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Friday Caps Clips: Caps @ Canucks Game Day

J.P. — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 11:45:41 -0000

via the shoebox next to my desk

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Your savory breakfast links:

Previews of tonight's rare visit to Vancouver from Vogs, CSN Washington, the CP, and NHL.com, and be sure to check out our SB Nation partner Nucks Misconduct for coverage from the other side of tonight's match up.
The Caps are 5-2-1 all-time in Vancouver on Fridays and won their only Friday road match-up between the teams in December (back in 1979), so they're pretty much a lock tonight.
Alex Ovechkin is an absolute rock star in Vancouver. [Kelowna.com, and again]
He's also "hockey's most exciting and engaging player" (narrowly edging out Jeff Schultz for those honors). [Vancouver Sun]
The Canucks are ready for the challenge of stopping him (Ovechkin, not Schultz, whom they know better than to think they can stop. [Kelowna.com, and again]
David Koci walks. Ridiculous. [FanShot]
One thought on how to prevent the next cheapshot: don't put yourself in a position to be cheap-shotted. [Ed Frankovic's Blog]
Really nice piece on Brendan Morrison's comeback season. [TSN (video), h/t @nateewell]
Despite the infrequency with which the Caps play there, Vancouver is familiar turf for many in the organization. [Washingotn Times]
Read yesterday's news today at the Washington Post. If you don't get it... eh. [WaPo]
SI's Pictures of the Year feature contains an entry featuring the Caps (and no, it's not this one). [SI]
Several Caps talk rookie dinner. [Caps365 (video)]
Tim Gleason on AO: "I hit him so hard, but it didn’t really move him. He’s a solid human being." [Canes Country]
If it's possible for both teams to lose a trade, the Caps and Pens sure did with the Jaromir Jagr deal. [Puck Daddy]
Speaking of trades, Corey has thrown together a shopping list. [In The Room]
One more trade-related note: the Caps aren't about to trade the problem contract they just got out from under for someone else's problem contract. [Hockey Or Die!]
Not sure how I missed this one, but as of a week ago, Mike Green was Canada's top-rated blueliner... [CTV]
... and as of this week, Nicklas Backstrom is the game's third-rated pivot. [CTV]
Worried about how participating in the Olympics might impact a player's NHL production thereafter? Don't be. [Behind the Net]
Alexandre Giroux vs. Mike Duco II: American League style. [Patriot-News]
John Carlson's still getting rave reviews in Hershey. [John Walton Hockey]
Dmitri Orlov and Dmitry Kugryshev have both made Russia's WJC squad. [Russian Hockey Fans]
Finally, happy 37th birthday to Jeff Nelson, happy 58th to Bernie Wolfe, and happy 64th to Jean Pronovost.

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).

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.

Recap: Caps 8, Flyers 2

J.P. — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 03:39:46 -0000

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[AP Recap - GameCenter - Game Summary - Event Summary]

Memo to the NHL: The Caps aren't a one man team.

In the eight games that Alex Ovechkin has missed this year, the Caps are now 6-2-0 (both losses coming to New Jersey) and have averaged 4.63 goals per game and their power play has connected at a scorching 40.63% rate. For all the times AO has carried this team over the past handful of seasons, the team now is fully capable of picking him up every now and again, as they did when they killed off his majors against Buffalo and Carolina and as they now have in killing off his two-game suspension with a pair of blowout wins. Don't rush back Alex - your teammates have your back.

As for the specifics of tonight's game, it pretty much ceased to be one after Daniel Carcillo lost his mind and the Caps made his teammates pay for it. Pacifist Pete and the Flyers... a match made in, well, somewhere.

