:16 -0000

by Matt Slocum - AP

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Our weekly look at individual Washington Capitals' ups and downs (and yeah, we've used this picture before, but it's so nice it deserved to be used twice):

Goalies	Trend	Notes
Jose Theodore		After having not played in more than two weeks, Theo came back strong with a pair of road wins, a 2.00 GAA and a .947 save percentage for the week. The better he is this winter, the fresher Varly will be in the spring.
Semyon Varlamov		Seemed to lose his concentration a bit late against Florida, but 1-0-0/2.01/.929 keeps the train rollin'.

Defensemen
Karl Alzner		Was on the ice for four of the six goals the Caps allowed last week. With the blueline getting healthier, Alzner once again finds himself the odd-man out - and on his way back to Hershey.
John Erskine		A plus-four rating for the week and not on the ice for a single goal against in 51:38 of ice time, which included 5:37 shorthanded.
Mike Green		Five points and a plus-four rating in three games, including four power play points on a unit that has scored seven times in the last two games.
Milan Jurcina		How do you end up with a minus-two rating for a week in which your team outscored its opponents 17-6? By being on the ice for five of those six goals against.
Shaone Morrisonn		On the trip to Tampa, so perhaps his return to the lineup is near.
Brian Pothier		Plus-two against Carolina, scratched against Philly. Huh.
Tom Poti		Returned to the lineup against the Flyers with twenty minutes of ice time and a pair of assists.
Jeff Schultz		Plus-three for the week, Jeff Cincocinco has only had two minus games since October 17 and is now in the top ten in the League in plus-minus (and is 12th among NHL blueliners in the stat since the start of the 2007-08 season).

Swingman
Tyler Sloan		A penalty in each of this week's three games, two of which were coincidental minors and one of which occurred with the Caps on the power play.

Forwards
Nicklas Backstrom		Four goals, five assists and a plus-four rating in three games including a five-point game in Philly.
Matt Bradley		Scored his fifth goal of the season against Florida, equaling his goal total from a season ago, and took one for the team in a big way on Saturday night.
Chris Clark		A goal and an assist on the week, The Captain now has half as many goals and is one helper short of his production over the previous two seasons combined. Of course, that's not saying much... other than that Clark is finally healthy.
Eric Fehr		Five points in three games, a six-game scoring streak (multi-point games in three of four), and 13 points in 13 games since returning from injury.
Tomas Fleischmann		Three goals in his last two games, he now has eight tallies in games which AO has been out of the lineup and just two when the Great Eight has dressed. Solution? Scratch him when AO's a go. Just kidding. Sorta.
Alexandre Giroux		Ten shots on goal in the last two games, a plus-three rating and a helper in Carolina... but really, we've seen more than enough.
Boyd Gordon		Looking more and more like a lost season for Gordo.
Mike Knuble		Targeting a Wednesday return, but the way the team's playing, no need to rush.
Brooks Laich		Three points, including a couple on the power play as Laich became the fourth Cap to hit double-digits in goals on the season (no other team has more than three, and several teams don't have a single 10-goal guy yet).
Quintin Laing		Getting closer, which might spell the end of Tyler Sloan's time in D.C.
Brendan Morrison		Four points on the week and more points on the campaign than he had in 62 games for the Ducks a season ago.
Michael Nylander		If Nylander was a classic SNL skit, I'm pretty sure he'd be this one.
Alex Ovechkin		Just one goal in the three games the Caps played last week- anyone hear anything to explain why his production was so limited?
Mathieu Perreault		Seven games without a point (granted, his linemates haven't been the type with which skill pivots normally succeed), but he's still doing some things... little things.
Alexander Semin		Has returned to the lineup with six points in two games, including four on the red-hot power play. Key stat: the power play is 30.3% successful in Semin's twenty games played and at just 9.1% in the nine he's missed.
David Steckel		The monkey's off his back... now let's see some more.

Capital Ups and Downs: Week 9

J.P. — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:00:12 -0000

by Graham Hughes - AP

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Our weekly look at individual Washington Capitals' ups and downs (with special thanks to winterion for the icon set):

Goalies	Trend	Notes
Jose Theodore		Hasn't played a second since November 14 in Jersey; Gabby's got to get him back out there soon.
Semyon Varlamov		Varly went 2-0-1/2.27/.919 with a shutout this week but was probably even better than those impressive numbers would indicate.

