Daily Caps, Caps Drop Third in a Row

In case you missed it, a late surge last night nearly brought the Capitals back from a 4-0 deficit, but the Caps came up short, losing 4-3.  Caps got third period goals from Matt Bradley (3), Alex Ovechkin (9), and Nicklas Backstrom (3).  It was a 6 minute surge that fell about 1 minute short.
Reason to be concerned?  About the losing streak?  Answer — no.  Listen, these Caps are beat up.  When you take your leading scorer out, Alexander Semin, and your best defensive scoring threat and number one goal scorer on the power play, Mike Green, and your steady and stable veteran, Sergei Fedorov, the team is struggling to pick up the pieces.  Once these guys return, the Caps will return to their winning ways.  Miek Green has 7 goals on the year, 6 on the power play.  His absence on the power play is felt.   The Capitals also desperately need Semin back on Line 1 with Ovechkin and Backstrom.  So the two words fo the day for Caps fans — DON’T PANIC.
Michael Hoffman at the Examiner provides a good game summary. 

Now, the worse news — Capitals are getting beaten up even worse.  First, the Caps will likely miss D Jeff Schultz for a few weeks.  Schultz suffered a broken hand.  Some of you are probably cheering, but Schultzie has not played all that bad, he just fails to use his large frame to his advantage.  Given his size, Schultz could be a dominating blue liner.
D Sami Lepisto is the likely fill in for Schultz, coming up from the Hershey Bears.  Lepisto is not unfamiliar with the Caps defensive system, having played in 7 games last year, filling in for injuries.  Lepisto also had a great summer camp and was one of the final cuts to Hershey.  In 20 games with Hershey, Lepisto has scored 3 goals and has 11 assists with a +/- of +14.
The fact that he was called off the ice may be a good indication.

The injury-riddled Washington Capitals suffered more dings in Monday night’s loss at Minnesota, so recalls from Hershey could be forthcoming.

Sami Lepisto was called off the ice near the end of Tuesday’s practice at Giant Center, but Bob Woods said the defenseman hasn’t been officially called up to Washington. The Bears are making plans for possible recalls from South Carolina (ECHL) if they lose a player or players to the Caps.

Boyd Gordon and Jon Erskine also left the game with injuries, but are expected to be listed day to day and will likely play on Friday.
Congrats Bruce … Special congratulations are in order to Caps HC Bruce Boudreau.  Boudreau was named to the 2009 Hall of Fame Class for the American Hockey League (AHL).  But, the recognition is even more special, because Boudreau is going in because of his skill as a former AHL skater.

“It’s an absolute honor that I can’t describe,” said Boudreau from St. Paul, Minn., where he and his Capitals were preparing for last night’s game against the Minnesota Wild. “The American League, with it’s history, it’s overwhelming that this could happen to me.”

In a playing career that began in Moncton, then Toronto’s AHL affiliate, in the 1978-79 season, Boudreau played in 634 games, scoring 316 goals and assisting on 483 for 799 points, ranking him 11th on the all-time AHL scoring list. He ranks 14th on the all-time goal-scoring list, and 11th in assists, and is one of just four players in AHL history to score 100 or more points in a season three times.

And now that Bruce is a successful NHL Coach with a long term contract, don’t think for one minute that Boudreau does not understand the importance of the AHL to him personally.

“When they told me (of his selection to the Hall of Fame), I couldn’t hide my exuberance,” Boudreau said. “I told them I’d be there if I had to come from Alaska. To me individually, it’s as high an honor as you can get. The NHL is the NHL, but to be thought of like that by my peers in a league that’s been in existence for more than 70 years, that’s pretty cool.

“If it wasn’t for that league, I’m nothing as a coach or a player.”

Boudreau led the Washington Capitals minor league affiliate, the Hershey Bears, to the Calder Cup in 2005/06.
Speaking of Boudreau, here is an interview you can read between Bruce and the USA Today.
Pierre thinks Francois is better … The Caps just got down playing Minnesota last night and one of Minnesota’s skaters, Pierre-Marc Bouchard, thinks his little brother is going to be a better hockey player than him.  We hope sop.  His younger brother, Francois Bouchard, is a Capitals prospect, paling in Hershey this year.

“To be honest, I think my brother’s better, too,” said Pierre-Marc Bouchard, whose brother was taken 35th overall by Washington in the 2006 draft. “He’s close to the type of player as me, but he’s bigger, he’s really good in front of the net, too, and he’s got a better shot than me. He’s a good goal scorer.”