Ten more thoughts on the game:

Nicklas Backstrom was a wizard all night and ended up with a goal and four helpers. He now leads the team in scoring, has the Caps' last two five-point nights, nine points in his last three games, and 21 points in 11 career regular season games against Philly. So to that "not a one-man team" point, there's AO and Nick...
And Alexander Semin, who had a relatively quiet pair of helpers. An interesting note on Semin, he now has 22 points in his nine multi-point games and just one point in his 11 single-point or scoreless games (h/t @nateewell). So on some nights he's a two-plus point per game guy and on other nights, he's nearly invisible. This is why he's the source of such frustration. Still, further to our "not a one man team" point, there's AO, Nick and Sasha...
And Mike Green, who now has as many points as Ovechkin after a two-goal, two-assist performance. He also has more points than any defenseman in hockey and 25% more points than any Canadian blueliner. So AO, Nick, Sasha and GreenLife52...
And Tomas Fleischmann, who lit the lamp twice and now has ten goals in just 18 games on the season, eight of which have come in games in which The Great Eight did not play. AO, Nick, Sasha, GreenLife52 and Flash...
And Brooks Laich, who also reached the ten-goal mark tonight after going seven games without a tally. His tenth goal in last year's 23-goal campaign came on December 28. AO, Nick, Sasha, GreenLife52, Flash and Laich...
And Eric Fehr, whose two assists run his career-best point streak to six games and who has 13 points in games since returning from injury. AO, Nick, Sasha, GreenLife52, Flash, Laich and Fehr...
And Brendan Morrison, who had on assist on the night and now has more points (23) in 29 games this season than he had in 62 games for Anaheim last year. AO, Nick, Sasha, GreenLife52, Flash, Laich, Fehr and BMo...
And David Steckel, who finally scored his first goal of the year (hey, it needed a bullet). AO, Nick, Sasha, GreenLife52, Flash, Laich, Fehr, BMo and Stecks...
And goaltending. The Caps have allowed just 2.11 goals against per game over their past nine games, and have a .930 save percentage over that stretch. AO, Nick, Sasha, GreenLife52, Flash, Laich, Fehr, BMo and a pair of capable netminders...
And yet, in an 8-2 rout, Alexandre Giroux ended the night with a minus rating.

And so it's off to Tampa where it might be Steve Downie's turn to pull a Mike Duco/Daniel Carcillo and where we might have to list two Bolts goalies as probable for the game. Enjoy tonight's win - games like this don't come along often... though there's no reason they shouldn't.

Game highlights:

Recap: Caps 3, Hurricanes 2

Becca H — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 03:33:43 -0000

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[AP Recap - GameCenter - Game Summary - Event Summary]

The Capitals have notoriously played down to their lesser opponents, and they don't get much lower than the Carolina Hurricanes right now. It's the reason so many Caps fans were looking at tonight's game with a mixture of apprehension and fear, and there wasn't much in the opening few minutes to allay those fears. But the Caps eventually got it together enough to scrap out a gritty road win with a shortened bench and a cloud of potential injury hanging over them.

When all is said and done, when the dust clears and the sun rises, this will go into the books as just another win, just another two points. It was truly one of the more bizarre games the Caps have played so far this season, though, with everything from injuries to ejections to great individual efforts to funny bounces - and everything in between.

And in some ways that's fitting. Ten more notes on the game:

