What a crappy performance and effort by the Washington capitals last night. They dropped their first decision at home in the Verizon Center, but the problem was not the loss, the problem was the effort put forth. It was non-existent until the final 3 minutes, when it was already too late. HC Bruce Boudreau was not happy either.
“It the least energy we’ve had all year,” said Boudreau, whose team suffered its first regulation defeat at home this season (9-1-1). “We didn’t play very good. We didn’t play with a lot of life. It’s what I said in the room today: It’s not me coming into the room and yelling at you. You guys should start yelling at each other, because there were some guys who definitely weren’t playing well tonight.”
Listening to it on XM was painful enough, I guess the only thing positive from the game was it was a TV blackout and we fans did not have to suffer watching it.
The lack of effort is also surprising, given all the Caps injuries, that the younger players would want to make an impact while here, especially in front of the Sea of Red. Not so. Where is the leadership among the players? What players should step up? Ovechkin? Fedorov? Clark? Who? Fact is, losing is part of the game, in all sports, but a total dud, total lack of effort is unacceptable at the professional level and the Capitals themselves, not Boudreau, but the Caps skaters, need to fix it.
Boudreau did not bite his tongue either. He levied criticism where it belong, on defense and at Jose Theodore.
“I thought the first goal was gettable,” Boudreau said. “But [Theodore] was like the rest of the team. The biggest problem is when your goalie is like the rest of the team, he stands out like a sore thumb.”
Washington got an early power play goal from Nicklas Backstrom. That was it until late in the third period, down 4-1, the Capitals realized they were playing hockey. The Caps scored twice, one by Victor Kozlov (4) and a power play tally by Tomas Fleischmann. It was Fleischmann’s 10th of the season. The Caps gave up a the 5th goal, ending the hope of a late surge to tie it, with just one minute left in the game. Caps fell to the Panther 5-3. They remain in first place with a 13-9-2 record, 29 points. The second place Carolina Hurricanes are 3 points out and did not pay last night.
More game recap from the Washington Times. Here is a quote worth chewing on.
“I think we came out like everyone thought this was going to be an easy game, and we didn’t compete,” said Nicklas Backstrom
An easy game? Ummmmm, to the Washington Capitals players, in case you did not notice, you only have TWO regular starters on defense and are missing 3 major offensive players. And you thought it would be easy?
Prospects and Hershey … John Adams from the DC Examiner discuss the bright future for the Capitals. I think one thing that is important, besides the great job George McPhee has done in the NHL Entry Drafts, is the importance and extremely pivotal role that the AHL Hershey Bears play as part of the Washington Capitals organization as a whole. Not onyl does it serve as a breeding ground, developmental play, but it also allows the European prospects to get used tot he shorter ice and American style of play. And, in addition, as we have seen, the Caps should be pretty proud of the Hershey bears. Not only are the 18-5-0-2 this season, but when the Caps are in need, they are sending quality talent to DC.
Caps to make a move? … The Fourth Period is reporting that the Washington Capitals are contemplating possible roster moves to reenforce the injury riddled roster.
According to the paper, Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau, GM George McPhee and salary cap specialist Don Fishman are having daily conversations to calculate the cap implications of each potential roster move.
“Bruce and I have to spend 20 minutes each day talking to Don,” McPhee told the Post. “We have to look at different scenarios. We can do this, we can do that.”
Multi-Point Scorers:
Nicklas Backstrom, 1 goal, 1 assist
Tomas Fleischmann, 1 goal, 1 assist
DCPSR Player of the Game:
Hard to give, given the effort put forth, but we will award it to Nicklas Backstrom, 1 goal, 1 assist.
Next Up:
Thursday, NOV 4th at Verizon Center against the New York Islanders
In Hershey
Congrats to the Washington Capitals 2006 draft pick and Hershey Bear Oscar Osala on being named the AHL Player of the Month for November.
Osala recorded 10 goals, four assists and a plus-12 rating in 14 games for the Bears last month.
I saw three of those 10 goals on NOV 15 at the Giant Center. Osala tallied a hat trick against Philadelphia to lead the Bears to a 7-3 win. I think Osala is one of the brightest prospects the Caps have right now and he should be surging forward in prospect charts for the Caps organization. He is a prolific scorer because he is aggressive, quick, and goes to the net, not shy about taking the shots.
The Bears have back to back games coming up on 12/6 and 12/7.
The Bears have the top two scorers in the AHL. Keith Aucoin lead the AHL with 36 points and Alexandre Giroux is second with 29. Graham Mink is 5th overall with 24. Alexandre Giroux leads the AHL in goals with 17 while Oscar Osala is second with 16. Mathieu Perreault and Oscar Osala are 2nd and 3rd in rookie scoring in the AHL. In other words, the Bears are playing damn good and dominating hockey and their 18-5-0-2 record shows it. They have scored a total of 107 goals thus far, the closest to them is 84.
In South Carolina
The Stingrays fell 3-2 last night to Gwinnett. Gwinnett out shot the Rays 30-23. The ‘Rays got goals from Trent Campbell and Rich Farynuk. Bobby Goepfert stopped 27 of 30 shots, but took the loss.
The ‘Rays are 11-5-1-1 and in second place in the ECHL South Division, 3 points behind Florida.
Since we failed to provide it in yesterday’s Daily Caps report, here it is for the Stingrays …
Your ‘Rays Leaderboard:
Goals: Maxime Lacroix, 10
Assists: Travis Morin, 14
Points: Michael Dubuc, Travis Morin, 18
PP Goals: Maxime Lacroix, Michael Dubuc, 3
Def Scoring: Johann Kroll, 12
+/-: Pierre-Luc O’Brein, +12
GAA: Michael Neuvirth, 1.56
Save%: Michael Nuevirth, .942
Yesterday, we wrote about the excitement in the Caps organization regarding prospect Goalie Simeon Varalmov and the success he is enjoying in Hershey. Lest we forget, the Capitals drafted two prospects in the first round the same year. The other prospect is Michael Neuvirth and we are happy to report, he is putting up just as impressive numbers in South Carolina.
Neuvirth has minded the net in 7 games and has posted a 5-25 record and a super impressive 1.56 goals against average. He has posted a .942 save percentage and in his first 7 professional games, Neuvirth has recorded 2 shutouts.
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