Caps Quarter Season Report

Quick review of how the Capitals have done the first quarter of the season. The Capitals sit at the top of the Southeast Division by one point over Carolina. They are 11-6-3 with 25 points, tied for the fourth best points in the Eastern Conference.
Caps have hit a minor speed bump on the western league road trip so far, recording 3 of 4 losses, including a 7-2 spanking on Saturday in San Jose. I don’t consider it too alarming, I attribute it more to key injuries. The Caps have been without Alexander Semin, their leading scorer, and Mike Green, their top scoring defenseman the past 3 games. The Line 1 make up of Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, and Semin was quickly becoming the best line in the NHL, arguably, before Semin’s injury. The successful defensive combination of Green and Shaone Morrisonn have barely been able to play together over the last 10 games, with Morrisonn missing a chunck of 7 or 8 games, and upon his return, Green went down to a shoulder injury.
Then there is the injury to Sergei Fedorov who was pretty much on fire before the injury. The Caps are missing him in a big way. Line 2 has been affected, plus the flexibility Fedorov provides with his ability to switch over to the blue line has been missed.
Essentially what the Capitals mostly need to get over this bump — health. They have to get healthy and stay healthy. Losing guys like Green, Semin, and Fedorov were overcome early, but are beginning to show on the ice. Coming up, Green is shooting for a weekend return, Fedorov and Semin are likely out against Minnesota. Getting these guys back will be huge. But, that is not it. The Capitals need to see some step up and improvement from certain key skaters. We’ll address that below.

Record in October: 5-3-1
Record in November: 6-3-2
Team Ranks:
Goals: 65, Tied for fifth in the NHL
Power Play %: 19.8%, 11th in the NHL
Penalty Kill%: 79.8%, 23rd in the NHL
Assists: 115, 4th in the NHL
Shots: 610, 12th in the NHL
Shot%: 10.7%, 10th in the NHL
Forwards: The big starts are you who expect. Alexander Ovechkin started the season off slow, marking a career high 9 straight games without scoring a goal. After he snapped that streak, Ovechkin has been hot. he has a point in 7 straight games, and over that 7 game period, Ovechkin has tallied 6 goals and 10 assists. On the season, Ovie has 8 goals and 16 assist with a +/- of +12. No worries about Ovechkin, he is and will be the same stud he always has been. The reason why Ovechkin’s scoring drought earlier in the season didn’t hurt much, Alexander Semin stepped up and by the time he suffered injury, led the NHL in goals and points. Semin has played better defense and is incredibly awesome puck handling has gotten him in scoring positions, and Semin has been converted. Semin is still susceptible to making stupid penalties at the worst times, but in many cases, he made up for it later. The caps are missing Semin’s scoring and his prowess on the ice and need him back soon. On the season, Semin leads the Caps with 13 goals, he has recorded 14 assists and an impressive +17 +/-.
Nicklas Backstrom can sing they same tune as Ovechkin. Backstrom started off real slow and at one point was removed to line 2, after initially failing to rekindle the chemistry with Ovechkin early. At least that is the way it is written. I think it was just two star players off to slow starts. At age 21 (Happy Birthday Nicklas!!!), Backstrom is proving game in and game out that he will be a start in the NHL for a long time. As Backstrom heats up, so do the Caps. Backstrom has 15 points in his last 7 games, about the mark where Ovie began heating up. For the season, Backstrom has 4 goals and 15 assists and a +/- of +7. I think Brooks Laich has played well this season, coming off a nice new three year deal. Laich has 5 goals and 6 assists thus far. His impressive performance last week, sacrificing his body on the penalty kill, stick-less, was awesome to watch. Brought back stirring memories last year of some of Quintin Laing’s penalty kill heroics. Tomas Fleischmann is proving George McPhee and Ted Leonsis to be smart. They rewarded him with a two year extension and Fleischmann is putting together his best NHL season. Not just in scoring, but Fleischmann is playing more of a complete game. On the season, Flash has recorded 8 goals and 2 assists. He is tied with Ovechkin in gaols. That bears repeating. He is tied with Ovechkin in goals. Is Flash the Brooks Laich of 2008? Flash has 4 goals in his last 5 games.
Sergei Fedrov was off to a nice start, scoring 4 goals and 5 assists. BUT, Feds is missed more than scoring. His leadership on the ice, puck handling, passing, and flexibility to play the blue line has been a gaping hole for the Caps. Hopefully Feds gets completely healthy soon. Victor Kozlov has 2 goals and 6 assists. He has been largely a disappointment, but quite frankly, I am not surprised. Kozlov to move at trade deadline? Boyd Gordon has not disappointed. He is not going to be a big scorer, so if you are looking at point, you would be upset. Gordon does an excellent job on the penalty kill unit and has performed well on the check line. Michael Nylander has been a huge disappointment, with 2 goals and 10 assists. I think it is pretty clear by now that Nylander does not want to be in Washington, and the Caps will move him for the right deal. Dave Steckel is critical tot he Caps penalty kill as well, and has cored 3 gaols on the year, 2 of which have come short handed. His role on this team is clear and he does it well. I have no complaints about Steckel. I like the way he plays. Just wish he would convert some of those gifts in front of the net he seems to miss. Matt Bradley and Donald Brashear have been excellent on the check line. They do their jobs well, wear down the Line, and Bradley has even contributed 2 gaols. Brashear is what you expect. He is the enforcer. Brash has botched at least three breakaways I have seen, but hey, it’s Brash. His fights and enforcement are well worth it.