Let's get this out of the way right now - the Alex Ovechkin hit. Was it intentional? Probably not. Was it dangerous? Absolutely. This is now the second time in three games that Ovechkin has been ejected from a game (despite leaving with an injury anyway) and of the two, this was probably the more worthy of discipline. We'll see what the League has to say...but for now our biggest concern is #8's health and well-being. Ovechkin writhing in pain on the ice is not a sight we're accustomed to seeing.
The ongoing Ovechkin saga may get more media attention tomorrow, but it was the work of one man that deserves much more - and for only good reasons. Jose Theodore made his return to the net and put together what was simply an incredible individual effort. He turned aside 15 of 16 shots in the first period en route to a 37-save performance and kept the Caps in it early when they were reeling and late when the lead was at risk. Tremendous effort by Theo tonight.
If you're looking for another individual standout, look no further than Nicklas Backstrom. He scored the opening goal, helped Ovechkin off the ice and then simply took over the game. By the end of the night he'd picked up two goals, a beautiful assist on Fehr's goal, played physical, run the power play and even finished above 50% in the faceoff circle.
As Caps fans we have every right to complain about yet another injury - we've taken our fair share of bites from the injury bug in the first quarter of the season. But if the Caps have been bitten by the bug, the Hurricanes have been and continue to be absolutely throttled by it. Add the freak injury to Joe Corvo to the growing list of wounded in Carolina red.
Watching the first five minutes of this one was unsettling to say the least; the Caps were running around in their own zone, had already given up a power play goal and were relying on their goaltender to bail them out far too often. Luckily the tying goal came fairly quickly and seemed to settle the team down.
Alexandre Giroux has no place on the top line of the Caps. Or anywhere on the Caps. Or the NHL.
It's not unusual to see stats inflated for the home team, especially when dealing with a subjective statistic like hits. This time, however, it's not hard to believe that the Hurricanes racked up 45 hits. Whether or not all of them were the cleanest of hits, of course, is another issue. But then I guess we don't have much of a leg to stand on there (no pun intended).
Eric Fehr continues to have a nose for the net, picking up his 10th point in 11 games and showing no signs of stopping. His goal off of Backstrom's ridiculous pass on the 2-on-1 was a goal-scorers goal, all finish - and something that a certain #33 probably isn't capable of. Just sayin'.
Both goalies had a few issues handling the puck. Theodore's came late in the game, and his D bailed him out as the slow-dribbling puck was swatted away from a wide-open net by Jeff Schultz. Michael Leighton...well, he had a little less help. Backstrom's second goal was a bit of a gift (although still a pretty sweet backhand shot).
In just three games, Karl Alzner seems to have settled in nicely. He's making smart plays and has added more of a physical edge to his game. And while he still has the odd mistake or mental breakdown, he's better at recovering and has really been strong in his short time with the big boys this year. Can we keep him?

So a bizarre night for both teams ends in victory for the Caps - and despite the somewhat ominous and uneven start, it ends up being a pretty decent team effort on the backs of some more than decent individual efforts.

Eric Fehr continues to light the lamp, with confidence growing on every shift. Nicklas Backstrom continues to find his own groove, with and without Russian assistance. Jose Theodore continues to make life interesting in net, with a dominant performance in his own right. And the Caps may have to muddle on without Alex Ovechkin once more.

Game highlights:

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.

Recap: Caps 4, Canadiens 3 (SO)

J.P. — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 03:50:35 -0000

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[AP Recap - GameCenter - Game Summary - Event Summary]

As the final seconds of Saturday night's game between the Caps and Canadiens were winding down, the visitors from D.C. seemed to be headed for a third consecutive road loss and a fifth straight game without scoring a power play goal. Then Paul Mara took a high-sticking penalty with 15.5 seconds left, Nicklas Backstrom won a draw, Eric Fehr won a battle in front of the Montreal net, and the game was headed to overtime.

The ensuing five minutes didn't solve anything, and when Backstrom beat Carey Price in the bottom of the third frame of the shootout, the comeback was complete. Victory snatched from the trap, err, jaws of defeat.

Ten more notes on the game:

