The Washington Capitals fell late to the New York Rangers 3-2 .  The Caps are now 3-2 int he
preseason with 1 game remaining before the regular season opener on Thursday, October 1.  The Caps/Rangers started out slow skating to a scoreless first period.  New Ranger Marian Gaborik scored twice, both coming in the second period while Christopher Higgins scored the game winner in the third period.   

For the Caps, after Gaborik scored his 1st of the night, Alexander Semin struck at the top of the net to notch his first goal of preseason.  After Gaborik scored his second, late in the second period, Keith Aucoin tied it up at 2-2 with his first preseason goal. That completed the offense for the Caps.  Jose Theodore stopped 21 of 24 shots to take the loss.

What is unclear after last night is whether Brandon Sugden punched his way on to the roster.  Sugden showed the true toughness the Caps lack since the departure of Donald Brashear via free agency.  Sugden dropped the gloves, not once, but twice against the former Cap enforcer, getting the best of Brashear in round one, taking a draw in round two.  The Caps need that.  But, what is unclear is whether there will be any room for Sugs. 

In addition, Theo played OK, but you can’t tell me that throughout preseason, both Semyon Varlamov and Michal Neurvirth did not out play him.  The Caps can spin it for the veteran all they want, but play to play, the kids were better.

More post game wrap up:  Examiner, Post, Times, NHL.com

By the way, here you go, fight footage

Another person that played well again was Quintin Laing. You have to wonder if Laing is jumping above guys like Chris Bourque and Alexandre Giroux. Giroux did nothing last night to help his cause.Again, he had a scoring opportunity and it was the all too familar lack of conversion.  Girioux has had a fair shot, but to me, has done absolutely nothing to justify a spot over Bourque or Laing.

Pothier ready to roll . . . Brain Pothier is ready to go on his first full season in nearly two years.   He is also ready to play the ‘quarterback’ role on the defense. 

Given how often teams deploy the dump-and-chase offense and how fast
and ferocious forecheckers can be, the ability of a defenseman to
retrieve the puck and make a quick, crisp pass to ignite a possession
in the other direction is essential for offensive success.

“You have to be a special type of person to make those passes,”
captain Chris Clark said. “They are so critical. You have all these
options, like three or four options, that he is almost like a
quarterback trying to read [the defense]. And if something isn’t there,
you have to go somewhere else. [Pothier] seems to always make the right
play.”

Pothier was an improvement in the playoffs last season over Jeff
Schultz and a full season with a healthy Pothier will make the Caps
blue line better overall, in addition to all the young defenders having
another full season of experience.  Bourdreau seems to think the blue
line is set and a strong point of the team. I think Pothier in the
whole season makes a difference, but I am not personally sold on the
Caps defense like Gabby apparently is. 

Youngsters to watch . . .  Canadian press writes
on who are the top youngsters, the future of the NHL, to watch in
2009/10.  Listed on that list is Caps goalie Semyon Valrlamov. 

10. Semyon Varlamov, Washington Capitals: Note the spelling of the
first name. It used to be Simeon, but Varlamov insists that North
Americans pronounce it correctly in Russian and changed it to make sure
they get it right. And they say today’s goalies aren’t as quirky as the
old-timers. What’s more to watch is whether the 21-year-old will steal
veteran Jose Theodore’s starting job, as he did last spring while
stretching the Pittsburgh Penguins to seven games in the playoffs. Or
was he a flash in the pan? Theodore’s been confirmed as No. 1, at least
to start the season.

Southeast Preview . . . The Hockey News released it’s Southeast Division preview.  The are predicting the Caps to finish second in the Eastern Conference.

The question marks surrounding the Caps don’t stem from the forward
group, however, where they sport one of the league’s best collection of
offensive weapons, including reigning two-time NHL MVP Alex Ovechkin.

If
Washington is to fail this season it will be due to a blueline that
lacks depth and a true two-way stud and/or the goaltending duo of
veteran Jose Theodore and rookie Semyon Varlamov ending up more mouse
than monster.

Ummm, my thougths exactly.   Little more worried about the blue line
than the net minding though.  Particularly, I am most worried about the
defensive efforts of Jeff Schultz and Mike Green.  Yeah, Mike Green. 
Green is an offensive power house and extremely effective on the power
play.  No questioning that.  BUT, Green’s main role is a defensemen and
his defensive skills have been less than impressive and his playing way
too soft.  Speaking of soft play . . .  Schultz, well, we have already
hit this too many times to count.  

Here is another preview from Fox Sports. 

After pushing the eventual Stanley Cup-champion Pittsburgh Penguins to
the limit in a memorable seven-game, second-round playoff series last
spring, the Capitals are hungry to push themselves into Cup contention.
Adding veterans Mike Knuble and Brendan Morrison could be an
improvement over Sergei Fedorov and Viktor Kozlov, while a goaltending
duel between Jose Theodore and playoff hero Simeon Varlomov will only
benefit the club. Led by superstar winger Alexander Ovechkin and young
stars Nicklas Backstrom, Alex Semin and Mike Green, the Capitals should
be among the league’s elite this season.

And make sure you click the link and vote for the Capitals.

Nice read on news Caps goaltending coach Archie Irbe. 

And yet another Preview from SportsNet.ca.   And the burning question here for them is the Caps goaltending. 

When you think about the Capitals you obviously immediately think of
Ovechkin. He is the face of the organization, if not the league. But
the Capitals also have a couple of other emerging stars in Alexander Semin and Nicklas Backstrom
who also have Top 10 potential in terms of scoring and overall game.
The Caps will be in the mix along with Pittsburgh and Philadelphia to
represent the East in the Stanley Cup final … if they get the
goaltending.