Eric Fehr is disappointing, and I don’t mean him as a player. I think Fehr could be contributing nicely, but ice time is an issue. He has skaters ahead of him. Some of his wrist shots have just been wicked, but unfortunately right at the gaol tenders belly. I wish Fehr could get some more ice time. Finally, Chris Clark. Clark will; get an award below. The most disappoint Cap. It is a far cry from his 30 gaol season two years ago. Clark was hugely missed last season, lost to over 490 games by injury. BUT, it is like the Caps have moved on without him. Clark has been relatively ineffective, seemingly hesitant, but his turnaround will be critical for the Capitals. Clark needs to get back where he was two years ago. If he can and the Caps manage to stay healthy, this team could lead a run to atop the Eastern Conference. Not kidding either. The talent is here and they can play with the best of the Eastern League, but injuries and missing guys like Clark, as in playing like has has, keeps the caps just below the top spot.
Defense: Mike Green is the most important defenseman to the Caps, in terms of scoring and power play. His injury has shown that. Green is a huge scoring threat on the power play and his shots are quick and powerful. Without Greenie in the lineup, the caps really do not have a blue line scoring threat. Fortunately for the caps, the Green shoulder injury is not serious and he is set for a weekend return. Green has 7 goals and 9 assists. 6 of Green’s 7 goals have come via power play. See what I mean? Green’s defensive partner is Shaone Morrisonn. Morrisonn missed a chunk of games early in the season and made his return when Green went down to injruy,. This paring has barely had time to reestablish that chemistry that was critical last season. We welcome Morrisonn back.
Jeff Schultz has 0 gaols and 7 assists. He is a big defenseman that I don’t think nearly uses his size to his advantage. I am one of those not real impressed with Schultz and think the Caps can do better. Given his big frame, Schultz is just not physical enough. In contrast, I think Tom Poti is having a pretty good season. He is reassuring on defense and rarely blows assignment. His puck handling has been better and he even has scored 3 goals. Poti scored 2 all of last season. I could give or take Jon Erskine. If Karl Alzner is close to being ready in Hershey, I would prefer to have Alzner over Erskine or Schultz. Erskine has 2 assists on the season. Does Erskine not get the most untimely penalties? Milan Jurcina is OK. He has a goal and an assist, his goal coming early in the year. Jurcina can be physical at times, but needs consistency. The big surprise here has been the performance of Tyler Sloan, called up when Morrisonn got injured, kept up when Greenie got hurt. Sloan has played some real nice hockey and it would really be ashame for this defense to lose him when Green returns. I think Bruce Boudreau should look a bit more closely at the defense and the way Sloan has fit in. If that means Erskine or Schultz goes, so bet it. Sloan has a goal and 2 assist on the year.
Goaltending: Ahhhh, what happened to Jose Theodore signing a two year deal to be starter in DC? I will tell you. He hasn’t played all that well or consistently. Theodore has gotten better over the past two weeks, compared to his horrific starts earlier in the schedule. Like Chris Clark, Jose Theodore is going to be a critical player to determine how far the Caps can go in the Eastern Conference. Theodore has to get tot he level he had in Colorado last season. That is why he was signed. At times he looked as if he was just as good, just as wonderful in the net, but at other times he was not. It’s consistency and Theodore has yet to obtain it. Fortunately for the Caps, they have played fairly good defense, limiting shots on goal. For the season, Thedore’s record is fine, he is 6-3-1, but his GAA is 3.19 and save percentage is .889. he has to get that GAA below 3.00 and save percentage above .910-.920. Brent Johnson came in played some remarkable games early when Theodore struggled, remarkable enough to hop over Theodore. Then Johnson got hurt, Theodore began to play a little more consistently, now we are back to a goalie tandem, instead of one standing up and seizing the starting role. Johnson is 5-3-2 with a 2.79 GAA and a save percentage of .910. Johnny’s problem is his recent lack of success. He has lost his last 2 games, giving up 5 and 7 goals. Several of those 11 goals should have been saved. The Caps will go as far as the goal tending takes them in 2008-09 and so far it has been a mixed bag.
MVP: ALEXANDER SEMIN
Biggest Improver: TOMAS FLEISCHMANN
Surprise Player: TYLER SLOAN
Disappointment: CHRIS CLARK
Rookie of the Quarter: TYLER SLOAN
MUST STEP UP FOR THE CAPS: CHRIS CLARK, JOSE THEODORE