In 65 minutes of actual hockey, the Caps only got 23 shots on Price (more than half of which came off of the sticks of Alex Ovechkin or Fehr) and had another 23 shots blocked by Habs skaters (with Jaroslav Spacek and Roman Hamrlik leading the way with six and five, respectively). Those numbers underscore the trouble the Caps continue to have generating offense against trapping teams (they're now 1-3-1 against Montreal and Jersey with 11 goals scored in those five games), and the need for further adjustments when facing them.
Somewhat further to that point, the Caps didn't get a single shot on goal from a defenseman tonight. Not one.
AO came into the game having played an average of two seconds per game shorthanded so far this season. Tonight he got six seconds... and was at least partially responsible for the Canadiens' first power play goal in four games when he got caught chasing the puck and leaving the left point wide open.
With 15.5 seconds left in the game and an offensive zone draw coming, Bruce Boudreau put his 45% faceoff guy out there instead of his 62% successful pivot. It worked, so it was the right move, right?
Let's talk Alexandre Giroux. With a chance to play on the top line with two of the game's best players, he ends the night with two offensive zone penalties, a shot on goal and a helper. His decision-making and execution are just too slow for the speed of the game at the NHL level, and the sooner he's back in Hershey, the better.
Speaking of Hershey, Karl Alzner had one heck of an eventful shift midway through the second period, making a fantastic play to stick with Tomas Plekanec in a one-on-one situation, having a shot blocked at the other end, and losing Plekanec (thanks to a Plekanec cross-check to open up some space) back in front of his own net, allowing the Czech to score. All in 56 seconds. And cross-check or not, he can't lose a forward in front like that.
Sticking with Plekanec, he's turning into quite the Caps killer, with 17 points in 18 career games now against Washington. The Caps' Czech number 14, on the other hand, has four points in ten games against the Habs.
Semyon Varlamov had a better night than the numbers would indicate, but it might be time to get him a rest soon. Like Monday. Then again, can you really sit a guy who has one regulation loss in twenty career regular season appearances?
AO is back on top of the League in shots on goal now, which brings a sense of calm and order to the hockey world.
It should be pretty clear to Fehr what he needs to do to be successful, no? His two goals may have traveled a combined twenty feet from his stick to the goal line.

And so it's off to Raleigh to play - gasp! - a Southeast Division opponent and one that's very much reeling at that. It's always great to get an exciting win on the road with an entire nation watching... but the Caps have plenty of work to do after this one.

Game highlights:

Capital Ups and Downs: Week 6

J.P. — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:00:33 -0000

via daylife.com

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

Goalies	Trend	Notes
Jose Theodore	▲	A strong performance on Friday night in Sunrise earned him Saturday's start in which he looked understandably less sharp. Still, a 2-0-0/2.51/.912 week keeps his hold on the #1 spot firm.
Semyon Varlamov	-	To the untrained eye, he looked pretty good in Jersey. But Bruce Boudreau didn't see it that way (calling two of the three goals allowed "iffy"), so Varly stays in Chez Bow Wow and doesn't get a start against a bad team in a back-to-backs when the #1 guy has a recent history of back spasms.

Defensemen
John Erskine	▲	Shaking off the rust after missing nearly a month, has a plus-five rating over his last four games.
Mike Green	-	Had his nine-game scoring streak snapped in Jersey, then was injured early in Florida. Get well soon, GreenLife52.
Milan Jurcina	-	Ugly minus-four on Saturday night (though his play wasn't as bad as that would seem to indicate), has still yet to find the back of the net this season and is pointless and averaging just one shot per game in his last ten.
Shaone Morrisonn	▼	Didn't register a single shot last week... except for the boarding late in Friday night's game.
Brian Pothier	▲	Responded to Wednesday's healthy scratch with a goal, three assists and a plus-six rating over the next two games (which included loads of PP time with Green out).
Tom Poti	-	An assist and a plus-three rating in Saturday's stat-padder, but wasn't credited with a shot on goal all week.
Jeff Schultz	-	Injured on Friday night, missed on Saturday.

Swingman
Tyler Sloan	▲	Versatility earns him his own position on this list. Had a pair of goals as a forward and played well when shifted back to D on Friday, but struggled on the blueline Saturday.