Defensemen
Karl Alzner		The up arrow might be a little generous, but think of it more as "Alzner's an upgrade over some of the Caps' regulars on the blueline" rather than a direct comment on his two-game performance (which has been solid if unspectacular).
John Carlson		Held his own in his first NHL tour of duty.
John Erskine		Averaged 18:44 of ice time per game this week, which is too much time for a marginal NHL defenseman and may be why he's been looking so slow of late. Or maybe it's just that he's so slow.
Mike Green		Had the shift from hell in overtime on Monday night, but had nice assists on Monday and Wednesday. In other words, his offense isn't the problem... and never has been.
Milan Jurcina		Getting big minutes on a struggling penalty kill; six blocks and four hits in two games.
Shaone Morrisonn		Perhaps his absence is impacting his usual partner Green's play.
Brian Pothier		Adding a bit of physicality to a game that's really coming around nicely.
Tom Poti		Missed on the penalty kill.
Jeff Schultz		Assist, plus-two rating for the week. Ho hum.

Swingman
Tyler Sloan		Plus-two as a defenseman against the Sens, nothing as a forward against the Sabres.

Forwards
Nicklas Backstrom		As Ovechkin returns to form, so to does Backstrom (even if the numbers don't show it... yet). The big face-off win with 15.5 seconds left in Montreal and the shootout-deciding tally earn an up arrow.
Jay Beagle		Scored his first NHL goal in Ottawa, but took a bad penalty in Montreal. Decent short-term fill-in.
Matt Bradley		Not much to report - he must be in the "taking names" portion of "kicking ass and taking names."
Chris Clark		Scored in Ottawa, but is struggling a bit out there.
Eric Fehr		Three goals and an assist, a plus-three rating and ten shots on goal. Most importantly? His three goals totaled 63 feet from stick-to-goal line (and I'll take the under). Keep up the Knuble, Laich impression, Fehrsie.
Tomas Fleischmann		It's been a half-dozen games since Flash scored, and he's actually losing ice time (gasp!) to Fehr, among others.
Alexandre Giroux		Look at the Corsi. Look at the rate at which he's taking penalties. Tell me he's not the worst player to don the red, white and blue so far this season.
Andrew Gordon		A quick cup o' coffee and see ya later.
Boyd Gordon		No news ain't good news.
Mike Knuble		Skating again, which is a good sign (even if it is a finger injury).
Brooks Laich		An assist in Montreal, but only one shot on goal in three games for the week. Looking good, though, on a line with Morrison and Fehr.
Quintin Laing		Did an in-game interview on Comcast Sportsnet despite having his jaw wired shut. Seriously.
Brendan Morrison		Goal, assist, plus-three and 53.8% in the dot. In 50:02 of ice time for the week, he was on the ice for three goals for and none against.
Michael Nylander		Yawn.
Alex Ovechkin		A pair of goals, a pair of assists and a pair of penalized hits; AO's really got to be careful regarding that last number.
Mathieu Perreault		Pointless in five and only two shots on goal and a 38.7 win percentage in the dot for the week.
Alexander Semin		Caps offense scoring .74 fewer goals per game without Semin this season (but also giving up .68 fewer goals per game), and power play efficiency drops from 28.2% with Sasha to 10.7% without.
David Steckel		A 14/15 face-off performance against Buffalo saves the week for the snake-bitten Steckel, who is one of a half-dozen NHL forwards who have played 25 games this season without scoring a goal.

Leveling the Playing Field

David M. Getz — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:15:08 -0000

More photos » by Luis Alvarez - AP

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It's in the nature of just about every sports fan to analyze their favorite team. The problem is that the data to do so is oftentimes incomplete, unreliable, or just not there. Defense in hockey, for example, is notoriously difficult to measure. Point production is at least in part a factor of who a player plays with and against. Save percentage is a decent measure of goaltender performance - but a goalie playing behind a bad team's going to have a hard time putting up the same kind of numbers as a goalie playing behind a defensive juggernaut.

One way to try and compare data is to normalize it - to do whatever you can to make it so the players on a level playing field, so you can compare apples to apples. That's the logic behind a lot of what Gabriel Desjardins at Behind the Net does: sure Nicklas Backstrom has more goals than Eric Fehr, but given the disparity in playing time, power play time, and strength of teammates, is that disparity as big as the raw numbers make it seem? Does it exist at all? By turning ice time and goals in to goals per minute, you can get a little bit closer to the answer.