Forwards
Nicklas Backstrom	-	Seemed to get his groove back once paired with Fleischmann and Knuble, ended the week with three helpers, a plus-three rating and a 56.3% faceoff win rate.
Matt Bradley	-	A beautiful pass to set up Laing's goal (and some wrestling) on Saturday night highlight his week.
Chris Clark	▲	Helpers in each of the week's three games and a fight in Jersey. Good stuff, Cap'n.
Eric Fehr	-	Finally got back in the lineup Saturday and produced an assist in limited ice time.
Tomas Fleischmann	▲	Three goals, one assist and a plus-four rating for the week and five goals and seven points in his last five games overall. We are all, for the moment, seeing Flash as Gabby has always seen him.
Boyd Gordon	-	Still hurt (and the PK still misses him). His games played by season over the last three campaigns: 71, 67, 63. Expect 59 this year?
Mike Knuble	▲	Two goals, three assists and a plus-four rating over the weekend is how a veteran rebounds from a couple of bad games in a row.
Brooks Laich	▲	18 points in 17 games on the season, including four last week. Laich also hasn't taken a penalty in his last nine games and has just two minors on the campaign.
Quintin Laing	-	Had one more goal than and the same number of shots as Alex Semin last week. Another interesting Q stat: he's been credited with fewer blocked shots on the year than Knuble or Backstrom.
Brendan Morrison	▲	Called out by his coach for a bad penalty in Jersey, responds with two goals on Friday.
Michael Nylander	-	Has agreed to be put on waivers, still would have to agree to any loan to another league (KHL, AHL, etc.), but it's another step closer to what everyone wants.
Alex Ovechkin	-	Of the countless AO vids on YouTube, this has to be just about my least favorite. It's gonna be a long ~~4-5 weeks~~ wait...
Mathieu Perreault	▲	A burst of energy who has made Chris Clark and Tyler Sloan look like serviceable NHL wingers, which is no small accomplishment.
Alexander Semin	▼▼	One down arrow wasn't enough to capture the disappointment of what Semin is doing with his opportunity to be the team's top scoring threat. No points and as nearly many offensive-zone minor penalties (five) as shots on goal (six) for the week. Brutal.
David Steckel	▼	The only Caps forward still looking for his first goal of the season (minimum seven games played), Steckel was point-less on the week and was on the ice for all three power play goals the Caps surrendered in the three games. He did win 62.5% of his draws overall, however.

Tuesday Caps Clips: All Ovechkin, All the Time

J.P. — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:39:36 -0000

photo by keviikev via flickr.com

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Your savory breakfast links:

Alex Ovechkin is "week-to-week" with an "upper-body strain." [Capitals]
Vogs on "Life Without Ovi." [Dump and Chase]
J.P. on life without Ovi: Get busy living, or get busy dying.
Other takes on the news of the day from The WaPo, The Times and Peerless.
Slava Malamud spoke with AO on his injury (translated after the jump).
Great work by the editors who ran headlines like "Capitals' Ovechkin expected to miss one game" based upon Bruce Boudreau's assertion that "he's more probable for the weekend than he is for Wednesday." Psst... it's called "the healing process" and the way it usually works is the more time off an injured player gets, the more likely he is to play again.
In other AO news, he has become a "global icon" who apparently has "transcended the sport of hockey" and signed with IMG Worldwide "for exclusive worldwide management, sponsorship, licensing and marketing representation." It's probably all an elaborate ploy by IMG, though, to facilitate getting their mitts on Jeff Schultz. [Puck Daddy, D.C. Sports Bog, Washington Times, Washington Business Journal]
He also was named the second star of the month for October. Jobbed. [Capitals]
How clutch was Alex in October? There were none more clutch (tip o' the lid to Nicklas Backstrom, Jose Theodore and Alexander Semin for their respective months of clutchosity as well... sorry, felt I needed to invent a word there). [USA Today]
Michael Nylander appeared on HNIC Radio yesterday afternoon with Jeff Marek and Kelly Hrudey. Not much new, but he did mention that he's heard that there may be "interest from a few teams." [CBC.ca (audio)]
If The Boss agrees "for the most part" with a post that claims that the Caps "lack backbone," does that mean that he thinks the team's soft? I doubt he'd say that. [Ted's Take]
Gabby on his book release in the latest edition of "Behind the Bench." [Capitals]
In the first round of weekly power rankings, the Caps are up a spot to third at the National Post, up three to third at The Sporting News, up three to fifth at ESPN and holding at fifth at TSN and CBC and fourth at Sportsnet.
Nice piece on the Ovechkin/Mike Richards rivalry. [TSN via YouTube (video)]
Despite the inconsistency, Mike Green's off to a pretty good start. [Puck Prospectus]
The Caps are currently out-shooting their opponents by a slim per-game margin, but should they end up in the red in this area, take heart - some pretty darn good teams have been outshot by their opponents. [Behind The Net]
Though he's a long shot to make Team USA (heck, I didn't even know he was eligible... maybe being born on the fourth of July earns you automatic citizenship), Mike Knuble must be put on the squad so we can see "Yankee Knuble Dandy" and, of course, "Knuble-eve in Miracles?!" headlines. [From The Rink]
Are the Caps sending someone to Finland to scout Peter Forsberg? [The Fourth Period]
Apparently, Rolling Stone doesn't know that the Caps exist, which is somewhat ironic given how irrelevant the once-great mag has become. [D.C. Sports Bog]
Capitals Singles Night at Bar Louie before the Wild game? This has to be the worst idea the team has come up with in years. I mean, do they really want Brooks Laich to be late to the game? [Capitals]
Alexandre Giroux was named AHL Player of the Month for October. Hopefully he's in a position to repeat in November, December... [John Walton Hockey]
Bear Tracks and an Andrew Joudrey article. [LDN]
Jason Bacashihua is currently 4-0-0/1.00/.962 for the Bears. [John Walton Hockey]
The Vancouver Canucks have signed Matt Pettinger. Atta boy, Princess. [Canucks]
In other Vancouver-related news, Glen Hanlon has stepped down as head coach of the Belarus national team. Rough couple of weeks for Hugs. [The Hockey News]
And in other Olympic hockey news, someone named Tracee Hamilton chimes in on Sochi 2014. [Washington Post]