The problem is that when you do that, the numbers lose some of their relate-ability. When you say Alexander Ovechkin's 56 goals were an incredible achievement, people are right there with you. When you tell them he scored 1.57 goals per sixty minutes of five-on-five play they might assume it's impressive since it's Alexander Ovechkin, but they don't relate to it in the same way.

With that in mind, we've decided to normalize individual player scoring data and convert it in to run-of-the-mill statistics by assigning everyone on the team the same amount of "ice time". We decided to go ahead with 18 minutes a night, since that's more or less what a player who gets regular ice time but isn't a top line or top pairing guy gets. Each player is assumed to play 14:12 of even strength ice time and 1:57 of power play ice time per game i"in order to roughly correspond with how much time the player would get based on the amount of time the Capitals have spent in each situation so far this season. We also assume each player get 1:51 of penalty kill time, although this doesn't factor in to point totals since the team doesn't have any shorthanded goals. The method isn't perfect - it doesn't account for quality of competition or teammates, and obviously some players are hurt by the fact that in reality they play so rarely on the the power play. Still, it's an interesting exercise to see the effect of. standardizing ice time does on total production

Or, in other words, if everyone got the same ice time and scored at their current rates, what would their stats look like?

	G	A	P	ESG	ESA	ESP	PPG	PPA	PPP
Nicklas Backstrom	3	14	17	2	11	13	1	3	4
Matt Bradley	5	6	11	5	6	11	0	0	0
Chris Clark	2	10	12	2	5	7	0	5	5
Eric Fehr	7	8	15	7	5	12	0	3	3
Tomas Fleischmann	12	6	18	8	2	10	4	4	8
Boyd Gordon	0	7	7	0	7	7	0	0	0
Mike Knuble	7	13	20	6	11	17	1	2	3
Brooks Laich	7	11	18	4	9	13	3	2	5
Quintin Laing	4	0	4	4	0	4	0	0	0
Brendan Morrison	7	9	16	6	8	14	1	1	2
Alex Ovechkin	16	8	24	14	6	20	2	2	4
Mathieu Perreault	6	12	18	6	12	18	0	0	0
Alexander Semin	7	15	22	5	5	12	2	3	5
David Steckel	0	3	3	0	3	3	0	0	0

	G	A	P	ESG	ESA	ESP	PPG	PPA	PPP
John Erskine	0	2	2	0	2	2	0	0	0
Mike Green	2	13	15	2	10	12	0	3	3
Milan Jurcina	0	3	3	0	3	3	0	0	0
Shaone Morrisonn	0	3	3	0	3	3	0	0	0
Brian Pothier	4	5	9	2	5	7	2	0	2
Tom Poti	0	0	4	0	3	3	0	1	1
Jeff Schultz	1	5	6	1	5	6	0	0	0

So what've we got?

Mike Knuble was in large part brought in to help the team's power play, but he's tied for seventh in power play points among forwards and doing most of his damage at even strength.
Shaone Morrisonn makes $1.975 million, is tied for the worst GAON/60 on the team, and has done nothing offensively despite playing most shift with Mike Green. If the Capitals want to free up cap space and are tired of waiting on Michael Nylander, I have a suggestion for them...
David Steckel...oof.
Matt Bradley's more productive at even strength than Tomas Fleischmann. Take it for what it's worth (hint: not much).
At even strength Mathieu Perreault is outproducing Nicklas Backstrom, and Brendan Morrison and has been equal to Tomas Fleichmann and Brooks Laich. Très bien. Now how 'bout some power play time for the kid?
Jeff Schultz has been the team's third most productive defenseman. As much as I like Sarge, that's not good. Maybe instead of pining for that "big, crease-clearing" defenseman we should be hoping that Caps find away to get another puck mover on their roster. Or that Tom Poti starts bringing the kind of offense he's capable of. Either/or.
Eric Fehr is third in even strength goals and twelfth in even strength ice time per game.
Chris Clark has as many or more power play points per minute as Alex Ovechkin, Alex Semin, Nicklas, Backstrom, Mike Green, Brendan Morrison, Mike Knuble, or Brooks Laich, raise your hand. Maybe we can cut him a little slack in terms of raw numbers?

What jumps out at you? Who might deserve a few more minutes each night to showcase what they can do? Just as importantly, whose numbers do you really think are indicative of their talent, and whose numbers aren't telling the whole story?

Capital Ups and Downs: Week 8

J.P. — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:00:13 -0000

More photos » by Darren Calabrese - AP

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Our weekly look at individual Washington Capitals' ups and downs:

Goalies	Trend	Notes
Michal Neuvirth	-	A home loss and unimpressive numbers in his NHL season debut don't tell the whole story of Neuvy's Friday night, but he'll certainly want to show more in his next recall.
Jose Theodore	?	Difficult week for Theo off the ice, is back with the team now and looking to get back on track.
Semyon Varlamov	▲	A 1.44/.949 week should result in nothing but wins. Alas, Varly will have to settle for a win Tuesday and the knowledge that he's the only reason his team got a point on Saturday night.

Defensemen
John Carlson	-	Led the team in hits in his NHL debut and isn't shy about shooting the puck or skating it into the offensive zone. There's a reason his arrival has been eagerly anticipated.
John Erskine	-	Dropped the gloves with Georges Laraque, but seems to be getting slower (at least by comparison to his fellow rearguards) every game. Correlation?
Mike Green	▲	Five points (all assists) in three games to take the lead among all NHL blueliners in points, but needs to be less generous in distributing the puck to opposing teams.
Milan Jurcina	+	Missed all three games - as many as he didn't play in all of last season.
Shaone Morrisonn	+	Got his bell rung in Wednesday night's game and missed the weekend.
Brian Pothier	▲	Took six shots and blocked nine in three games. Solid.
Tom Poti	+	.Missed much of Friday night's game and all of Saturday's; just three shots on goal in his last eight games.
Jeff Schultz	-	A pair of three-hit games and a plus-one rating for the week - big minutes and few stats to show for 'em.

Swingman
Tyler Sloan	-	Scratched in New York, started on the wing Friday night only to be shifted back to the blueline for most of the game and all of Saturday night. The versatility was nice; the play on the blueline less so.

Forwards		.
Nicklas Backstrom	▼	One assist in his last five games, no goals in his last nine, no shots in his last two... needs to get back on track.
Jay Beagle	-	Got his first NHL point on Tuesday night, but not much else to speak of in limited minutes.
Matt Bradley	▲	No, he didn't do much over the weekend, but Brads did more than enough on Tuesday to earn an up arrow for the week. #needsmoreBradley
Chris Clark	▼	Got a shot at top line RW, but couldn't stick. Saturday night's game was his first in five without a minus-one rating.
Eric Fehr	-	Sniped a nice goal Friday night, but just four shots on goal for a week that included some better-than-usual minutes.
Tomas Fleischmann	-	Nine-game point streak snapped Friday night, has now gone four straight shots on goal without scoring, killing his shooting percentage.
Andrew Gordon	-	Blink and you missed his eight-shift season debut.
Boyd Gordon	+	Gordon's missing a lot of time in an important season for the RFA-to-be.
Mike Knuble	+	Tuesday night's battle in Manhattan was exactly the kind of game for which you want Knuble in the lineup, but there will be plenty of those come spring.
Brooks Laich	▲	Goal, assist, plus-two, 11 shots on goal and can play on any line or in any situation (he's the only Cap forward averaging more than two minutes per game on each of the special teams units). Bless you, Brooksie.
Quintin Laing	♥	A well-deserved purple heart for Q.
Brendan Morrison	-	A nice goal late against Montreal, but penalties in each of the three games, one the ice for both power play goals the Caps surrendered (and four of six goals against overall) and neither of the extra man tallies they scored.
Michael Nylander	●	Zzzz...
Alex Ovechkin	-	For anyone else, two goals in three games would be a great week. But for The Great Eight, the bar's set higher. And he can be better.
Mathieu Perreault	-	Continues to produce in limited ice time (he's between Ilya Kovalchuk and Alex Ovechkin in 5-on-5 points per sixty), and even won 54% of his draws this week.
Alexander Semin	+	Could've used him against the Leafs. And the Habs. And the Rangers.
David Steckel	-	Keeps doing what he does best (winning faceoffs and killing penalties), but no forward in the League has taken more shots without scoring a goal than Stecks.