[In today's edition of Sport-Express, Slava Malamud catches up with Alex Ovechkin to see if he can get some insight into his injury. There are no earth-shattering revelations, except that maybe the entire Russian Olympic team has been jinxed.]

Sounding the alarm isn't really included among the duties of a sports reporter, but since we aren't afraid to jinx things with praise, well.... basically, at the rate they are going Russia will need to send to Vancouver an Olympic team made up of some KHL clubs, a medical team from a medium-sized hospital and a shaman from the Republic of Sakha. (come on, I know you meant a Tuvan shaman, Slava- TH). I can only call the adversity inflicted upon the potential Olympians as nothing else but unprecedented.

It hasn't even been a month since the start of the NHL regular season and injuries have already claimed Andrei Markov (torn tendon- out for several months), Sergei Gonchar (wrist- out at least until December), Ilya Kovalchuk (broken bone in foot, not expected to return before the end of November), and Evgeni Malkin (sprained shoulder- out two to three weeks). Such trifles as Alexander Semin's illness (exactly what it was they will not say, but it is well-known that the team did have a case of the swine flu), which caused him to sit out a couple of games, are not even worth mentioning.

And now, during a Sunday game in the U.S. Capital, that very thing which the Russians have had enough of happened again. It is difficult to say exactly when it happened. Perhaps at the beginning of the second period, when Ovechkin skated by Jason Chimera and the latter nudged the former with his shoulder. Apparently that was in retaliation for when the Russian boarded the Canadian forward during the first period. Ovechkin shoved Chimera with his hands, a scuffle ensued, during which Alexander was grabbed and dragged, and finally he went to the penalty box, lightly supporting his left arm. Coming out on the ice, he collided in the offensive zone with Raffi Torres, fell to the ice and grimaced in pain and immediately came off the ice and went to the locker room. He missed the rest of the game.

If you assess the situation solely on appearances, you could assume that Alexander injured his left arm or shoulder. After the game he talked a bit with the press and gave an interview to Sport Express.

Alexander, what happened? Were you injured by Chimera, Torres or somebody else?

"I can't say. I can't even discuss the exact moment in order to not divulge what exactly my injury is."

Then can you at least give the official version-is it upper or lower body?

"Upper body."

How serious does it feel?

"I don't know, but I would say that it is "day-to-day". I'm going in for some tests tomorrow and then everything will be clear."

What's happening to all the Olympic team players? You guys are just having some bad luck.

"I can't understand it myself. Perhaps some girl has put a hex on us."

Yesterday afternoon Moscow time Ovechkin underwent testing, after which he confirmed to your Sport Express reporter that his injury is not very serious.

"They'll give a more exact diagnosis later" said Alexander "but the doctors said that there is no serious damage."

Can you give some estimation of when you might return?

"It's 100 percent that I'll miss the next game, and then we'll see."

Capital Ups and Downs: Week 4

J.P. — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:00:34 -0000

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

Goalies	Trend	Notes
Jose Theodore	▲	Stopped 28 of 30 Islander shots on Saturday, keeping the team in the game long enough for them to wake up, come back, and get him a long overdue win - his first since opening night.
Semyon Varlamov	▼	Has now allowed four goals or more in three of his five starts, but is 2-0-0 in those games. Must be nice.

Defensemen
John Erskine	-	Not healthy. Not playing. Not missed.
Mike Green	▲	Green "got mad and said, ‘The heck with this,’ and he played the way he can." More, please.
Milan Jurcina	-	A couple of penalties in the Atlanta game and the willingness to shoot the puck (albeit not on net) in the Isles game stand out.
Shaone Morrisonn	-	Penalties in three straight games, but playing solid D when he's on the ice.
Brian Pothier	▼	Continues to struggle to make an impact.
Tom Poti	-	Back-to-back plus-1's and a whopping 6:41 of penalty killing time against the Thrashers.
Jeff Schultz	▲	"Did I ever tell you kids about the time I took the puck coast-to-coast through the entire Thrashers' team, deked the goalie and roofed it on the backhand?" One goal, four assists, plus-four, 6:12 SH TOI versus Atlanta (and, unlike Poti, un-scored upon in that time), and a big blocked shot at the end of that game. Keep killing it, Sarge.
Tyler Sloan	-	Couldn't get a game last week. One wonders what his immediate future holds.

Forwards
Keith Aucoin	▲	A big goal and an assist and a plus-two rating in two games (and in limited time, to boot). The results, at least, are all you can ask of him... other than a more consistent effort in backchecking.
Nicklas Backstrom	▼	Continues to struggle, posting a minus-three rating and winning just 33% of his draws last week. Backstrom has now gone seven games without an even strength assist and has just one helper in that span. Could his contract situation be weighing on him?
Matt Bradley	▲	Another goal for Brads, whose Pts/60 at even strength trail only Ovechkin and Semin among Caps skaters with five or more games played.
Chris Clark	-	Scored the eventual game-winner in Atlanta, but didn't do anything with more than five minutes of PP time for the week or a few shifts on the top line.
Eric Fehr	-	No preseason, no conditioning assignment, no ice time (but a nice goal against the Thrash). Recipe for failure?
Tomas Fleischmann	-	No preseason, a conditioning assignment and presumably a second-line slot being kept warm. Recipe for success?
Boyd Gordon	-	Still out with an injury. Could use his faceoff (and other) skills on the penalty kill.
Alexandre Giroux	-	When Green got kneed on the Island, he had the perfect opportunity to show he's more than a minor league cherry-picker. Like most of his opportunities at the NHL level, however, Giroux failed to take advantage. He did pot a goal against Atlanta, though.
Mike Knuble	-	Two penalties in the Atlanta game (though at least one was highly questionable), beauty drop pass to Green against the Isles.
Brooks Laich	▲	Overtime game-winner in New York (his first tally in three weeks) to go along with his assist earlier in the game and a plus-two rating for the week.
Quintin Laing	-	Judgment day coming?
Brendan Morrison	▲	A helper and a plus-four rating in the two games, but just 39.3% in the dot.
Michael Nylander	▲	Sometimes it's just real good to see a hockey player finally playing hockey. Five points in three games doesn't hurt either.
Alex Ovechkin	▼	The six shots on goal AO was credited with last week were as many or fewer than in any of his previous half-dozen games. Two hits in two games, a fine, and a team 0-for-11 on the power play (including two shorties against) also speak to a rough week for the best player in the world.
Alexander Semin	-	When it has to be clarified that a player's absence is health- and not discipline-related, it says something about how that player's been playing.
David Steckel	-	Plus-two on the week, but where's that offense about which we heard so much in the off-season?